Lalasha Yadav and his neighbors consider themselves doting parents—but not the kind you might imagine.
For the past eight years, Yadav and his fellow farmers and fishermen along northern India’s Gandak River have raised and reintroduced more than 600 eggs and hatchlings of the critically endangered gharial, a prehistoric long-snouted reptile.
Now found only in India and Nepal, these crocodile relatives once inhabited over 30,000 square miles of South Asian rivers. Due to habitat loss, poaching, and accidental fishing deaths, the species’ population shrunk from 10,000 animals in 1946 to fewer than 250 adults in 2006, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The gharial gets its name from the male’s bulbous snout, which resembles an earthen pot called a gharia.
In an effort to save the unique animal, the Indian government and nonprofits launched targeted conservation efforts, including captive breeding and monitoring of nesting gharials. Such initiatives have boosted the wild population to about 650, according to the IUCN.
One of their most successful programs is the Gandak Gharial Recovery Project, which has empowered people in 35 villages on the floodplains of the Gandak, a tributary of the Ganges, to conserve the gharial.
This section of the river has braided banks interwoven with fish-rich wetlands and small islands and sandbars, ideal habitat for the rare reptile, says Samir Kumar Sinha, chief ecologist at the nonprofit Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), which has led the Gandak program since its founding in 2014. (Read about freshwater species at risk of extinction.)
Community members, motivated to save their native keystone predator voluntarily watch over the nests, monitor illegal activity, and even help with population surveys in the region, part of Bihar State.
“These farmer-fishermen turned conservationists are the on-the-ground eyes and ears of the project,” says Subrat Kumar Behera, manager and head of the Gandak project at WTI.
‘Our happiness knows no bounds’ Usually in April, community members celebrate the first sighting of a gharial laying her eggs with picnics by the river bank, says Jitendra Gautam, a nest protector from Chilwania village.
The communities then begin monitoring each nest, which houses about 35 to 50 eggs. If it’s at risk of washing away, trained volunteers shift the nests to the nearest safe location, usually about 700 feet from the original site, says Gautam, who says he began working with the project because the gharial is a “peaceful animal” not involved in human conflicts. (Read about an Indian community that welcomes leopards.)
During the transfer, volunteers mark the eggs to identify which nest they came from. Their new nest is then gently covered with sand and a net to safeguard them from jackals, cattle, and other potential threats.
Once the foot-long babies emerge, around mid-June, they’re carefully released into the river next to their mothers, which remain vigilant at their original nest sites, says Yadav, who is from Lediharwa village.
“Our happiness knows no bounds each time we see our ‘little children’ popping out their slender snouts and emerging from their eggs,” Yadav says.
The communities then hold another celebration recognizing the hatchlings’ release with dahi-chura, or curds with flattened rice.
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Locals know best Other important breeding sites include the National Chambal Gharial Sanctuary, which now has over 1,800 individuals; the Corbett Tiger Reserve, which houses about a hundred individuals; and Nepal’s Chitwan National Park, home to over 200 individuals.
The Gandak River is the only active breeding site outside a protected area. In 2010, Bihar’s forest department, the Wildlife Trust of India, and other scientific institutions documented 15 individuals during the river’s first gharial survey. Since then, the population has grown to 259.
The Gandak project’s first success was releasing 30 young gharials raised at Bihar’s Patna Zoo into the river in 2014 and 2015. After six months, the reintroduced gharials had adjusted well to their new habitat.
People living along the river “have traditional knowledge and lived experiences on the river and its ecosystem that are invaluable for the project,” says Behera.
The farmers and fishermen also look out for illicit activities, such as electrofishing or using passive fishing gear, which can harm or kill gharials. Based on their reporting of such activities, authorities can take prompt legal action if needed.
“The role of the local communities in protecting the gharials and effortlessly co-existing with them set an ideal example for saving other endangered species,” says B.C. Choudhury, member and former chair of the Crocodile Specialist Group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
He also advocates traditional eco-tourism in the region, for instance by introducing row boats and deploying local communities as guides, which can boost the rural economy.
Looking ahead Meanwhile, the state government has proposed turning 93 miles of the river into a conservation reserve. They’ve held public meetings to seek out the opinions and expertise of the surrounding villages, says the state’s wildlife chief, PK Gupta.
“While the breeding sites in the river will receive legal protection, the local communities will not face the same level of restrictions as they would in a national park.” (See 10 amazing pictures of reptiles.)
For instance, communities around India’s national parks are not allowed to take anything from the park, which includes hunting. Yet in a conservation reserve, the government allows for some sustainable activities, such as using river water for agriculture.
“Additionally, the [local people] will have a significant role in managing the conservation reserve committee,” he says.
The state government has also approved setting up an ex-situ incubation and interpretation center for gharials and other aquatic species, with support from the Los Angeles Zoo.
“The purpose is to provide more protection to the endangered eggs outside their natural habitat by replicating natural conditions for incubation and releasing the hatchlings back into the river,” says Sinha.
He also emphasizes the importance of transboundary collaboration between India and Nepal.
“This single river flowing through both countries supports a combined population of over 450 gharials that move through it as common citizens,” says Sinha.
“Sustained mutual cooperation and exchange of learnings will further strengthen this river ecosystem into one of the most important gharial habitats in the world,” he adds, “while symbolizing friendship and goodwill between the two neighboring nations.”
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