Gharials pose problem of plenty in Patna Zoo

PATNA: What would have been a dream come true for conservationists has turned out to be a nightmare for the authorities of Patna Zoo.

The burgeoning population of gharials or "gavialis gangeticus" at the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park is giving a headache to the authorities who are planning to release them in rivers or shift the reptiles to other zoological parks in the country under an exchange programme or even for free.

"I have written to the chief warden of the Department of Forests and Environment to consider releasing the alligators in the Gandak river and his response is awaited," Director of the Park, Rakesh Kumar said.

The obstacle that is apparently coming in the way of releasing the gharials, which fall in the "critically endangered" category under schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, is doubts about their ability to survive in the wild as they have been bred under the watchful eyes and tender care of zoo authorities.

There are around 125 gharials in the two enclosures having a capacity to accommodate only 45 and this includes several adults, Kumar said.

A full grown male alligator, distinguished by a bulbous growth on its snout, can grow up to 20 feet long and can easily crush the young ones.

The Director said the gharials have become so dependent on the zoo staff that they don't even dig up holes for nesting. The zoo staff burrows nesting chambers for the reptiles on sandbanks so that they could lay eggs.

In these circumstances, releasing the reptiles in their natural habitat where they would have to hunt for food and where they might also get hunted for skin used for making leather bags and boots, would put their lives in jeopardy.

In the wild, these endangered animals often get caught in fishing nets and end up on dinner tables. In the zoo, however, the gharials get to eat 55 kgs of fish every alternate day.

Rakesh Kumar said he had written to the authorities of all zoological parks in the country to take some of the alligators under an exchange programme.

In December, 2006, six gharials were shifted to Indira Gandhi Zoological Park in Visakhapatnam and Patna Zoo got sloth bears under the exchange programme. Zoo authorities in Thiruvananthapuram have also shown interest, but since the gharials are schedule 1 animals, a clearance from the Central Zoo Authority is mandatory.

"If the authorities of other zoological parks find it difficult to part with their animals, we are even prepared to give them the alligators for free, outside the exchange programme," he said.

Until that happens, this reptilian problem of plenty would continue to dog the Patna Zoo authorities.