BETTIAH, June 18 -- Here is a reason for the animal lovers and environmentalists to rejoice as the nation commemorated 50 years of crocodile conservation programmes in the country on World Crocodile Day on Tuesday. Known for having second-largest gharial population after the Chambal river in the country, gharials' population in Gandak river has swollen further with the release of 174 hatchings this year in Bihar's West Champaran, setting the river teeming with animals like never before. Giving this information, Dr Nesamani K, conservator and field director of Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR), said of three main kinds of crocodile species found in India - the gharial, the salt/fresh water crocodile or salties, and the muggers -- the population of ghariyal has swollen in the Gandak river over the years. "We have released so far 174 hatchlings at different points of time this year as and when they were breaded and released accordingly," the conservator and field director. According to officials, as many as 217 gharials of all sizes were discovered in the course of a survey, conducted along the 284-km stretch of the Gandak river, between the Gandak barrage and Rewaghat between February 21 to February 28 2023, which futher rose to 372 in 2024. Since 2018, gharial nesting has been consistently observed in the river in every nesting year and the river has become an important gharial population with breeding records. But worse, gharial population in Gandak river was a meagre about 30 in 2014, official said. However, officials put the ghariyal population second largest in the country. "Yes, as per reports, we have recorded 372 gharials in Gandak last year and thus the population seems second biggest after Chambal river," said VTR's conservator and field director Dr. Nesamani. Speaking to Hindustan Times, Dr Shailendra Singh, Member, IUCN Crocodile Specialist Group, Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, said, "As per the last available IUCN status assessment in 2017, the population of total adult ghariyal ranges from 600 to 900 in National Chambal Sanctuary." Dr Singh expressed his satisfaction over the progress made after India began its Crocodile Conservation programme in 1975. In Bihar, the surge in crocodile population has also caused invasion in residential areas and man-crocodile conflict has also increased correspondingly. A large chunk of people dwelling along the Gandak and tributaries in Bihar's East Champaran and West Champaran districts have been living in utter peril since the last few months with crocodiles frequently wandering in residential and private ponds. On June 15 this year, a seven-year-old boy, Abhishek Kumar, was allegedly killed by a crocodile, while he was bathing in Triveni canal near Valmikinagar in West Champaran. In October last year, a 10-feet long crocodile invaded Pipra village in Areraj subdivision and escaped after villagers went after the creature with torch light and lathi. A 60-year-old farmer Ramadhar Bin, who lives in Pipra Kutti village under Valmikinagar police station, was critically injured by a crocodile while he was taking bath in a roadside water body at Dhanahiya Reta in Bagaha -2 block of West Champaran. Such instances are immense and the total number may not publicly known. Officials, however, assert that they have been taking measures to prevent dangerous fallout of a crocodile meandering into human settlements. Animals especially flow into colonies during floods and officials struggle to rescue them and prevent dangers to people. Meanwhile, the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) in coordination with Bihar forest department has been on move to inculcate the sense of respect for crocodiles and their wild behaviour amid their frequent attacks and invasions in villages around Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) in West Champaran district of Bihar. "They in their habitat should not be seen as a threat but more for their important role in the river ecosystem to ensure that rivers are functioning and well-balanced. They play a vital role in maintaining the balance of an ecosystem," said Subrat Kumar Behera Project Head, Gandak Gharial Recovery Project, Wildlife Trust of India...