info Announcement 1 of 5:

Night Safari is open from Thursdays to Sundays, as well as eve of and on public holidays. Operating hours are from 6.30pm to 12am.

info Announcement 2 of 5:

The following Park Experiences are temporarily suspended due to safe distancing measures:

  1. Keeper's Chit Chat 
  2. Manatee Mania Wildlife Tour
  3. Reservoir Cruise
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Our shows are operating at limited capacity as part of the necessary Safe Management Measures. We seek your understanding that once full, we will be unable to accept more guests.

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The Giant Panda Forest will open at 10.15am on every Monday from 11 January until March 2021 due to maintenance works .

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The Lion-tailed Macaques exhibit will be closed until further notice due to maintenance works.

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Wildlife Reserves Singapore Group
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  • Indian gharial

Indian gharial

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Ganges River
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Quick facts

Lifespan

Lifespan

Up to 100 years

Diet

Diet

Fish

Habitat

Habitat

Freshwater

Range

Range

India, Nepal, Bangladesh

Regionally extinct in Myanmar and Pakistan

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The Indian gharials

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Endangered crocodilian

The Indian gharial is related to crocodiles and alligators. A critically endangered species, it used to occur in the rivers of Pakistan and Myanmar. Today, it is estimated that fewer than 200 Indian gharials are left in the wild, mostly in India, and a small number in Nepal and Bangladesh.
The gharial’s ghara

The gharial’s ghara

The gharial gets its name from its ‘ghara’, which means `pot’ in Hindi. This is a bulbous growth on the tip of the male’s snout with a cartilaginous lid on the nostrils that flaps during exhalation. The ghara amplifies the male’s hissing calls to attract females, making them audible from almost a kilometre away. Unfortunately, few mature males are now observed in the wild. Though gharials nest annually, some females in India were found to be nesting much less frequently.
Gharial guardians

Gharial guardians

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.
Care of the young

Care of the young

Mothers will protect hatchlings for several weeks or months. During this time, the hatchlings hang around in groups near their mother. The presence of the father may be tolerated, but he will not actively protect hatchlings. The young may sometimes rest on his back. Often, the rising waters of the monsoon prompt the separation of mother and young. The juveniles are washed downriver, away from their mother’s protection. Sadly, many young gharials do not survive this.
Banking on the sand

Banking on the sand

Large-scale sand mining for construction degrade the sand banks on which the gharials nest. Dams and irrigation diversions have resulted in perennial rivers drying up. Unlike other crocodilians, the gharial can’t walk overland to find other water sources. During the dry months, when gharials breed, riparian people, among the poorest in India, plant crops and herd livestock along the river, competing with the gharials for precious riverine real estate.

The family

Shant

Shant

Born in 1991 at a zoo in Chennai, India

Resident male at the River Safari Ganges River exhibit and brother of Krur, Selvi and Ravi at Singapore Zoo.

Our gharials are fed fish like herring and saury. Shant's favourite is mackerel, which he snaps up swiftly with a sideways swipe of his long, narrow jaws.

Shant is very responsive to his keeper and appears to recognise his name when called. But what does Shant truly hear when his keeper calls his name? 

Find out more

Together, we protect wildlife

Dramatic decline

Dramatic decline

In the span of 60 years, their population has plummeted 98%. Since the 1970s, much money and effort have 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 Status

CR

Critically Endangered

At extremely high risk of extinction in the wild

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

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.

DD

Data Deficient

Unknown risk of extinction

LC

Least Concern

At relatively low risk of extinction

NT

Near Threatened

Likely to become vulnerable in the near future

VU

Vulnerable

At high risk of extinction in the wild

EN

Endangered

At very high risk of extinction in the wild

CR

Critically Endangered

At extremely high risk of extinction in the wild

EW

Extinct in the Wild

Survives only in captivity

EX

Extinct

No surviving individuals in the wild or in captivity

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