CHENNAI: In a rare event, a gharial has hatched 23 babies during the lockdown at the Guindy Snake Park in Chennai after mating with a sibling. It is for the first time in three decades that one of these fish-eating crocodiles has produced offspring here.
Gharials are critically endangered reptiles found in the Indo-Gangetic Plains of India. They are not found in the wild in Southern India. "The species are so threatened that there are more gharials in captivity than in the wild," said SR Ganesh, a senior herpetologist at the park.
In 1993, a few pairs of gharials were brought to the Guindy Snake Park from the Nandankanan Zoological Park in Odisha. "Despite breeding several times, there were no successful hatches. The eggs were always infertile," said Ganesh explaining that this could have been a result of inbreeding depression.
Inbreeding depression is the reduced biological fitness in a given population as a result of breeding of related individuals, in this case siblings. While the gharial laid 25 eggs, 23 hatched baby crocs while two were still born, Ganesh said. The gharial laid eggs in March and the incubation period is about 2-2.5 months for the species.
He explained that gharials are critically endangered as they are freshwater animals that exclusively eat fish. Humans compete for fish in rivers that serve as their native hotspots. This threatens their habitat. "There are many conservation breeding centres in India, but we are left short of potential release sites. Having such sites is extremely crucial for population regeneration. Gharials need perennial rivers," said Ganesh.
Indian Rock Python breeds
Eggs of the Indian Rock Python also hatched at the park on Monday. The park has a total of five adults and nine hatchlings. The snake eggs hatched after an incubation period of about 60-70 days, said R Rajarathinam, the director of the park.
"Out of the 16 eggs laid, seven became infertile. Since it was the mother's first breeding, the hatchlings were few and weak," he said adding that the average height of the hatchling is about 63 cm and they weigh about 150 grams. The new pythons will be accommodated in a new enclosure being built at a cost of Rs 15 lakhs, said S Paulraj, the executive chairman of the Chennai Snake Park Trust, in a statement. "It will be on display for visitors after the lockdown," he said.
No money to feed baby reptiles
Ganesh said the successful hatchings could have been due to the silence and privacy the animals got during the lockdown. While this was a happy event, he fears that feeding them is getting increasingly harder as the park is shut for visitors.
"The primary revenue for the park comes from ticket collection. Since we have no visitors, it has been very difficult to feed the animals," he said. The tortoises eat fresh vegetables, the gharials eat live fish, the snakes eat rat and mice and the large tortoises need fresh pieces of meat.
"The food costs over Rs 3,000 a day. While we are happy about the babies, they are an additional financial burden that the park will have to meet," he said. The park has 350 animals including 20
varieties of snakes. Animal lovers and reptile enthusiasts who wish to donate can visit https://chennaisnakepark.org/donate.