Chitwan, December 19

A team from Chitwan National Park today reached Bardia in search of male gharial.

The team reached Bardia National Park in search of male gharial as there was no male gharial in the rivers in the proximity of CNP and Gharial Breeding Centre Kasara, in Chitwan.

Chitwan National Park Chief Conservation Officer Ram Chandra Kandel said they had started searching for the male species in the Babai and Karnali rivers. “As we have to carry the male gharials from the rivers in the Indian border, consultations with Indian officials also are under way,” said Kandel.

He is accompanied by Assistant Conservation Officer Bed Bahadur Khadka of Gharial Breeding Centre in Kasara, technicians and other officials. “Officials at Bardiya National Park will also assist us,” he said.

There is only one male gharial at the Kasara-based breeding centre of Chitwan National Park. National park officials have been searching for male gharial for the past six months as not a single male gharial was found in the Rapti and Narayani rivers for over a year.

There was shortage of male gharial after a gharial each at the breeding centre and in the Rapti River died last year. However, eggs from the Rapti and Narayani banks were used for hatching at the breeding centre.

There are thirty gharials in the Babai River and of them at least three are said to be males. However, there is no exact data om the population of the species in the Karnali River. More than 100 rare gharials have been released in the Babai and Karnali rivers so far, according to Khadka.