Patna, Aug 12 (PTI) The number of gharials, fish-eating crocodiles, has increased to 372 in Bihar's Gandak river, the second-highest breeding site of the reptile in the country after the Chambal Sanctuary,
from the previous count of 259 in 2020, officials said on Tuesday.
The gharial congregation sites are currently being monitored by local nest watchers and project experts of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) in the state, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department's Additional Chief Secretary Harjot Kaur Bamhrah said.
"The number is significant and has enthused forest department officials and environmentalists. The number of gharials was 54 after release in the river in 2015, and it has now increased to 372 this year," Bamhrah told PTI.
A total of "62 adult gharials (males), 98 sub-adults, 110 juveniles and 102 yearlings were observed" during the survey conducted from February 24 to March 4, covering a 326-km river stretch, from the Gandak Barrage to the Sonepur-Hajipur bridge, she said.
The survey showed a 43.6 per cent increase in the number of gharials observed in the river as compared to the previous highest of 259 in 2020, WTI Chief Ecologist Samir Kumar Sinha told PTI.
"This is, of course, a major success in gharial conservation efforts in Bihar, particularly in the Gandak river, the second successful breeding site for the fish-eating crocodiles in India after the Chambal Sanctuary area," Bamhrah said.
Concerted conservation efforts by the forest department officials of the Bihar government and WTI experts in the last ten years to revive gharial breeding in the Gandak river in West Champaran district have yielded results as "372 long-snouted crocodiles have been sighted in the river", Prabhat Kumar Gupta, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, told PTI.
The gharial population survey was conducted in the Gandak river covering six sections: Gandak Barrage-Paniahawa, Paniahawa-Ratwal, Ratwal-Mangalpur, Mangalpur-Dumaria, Dumaria-Rewa and Rewa-Sonepur this year.
"The sighting of 372 gharials of all sizes is a matter of great satisfaction. Our Gharial Conservation Project, launched in association with WTI, is now bearing the fruits," Gupta said.
Sinha said, "Our project has achieved the anticipated result. Almost a 400 per cent increase in the number of gharials in the Gandak river since 2015 was noticed. Before we launched this project, the river was not known for gharials".
Of the total gharials observed in the survey, 92.7 per cent of them were photo documented, he said.
The congregation of adult male and female gharials was observed at six sites, Sinha said. PTI PKD BDC
