Wild gharials are among the most critically endangered crocodilians on Earth, with their welfare and survival entirely dependent on the protection of a few rivers in northern India and Nepal.
Wild gharial welfare is threatened primarily by human-made changes to their river ecosystem. Drowning in fishing nets causes acute, distressing deaths for animals that must surface to breathe. Reduced water flows concentrate gharials in smaller areas, increasing competition and disease transmission. Sand mining destroys the sandbanks gharials require for nesting — without suitable banks, reproductive success collapses. Young gharials are particularly vulnerable to predation when captive-bred animals are released without adequate protected habitat. The welfare and conservation cases are identical: protecting the Chambal River from sand mining, regulating fishing nets, maintaining river flows, and supporting community-based protection are all required simultaneously.