The beautiful _________ in Orissa appears to have everything a gharial could want -- fish, sandbanks and protection.
1 point
Grand Canyan
Satkosia Gorge
Niagara Gorge
None of these.
Answers
The beautiful Satkosia Gorge in Orissa appears to have everything a gharial could want—fish, sand banks,
protection. Threats such as bamboo-rafting and net-fishing have been eliminated. Yet only two of the seven
hundred gharials released here in the past three decades have survived. When I visited the gorge during the
monsoon in mid-July, I saw how small streams had become torrents. The river had eroded the banks and
uprooted trees. The released gharials were obviously being flushed downriver, out of the protected area and
even into the sea. One was seen on a beach, others in mangroves and ponds. Those that ended up in tributaries
were caught in fishing nets.
Fishing is a massive problem. In supposedly protected areas, we saw several gharials whose snouts had got
tangled in nylon fishing nets. It was clear that, despite the rules, nets were being set at night, entangling
gharials that tried to swim through them or attempted to eat the netted fish. The crocodiles didn’t drown, but
they were left unable to open their jaws and thus in danger of starving to death.
Our 30-year strategy of captive-breeding has not been enough. The species faces an uncertain future and
its survival is closely linked with the needs of the humans dependent on the rivers. Our campaign is part of a
much larger effort to ensure the survival of these rivers. The threats—from development, pollution and climate
change—increase day by day, but we are hopeful that people are at last ready to do what it takes to save the
gharial, the finest example of a healthy river.