大象传媒

Gharial crocodiles are now officially catagorised as critically endangered. The wild population of gharial has declined from between 5,000 and 10,000 animals in the 1940s to an estimated 182 in 2006. That鈥檚 a decline of about 96% - and it's a conservative estimate. Almost 60% of that loss has happened in the past decade. The drastic decline can be attributed to a variety of causes: over-hunting for skins and trophies, egg collection for consumption, killing for indigenous medicine and killing by fishermen. While hunting is no longer considered a significant threat, the construction of dams and barrages, irrigation canals and artificial embankments, and sand-mining have all combined to cause excessive, irreversible loss of the gharials' riverine habitat. Gharial decline has gone hand in hand with the decline of other once abundant animals on the rivers including the Ganges river dolphin, the mugger crocodile and numerous waterfowl and well known game and edible fish species including the mahseer.