Gharial reportedly spotted in Devghat Area

Chitwan, March 4: A gharial crocodile has reportedly been spotted in the Devghat area of Gaindakot. In recent years, sightings of gharials in the area have been rare.

Local resident Upendra Pandit sighted the reptile basking in the sun on the Devghat riverbank towards Gaindakot while attending a funeral procession. He later reported it to journalist Ramesh Kumar Paudel. According to him, many others in the procession also saw the animal.

Journalist Paudel said a local fisherman also informed him that he had also seen the gharial on the riverbank.

It is said that increasing pollution along the Devghat River has caused the disappearance of the gharials from the area.

Chitwan National Park’s Conservation Officer and Information Officer, Abinash Thapa Magar, said that gharials live in clean, flowing water and survive mainly on fish. Increasing river pollution, growing human encroachment, and the decline in fish populations have led to the rare sightings of gharials in the Devghat area.

According to members of the Bote community (local fisherfolk), gharials have not been seen in Devghat and surrounding areas for the past 35 years. Their statement raises the question of whether the recently spotted animal belongs to an indigenous species or arrived from elsewhere.

The Crocodile Breeding Centre based in Kasara under Chitwan National Park collects crocodile eggs from the banks of the Rapti and Narayani rivers, breeds them, and releases the young crocodiles once they grow up. According to the latest gharial census conducted in Poush (January–February), there were 231 gharials in the Rapti River and 135 in the Narayani River.

According to the Assistant Information Officer of Chitwan National Park, the census is not conducted in the Devghat area due to the absence of sightings for many years. He added that the recent spotting of the animal will be studied further.  (RSS)