Lifespan
Wildlife Reserves Singapore Group
Lifespan
Diet
Habitat
Range
Regionally extinct in Myanmar
Females lay their eggs in nests dug into sandy riverbanks. Though they remain in the water in the day, they visit and guard the eggs at night, throughout the incubation period of 60-80 days. They get very territorial near the nest, but will tolerate other females nesting nearby. The mother, sometimes the father as well, may help uncover the nest during hatching. Due to their unique snout and teeth, they may not be able to help their babies hatch or pick them up.
In the span of 60 years, their population has plummeted 98%. Since the 1970s, much money and effort has been spent on the reintroduction of gharials, with scant success. Besides the gharial, other freshwater species like the Ganges river dolphin, mugger crocodile and mahseer are also on the decline.
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is widely recognized as the most comprehensive, objective global approach for evaluating the conservation status of plant and animal species.
At relatively low risk of extinction
Likely to become vulnerable in the near future
At high risk of extinction in the wild
At very high risk of extinction in the wild
At extremely high risk of extinction in the wild
Survives only in captivity
No surviving individuals in the wild or in captivity
