An adult gharial from Punjab that strayed into Rajasthan’s Indira Gandhi Canal has been rescued after nearly five months of coordinated monitoring and will now be rehabilitated before being released into the Beas River Conservation Reserve.
The gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), measuring more than 12 feet in length, was rescued on July 27 from the Mohangarh Minor of the Indira Gandhi Canal Project in Jaisalmer district during a joint operation by the forest departments of Rajasthan and Punjab, assisted by wildlife experts and field teams.
According to the Punjab chief wildlife warden, the reptile has been shifted to Mohali’s Chhatbir Zoo for veterinary examination, health assessment, rehabilitation and acclimatisation before its proposed release into the Beas River Conservation Reserve.
The rescue effort began on March 14, when the chief wildlife warden of Rajasthan alerted his Punjab counterpart after the gharial had been spotted in the canal a day earlier.
Rajasthan sought Punjab’s assistance in safely capturing and relocating the reptile, citing the state’s expertise in gharial rescue and its ongoing conservation programme for the critically endangered species.
However, repeated attempts to rescue the animal over the following months had to be deferred as the canal was carrying high volumes of water for the Rabi irrigation season, making the operation unsafe. Although the gharial was sighted again in May and June, it continued moving downstream through the canal network, preventing its capture.
{{/usCountry}}However, repeated attempts to rescue the animal over the following months had to be deferred as the canal was carrying high volumes of water for the Rabi irrigation season, making the operation unsafe. Although the gharial was sighted again in May and June, it continued moving downstream through the canal network, preventing its capture.
{{/usCountry}}The breakthrough came on July 27 when the reptile was located in the Mohangarh Minor, where lower water levels and a slower current created favourable conditions for a safe rescue.
After being captured, it underwent initial veterinary examination and rehabilitation at a Rajasthan forest department facility before being certified fit for transport.
It was subsequently shifted to Punjab in accordance with the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) guidelines for crocodilian capture, handling and transportation.
Punjab has emerged as an important landscape for gharial conservation in north-western India.
Under a collaborative programme led by the Punjab forest department with technical support from WWF-India and other conservation partners, 94 juvenile gharials have been reintroduced into the Beas River Conservation Reserve, spanning 185-km across Hoshiarpur, Gurdaspur, Kapurthala, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts.
Scientific monitoring has shown encouraging evidence of their survival, dispersal and adaptation to the Beas-Harike-Sutlej river system.
Forest officials said rehabilitating and releasing rescued gharials into suitable river habitats was an important component of strengthening the recovering wild population.
They added that the successful operation also highlighted the importance of sustained inter-state coordination in conserving large river reptiles that often moved through interconnected river and canal systems.