Context
A fishing ban over a 10 km stretch of the Mahanadi river made the habitat of Gharial inviolate and bore results in the form of 28 hatchlings at the Satkosia gorge in the Mahanadi river, the southernmost limit of the gharials’ home range in India.
- There was a ban on fishermen from entering a 10-km river stretch from Baladamara to Tikarapada from November 2020. It provided an undisturbed territory for mating.
About the Gharial
- Characteristics: Gharials are large and shy reptiles.
- Gharials thrive on small fish.
- Their prey base was eroding due to over-fishing by local fisherfolk.
- Gharial prefers deep fast flowing rivers.
- Sand and rock outcrops are preferred basking sites and these animals show considerable site fidelity.
- Conservation: It is listed in Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and as Critically Endangered on IUCN Red list.
- Habitat: Historically, gharial found in the river system of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and southern part of Bhutan and Nepal.
- But now they survive only in the waters of India and Nepal.
- Earlier, they were abundant in the main rivers and tributaries of the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra and Mahanadi-Brahmani river system and are now limited to only 14 widely spaced and restricted localities of India and Nepal.
- The surviving population can be found within the tributaries of the Ganges river system: Girwa (Uttar Pradesh), Son (Madhya Pradesh), Ramganga (Uttarakhand), Gandak (Bihar), Chambal (Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan) and Mahanadi (Orissa).
- The Satkosia gorge in the Mahanadi is the southernmost limit of their home range and the last home of gharials.
- Odisha is the only State in India having all three species of crocodiles (gharial, mugger and saltwater crocodiles) found in nature.
Conservation Efforts:
- Odisha has begun conservation of these three crocodile species since 1975 by establishing three rearing centres
- Tikarpada for gharials in Angul district
- Ramatirtha for muggers in Mayurbhanj
- Bhitarkanika for saltwater crocodiles in Kendrapara district.
- A captive breeding centre at Nandankanan, Odisha for all the three crocodiles is also operative.
- Species Recovery Programme since the National Chambal Gharial crisis in December 2007.
- Gharial reintroduction programme at Hastinapur Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh.
- Since January 2009, 250 captive reared gharial from Kukrail Rehabilitation Centre (Lucknow) have been released into River Ganga.
- In collaboration with University of Tokyo, Japan and WWF-India has initiated a study on Gharial Bio-logging Science to understand the underwater behaviour and surrounding habitat of a free ranging gharial.
- Education and awareness programmes and Village Panchayat Meetings (Ganga Samrakshan Panchayat) to understand and coordinate conservation.
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