Brahmaputra’s lone female gharial’s long wait for a mate could end soon

Sub: Environment

Sec: Species in news

Context: A lone female has been spotted for more than three years in a stretch of the river within the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve

A lone female gharial has temporarily overshadowed the one-horned rhino in eastern Assam’s Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve.
Wildlife officials and specialists are not sure how this gharial came to inhabit a stretch of the Brahmaputra River within the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve. But they are certain that the reptile, presumed almost an adult by its size, is the key to repopulating the river with gharials.
It is believed to have been wiped out from the Brahmaputra River system in the 1950s, although there were claims of sightings in the 1990s.
The female gharial was first spotted in 2021 within the Biswanath Wildlife Division of the 1,307.49 sq. km. Kaziranga. Water bodies, primarily a 107-km stretch of the Brahmaputra, comprise more than 80% of this division measuring 401 sq. km.
The same female gharial, now 2.55 metres in length, was recorded twice basking 500 metres apart in one of the three priority habits chosen during a 10-day survey of aquatic reptiles along the Brahmaputra in January.

Survey findings

The survey report submitted to the Forest Department in June said 990 freshwater turtles belonging to five species — Assam roofed turtle, Indian tent turtle, Brown roofed turtle, Indian or Gangetic softshell turtle, and Peacock softshell turtle — and more than 80 other major aquatic faunal species were recorded in the stretch of the Brahmaputra largely within the Biswanath Wildlife Division.
The other aquatic animals included a mammal that shares the gharial’s Ganga connection — the elusive Gangetic River dolphin (Platanista gangetica).

Reintroduction proposal

One of the 10 recommendations in the report was the “high-priority” reintroduction of gharials in the Brahmaputra landscape, especially within the Biswanath Division, considering the “suitability of habitats in supporting the survival of this species in the long run”.
Wildlife experts eye reintroduction of gharials from Kukrail gharial breeding centre near Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh to support breeding in ideal Kaziranga conditions.

About Gharial:

It is a fresh-water crocodile which lives in deep fast-flowing rivers.
Features: Compared to alligators and crocodiles, a Gharial has a very long and narrow snout (instead of a broad snout).
The female gharial was found to be the only one of its kind moving between a “sandy shoreline” and a “sand bar with a shoreline water depth of 4.5 metres”.
Distribution:
- Globally Gharial is found only in India and Nepal.
- In India their major population occur in three tributaries of the Ganga River: the Chambal and the Girwa Rivers in India and the Rapti-Naryani River in Nepal.
- The Gharial reserves of India are located in three States – Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
Conversation status:
- IUCN: Critically endangered.
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I
- CITES: Appendix I
Conservation Initiatives:
- Breeding Centres of Kukrail Gharial Rehabilitation Centre in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
- National Chambal Sanctuary (Madhya Pradesh).