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In News
- Water trains hold the key to survival of 350 mugger crocodiles in Jawai dam of Rajasthan as water levels are down to three feet.
Muggers or marsh crocodiles
- Scientific Name: Crocodylus palustris
- Muggers measure six to 13 feet on average and live for 70-80 years.
Image Courtesy: WII
- Geographic Range:
- They found all over south Asia — India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh — as well as south-eastern Iran.
- The mugger is found in 15 Indian states, with the largest populations in the middle Ganges (Bihar-Jharkhand) and Chambal (Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan) basins.
- Habitat:
- It is most commonly found in freshwater environments such as rivers, lakes, hill streams, and village ponds.
- This crocodile does not migrate seasonally, inhabiting the same locale in wet seasons or dry seasons.
- Major Threats:
- Habitat loss due to expansion of agriculture and industry,
- getting trapped in fishing nets,
- poaching of their eggs and
- illegal trade in their skin and meat.
- Conservation Status:
- CITES: Appendix I
- IUCN Red List: Vulnerable
- Conservation Projects:
- Mugger Project At Ramatirtha
- Kakra Crocodile Trail: It is going on in Terai Eastern Forest Division at Khatima, Uttarakhand.
- The Indian Crocodile Conservation Project was launched in 1975 in different states in the country.
Other crocodiles species in India
- Saltwater or Estuarine Crocodile
- Scientific Name: Crocodylus porosus.
- Habitat: Blackish and freshwater regions of eastern India, Southeast Asia and northern Australia.
- Protection Status
- IUCN Red List: Least Concern
- Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I
- Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus)
- It is also known as the gavial or the fish-eating crocodile.
- It is the longest among all living crocodilians.
- Conservation Status:
- IUCN Red List: Critically Endangered
- Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I:
- CITES: Appendix I
Source: DTE
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