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Wildlife

Endangered

Gharial

Gavialis gangeticus

A male gharial with a long narrow snout and a knob on its tip
Image: Charles J. Sharp / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Endangered IUCN: CR · Critically Endangered global assessment

What it is

The gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) is one of the longest crocodilians, with a very long, narrow snout lined with sharp teeth for catching fish. Adult males grow a rounded knob on the tip of the snout. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists it as Critically Endangered.

Range

Large, sandy rivers of northern India and Nepal, such as the Chambal and the Girwa.

What happened

Gharials rarely leave the water except to bask and nest on sandbanks, because their legs are too weak to carry them well on land. The knob on the male's snout helps it make buzzing sounds and bubbles during courtship.

When / status

Critically Endangered now, in a few stretches of river.

Human role

Dams, sand mining, drowning in fishing nets and the loss of nesting sandbanks threaten it.

Sources