The gharial\u2019s population has significantly declined over the years due to loss from water impoundment, sand mining, hunting, and intensive fishing. Only about 650 adult gharials remain in the wild.<\/p>\n
Gharials have long and thin scutes (scales), unlike the broader ones that crocodiles have. An adult male can be as long as seven metres in length, and females remain around four to five metres.<\/p>\n Historically, gharials have been found in Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar. Currently they are found only in Bangladesh, Nepal, and India. In India\u2019s West Bengal, gharials were recorded from the Ganga and Brahmaputra River systems until the mid-20th century, after which the species declined rapidly and became locally extinct due to intense river modification (dams, barrages, and other structures that impact the water flow), unsustainable fishing practices, and human disturbance.<\/p>\n Globally, the gharial population has declined by more than 94%<\/a> since the 1950s due to similar pressures, placing the species in the critically endangered category on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.<\/p>\n Approximately 77% to 80% of the global adult gharial population is confined to a single river, the Chambal<\/a> in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Uttar Pradesh, in the west and central parts of India.<\/p>\n Concentrating crocodiles in one area makes the entire species vulnerable to threats.<\/p>\n As Khan points out, a mass mortality event<\/a> in 2007-2008 in the Chambal highlighted the species\u2019 extreme vulnerability. In the mortality event, over 100 gharials, mostly from a 40-km stretch of the lower Chambal, died of kidney failure, likely from an unidentified toxicant, the field investigation report stated.<\/p>\n \u201cOne disease outbreak or major infrastructure project could threaten most of the species,\u201d Tarun Nair, a member of the IUCN Crocodile Specialist Group, and not part of the reintroduction project, said.<\/p>\n While the reintroduction can be a vital step in decentralising a \u2018critically endangered\u2019 population, so that they are not all limited to one specific site and hence the same risks, some experts argue the endeavour ignores the challenges of fifty years of reintroduction projects across India by central and state governments and other non-governmental organisations.<\/p>\n At the same time, experts say gharial conservation efforts must consider habitat conservation as well and address the pressures on the river itself, including sand mining, dam construction, sewage discharge, and abandoned fishing nets.<\/p>\n Commenting on the reintroduction process outlined in the recent report, experts who have also worked with gharial conservation in India have expressed skepticism about the success of such initiatives, especially in Murshidabad\u2019s stretch of the Ganga river where the reintroduction took place.<\/p>\n Gharials take almost a decade (sometimes two) to reach sexual maturity. The ultimate benchmark for success is not survival, but a \u201cself-sustaining, breeding population\u201d, said Nair of the IUCN Crocodile Specialist Group. He added that between the late 1970s and today, India has released between 10,000 and 12,000 gharials, with \u201calmost nothing to suggest that it has succeeded\u201d in establishing new breeding populations.<\/p>\n Jailabdeen A., Director of the Gharial Ecology Project under the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, who was also not involved in this reintroduction process, points out that in reptiles, natural survival rates for hatchlings are often less than 1%. Releasing only 37 individuals in a single event \u2014 as was done in the WWF reintroduction project \u2014 is, in his view, an insufficient number to guarantee a viable population.<\/p>\n Jeffrey W. Lang, Emeritus Professor at the University of North Dakota, and Senior Scientific Advisor and mentor to the Gharial Ecology Project in India, explained that, on a conservative estimate, almost \u20b9100,000, sometimes \u20b92-3 lakh, are spent per captive-bred gharial on capturing and breeding before releasing the gharials. With limited money, we need to see what we can learn from our previous programs, he says, adding, \u201cIt is essential that extensive and long-term post-release monitoring be incorporated as a critical component of such attempts.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTrying [reintroduction projects] is fine, but conservation right now should focus on habitat protection. About 80% of the gharial population is in Chambal, which is under threat from sand mining. If we can\u2019t protect that, reintroduction elsewhere won\u2019t help,\u201d said Jailabdeen.<\/p>\n As part of the reintroduction project, conducted a habitat suitability assessment. Khan said the Ganga\u2013Brahmaputra landscape, with its free-flowing rivers, suitable sandbanks, and historic range, was found appropriate for reintroducing gharials.<\/p>\n The team identified the Tiktikpada\u2019s braided channel to provide a \u201ccalm environment\u201d for the release of the gharial juveniles.<\/p>\n Jailabdeen, however, criticised the habitat assessment, saying such an assessment needs to be more indepth.<\/p>\n \u201cThe recent releases described in the West Bengal reintroduction study<\/a> have virtually no chance of really being successful given the current habitat suitability (as assessed by WWF India and the forest department for the project),\u201d said Lang.<\/p>\n He cited the recent green status assessment<\/a> of the IUCN red list, which states that the Lower Ganges and Delta are not suitable for sustaining gharial populations. The assessment has identified, \u201cthe six populations of gharial that showed some evidence of breeding, and 14 localities where gharial have previously been abundant, but are now marginal populations and\/or transient occurrences, and the lower Ganga is one of these latter sites,\u201d said Lang.<\/p>\n Pointing to ecological variation along the river, he added that the Hooghly belt of the Ganga is \u201cmost definitely\u201d unsuitable.<\/p>\n However, \u201cour assessment found Murshidabad suitable,\u201d Pradip Bauri, IFS, Divisional Forest Officer, Bankura South Division, West Bengal, said. \u201cDolphins have thrived in the same river, with the same [anthropogenic] pressures.\u201d<\/p>\n Proximity to border<\/p>\n Experts not associated with the study have raised that the release site of the WWF reintroduction project is along the international border with Bangladesh, where the Border Security Force (BSF) regulates activity. Monitoring would be difficult here, as Tarun notes, this could \u201craise suspicions across the border\u201d, because of the movement of people.<\/p>\n Jailabdeen said, \u201cIf gharials are washed into Bangladesh during a monsoon, as happened in Punjab\u2019s Beas River<\/a>, bringing them back becomes a diplomatic and logistical nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n Khan looks at this challenge as an opportunity for enhanced cross-border coordination. \u201cWhile traditional tracking across borders is not feasible, this situation creates a constructive opportunity to employ advanced technology, such as satellite telemetry,\u201d he says. Currently this technology is not being used in monitoring and the team has done bi-directional monitoring through the boat.<\/p>\n Fishing nets and sand mining are some of the other threats to the reintroduced gharials at this site, say both Nair and Jailabdeen.<\/p>\n Within the first 15 days of the West Bengal release, three gharials became entangled in abandoned fishing nets and drowned. The Forest Directorate quickly removed 150 kg of these nets. \u201cIt\u2019s good that they\u2019re doing post-release monitoring, which many programs don\u2019t do, but ideally this should have happened beforehand,\u201d Nair said.<\/p>\n The reintroduction project team had noted that river-dependent communities, which have not seen gharials, need to be engaged. In their awareness programs, Khan said, \u201cinitial reactions were often rooted in fear, as many residents confused the slender-snouted gharial with the more aggressive marsh crocodile (mugger). Once the team explained that gharials are specialized fish-eaters and generally shy around humans, the response shifted toward curiosity and support.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCaptive-reared gharial, having been fed dead fish\u2026 attempt to feed on fish caught in the netting, and get caught themselves, and quickly drown in most instances,\u201d Lang explained. \u201cUnless they [fisherfolks] agreed to no longer net fish in the release area, the net fishing would continue, with tragic consequences for the released gharial.\u201d<\/p>\n The experts Mongabay-India spoke to also critique the \u201ccaptive-bred\u201d nature of the animals. Juveniles raised in tanks and fed dead fish often lack the musculature to survive fast-flowing currents and the instinct to hunt live prey. Furthermore, captive-raised gharials frequently exhibit atypical behaviour, such as approaching humans for food rather than being shy, which makes them vulnerable to predators, they say.<\/p>\n Both Nair and Jailabdeen suggest a \u201csoft release\u201d approach: keeping animals in enclosed ponds connected to the river to let them acclimatise and develop a \u201csense of place\u201d before full release.<\/p>\n However, Bauri of the West Bengal Forest Department, said, \u201cSoft release is generally done when animals are rescued.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThese were healthy, captive-bred juveniles, about one-year-old. They were transported overnight and released immediately,\u201d he said, referring to the reintroduction.<\/p>\n He added that although the gharials were released into a stream of the Ganga, which, in effect, functioned as a soft release, the logistics did not allow for a formal soft release, as there was no forest staff stationed nearby and the release site lay outside the protected area.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1280px-Gharial_Gavialis_gangeticus_male-768x512.jpg\")
A gharial spotted in the Chambal river, where 77-80% of the global adult gharial population is found. Its population has significantly declined over the years due to loss from water impoundment, sand mining, hunting, and intensive fishing. Image by Charles J. Sharp via Wikimedia Commons<\/a> (CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>).
\nDeclining population<\/p>\n![\"Scientists](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Post-release-monitoring-scaled-e1770200423283-768x512.jpeg\")
Scientists monitor released gharials in the Ganga River. In February 2024, 37 juvenile gharials were released in the Ganga in Murshidabad, West Bengal, in a coordinated effort between the West Bengal Forest Directorate and WWF-India. Image by Mohd Shahnawaz Khan\/WWF-India.
\nExperts raise doubts about reintroduction<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Showing-the-Gharial-photographs-to-the-local-people-during-awareness-meeting-e1770200645864-768x512..jpeg\")
An official speaks to local community members during an awareness drive to alleviate myths and fears about the gharial. Image by Mohd Shahnawaz Khan\/WWF-India.
\nSite selection<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Gharial_Gavialis_gangeticus_female_and_juvenile-e1770200786975-768x512.jpg\")
A gharial female and juvenile in Bardiya National Park, Nepal. Captive-raised gharials frequently exhibit atypical behaviour, such as approaching humans for food, say experts, compared to those raised in the wild. Image by Charles J. Sharp via Wikimedia Commons<\/a> (CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>).
\nSand-mining, fishing, and ghost nets<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/e598edd28ae58437c69611594573348c244f4fdc359219fe38d2a5aa1bbe90de.png\")
<\/p>\n