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Three of our research assistants also monitored the gharials and their courtship, which paid off,” said Udgata.

In the last one year, four forest divisions around the gorge worked together to make the western part of Satkosia totally inviolate by stopping fishing and boating activities. “Though we have been trying hard to get them to breed, it was not possible due to boating and fishing activities. Gharials caught accidentally in fishing nets are either hacked to death or have their snout chopped off by fishermen.ĭivisional forest officer of the Mahanadi wildlife division, HB Udgata said this is the first time in the past 15 years that gharials were seen breeding in natural conditions away from the artificial breeding centres. They are also genetically weak as compared to salt water crocodiles and muggers. Distinguishable by their long snout, the gharials are considered to be among the most critically endangered crocodiles with an estimated 200-400 remaining in the rivers of Uttar Pradesh as their habitat is threatened due to human encroachment and disruption of population through fishing activities.

The tiny hatchlings were sighted on the back of the mother gharial and were also swimming independently in the gorge by Odisha wildlife officials over the past few days. Bhubaneswar At least 28 gharial hatchlings have been sighted with their mother in the Satkosia gorge of the Mahanadi river in the first-ever case of breeding of the reptiles in natural conditions, wildlife officials said on Sunday.