Gharial rescued in Malda

KOLKATA: A four-month-old gharial was rescued from Malda on Thursday. The 40-inch-long reptile, which was caught in a fishing net at Paglaghat at Panchanandapur, was initially thought to be a crocodile and sparked fear among locals. The animal was finally taken to Malda divisional forest office and later released in the Ganges.
Subrat Behera of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) saw it and said, "It is a wild-bred animal."
On the other hand, the gharial that was rescued by the forest department early this month, and kept at Rasik Bill in Cooch Behar, was identified as one %released by WTI at Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar.
Following the huge uproar after villagers began actively hunting six gharials spotted in the Mahananda near English Bazar on September 12, the forest department of Raiganj division undertook a rescue operation. Officials eventually rescued a gharial which had sneaked into a ditch near Abadpur village near the Bihar border. The forest department, with the help of local NGO People for Animals, rescued the 8ft-long reptile and shifted it to Rasik Bill. But this angered animal lovers.
Subhasis Sengupta of Green People's India, Malda, said, "This might save the animal's life for the time being but its future is uncertain. Why should it not be released in the Ganges, its natural habitat?" He added, "Do we keep a rescued% tiger in Alipore Zoo or release it %in Sunderbans? Even the gharials which were in the Rasik Bill - as many as eight - are kept in a %separate enclosure, which is against nature." WTI, reacting to this concern, looked into the matter. Behera went to Cooch Behar after tracing the route the gharials had taken. He said, "On February 11, we released as many as 30 gharials, after marking them, in the Gondak river to increase their population. It is part of our research. The rescued reptile is one of them. We could identify the mark. But keeping it in an enclosure is certainly going against the mission. We are writing to the government on this."
He also said that at least four more gharials were in the Mahananda, as reported by the villagers. These animals had travelled at least 1,000km through Gondak, Ganges, Fulohar and Mahananda.
The gharial, a native to the northern part of the Indian Subcontinent, is a highly endangered species. The global gharial population is threatened by loss of riverine habitat, depletion of fish resources, and entanglement in fishing nets.
As the population has declined drastically in the past 70 years, the gharial is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Apart from Valmiki, there are Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary, Katarniaghat Wild Life Sanctuary of Bihar and Shon Wildlife Sanctuary of Madhya Pradesh where gharials are bred.
at river Ganges at Malda which was caught in the fishing net of the fishermen. The 40 inch animal, initially taken as crocodile, created sensation among the villagers. The local fishermen of found it at Paglaghat of the river at Panchanandapur and informed the forest department. It was taken to Malda Divisional Forest office and later released in the river. Subrat Behera of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), who had been in Malda today, saw the animal and said, "It is a wild bred animal and is about 4 months of old."
Meanwhile, the gharial, which was rescued by forest department early this month and kept at Rasik Bill of Cooch Behar, was identified as one released by the WTI at Balmiknagar Tiger Reserve of Bihar. It may be recalled that amid huge sensation on 12th September as many as six gharials were seen in the river Mahananda near Bala Sahapur which is merely 5 km away from English Bazaar. Later they were traced in river Sui under Raiganj division. The animals faced troubles from the local villagers who first attacked the animals taking them as crocodiles. Later following the campaign of the animal lovers' organisation Green People India of Malda along with panchayets the villagers came to know about the gharials. But this time a new trouble arose as the ghairals living mainly on fish posed threat to the fishermen of the area. They were thrown stones and bricks whenever seen and nets were fallen to catch the gharials in different places in rivers Marnai, Sui and other tributaries.
Following the huge cry in media finally forest department of Raiganj Division undertook the project of rescuing the gharial which sneaked into the ditch near village Abadpur at Bihar border. This one was evidently separated from its group. Finally, forest department with the help of local NGO People for Animals, rescued the 8 ft long animal and shifted it to Rasik Bill. But the step of forest department had created uproar among the animal lovers. Subhasis Sengupta of Green People's India, Malda said, "This might save the animal's life for the time being but its future is uncertain. Why this would not be released to river Ganges, its natural habitat?" Sengupta said, "Do we keep a rescued tiger in Alipur Zoo or release it in Sunderban?" Even the gharials which were already in the Rasik Bill-as many as eight in number-are kept in separate enclosure, which is against the nature.
WTI, reacting to this concern looked into this matter. Behra, had been to Coochbehar after tracing the route the gharials were seen. He said, "On 11th February this year we had released as many as 30 gharials in river Gondak after marking them for the sake of increasing their population. It is a part of our resaerch. The rescued one is one of them. We could identify the mark. But keeping it in enclosure will certainly going against the mission. We are writing to the govt on this." He also observed at least four gharials were there in Mahananda, as reported by the villagers. These animals had traversed at least 1000 km throught the rivers of Gondak, Ganges, Fulohar and Mahananda. . The gharial, a native to the northern part of the Indian Subcontinent is highly endangered species. The global gharial population is estimated at fewer than 235 individuals, which are threatened by loss of riverine habitat, depletion of fish resources, and entanglement in fishing nets. As the population has declined drastically in the past 70 years, the gharial is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List. Apart from Blamiknagar, there are Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary, Katerniaghat Wild Life Sanctuary of Bihar and Shon Wildlife sanctuary of Madhya Pradesh---where Gharials are bred.