Three species of crocodilian are present in India. The mugger (or marsh) crocodile (''Crocodylus palustris'') is found in lakes and rivers throughout the country.Concise Encyclopaedia Of India
p. 46.South India - Amy Karafin, Anirban Mahapatra
p. 94. The

saltwater crocodile The saltwater crocodile (''Crocodylus porosus'') is a crocodilian native to saltwater habitats, brackish wetlands and freshwater rivers from India's east coast across Southeast Asia and the Sundaland to northern Australia and Micronesia. It ha ...

(''C. porosus'') is found along the eastern coast of the country and the Nicobar and

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...

. The

gharial The gharial (''Gavialis gangeticus''), also known as gavial or fish-eating crocodile, is a crocodilian in the family (biology), family Gavialidae and among the longest of all living crocodilians. Mature females are long, and males . Adult males ...

(''Gavialis gangeticus'') is found in river areas, though is greatly reduced from its previous range. In the pre-historic period, seven

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

resided in India.

Family ''
Crocodylidae Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include all extant membe ...
''

Mugger crocodile

The

mugger crocodile The mugger crocodile (''Crocodylus palustris'') is a medium-sized broad-snouted crocodile, also known as mugger and marsh crocodile. It is native to freshwater habitats from south-eastern Iran to the Indian subcontinent, where it inhabits marsh ...

is India's most common species. They are not as long as saltwater crocodiles. Their average size is about for Females and for males. An Indian biologist (of American origin) named

Romulus Whitaker Romulus Earl Whitaker (born 23 May 1943) is an American-born Indian herpetologist, wildlife conservationist, and founder of the Madras Snake Park, the Andaman and Nicobar Environment Trust (ANET), and the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust. In 2008 ...

established the Madras Crocodile Bank for conservation and breeding of crocodiles. Now, there are thousands of crocodiles in the Madras bank. Although, in rest of India, one can still see crocodiles in wild - in rivers and national parks.

Saltwater crocodile

The

is found in the eastern states of Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu as well as the Nicobar and

. The largest specimen was found in

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

, and reached (source?). Its population numbers about 300. Saltwater crocodiles live in the

mangroves A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen and remove sal ...

of Bhittarkanika and

Sunderbans Sundarbans (; pronounced ) is a mangrove forest area in the Ganges Delta formed by the confluence of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers in the Bay of Bengal. It spans the area from the Hooghly River in India's state of West Bengal ...

, Mahanadi Delta, and in the swamplands in Odisha and West Bengal (including rivers).

Family ''
Gavialidae Gavialidae is a family of large semiaquatic crocodilians with elongated, narrow snouts. Gavialidae consists of two living species, the gharial (''Gavialis gangeticus'') and the false gharial (''Tomistoma schlegelii''), both occurring in Asia. Man ...
''

The largest

in the

wilderness Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plurale tantum, plural) are Earth, Earth's natural environments that have not been significantly modified by human impact on the environment, human activity, or any urbanization, nonurbanized land not u ...

was a specimen which measured , and was found River Girwa, at

Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary The Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary is a protected area in the Upper Gangetic plain, near Bahraich city in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh, India and covers an area of in the Terai of the Bahraich district. It was established in 1975.Tripa ...

. It is the rarest crocodilian species. Only four were left in 1975 when Whitaker started a breeding programme of gharials. Their population has increased to about 1000. Earlier, they were found in rivers from Japan to Spain. They are now limited to India, Bangladesh and Nepal. It is found in only some rivers of India which include the Jhala, Y. V., Qureshi, Q., Sinha, P. R. (Eds.) (2011)
''Status of tigers, co-predators and prey in India, 2010.''
National Tiger Conservation Authority, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. TR 2011/003 pp-302 Chambal, Girwa,

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

Yamuna The Yamuna (; ) is the second-largest tributary river of the Ganges by discharge and the longest tributary in India. Originating from the Yamunotri Glacier at a height of about on the southwestern slopes of Bandarpunch peaks of the Low ...

, Kali,

Kosi KOSI (101.1 FM) is a commercial radio station in Denver, Colorado. KOSI is owned by Salt Lake City–based Bonneville International and airs an adult contemporary music format, switching to Christmas music for much of November and December. ...

and Gandak.

Human intervention

Crocodile farm A crocodile farm or alligator farm is an establishment for breeding and raising of crocodilians in order to produce crocodile and alligator meat, leather from crocodile and alligator skin, and other goods. Many species of both alligators a ...

s are used mainly for conservation and breeding programs.Crocodiles - Sally M. Walker
p. 44. In January 2019, a controversial programme to relocate 300 crocodiles from the area of the ''

Statue of Unity The ''Statue of Unity'' is the world's List of tallest statues, tallest statue, with a height of , located in Narmada River, Narmada valley, near Kevadia in the state of Gujarat, India. It depicts Indian politician and Indian independence mov ...

'' in Gujarat started.

Family ''
Crocodylidae Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include all extant membe ...
''

Mugger crocodile

Saltwater crocodile

Family ''
Gavialidae Gavialidae is a family of large semiaquatic crocodilians with elongated, narrow snouts. Gavialidae consists of two living species, the gharial (''Gavialis gangeticus'') and the false gharial (''Tomistoma schlegelii''), both occurring in Asia. Man ...
''

Human intervention

See also

References

Further reading

Family ''Crocodylidae Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include all extant membe ...''

Mugger crocodile

Saltwater crocodile

Family ''Gavialidae Gavialidae is a family of large semiaquatic crocodilians with elongated, narrow snouts. Gavialidae consists of two living species, the gharial (''Gavialis gangeticus'') and the false gharial (''Tomistoma schlegelii''), both occurring in Asia. Man ...''

Human intervention

See also

References

Further reading

Family ''
Crocodylidae Crocodiles (family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large, semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term "crocodile" is sometimes used more loosely to include all extant membe ...
''

Family ''
Gavialidae Gavialidae is a family of large semiaquatic crocodilians with elongated, narrow snouts. Gavialidae consists of two living species, the gharial (''Gavialis gangeticus'') and the false gharial (''Tomistoma schlegelii''), both occurring in Asia. Man ...
''