About the Gharial
The gharial is one of the most critically endangered reptiles on earth — a fish-eating crocodilian with a dramatically elongated, narrow snout lined with interlocking teeth perfectly designed for catching fish underwater. Once common in river systems across the Indian subcontinent, the gharial was reduced to fewer than 200 individuals by the 1970s before captive breeding and river protection programmes began to reverse the decline. Today approximately 1,800 survive, primarily in the Chambal River.
Gharials are highly specialised fish eaters and cannot walk on land the way crocodiles can — they can only push themselves along on their bellies. The male's distinctive bulbous nose ornament (the ghara) is a resonator that amplifies its buzzing, hissing call and signals sexual maturity. Gharials nest on sandy river banks in April–May, with females guarding the nest until the young hatch. The National Chambal Sanctuary — a 425 km stretch of the Chambal River — is the most important gharial habitat on earth.