Gharial Crocodile Sighting Reported in Devghat Area of Chitwan

Chitwan. A Gharial crocodile has been spotted in the Devghat area of Gaindakot. While there was talk of crocodiles in the Devghat area a few years ago, they have been seen rarely in recent years. Local Upendra Pandit, while attending a cremation ceremony, saw a Gharial crocodile basking in the sun on the riverbank towards Gaindakot and informed journalist Ramesh Kumar Paudel. He stated that many people attending the cremation saw the crocodile.

Journalist Paudel mentioned that local fishermen had seen a crocodile on the riverbank a few days ago. He said, "Late Bed Bahadur Khadka, former Assistant Conservation Officer of Chitwan National Park, had stated while working in the park that the banks of the Narayani and Kaligandaki rivers near Devghat were suitable habitats for Gharial crocodiles. He used to say that Gharial crocodiles stopped being seen in this area due to increasing pollution."

Avinash Thapa Magar, Assistant Conservation Officer and Information Officer of the park, stated that the Gharial crocodile is an animal that lives in clean water and feeds on fish. He believes that the Gharial is disappearing due to pollution in rivers and streams, human encroachment, and a scarcity of fish.

According to the local Bote community, Gharial crocodiles had not been seen in the Devghat area and its surroundings for about 35 years. Park Information Officer Magar said, "According to the elders here, Gharials had not been seen in the Devghat area for about 35 years. It needs to be studied whether the crocodile seen now is native to this area or has come from elsewhere."

Chitwan National Park has a breeding center in Kasara for Gharial conservation. Here, eggs are collected from vulnerable nests on the banks of the Rapti and Narayani rivers, brought here, and the hatchlings are raised. The grown hatchlings are then released back into the rivers. Thapa Magar stated that although Gharials raised in the Kaligandaki River were also released in the past, they are now only released into the Rapti and Narayani rivers around the park because they could not be conserved.

According to the census published last Poush (mid-December to mid-January), 231 Gharial crocodiles were found in the Rapti and 135 in the Narayani. Magar stated that counting stopped in the Devghat area in recent years because crocodiles were not seen there. He mentioned that the sighting of a crocodile in Devghat is being taken seriously and further study will be conducted on this matter.