Gharial: Gavialidae - Physical Characteristics, Habitat, Diet, Behavior And Reproduction, Conservation Status - GEOGRAPHIC RANGE, GHARIALS AND PEOPLE
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Gharial populations are scattered here and there in India, Nepal, and Pakistan, and individuals are sometimes spotted in Bangladesh and Bhutan.
Local people sometimes gather gharial eggs for food or hunt the males for the ghara, which they use to make potions. Some people fear gharials, but they do not attack or eat humans. This reptile does, however, hold a place in Hindu legends of a river goddess, named Ma Ganga, who rides on a gharial's back.
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The lone species of gharial (GAR-ee-ul), also sometimes known as a gavial, looks much like a crocodile or alligator except that a gharial has an extremely long and thin snout. The narrow jaws in both males and females are lined with more than 100 pinpoint-sharp teeth. The back of a gharial is covered with tough scales, but these scales are not lumpy as they are in many alligator and crocodile spec…
Gharials live in clear, freshwater rivers with swift currents but prefer river bends and other areas where the water is flowing more slowly and is quite deep. They also seek out sandbars in the middle of the river and use them for sunbathing, or basking, to warm their bodies. Strangely, this freshwater animal has salt glands, which are found in animals that live in saltwater. The glands are small …
Like some of the other alligators and crocodiles, gharials usually get along quite well and live together in groups. They stay in the water most of the time, coming out occasionally to bask on shore. While they are excellent swimmers, they are slow on land and must drag their bellies and tails on the ground when they walk. They rarely wander too far from the water's edge and, at the slighte…
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service consider this species to be Endangered,
which means that it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild and throughout all or a significant portion of its range. In some areas, the gharial has already disappeared or is nearly gone. The greatest threat to this species is habitat loss, often caused when people clear …
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User Comments
4 months ago
Interesting info, unfortunately crocodile in my country increasingly scarce.
over 2 years ago
javed
hw we cn protect