Muggers of Rapti: Anthropogenic threats pose risk to saurians in Nepal’s Chitwan National Park, says study

Muggers of Rapti: Anthropogenic threats pose risk to saurians in Nepal’s Chitwan National Park, says study

Subject: Environment

Section: Species in news

Context:

Mugger

• The mugger or marsh crocodile is one of the 24 extant species of crocodilians found It is found India, Pakistan, Nepal and Iran.
• The species is listed as ‘Vulnerable’ in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List. It has been enlisted on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora since 1975.
• In Nepal, muggers are found in the Terai lowlands near the border with India. A study last year noted that the species has become extinct locally in many parts of Nepal due to habitat loss despite being protected by law.

Threats:

Anthropogenic threats like illegal fishing and sand mining pose a threat to the mugger crocodiles (Crocodylus plaustris) of the Rapti river flowing along the Chitwan National Park (CNP) in south-central Nepal, contiguous to the Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar

Rapti river

• The Rapti originates in the Mahabharat Hills and lower range of the Himalayas and flows westward along the northern border of the CNP. The surveys were conducted along a 52 km river stretch from Jindagani Ghat (the eastern side) to Golaghat (Rapti-Narayani confluence) on the western side.