The Gharial – Good News for the Critically Endangered Indian Crocodile?

Unlike much of what you see on Kuriositas, there was no CGI used in the creation of the photograph above.  This exquisite creature is a gharial and Ark in Space has an interesting feature today about this critically endangered species of crocodile found in India. It is the only living example in its animal family: there is no set figure but it is thought only a few hundred viable breeding pairs exist in the wild. It has had its numbers decreased by a massive 98% since 1950 and likewise its habitat.

Things don’t look very good for the gharial – only recently a hundred specimens (a good percentage of the entire population) were discovered dead, their demise brought about, so it is believed, by metal poisoning. Yet there is some good news on the horizon for the gharial.   Head over to the Ark in Space to find out.

Image Credit Wikimedia