One of the most unique creatures is the gharial, but is highly endangered.
- Gharials are critically endangered, crocodile-related reptiles, found around India’s sandy banked rivers.
- ‘Gharials’ are also known as ‘gavials’, ‘long-nosed crocodiles,’ ‘fish-eating crocodiles’ and ‘nakas,’ among others.
- Gharials have the scientific name Gavialis gangeticus, and are said to be the only living species from the family Gavialidae, a family of reptiles.
- A gharial can range from 3.5 metres (11 feet) in length, to the longest found – 6.25 metres (20.5 feet), and they can weigh between 150 to 977 kilograms (330 to 2154 pounds).
- Gharials have a long snout and mouth, filled with up to 110 teeth, and they have scales that are typically black, grey, brown or olive in colour.
Gharial
Image courtesy of Ryan Somma/Flickr
- The habitat of a gharial typically consists of deep, sandy rivers, and the reptile generally spends the majority of its time in water.
- The diet of gharials mainly consists of fish, but also other aquatic animals, and they are not usually highly dangerous to humans, as they are not built for eating large prey.
- During March and April, an adult female gharial typically makes a nest, a hole in the riverbank, and lays an average of 30 to 50 eggs in the hole.
- Gharials are critically endangered due to pollution, over fishing and habitat removal; and populations have decreased by around 96% in less than a century, to a maximum total of 235 animals, in 2006.
- As part of a conservation program, some zoos breed gharials and release them into the wild, and the animals have an average lifespan of 20 to 30 years.
Bibliography:
Gharial, 2013, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/gharial/
Gharial, 2014, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gharial
