The gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) is a crocodilian of the family Gavialidae native to the Indian Subcontinent; it is also known as the gavial and the fish-eating crocodile. The gharial is one of three crocodilians native to India, the other two being the mugger crocodile and the saltwater crocodile.
The gharial is one of the longest of all living crocodilians, the record length being 6.25 m (20.5 ft). The long thin snout, adapted to catching fish in the gharial's river habitat, is armed with 110 sharp interdigitated teeth.
The gharial used to thrive across all the river systems of the Indian Subcontinent from the Indus River of Pakistan in the west to the Irrawaddy River of Burma in the east, but is now locally extinct in the Indus, Brahmaputra and Irrawaddy. It is now found in only 2% of its former range. The remaining population is threatened by fishing, hunting, and loss of habitat. As the species has undergone both chronic long-term and rapid short-term declines, it is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN.
According to IUCN, a population decline of 96–98% has occurred over a three-generation period since 1946, and the once-widespread population of an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 individuals has been reduced to a very small number of widely spaced subpopulations of fewer than 235 individuals in 2006. The drastic decline in the gharial population can be attributed to a variety of causes, including overhunting for skins and trophies, egg collection for consumption, killing for indigenous medicine, and killing by fishermen. Hunting is no longer considered to be a significant threat. However, the wild population of gharials has undergone a drastic decline of about 58% between 1997 and 2006.
