Endangered species of gharial crocodiles lie in the Crocodile Breeding Centre of Chitwan National Park at Kasara, Chitwan. in the pools of the Centre. Photo: Tilak Ram Rimal/File
CHITWAN: The population of gharials is declining rapidly despite the efforts invested by various organisations in Nepal, it has been revealed.
The reptiles released in various rivers are declining in the number, according to Assistant Conservation Officer of the Chitwan National Park, Bed Bahadur Khadka.
The Crocodile Breeding Centre was established at Kasara in Chitwan National park in 1978. The Centre along with its subsidiaries has occasionally been releasing the amphibian reptiles into the six rivers of Nepal since 1981.
Until now, 546 gharials have been released into Rapti River alone, followed by 399 in Narayani River. Likewise, 35 in Kaligandaki, 95 in Saptakoshi, 41 in Karnali, 110 in Babai have been released, Khadka informed. He said that the population of the amphibian reptiles were estimated at 150 in each Narayani and Rapti while other rivers are estimated at 50 in average.
He said that the population of the amphibian reptiles were estimated at 150 in each Narayani and Rapti rivers while other rivers are estimated at 50 in average.
A hatchling which leaves its parents in a week after hatching out of egg needs water bodies covering at least 200 kilometres to exercise.
In lack of adequate space, about 75 per cent of the reptiles cross into Indian water, but cannot return to its habitat, officer Khadka asserted.
Apart from the migration, various human activities including fisheries and extracting stones, sand and pebbles from the riverbed have been the main causes of the destruction of the habitats of the amphibian reptiles.
The census carried out in the rivers of Nepal in March-April last year had shown the increase in the number of gharial crocodiles by 74, in comparison to the census carried out in 2013, when only 124 crocodiles were found in rivers of Nepal.
Listed among the species of special concern by the WWF, it has been assumed that 50 per cent of the gharials will be extinct in ten years.
READ ALSO:
KATHMANDU, JANUARY 22 Lawyers representing the petitioners who have challenged the dissolution of the House of Representatives said Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli could only exercise powers given by the constitution and the current constitution did not give him the power to dissolve the HoR. Adv Read More...
KATHMANDU: The Office of the Attorney General on Friday submitted the copy of the Nepal Gazette that has printed the notification about the HoR dissolution. The notification was posted on the website of the Department of Printing on Thursday. Information Officer of Department of Printing Padma Ra Read More...
KATHMANDU, JANUARY 22 Three top leaders of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal today spoke against the prime minister’s move to dissolve the House of Representatives while addressing a rally organised by the party in the capital. NCP Co-chairperso Read More...
BUENOS AIRES, JANUARY 22 Scientists have unearthed massive, 98-million-year-old fossils in southwest Argentina they say may have belonged to the largest dinosaur ever discovered. Human-sized pieces of fossilised bone belonging to the giant sauropod appear to be 10-20 per cent larger than those Read More...
KATHMANDU, JANUARY 22 The demonstration staged by the Dahal-Nepal faction of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) over dissolution of the House of Representatives threw the city traffic out of gear after thousands of party cadres staged rallies from more than a dozen places of Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Read More...
LONDON: There is some evidence that a new coronavirus variant first identified in southeast England carries a higher risk of death than the original strain, the British government’s chief scientific adviser said Friday -- though he stressed that the data is uncertain. Patrick Vallance told a ne Read More...
WASHINGTON: Opening arguments in the Senate impeachment trial for Donald Trump over the Capitol riot will begin the week of Feb. 8, the first time a former president will face such charges after leaving office. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the schedule Friday evening after reach Read More...
ATLANTA: His name is all over the baseball record book and, indeed, Hank Aaron could do it all. Sure, he's remembered mostly for dethroning the Babe to become baseball's home run king on the way to 755, but don't forget about the .300 average, or the graceful way he fielded his position, or the d Read More...
