This year's gharial release program began on Wednesday in recognition of Yadav's contribution to conservation.
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In memory and honor of the late conservationist Rampreet Yadav, the Chitwan National Park Office on Wednesday released 15 gharial crocodiles from the breeding center into their natural habitat, the Rapti River.
Yadav, a founding employee involved in the determination of the boundaries of Chitwan National Park, had been in government service for a long time as the Chief Conservation Officer of the same park. Yadav, who hails from Sirha, retired from government service but remained active in spreading awareness for forest, park and wildlife conservation while staying in Chitwan. He passed away on Saturday morning at the age of 83.
In memory of Yadav, who was a founding employee and former chief of Chitwan National Park and also the founding chief of the Gharial Breeding Center, and in appreciation of his contribution to conservation, this year's gharial release program began on Wednesday, said Chitwan National Park Information Officer and Conservation Officer Abinash Thapa Magar. Officiating Secretary of the Ministry of Forests Ramchandra Kandel and Director General of the National Parks and Wildlife Department Buddhisagar Poudel also participated in the program.
Chitwan National Park was declared as the first national park in Nepal after the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act was promulgated in 2029 BS. Yadav came to Chitwan in 2027 BS before that. Under his leadership, the Gharial Crocodile Breeding Center was opened in Kasara, the headquarters of Chitwan National Park, in 2035 BS. Gharials live in clean water, nest in good sand, lay eggs, and hatch their young, and eat only fish. The number of Gharials has decreased significantly due to environmental pollution and other problems.
The breeding center was opened in Kasara to increase the number of Gharials, which are rarer and more endangered than tigers and rhinoceroses. Since the survival and growth rate of babies born from crocodile nests is very low, the babies are raised in the breeding center and then released into various rivers and streams in their natural habitat. Due to this, the number of Gharials seems to be improving somewhat.
Since the establishment of the breeding center, 2,105 Gharials raised there have been released into rivers and streams. But the number of Gharials is very low. Sujita Shrestha, head of the Chitwan National Park Gharial Breeding Center, said that during monitoring conducted last winter, there were 352 gharial crocodiles in the rivers and streams surrounding Chitwan National Park, including 206 in Rapti and 146 in Narayani.
