Page 53 - BBC Wildlife Volume 36 #04

GHARIALS

Grey herons can rest easy. They WHAT AILS GHARIALS?
are not a menu item because
gharials favour a diet of fish. These crocodilians face many threats in the regions where they occur.
The reptile is just basking in the
sun to regulate its temperature. entire sandbanks for
transport to distant
urban construction sites.
dad, and by dawn hundreds of them are floating in a crèche
near the shore. A couple of dominant mothers take turns WATER EXTRACTION
protecting all the hatchlings – their own and other females’ In summer, when the
offspring. If the adults had been watchful earlier, now their STRUCTURES Chambal is at its lowest,
protectiveness reaches exaggerated proportions. They have ACROSS RIVERS water is diverted for
reason to worry. Gharials cannot cross agriculture. With barely
Throughout the day, the crèche attracts predatory eyes. dams and barrages that any water flowing, gharials
River terns and Pallas’s fish eagles perform aerial raids, block rivers. They also avoid escape the heat by diving
swooping down to snatch one helpless hatchling at a time. disturbed areas, such as into the few remaining
The guardingfemales have to be ever vigilant, leaping bridge construction sites. deep pools.
and snapping their jaws to keep these birdsat bay. They’re
especially wary of woolly-necked storks, the main devourer SAND MINING RIVER POLLUTION
of their young. They can’t relax even after dark, when golden Sand excavated from the Toxic chemicals and sewage
jackalsand stripedhyenas are on the prowl. Chambal is in high demand kill off fish prey and, as the
for making mortar. Fleets of 2007 die-off illustrated,
EASY PICKINGS tractors and lorries remove may also harm the gharials.
Occasionally, young 3m-long malegharials, on thethreshold
of adulthood, sneak in and take any unhealthy or weak
stragglers. The females chase them away before they can do The large male may be feisty, but he’s one of the most
anyfurther damage. Cannibalism ofyoung is well-known attentive fathers in the animal kingdom. When the coast
among crocodilians; this hot time ofyear hasn’t much is clear, he offers his head and back as floating platforms
prey to offer. “There’s tremendous pressure on the smaller for the little ones to rest. But if anything threatens their
growing males to reach peak condition, which may drive survival, he’s quick to take action, unceremoniously
this behaviour,” says Lang. dumping the hatchlings in the water. This superdad is
Childcare is not thesole a full-time bodyguard. Yet often he may not even be the
preserve of a few females. At father of the offspring he defends with such devotion.
each colony, a ghara-sporting ATEACH COLONY,A “I don’t call this parenting anymore, because the
single male assumes the SINGLE MALEASSUMES guarding male may not be a parent,” Lang says. He has
role of crèche guardian, recorded a young male assume superdad duties for two
working in tandem with the THE ROLE OFCRÈCHE consecutive years. This particular male definitely did
attentive females to protect not court or mate in those years. In 2017, he became the
the vulnerable hatchlings. He GUARDIANAND dominant breeding male in the same area he had guarded
positions himself between in previous years. But then he was the sole guardian of a
any intruder and the crèche, PROTECTSTHE crèche that included many of his own offspring.
hissing loudly and inflating “Maybe he was apprenticing,” Lang speculates. “Males
his body to show off his size. VULNERABLEYOUNG. and females communicate in some manner during
April 2018 53