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Reptile · Gavialis gangeticus
Gharial
घड़ियाल (ghariyal)
IUCN CR · Critically endangeredProtected under Indian law · I
A fish-eating crocodilian with a needle-thin snout, one of the rarest large reptiles on earth.
How to recognise it
The snout gives it away at once; adult males carry a bulbous growth at the tip, the ghara that gives the animal its name. Whole groups haul out on sandbars in winter sun.
Protection
Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Where to see it
Agra
The Chambal holds the world's largest gharial population, put at 2,026 animals in a 2025 assessment of the sanctuary, roughly four fifths of the species' global total. A boat here is the only reliable place in the world to see the animal in numbers.
National Chambal Sanctuary