Nepal releases 25 gharials into the wild, but concerns emerge about timing and survival of species

Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation released 25 critically endangered gharials (Gavialis gangeticus) into a tributary of the transboundary Mahakali River (also known as Sarda in India) on March 17. This action, the department says, aligns with plans to gradually reintroduce the crocodiles to rivers where they historically had roamed but became extinct due to various reasons.

However, researchers and conservationists observing the release have raised concerns regarding the transparency and timing of the process.

A total of 22 females and three males raised at the gharial breeding center at Chitwan National Park were released into the Chaudhar River, which flows through the Shuklaphanta National Park part of the Terai Arc Landscape in far western Nepal. The last remaining gharial in the river was found dead in 1993.

“We welcome the translocation of the gharials into rivers where they historically roamed,” said crocodile researcher and conservationist Ashish Bashyal from the non-profit Biodiversity Conservancy Nepal. “However, it could have been done in a better way,” he added.

Gharials, known for their slender snouts ending in a swollen tip, previously inhabited the Ganga River and its tributaries in South Asia. Presently, they are found in only a handful of rivers within the Ganga Basin, facing threats from dams and barrages, fishing, infrastructure...

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