KATHMANDU Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) released 25 critically endangered gharials (Gavialis gangeticus) into a tributary of the transboundary Mahakali River (also known as Sarda in India) on March 17. This action, the department says, aligns with plans to gradually reintroduce the crocodiles to rivers where they historically had roamed […]
KATHMANDU The start of 2024 has brought some good news, tempered with warnings, for Nepal’s critically endangered gharials, the fish-eating crocodiles with the comically bulbous snouts. Officials at Chitwan National Park, the country’s prime habitat for gharials (Gavialis gangeticus), one of two crocodile species found in Nepal, say their population increased by around 11% […]
KATHMANDU They can dig burrows during extreme weather events, run on land, and will eat just about anything. These traits, among others, make mugger crocodiles (Crocodylus palustris) a versatile species capable of adapting to change. “As part of the study, we conducted a count of muggers in the reserve and its buffer zone area, […]
KATHMANDU On the morning of July 31, a tiger (Panthera tigris) entered the enclosure of the Kasara gharial breeding center in National Park unnoticed. It observed the behavior of the crocodiles for a while and then attacked and killed three of them. Before staffers arrived at the site, the tiger ate one of the gharials […]
Gharials (Gavialis gangeticus), are a strange and unique crocodilian. Although they’re one of the world’s largest crocodilians by mass, they also have comically thin jaws suited for catching fish rather than pulling down deer or other large terrestrial prey. They’re a unique lineage possibly also including the tomistoma as its only other extant member. Once […]