Wildlife

Wild Gharial Conservation and Individual Welfare

Gharials are critically endangered crocodilians whose individuals face extreme threats from river degradation.

Key Facts

Fewer than 650 adult gharials remain in the wild
They are restricted to the Chambal and a few other Indian rivers
River sand mining, fishing gear entanglement, and pollution are key threats
Gharials are fish specialists with distinctive narrow snouts

Welfare Considerations

Gharials entangled in fishing nets drown — the process taking minutes as these air-breathing reptiles struggle against the net. Gharials nesting on sand bars disturbed by mining abandon eggs or are directly killed. Individual gharial survival is precarious and each death compounds the conservation crisis for a species with so few individuals remaining.

What You Can Do

Support Gharial Conservation Alliance programmes
Advocate for river flow restoration and sand mining restrictions in the Chambal
Donate to gharial monitoring and rescue operations
Share awareness about one of the world's most threatened reptiles