Chitwan National Park has mobilized an eight-member team to begin counting and monitoring gharial crocodiles in the Rapti and Narayani river areas from Sunday.
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Gharial crocodile census and monitoring has begun in the Rapti and Narayani rivers. The census work began on Sunday.
According to Abinash Thapa Magar, Information Officer of Chitwan National Park, the crocodile census and monitoring are being conducted till the 28th. 'Every year, crocodiles are released into the river, and the crocodile census and monitoring are being conducted to understand their condition,' he said.
Crocodiles raised in the park's crocodile breeding center are released into their natural habitat every year. The census is being conducted to determine the number of crocodiles. According to Thapa, the census will be conducted from Lothar on the Rapti River through Golaghat to Triveni and from Ganjipur on the Narayani River to the confluence of Golaghat with the Rapti River.
He said that the park's technicians, the Nepali Army and people from the Bote community have been mobilized for the crocodile census. A team of eight people has been deployed for the crocodile census and monitoring. He informed that the census may take more time depending on the number of crocodiles in the river.
The gharials raised here are released into various rivers of the country. He informed that since 1995, a total of 2,105 crocodiles have been released into various rivers of the country. In the last fiscal year, 133 crocodiles have been released and in this fiscal year, 15 crocodiles have been released. He said that the number of crocodiles could not be expected as some of the crocodiles released into the rivers were swept away by the rivers.
During the census conducted last year, 352 gharial crocodiles were found in those rivers. 206 crocodiles were found in the Rapti River and 146 crocodiles in the Narayani River. The gharial crocodile is an endangered reptile. In the past, gharials were found in countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Myanmar, but are currently found only in Nepal and India.
In the 1940s, its number was estimated to be around 10,000 in the world. Conservationists say that interest in conservation has been growing since only two percent of its population was found to exist in 1970. Information Officer Thapa Magar said that the natural habitat of crocodiles is being damaged due to increasing human activity in the river, riverine mining, pollution, and fishing.
