In a rare coincidence on World Wildlife Day, forest officials and wildlife experts on Thursday recorded the first documented sighting of the critically endangered gharial in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR).
A team saw the animal on a sandbar on the Brahmaputra river at Silghat area, said Ramesh Gogoi, divisional forest officer, Kaziranga. Though there have been reports of sightings of the animal in the past, this was the first time it was caught on camera in the national park.
The reptile species (Ganvialis gangeticus) is listed in Schedule 1 of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, as critically endangered in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List. According to the World Wide Fund (WWF), only around 800 gharials exist at present.
“It’s a rare find. A team was doing a survey when they saw the animal and were able to record it on camera. Though there have been reports of some sightings many years ago, this is the first documentary proof of gharial’s presence in KNPTR,” said Gogoi.
According to experts, gharials have been sighted in parts of western Assam in areas like Goalpara and Manas, but the last time anyone reported seeing the animal in the KNPTR region, which is in central Assam, was in the 1980s.
{{/usCountry}}According to experts, gharials have been sighted in parts of western Assam in areas like Goalpara and Manas, but the last time anyone reported seeing the animal in the KNPTR region, which is in central Assam, was in the 1980s.
{{/usCountry}}It is unclear if the sighting means was a sporadic instance. More surveys would be needed to know if there is presence of more members of the species in the area, said officials familiar with the development.
“We were conducting a survey of wildlife distribution and presence in the area when we noticed the gharial on the sandbar. At first, we were not sure whether it was a gharial or not, but its long slender snout confirmed it for us,” said Tridip Sarma, project officer, WWF-India.
“From the size and shape of the snout we could gather that it was an adult female. Since we were on a speedboat, it was not possible to get very clear photos. When the animal noticed us, it jumped into the river. More surveys would be needed to find if any other gharials are present,” he added.
The gharial derives its name from ‘ghara (pot)’ due to the shape of the bulbous growth at the tip of the snout in adult males. The growth is absent in females. While males can grow up to 6 metres, females usually are not longer than 4 metres.