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On the verge of extinction
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As the gharials die an unnatural death, Naresh and Rajesh Bedi appeal to the authorities to look into the matter
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In focus Bedi brothers with a dead gharial.
It is the beginning of the end of another prized species. This time around it is the gharials of Chambal.
Well-known wildlife filmmakers and conservationists Naresh and Rajesh Bedi, winners of the ‘Green Oscar in 1984’, were recently part of a discussion on the ‘Mass mortality of Gharials in Chambal’ at New Delhi’s India International Centre.
The gharial is an endemic species found only in the rivers of India and Nepal. The tri-state National Chambal Sanctuary by far holds the largest breeding population.
Dwindling population
A short film on the unprecedented deaths of gharials was also screened at the event.
The film depicts how by the end of the last century the total population of the gharials has fallen from about 5,000 to 10,000 to a mere 1,400 and how they are dying at an increasing rate pushing the species to the verge of extinction. The reasons behind these deaths are still unknown.
In an effort to preserve the gharialthe Bedi brothers have requested the Central and the State Governments to work towards preservation. “Whatever is being done by the Government is slow and very little. Long term tests should be carried out, water must be sampled and the animals monitored. Wildlife experts from overseas should be brought in,” said the brothers. The deaths are occurring along a 25 km stretch, downstream the river Itwa. Maximum numbers of deaths have occurred in Chambal. Deaths of 63 gharials have been reported in December 2007.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
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