Endanger Reptiles of India

Endanger Reptiles of India

Estuarine or Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus): This is the largest crocodile found in India or in the world.They first appeared during the Eocene epoch, about 55 million years ago. The other two types of Indian crocodiles are freshwater species and are called the Marsh Crocodile (Crocodylus palustris) and the Gharial (Gavialidae gangeticus). It normally attains a size of 6 mtrs and the largest record has been of a male over seven mtrs. The estuarine crocodile inhabits the estuarine areas with mangrove cover and swampy grasses. Its main food is dead and decaying matter in the estuary and is a major scavenger of the estuaries. They are also known to hunt fish and small animals. However, its nuisance value as a man eater has not been established. Nevertheless, it is the most infamous crocodile species in India.

 Due to human activities and that long drought of the late 1990s, early 2000s, the Mugger (Marsh Crocodile) has been pushed to the brink of extinction over the past few years. Following several tropical cyclones such as the Cyclone Gonu and Cyclone Yamyin in 2007, and Cyclone Phet in 2010, much of the habitat of the Iranian mugger crocodiles has been restored as the dry lakes and hamuns have flooded once again.

Gharial- According to IUCN, there has been a population decline of 96–98% over a three-generation period since 1946, and the once widespread population of an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 individuals has been reduced to a very small number of widely spaced subpopulations of fewer than 235 individuals in 2006. The drastic decline in the gharial population can be attributed to a variety of causes including over-hunting for skins and trophies, egg collection for consumption, killing for indigenous medicine, and killing by fishermen. Hunting is no longer considered to be a significant threat. However, the wild population of gharials has undergone a drastic decline of about 58% within nine years between 1997 and 2006 due to

• the increasing intensity of fishing and the use of gill nets, which is rapidly killing many of the scarce adults and many subadults — a threat prevalent throughout most of the present gharial habitat, even in protected areas.

• the excessive, irreversible loss of riverine habitat caused by the construction of dams, barrages, irrigation canals, siltation, changes in river course, artificial embankments, sand-mining, riparian agriculture, and domestic and feral livestock, which have combined to cause an extreme limitation to gharial range.

Since 2007, the species is listed as Critically Endangered on the Red List of Threatened Species issued by IUCN, and protected by CITESAppendix I.

Sea Turtles : Olive Ridley (Lepidochelys olivacea) is the most common sea turtle in Indian waters. Large nesting sites are found in Orissa, the largest nesting site ever recorded is Gahirmatha near Bhitarkanika. Besides the Olive Ridley other turtles in Indian waters are the Green Turtle (Chelonia mydas), Hawksbill Sea Turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), Bibron's soft shell turtle (Pelochelys bibroni), Batagur turtle (Batagur baska) and the Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) of which the last two species are endangered. Sea turtles are valuable for meat, shell and plastron.

Water Monitor Lizard (Varanus salvator) : The Water monitor is one of the largest lizards in the world, growing upto 3 mtrs. In India it is found in association with the estuarine crocodile. They are a major predator of crocodile and turtle eggs. Due to overkilling and very long periods of incubation (8-9 months) it has become endangered in India.