Description

• Gharial are one of the largest crocodilians and can grow up to 6 metres in length.
• Using their muscular tail, their webbed feet and natural goggles they are natural swimming machines.
• They are able to control their specific gravity by shifting internal organs, rising and falling in the water at will. And their slender snout, with razor sharp teeth, make them the ultimate fish-catching tool.
• The ghara, which gives the gharial its name, is a lump of cartilage which grows on the snout of mature males, and plays a key role in attracting a mate
• Female gharial lay between 40-80 eggs, which incubate for 70 to 80 days and hatch just before the onset of the monsoon.

Range

• Gharial were once found throughout India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar but are now extinct from most of these areas and only found in the wild in a few small areas of India and Nepal.
• The most important surviving populations are within four tributaries of the Ganges River: The Girwa, Son, and Chambal Rivers in India and the Rapti-Narayani River in Nepal.
• The most significant breeding population is within the Chambal River, which spans the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh.
• The gharial needs deep, fast moving rivers with calmer areas such as pools and a good supply of fish in order to flourish. It also needs sandy banks to bask and high sand banks for nesting.

Current Range
India: Girwa River, Chambal River, Ken River, Son River, Mahanadi River, Ramganga River
Nepal: Rapti-Narayani River
Pakistan: Presumed Extinct
Bangladesh: Presumed Extinct
Bhutan: Presumed Extinct
Myanmar: Extinct