Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus)

Table 1. Major populations- Six localities A-F where gharial are present and reproducing. Note that the Chambal (A) drainage is the largest and most viable population, and all the others (B thru F) are small. Habitat protection: P = protected (e.g. National park or similar), None = no protection for habitat (river and bank). Some rivers have protected (P) and unprotected (None) stretches, such as Gandak (see D below) inhabited by gharial. Within protected (P) stretches, status of banks may differ (i.e. one bank is protected, the other is not protected = None). For these, status is indicated P/None for first the right then / the left bank looking downstream. Reproduction is assessed by the presence of nests or hatchlings (see table and sources). See assessment for details.

Head starts Estimates

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Country Locations Source ( km )

released date eniles - adult nests males otal (all Total adults Total females juv Reproduction T S ub Habitat Protection Approx. river length

Chambal (Kuno A 45 P all ? release 2010 1 1 MPFD 2010. Wildlife Sanctuary) H. Meena 2017, pers (Keshoraipatan to 143 P all ? release 2013-2017 11 1 10 11 22 comm. Pali)

THE IUCN RED LIST OF THREATENED SPECIES™

Head starts Estimates

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Country Locations Source ( km )

released date eniles - adult nests males otal (all Total adults Total females juv Reproduction T S ub Habitat Protection Approx. river length

28 km Parvati River None, 40 Khandal et al. 2017. (upstream Chambal 68 km P right Yes release 2015-2017 10 1 9 14-29 5-7* (* >200 hatchlings confluence) bank/ near nest site). None left Banas River Khandal et al. 2017; (upstream Chambal 53 None release 2015-2016 2 5 Taigor 2014. confluence) GEP 2017. Chambal River (Pali 414 P all Yes release 2016 360 (nests estimated in to Pachnada) 2016, based on counts) GEP 2017. 1,316 2017 617 126 491 - (adult count in Jan- 1,216 Feb 2017, 414 km NCS). GEP 2017. “ 2017 483 72 411 411 (nest count 414 km NCS in 2017). 2017 761 65 696 1,255 MPFD 2017. Katerniaghat Wildlife Converse 2009; Das B INDIA 20 P all Yes R 2009 35-50 8-12 27-44 105 27 Sanctuary, UP et al. 2012. Head starts Estimates

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Country Locations Source ( km )

released date eniles - adult nests males otal (all Total adults Total females juv Reproduction T S ub Habitat Protection Approx. river length

Choudhary et al. “ 2011 49 13 36 94 143 24 2017. B. Choudhury 2016, “ 2014 38 30 pers comm. G. Vashistha 2017, “ 2016 35 pers comm. G. Vashistha 2017, 2017 43 6 37 32 pers comm.

P left B. Khadka pers Chitwan NP, bank/ comm, in Lang 2017 C NEPAL 30 Yes 2001-2017 14 4-14 Narayani River None (2001-2017; Right bank mean=8.6 nests/yr). release 2008 11 2 9 23 34 Khadka et al. 2008. release 2011 16 2 14 24 48 WWF Nepal 2011. release 2013 8 1 7 51 63 TAL, PABZ 2013. Acharya et al. 2017* (*= report pending); release 2016 (49) 1 (49) 35 (84*) Malla and Thapa 2016. Rajbhandari et al. 2017 42 2 40 13 2017. Head starts Estimates

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Country Locations Source ( km )

released date eniles - adult nests males otal (all Total adults Total females juv Reproduction T S ub Habitat Protection Approx. river length

P left B. Khadka pers bank/ comm., in Lang 2017. East Rapti River 15 Yes 2001-2017 14 4-14 None right (2001-2017; bank mean=8.6 nests). release 2008 4 1 3 14 24 Khadka et al. 2008. release 2011 1 0 1 29 33 WWF Nepal 2011. release 2013 7 0 7 36 45 TAL, PABZ 2013. Acharya et al. 2017*; release 2016 (20) 0 20 52 (82*) 5-6 B. Khadka 2017, pers comm. Gandak River, 267km D INDIA (=Narayani, Nepal) 322 None/ 55 2010 8 1 7 4 12 Choudhary 2010. Valmiki km P Nair and Katdare 2014a. 2014 21 2 19 50 (in upper 200 km of Gandak). B. Choudhury et al. release 2015 26 28 2016. Head starts Estimates

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Country Locations Source ( km )

released date eniles - adult nests males otal (all Total adults Total females juv Reproduction T S ub Habitat Protection Approx. river length

WTI 2017. Yes 2016 6* (nests at single site, ~100 km down from barrage) WTI 2017. Yes 2017 39 4 35 79 119 0** (**=barrage release washed away early nests) River Chowfin and Leslie E INDIA 32 P all Yes 2009-2011 1-2 (Kalagarh Reservoir) 2013. “ 2013 13 Chowfin 2013. Corbett National Chowfin and Leslie 2013 32 10 22 39 71 Park 2014. Chowfin and Leslie 2016. Yes 2015 (90) ??** (**=hatchling mortality ~99%) 45 km Bardia National Park, F NEPAL 57 P/12 km 2008 1 11 16 Khadka et al. 2008. None 2011 7 2 5 10 17 WWF Nepal 2011. Head starts Estimates

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Country Locations Source ( km )

released date eniles - adult nests males otal (all Total adults Total females juv Reproduction T S ub Habitat Protection Approx. river length

2013 7 2 5 7 14 TAL, PABZ 2013. Gill 2014; Lang 2017, release 2014-2016 5-7 4-5 1-2 pers. comm. Acharya et al. 2017; release 2016 (15) 5 10 13 (31*) *=of 31, 8 were previous releases. A. Bashyal 2017, pers. comm. Potential 2017 10 5 5 7 17 (57 km=12 No P downstream+45 P upstream)

Table 2. Minor and extirpated localities. Nine current localities where gharial are present in low numbers but not reproducing and six localities where recent inspection indicates previous populations are no longer present (ex= extirpated). Habitat protection P = protected (e.g. National park or similar), None = habitat (river and bank) has no protection. Some rivers have protected (P) and unprotected (None) stretches, such as Karnali (see I below) inhabited by gharial. Within protected (P) stretches, status of banks may differ (i.e. one bank is protected, the other is not protected). For these, status is indicated P/None for first the right then / the left bank looking downstream. Reproduction is assessed by the presence of nests or hatchlings (see table and sources). Details in text.

Head starts Estimates

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Country Locations Source dult

released date eniles Habitat - a nests males Protection otal (all) length ( length Total adults Total females juv Approx. river T Reproducti Sub

Ghaghara G INDIA River, middle 94 None No 2009 5 5 12 17 Basu and Singh 2010. stretch C. Baliga 2016, pers 80 None No release 2014 4 2 2 35 58 comm. River, lower 165 None No release 2017 10 1 9 10 20 WTI 2017. stretch Ghosh and Merrill Bhagirathi- 2010; Ghosh 2013; T. H INDIA 500 None No 2008-2012 2-21 13-82 Hooghly River Ghosh 2017, pers comm. 33 km Bardia NP, P left 45 I NEPAL Karnali River bank No 2008 0 0 0 2 6 Khadka, et al. 2008. (33/12) (=Geruwa chl) /12 km None Head starts Estimates

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Country Locations Source dult

released date eniles Habitat - a nests males Protection otal (all) length ( length Total adults Total females juv Approx. river T Reproducti Sub

2011 1 0 1 2 4 WWF Nepal 2011. 2013 1 0 1 1 2 TAL, PABZ 2013. Acharya et al. 2017; 2016 1 0 1 0 1 Malla and Thapa 2016. A. Bashyal 2017, pers.comm. (Karnali 2017 1 0 1 0 1 and Geruwa surveyed=60 kms). Jamuna, J BANGLADESH Padma 270 None No 2009-2012 21 Rashid et al. 2014. Bangladesh IUCN Bangladesh 2007-2016 35 2016. Saikia et al. 2010; Das Brahmaputra et al. 2011, 2013; K INDIA / Barack Various None No 2004-2011 ?? ?? T.Ghosh 2017, pers. Rivers comm. L INDIA 260 P all release 2010 8 2 6 2 14 Sharma et al. 2011. India Nair and Katdare yes 2013 9 2 7 1 20 4 2013; MPFD 2013. Head starts Estimates

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Country Locations Source dult

released date eniles Habitat - a nests males Protection otal (all) length ( length Total adults Total females juv Approx. river T Reproducti Sub

No last T. Nair 2017, pers. adult comm. males 2014-2017 10 2** 8 4 now (**2 adult males killed killed in nets 2016).

P right Nair 2012. bank/ M INDIA 175 ?No 2012 ?? India None left (8 young near Ken- bank confluence). Nair and Katdare 2013-2017 1 1 2013, 2014b; T. Nair 2017, pers. comm. Mohanty 2004; River N INDIA 25 P No release 2010-2017 1-3 1 2 9 Mohanty et al. 2010; (Satkosia Palei and Rath 2017. Gorge)

Hastinapur Yadav and Khan Sanctuary, 2016. O INDIA 120 P No release 2010-2017 0 ~100 upper (WWF annual , UP releases since 2010). Head starts Estimates

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Country Locations Source dult

released date eniles Habitat - a nests males Protection otal (all) length ( length Total adults Total females juv Approx. river T Reproducti Sub

Nair 2012. Yamuna (8 young near Ken- River, upstrm P ex INDIA 220 None No 2012 0 Yamuna confluence; from Ganges see Ken above). confl. (ex. = extirpated)

Koshi (=Kosi) Shah and Paudel Q ex INDIA River, upper 80 P No 2017 0 2016; WTI 2017 . & lower (ex. = extirpated) Andrews and Mahakali McEachern 1994; E. R ex NEPAL River (=Sarda 50 None No 2014 0 Theophilus 2015, in India) pers comm. (ex. = extirpated)

Sarda River E. Theophilus 2015, S ex INDIA (=Mahakali in 100 None No 2014 0 pers.comm. Nepal) (ex. = extirpated)

Betwa River, Nair and Katdare T ex INDIA ex tributary of 100 None 2013 0 2013. Yamuna (ex. = extirpated) Tons (=Tamas), T. Nair 2017, pers U ex INDIA ex 100 None 2013 0 tributary of comm. Ganges