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Species in News: Crocodiles
Context:
on June 17th, India celebrated the 50th anniversary of its Crocodile Conservation Project, coinciding with World Crocodile Day.
Crocodiles: Living Fossils of the Reptilian World
- Order and Classification: Belong to the order Crocodylia (or Crocodilia).
- Include about 27 species of large, amphibious reptiles.
- Characterised by a lizard-like appearance and carnivorous diet.
- Physical Characteristics:Possess powerful jaws with many conical teeth.
- Have short legs with clawed webbed toes.
- Unique body structure allows eyes, ears, and nostrils to remain above water.
- Distinctive Features: Long and massive tail.
- Thick, plated skin for protection.
Crocodile Species in India:
- Estuarine or Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus).
- Largest crocodile species on the planet.
- Relatively large head with ridges running down from the eye along the snout.
- Highly aquatic species compared to other crocodiles.
- Found along the northeast coast of India and in the Andaman Island, Bhitarkanika Wildlife Sanctuary, Sunderbans.
- Conservation Status:
- IUCN : Least Concern
IWPAA : Schedule I
CITES : Appendix I
- IUCN : Least Concern
Mugger or Marsh Crocodile (Crocodylus palustris).
- Broad head and snout, robust body, resembling the American alligator.
- Broadest snout of any crocodile.
- Semi-aquatic, basks in the sun to raise body temperature.
- First evidence of reptiles using tools: observed using sticks and twigs as hunting lures.
- Significant populations occur in middle Ganga (Bihar and Jharkhand), Chambal River (Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh) and in Gujarat.
- Conservation status:
- IUCN : Vulnerable
IWPAA : Schedule I
CITES : Appendix I
- IUCN : Vulnerable
- Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus).
- Name derived from “ghara,” an Indian word meaning pot, referencing the bulbous knob (narial excrescence) at the end of its snout.
- Gharials are the only visibly sexually dimorphic crocodilian species, distinguished by the presence of the ghara on males.
- Possesses a strongly attenuated (narrowed) snout, which aids in efficient fish-catching.
- Has a relatively long and well-muscled neck, enhancing its ability to swiftly catch fish.
- Widely found in the Indus, Ganga, Brahmaputra and the Mahanadi-Brahmani-Baitarani river systems of India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan.
- The Gharial reserves of India are located in three States – Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.
- Conservation status:
-
- IUCN : Critically Endangered
IWPA : Schedule I
CITES : Appendix I
- IUCN : Critically Endangered
India’s Crocodile Conservation Project:
- Initiated in 1975 by the United Nations and Government of India to protect natural habitats and boost crocodile populations through captive breeding due to low survival rates in the wild.
- Led by Australian herpetologist HR Bustard.
- Sudhakar Kar, mentored by HR Bustard, began crocodile conservation work in Bhitarkanika in 1975 as a research fellow.
- He is known as Odisha’s ‘Crocodile Man’.
Bhitarkanika National Park, Odisha
- Second largest mangrove ecosystem in India, spread over 672 sq km in Orissa.
- Located in the estuarial region of Brahmani-Baitarani, adjacent to the Bay of Bengal.
- Home to endangered saltwater crocodiles and the largest colony of Olive Ridley sea turtles at Gahirmatha Beach.
