Since the end of last year reports have been surfacing of a mysterious die off among rare gharials in India. These quite cute (to my mind) crocodile-type animals are listed as critically endangered and there are now real fears they may go extinct due to this mass mortality.

In December it was reported that two or three dead gharials were being pulled daily out of the Chambal River. The Indian branch of the WWF says 50 of the reptiles have been found dead on one 25 km stretch of the river. However a new article in the Times of India puts the number at 81.

Only about 1,300 are thought to be present in the wild. “This is extremely disturbing news. We are alarmed at this development and hope that immediate remedial measures are initiated to prevent further loss,” says Ravi Singh, CEO of WWF-India (press release).

Unfortunately, no one knows why they are dying. WWF says that “irregularities in the gastro-intestinal tract” have been found and there may be links to a protozoan parasite. This line is backed up by Express India, which says an unreleased report from the Indian Veterinary Research Institute identifies “a large number of unicellular protozoan microbes in the liver and kidney of the dead reptiles”, contradicting the initial suspicion that heavy metal contamination was to blame.

Some aren’t happy with the response to the crisis so far. Blogger Bahar Dutt says, “In an Indian conservation scene plagued by habitat destruction and poaching, here is one species that can be saved. And if we don’t act now, the gharial will be the first species in independent India to have gone extinct. … Only because we didn’t care enough.”

The story is now reaching the western media: BBC, Independent.

Image: Gharial in San Diego Zoo / taken by Bo Link from Knoxville, TN, USA and obtained via Wikimedia