194 gharial hatchlings boost Chambal conservation

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh’s efforts to revive the endangered gharial have received a boost, with 194 hatchlings successfully emerging this season at the Deori Gharial Conservation Centre in Morena.

Forest officials said 41 more gharial eggs hatched on Saturday, taking the season’s total to 194. Six eggs are yet to hatch and remain under close observation.

The hatchlings are part of the state’s annual conservation programme under which around 200 eggs are collected each year from nesting sites along the Chambal river and shifted to the Deori hatchery for protected incubation.

Officials said the eggs are transported to the centre in early May and placed in specially managed hatcheries where temperature and humidity are carefully regulated to maximise survival rates. Hatching usually begins in the last week of May and continues through early June.

The latest batch of 41 hatchlings emerged from eggs collected from the Chambal river, one of the last major strongholds of the critically endangered reptile.

All newborn gharials are currently being kept in quarantine under controlled conditions to protect them from infections and other threats during their most vulnerable stage of life.

The gharial, a fish-eating crocodilian distinguished by its long, narrow snout, is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act. Once widespread across the Indian subcontinent, the species now survives in fragmented populations, with the Chambal river system playing a crucial role in its conservation.

Officials said the successful hatching season highlights the importance of scientific intervention and habitat protection in securing the future of one of India’s most endangered aquatic reptiles.