MUMBAI: The Central government has set up a crisis management group with the help of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to look into the recent sudden deaths of gharials in the Chambal river.
At least 70 gharials have died in the span of a month in the river flowing through Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. The reason for the deaths is unknown.
Known as the living fossil, the gharial (a relative of the crocodile) is a highly-endangered species, with just 1,400 alive in the world. A majority of the reptiles – about 1,000 – are in India, with the Chambal (Gharial) River Sanctuary alone hosting 800.
“The gharial deaths were first reported on December 10 when five corpses were found. On December 11, another six corpses were found,” said Naresh Bedi, a wildlife film-maker and conservationist, adding that the death toll has since gone up to 70.
Although post-mortem reports indicate liver failure as the cause for the deaths, they do not explain what caused the liver failure in the first place.
“It could be a disease, infection, fish poisoning or lead content in the river. However, what is surprising is, no other acquatic animal has died in the river in the period,” said Bedi’s son Vijay, also a wildlife conservationist.
“Efforts by veterinarians, investigative agencies and forest departments have so far not yielded any conclusive clues to prevent the recurrence of such deaths. Unfortunately in India, we don’t have veterinarians/organisations that specialise in diseases affecting wild animals,” said Bedi.
The crisis management group will give a report to the Central government on the next step to be taken. “There is an acute lack of co-ordination between the laboratories and the government,” pointed out Bedi.
“We have to immediately galvanise our wildlife veterinary services and upgrade protected area management with the involvement of the forest authorities of the three states through which the Chambal flows,” said Basu D, gharial conservation co-ordinator, WWF India.
The Bedi brothers - Naresh and Rajesh - won international acclaim, including a Green Oscar, 30 years ago for their film The Ganges Gharial, the first and only film to record the reptiles’ behaviour in the wild.
“At that time, we had only 300 adult breeding gharials surviving in the wild. According to current statistics, that number has dropped to 182,” said Bedi. “This means we are back to square one after three decades. And with the recent deaths, all conservation efforts have been negated,” he added.
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