late february 2010, with the generous support from the ... our trip, we spent half of the time at...
TRANSCRIPT
Late February 2010, with the generous support from the Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong
Kong, my partner, Derek, and I set off to India for a 2‐week trip to take part in an on‐going radio‐telemetry
project on the critically endangered crocodilian species Gharial (Gavialis ganageticus).
Gharial (Gavialis ganageticus)
Pic. 1. A male gharial from MCBT. The male‐exclusive pot‐like structure on the tip of the snout is clearly
visible.
Gharial, being the sole extant member of its genus, is the only one of its kind. Among all living
crocodilians, it is the most aquatic of all, rarely staying far from water. Its name originates from the Indian
word “ghara”, which means pot, due to the presence of a pot‐like structure in adult males. Being able to
reach over 6 meters, it is one of the largest living crocodilian species. Yet, it is gentle and shy animal that
feeds almost exclusively on fish, only on very rare occasions does it attack other animals. Its distinctive long,
narrow snout and webbed toes play an important role in the species’ success in an aquatic environment.
Gharial at stake
This species has experienced two catastrophic die‐off events in recent years, with the latest one
occurring in the winter of 2007 to 2008. Researchers suspected that the animals were poisoned after eating
contaminated fish in a nearby river, so this radio‐telemetery project was initiated to investigate the
movement and behaviour of gharials along the National Chambal Sanctuary so as to devise a conservation
plan for the species. The situation is critical as the population in the National Chambal Sanctuary is the
single remaining viable population of gharial in the entire world and there are only about 200 breeding
individuals left in the wild.
Madras Crocodile Bank Trust
Pic. 2. The front gate of MCBT.
Pic. 3. Our house at MCBT, shared with other volunteers.
In our trip, we spent half of the time at the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust (MCBT), which started the
gharial conservation programme, in Southern India. Established in 1976 by the renowned conservationist
Romulus Whitaker, despite being called the Crocodile Bank, MCBT is actually a centre of herpetology that
takes care of some twenty species of reptiles, including crocodiles, snakes, lizards and turtles. It not only
serves as an ex‐situ conservation and captive breeding centre of some rare reptiles, but also educates the
public on reptile conservation.
Pic. 4. Derek learning to check the fertility of crocodile eggs.
Pic. 5. Me testing the water quality from a crocodile pen.
Pic. 6. A baby Indian rock python (Python molurus molurus) enjoying the freshly killed rat that we had
just given him.
Pic. 7. Indentifying individual pythons by the pattern on their heads and recording all the data required.
Pic. 8. The two of us cleaning the home of baby crocodiles.
During our stay at MCBT, we were involved in a large variety of routine work required to keep the
animals healthy. Our first task was to check the fertility of some crocodile and turtle eggs. Unlike the case of
humans, we did not need any special instrument, all we needed were just our eyes and a light. But still, we
had to be very careful as we were told that the embryos could drown if their position was reversed.
We had to enter cage containing several hungry pythons and enclosures with hundreds of crocodiles
to complete some of our tasks, such as collecting water sample for analysis and feeding hungry animals. It
was quite a thrill to be in such close distance with so many crocodiles and to observe the way pythons eat.
Pic. 9. The common toad (Duttaphrynus melanostictus) could be found everywhere.
Pic. 10. A beautiful bark gecko (Hemidactylus leschenaultii)
Pic. 11. Blushing changeable lizards (Calotes versicolor) were rather common within MCBT.
Pic. 12. This bat just appeared in our room, right over our bunk bed!
Pic. 13. I was taken by surprised by this little frog when I was about to shower!
Despite being a captive breeding facility, MCBT actually houses quite a diversity of wild animals on its
eight and a half acres of land. During our free time, we would take the opportunity to explore the biota of
the area and enjoy the beautiful greenery in the surroundings. We had a couple of night safari and we went
bird‐watching occasionally. Every now and then, we had some surprising discoveries, even when we were
not looking for anything at that moment. A bat could be hanging on a crossbeam in our room and a tree
frog could be hiding in the bathroom waiting to surprise you when you bath. It was really a nice place to
stay at.
Irula Snake Walk
This walk was one of the obvious highlights of our trip. Waking up at half past five, we went to a field
in the proximity of MCBT with professional snake hunters from the Irula tribe. The Irulas are a tribe of
expert snake‐catchers in southern India that relied heavily on snake hunting to make their living. However,
in the 1970s, they were forced to quit their usual business under the new conservation laws introduced by
the Indian government. Yet, with the help of Romulus Whitaker, they managed to rid themselves of poverty
with their unique snake catching skills. Instead of slaying snakes for skins and other parts, they started
collecting venom of the “Big Four” to produce anti‐venom. The “Big Four”, which includes saw‐scaled viper
(Echis carinatus), Russell’s viper (Daboia russelii), spectacled cobra (Naja naja) and common krait (Bungarus
caeruleus), are the four top killers in India. Despite being called the “Big Four”, they might not be the
largest or most venomous snakes, but their tendency to stay near human habitation and their aggressive
nature render them some of the most dangerous snakes. Every snake caught would be let go unharmed
after several rounds of venom extraction in a few weeks’ time. This has then become one of the most
successful stories on conservation and sustainable use of wild animals.
Pic. 14. Before we set off, we had a cup of traditional Indian milk tea.
Pic. 15. Can you see any track left by a snake?
Pic. 16. From the easily missed track in previous picture, the Irulas said that a snake could very likely be
hiding in a nearby bush and started searching.
Pic. 17. Within seconds, the Irulas got this little “Big Four” – saw‐scaled viper (Echis carinatus), the
tiniest of “Big Four”. A man bitten by this snake may live up to 2 days.
Pic. 18. The Irulas capturing another “Big Four” – Russel’s viper (Daboia russelii). Its bite can be fatal in
4 hours.
Pic. 19. The Irulas also looked for snakes by digging into their burrows.
Pic. 20. After tracking it down by digging several holes, the Irulas finally captured this spectacled cobra
(Naja naja).
The snake walk with the Irulas was absolutely mind‐blowing. Their skills were not only limited to visual
encounter; they could locate a snake hiding under bushes or in an underground burrow from the tiniest
trace in the surroundings and they could simply handle any snake with ease. In just a few hours, we already
saw six species of snakes: common vine snake (Ahaetulla nasuta), Indian rat snake (Ptyas mucosa),
checkered keelback (Xenochrophis piscator) and three of the four “Big Four”: saw‐scaled viper, Russell’s
viper and spectacled cobra.
National Chambal Sanctuary
Pic. 21. National Chambal Sanctuary
The National Chambal Sanctuary is a protected area located in northern India, about 6‐hour drive from
New Delhi. This place was infamous for the presence of dacoits and it was deemed to be a dangerous
region. Ironically, such notoriety has deterred people from settling in the proximity of the river and has thus
indirectly protected the river. This pristine river is now one of the most unpolluted rivers in northern India.
Pic. 22. The field base where we stayed at.
Pic. 23. Peacocks could be easily seen around the field base in the morning.
Pic. 24. Dr. Lang showing us how to us the antenna to radio‐track gharials.
Pic. 25. Dr. Lang’s research assistant taking notes of his observation. Growing up in the Chambal area, his
assistants have grown fond of gharials and they want to do their part to protect this magnificent animal.
Pic. 26. Dr. Lang patiently observing and videotaping the behaviour of gharials.
Pic. 27. Wild gharials basking on the opposite bank of Chambal.
Pic. 28. Chambal is also a nice place for observing other organisms, such as these great white pelican
(Pelecanus onocrotalus).
The entire gharial radio‐telemetery project takes place along the Chambal River. We stayed at a nice,
little field base in a nearby village where we could find ourselves surrounded by peacocks when we woke.
Every day, we would go to different spots along the river bank to listen to the signals from the tagged
gharials and observed their bahaviour. Despite the fact that we were working along the river bank, we felt
as if we were staying in a desert – the river bank was very sandy and the weather was dry and sultry with
the burning sun hanging high up in the sky. Yet, we were told that it could get much hotter in the months to
come. While we were trying hard to cope with the “mild” heat, Dr. Jeff Lang, the principal investigator of
the gharial project, seemed completely at ease even though he was dripping with sweat. He was enjoying
himself, observing the apparently non‐moving gharials attentively. I was truly moved by his passion.
Throughout the trip, he also shared with us a lot of his invaluable experience and findings, like his research
done on temperature‐dependent sex determination of crocodiles, how gharials are capable of analyzing the
environment and how male gharials get involved in parental care. We really learnt a great deal from him,
not only in terms of knowledge, but also his attitude towards conservation.
Holi Festival
Pic. 29. Holi bonfire.
Pic. 30. We were responsible for the cooking while the cook was off for celebration.
The Holi Festival is an annual celebratory festival in India. This festival is particularly important in the
north and we were fortunate enough to experience this huge event during our stay at the Chambal. The
field base was situated right opposite the temple where the male villagers gathered around, chanted and
set up a huge bonfire on the eve of the festival. We had a good view of the entire ritual from the rooftop of
the field base and we even could feel the warmth of the fire and the joy of the villagers from such distance.
Pic. 31. “Colourful” kids preparing their “weapons” to celebrate the Holi Festival.
Pic. 32. This is what happened to us after our brief appearance during the festival…
The next day, everyone, especially the kids, just went wild and kept splashing dye on each other. It was
rather common to see people dyed purple and red from head to toe, yet it is a festival of love and no one is
to get angry. We tried to blend in and made a brief appearance in a ceremony, and of course we were
welcomed with some dye over our bodies! It was quite an extraordinary cultural experience.
Conservation in India
In these two weeks, we seized every opportunity to talk to different people and learn about
conservation in India. In fact, both India and Hong Kong share some identical problems. Business and
economy are often of the utmost importance and in the eyes of the general public; conservation is merely
an interest and can never be a proper job. Both India and Hong Kong have an Environmental Impact
Assessment system, but unfortunately, both of them have the same problem of lack of independence in the
as it is always the project proponent who pays the consultant to conduct the assessment.
However, there is also a general difference between the mentality of Indians and Chinese. Indians
usually see quite highly of animals and this sometimes powers the conservation effort in India.
Unfortunately, sometimes they just get over the top and turn out to be extreme animal rights advocates
rather than scientific conservationists. This could bring problems for some conservation projects. For
example, when the gharial project first started, some people requested that fewer animals be installed with
transmitter as they found the entire process rather hard on the gharials and worried that the transmitter
could affect their normal activities. But as a scientific project, sufficient animals have to be tagged for
rigourous results.
As far as the government is concerned, the forestry department in India is corrupted. They presented
resistance to the research team to carry out their work. Even when we were applying to enter the sanctuary,
they wanted to charge us a huge sum of money and an extra amount if we wanted to bring with us our
cameras. To make things worse, they are incapable of controlling illegal activities and better protect the
remaining gharials within the sanctuary.
Threats faced by gharial
Pic. 33. Illegal sand‐mining might affect the night life of gharials.
Despite the continuous effort invested to project this critically endangered species, a number of
threats still exist and continue to threaten the survival of gharials. With the lack of management, illegal
activities, notably illegal fishing and sand‐mining, within the sanctuary are not uncommon. Night‐time
sand‐mining could affect the normal activities of gharials and they sometimes get their snout trapped in
fishing nets from illegal fishing. In worse cases, the fishermen would cut down their snouts to retrieve their
nets. These poor animals would starve to death after weeks of hunger.
Human‐crocodile conflict presents another challenge to gharials. Both parties rely on the limited
freshwater supply from the Chambal River for their livelihood and survival. This competition would only
become more and more intense with the changing climate and exploding population. Another source of
conflict originates from the lack of proper knowledge. The man‐eating mugger crocodile exists in sympatry
with the gentle gharial. Despite the huge physical differences, the villagers sometimes blame it on gharials
when there is a crocodile attack. Such tension could certainly be eased by adequate education to the
villagers.
One step forward
This trip was indeed full of fun and yet very inspiring. We can see that local culture, community
participation and public education can be very important factors that influence the success of a
conservation project. I could really feel the immense effort, passion and determination needed to become
a conservationist. This project is one big, important step in conserving this one of a kind crocodilian species.
I truly believe that the team’s effort will eventually be paid off and help better protect this charismatic
species with their findings.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ocean Park Conservation Foundation (HK) for giving us
such a precious opportunity, all the staff at MCBT, in particular Soham and Gowri for their efforts in making
this trip as meaningful and comfortable as possible for us and their hospitality, and Dr. Jeff Lang for
teaching us so many things and his hospitality at the field base.