Just watched the programme 'Crocodile blues' in BBC. The programme is about Gharial, the world's oldest crocodilian, which is on the very edge of extinction. It evolved before dinosaurs, ie about 150 million years of existence and at present there are just about 200 wild breeding animals in the world! Most of the Gharials are almost confined to India, the majority in the Chambal river system. Gharials are fish eating reptiles which can grow to a length of about 20 feet long and about 1 tonne in weight.
Last winter about 10% (more than 100)of Gharials suddenly died in mysterious circumstances! How come one of evolution's most successful species suddenly perish? This programme is about finding the mystery regarding these deaths. The programme follows Rom Whitaker who is a living legend in Herpetology for the last 60 years. {He established the Centre for Herpetology, popularly known as the Madras Crocodile Bank, the Madras Snake Park and the Andaman and Nicobar Environment Trust (ANET)}.
Despite its immense size, Gharial is not a man-eater. It has thin, fragile jaws that makes it physically incapable of devouring any large animal, including a human being. The characteristic elongated snout shape varies with the age. The snout becomes progressively thinner as the Gharial gets older. The bulbous growth on the tip of the male's snout (a lump of cartilage) is called a 'ghara' (meaning 'pot'), present in mature individuals. The bulbous growth is used to generate a resonant hum during vocalization and it acts as a visual lure for attracting females
The detailed autopsy on these dead Gharials from Chambal river shows that internal organs are with in normal limits except some white powdery material and abnormal kidneys. Further analysis shows that the white powder is uric acid suggesting 'Gout' like illness. The acute renal failure raised the possibility of poisoning by metal pollutants. The search for the source of pollutant/ toxin leads Rom to river Yamuna.
The Yamuna is one of the most polluted rivers (carrying the industrial waste with it) in the country and Chambal is one of the cleanest river systems. It is more than likely that the toxins enter chambal-river-system where it meets Yamuna river.
The breeding at Madras crocodile bank was shown and the wonderful 'makeshift maternity ward'. The Gharials lay about 50 eggs, usually on a small sand hill at the river bed. It takes about 70-80 days for the eggs to hatch just before the arrival of the monsoon.
The inbred animals from Madras are released into the wild/ river. The small conservation project at Katarnia Ghat (Lucknow) was also shown. Rom also mentions here about Indian white-rumped vulture which suffered a near-extinction from ingesting the carrion of diclofenac (a pain-killer)treated cattle.
It is clear that the flora and fauna in India are facing tremendous pressure as a result of population migration, hunting and trapping for food and sport, global warming, rapid deforestation and industrialization. In fact, India contains 172 of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) -designated threatened species. These include the Asiatic Lion, the Bengal tiger and the Indian white-rumped vulture. There are many conservation projects that aims to nurture these near-endangered species. I hope the success story of 'Project-tiger' is mirrored in conservation projects for other animals/birds too. If not, Gharial will be next on the long list of extinct animals from India.....
