More radio-collared gharials to be released into Satkosia gorge | Bhubaneswar News
Bhubaneswar: The wildlife wing of the forest department is planning to release more radio-tagged gharials into the Mahanadi gorge in Satkosia Tiger Reserve for conservation breeding. The gharials will be brought from Nandankanan zoo and the Gharial Research and Conservation Unit (Gracu) at Satkosia, officials said.
Chief wildlife warden Prem Kumar Jha said that as part of the gharial recovery programme, radio-tagged reptiles will be released to study their movement and behaviour in the wild. “Around six gharials will be released in the 21-km-long Mahanadi gorge in Satkosia. Gharials are radio-collared and released into the water to track their movement through radio frequency. Between 2019 and 2022, a total of 19 gharials were released in five different batches into the gorge, with the last batch being released in Feb 2022,” Jha told TOI.
Wildlife officials said that in Feb 2023, Satkosia authorities counted seven naturally bred gharials and four radio-collared ones. In 2024, a total of 14 gharials were counted.
The gharial census this year revealed that the population in the gorge increased by 2 to reach 16. Satkosia is the only place in the state where gharials breed in the wild.
“We will take three adult gharials from Gracu and another three from Nandankanan, which is involved in Satkosia’s gharial recovery programme,” Jha added.
Earlier, the wildlife wing got approval from the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to bring gharials from Nandankanan to be released into the wild.
Wildlife officials said several conservation measures are being taken up, including declaring a 10-km stretch of the Mahanadi gorge as a ‘no-fishing zone’, releasing gharials longer than 3 metres, and raising public awareness about gharial conservation. Fishermen are provided compensation of Rs 1,000 in case fishing nets are damaged.
Chief wildlife warden Prem Kumar Jha said that as part of the gharial recovery programme, radio-tagged reptiles will be released to study their movement and behaviour in the wild. “Around six gharials will be released in the 21-km-long Mahanadi gorge in Satkosia. Gharials are radio-collared and released into the water to track their movement through radio frequency. Between 2019 and 2022, a total of 19 gharials were released in five different batches into the gorge, with the last batch being released in Feb 2022,” Jha told TOI.
Wildlife officials said that in Feb 2023, Satkosia authorities counted seven naturally bred gharials and four radio-collared ones. In 2024, a total of 14 gharials were counted.
The gharial census this year revealed that the population in the gorge increased by 2 to reach 16. Satkosia is the only place in the state where gharials breed in the wild.
“We will take three adult gharials from Gracu and another three from Nandankanan, which is involved in Satkosia’s gharial recovery programme,” Jha added.
Earlier, the wildlife wing got approval from the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) to bring gharials from Nandankanan to be released into the wild.
Wildlife officials said several conservation measures are being taken up, including declaring a 10-km stretch of the Mahanadi gorge as a ‘no-fishing zone’, releasing gharials longer than 3 metres, and raising public awareness about gharial conservation. Fishermen are provided compensation of Rs 1,000 in case fishing nets are damaged.
