Lahore: Punjab Wildlife has found evidence of the presence of the endangered Gharial in the Sutlej River. According to the survey team, there are about 10 gharials, including 6 children, near Ganda Singhwala’s location in the river Sutlej.
The Express Tribune carried a story about a video of a gharial that went viral on social media in the past few days, after which a team of Wildlife Research and Pakistan Wildlife Foundation, including Punjab Wildlife officials, visited the Sutlej River.
At Ganda Singhwala, with the support of Pakistan Rangers Punjab and the local population, these fishermen were searched and confirmed the presence of gharial in this area and the footprints of gharial were observed spontaneously.
The survey team included Deputy Director Wildlife Dr. Misbah Sarwar in charge of Punjab Wildlife Research Center Gutwala Faisalabad, Deputy Director Wildlife Lahore Region Tanveer Ahmad Janjua, Veterinary Officer Dr. Mohammad Rizwan, Deputy Director Wildlife Lahore Zoo Kiran Saleem, besides WW F and representatives of Pakistan Wildlife Foundation were included.
After detailed survey and evidence collection, it has been concluded that there are around 10 gharials in this area, including 6 cubs, while among the animals seen, a gharial 14 feet long and about 2 feet wide has also been observed.
The committee has recommended to the Director General Wildlife Punjab that as this natural habitat is very safe, suitable and attractive for the Gharial, the area should be immediately declared a Wildlife Sanctuary so that the area, which is already a Public Wild Life reserve can be made more secure.
According to experts, Gharial, a species of crocodile in Pakistan, became extinct in the 1980s. It is possible that these gharials arrived in Pakistan during the last year’s floods by flowing from India and their population started to increase there.
Experts say the gharial is a harmless animal and eats fish to survive.
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