Six gharials die in Chambal, probe sought

Conservationists are in a tizzy over the deaths of six endangered gharials in the Chambal wildlife sanctuary. The sanctuary, home to three-fourth of the entire global crocodile population, witnessed a similar incident in 2008 when about a 100 gharials had died after eating contaminated fish.

Forest officials at Chambal sanctuary, however, ruled out contamination.
"The post mortem reports of the aquatic animals have shown that they died because of natural reasons," a forest department official said.
The forest department has also sent the viscera of the animals for testing at a government laboratory in Barelli.
Wildlife experts demanded a probe.
The Gharials numbers have seen a sharp decline making it an endangered species now.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/1011313.aspx 

Dolphin in Yamuna River

11 gharials found dead in Chambal River

ByFaiz Rahman Siddiqui, TNN | Feb 15, 2013, 05.01 AM IST
KANPUR: In the last few days, as many as 11 gharials have been found dead in the downstream of
Chambal River flowing through Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. While five gharial casualities
were reported from MP's Morena and Bhind districts, the other six reptiles died in Agra and Etawah
districts of the state across the National Chambal Sanctuary.
The deaths of gharials (Gavialis gangeticus), which have been declared as a 'critically endangered
specie' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2007 has rung an alarm bell both in
UP and MP Forest department corridors. The deaths came under scrutiny after the locals came across
back-to-back recovery of dead and ill reptiles washing up on the banks of Chambal River and
alarmed the forest department and NGO's. Forest officials and members of a Society for Conservation
of Nature visited the spot and took note of the situation.
Madhya Pradesh forest authorities also launched a search operation in the river and found nearly five dead gharials at separate locations in their
territory.
National Chambal Sanctuary (Agra division), Deputy conservator of forest, Sujoy Banerjee, however, said, "There is no need to panic at this point of
time, as these are all natural deaths and the dead gharials had no external physical signs of injury but then also we would not leave any stone
unturned to find out the exact cause of death," he added.
District forest officer, Morena, Vincent Rahim while talking to TOI, said, "We have sent the blood samples of all ill reptiles besides viscera of dead
animals for laboratory test at IVRI (Indian Veterinary Research Institute) Bareilly, Veterinary College in Jabalpur and Animal Disease Laboratory
in Bhopal to find out the actual cause of death."
He further said that the first casuality was reported about a fortnight ago, while the other two gharials were found dead on Friday besides, one
another ill animal, which washed up on the banks of Chambal River on Tuesday, died later next day. He said a team of doctors and wildlife experts
were trying to find out what could have killed reptiles suddenly.It might be noted here that the population of gharial had suffered a major blow in
the year 2007-2008 when more than 112 gharials were found dead within 60 to 70 km stretch of the Chambal River, which runs through Uttar
Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh besides Rajasthan. Though there are several hypotheses as to the cause of the deaths, to date there is no definitive
diagnosis and investigations are still continuing. The Chambal River gharial population is the largest of only 3 remaining breeding populations of
gharial left in the world.

Dolphin watch centre comes up in Fatehpur

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kanpur//articleshow/17751067.cms?

Times of India, Kanpur,  25 Dec 2012

Chambal ravines all set for 'wild' makeover

TNN | Dec 2, 2012, 06.01 AM IST
LUCKNOW: Once considered as a safe haven for dacoits and criminals, the ravines of Chambal are all set to shred their old tag. And if all goes well as per the plans of the Uttar Pradesh government, then the region may become the hub of wildlife tourism, which will have everything from river cruising to river safari.

The state government has made Uttar Pradesh Awas Vikas Parishad the executing agency for developing the sanctuary, while sanctioning Rs 4.5 crore for the sanctuary's makeover. Being home to the last of the ghariyals, along with eight rare species of turtles and Gangetic dolphins, the sanctuary never got its due share of recognition.

The project is to be completed within four years. "A proposal to start boat rides at Nadganwa has been submitted to the chief wildlife warden," said Sujoy Banerjee, DFO, National Chambal Sanctuary. Nadganwa is about 70 kilometres from Agra and offers a glimpse into Chambal's wildlife. Though boat rides at Nandganwa would be costly, officials are of the opinion that expensive ticket would bring only genuine bird-watchers to the place. The proposal has fixed Rs 750 as ticket price for foreigners for an hour-long boat ride, while for domestic tourists, it has been fixed at Rs 200. Besides, the cost of petrol which would go into running the boat would also have to be realized from the visitors.

Initially, the department would put to use the boats meant for patrolling the area. "We want to bring in lesser number of tourists and the ones who are actually interested in wildlife, as that will not disturb the ambience and the wildlife habitat," said the DFO.

The 425 kilometre stretch of Chambal river was declared a protected area in 1979. The river culminates at Bhare in Etawah, where is merges with the Yamuna. The sanctuary area runs along three states of UP, MP and Rajasthan. UP has 150-kilometre-long stretch of the river sanctuary running along Bah (Agra) and Etawah.

Interestingly, the sanctuary is approximately 77 kilometres away from the Taj Mahal. The plan is to attract the Taj-bound tourists to Chambal sanctuary, by offering river cruise and river safari. And, to do so forest department has identified spots along the river, which can be developed as tourism sites. These include four ghats of Sehson, Udi, Panchnada and Bhare, along Chambal, a forest official said.

Etawah already has a Lion Safari coming up, which will hardly be an hour-long drive from Agra. Developing Chambal sanctuary will build a tourism corridor between Agra and Etawah. The government is of the opinion that this will not only supplement the incomes of those associated with tourism industry, but also create additional employment opportunities for ancillary units.

The major advantage, which the sanctuary enjoys is its serene ambience, despite the fact that it's close to Agra. It has no industries along its banks and that makes it one of the cleanest rivers. Among the major wildlife attractions are ghariyals, which are critically endangered. Apart from 200-250 ghariyals found in Nepal, most of the remaining 1,500 are found in three Indian rivers - Son, Geruwa and Chambal. The Chambal sanctuary shelters close to 700. "This year around, since the monsoon was delayed, the new hatchlings haven't been washed away, and one can see them along the river," said the DFO.

Besides, eight of the rare turtle species, including the red crowned roof turtle, and critically threatened gangetic dolphins are found in the sanctuary area. The sanctuary is also one of the important bird areas and a proposed Ramsar site (identified as an important wetland for conservation). It's a famous spot for sighting birds like Indian Skimmers.

Two bird sanctuaries, Patna in Etah district and Saman in Mainpuri, are located very close to the sanctuary. The region has also the maximum population of Sarus crane and has hundreds of migratory birds visiting it in the winter season.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Chambal-ravines-all-set-for-wild-makeover/articleshow/17447863.cms

Campaign to Save Gangetic Dolphin

Times of India 10 Nov 2012 Kanpur

My Ganga My Dolphin

Naidunia Gwalior 8 October 2012

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