Crocodilian Specialist Group

We are the IUCN-SSC Crocodilian Specialist Group. Moving forward for crocodilian conservation since 1971. 🐊

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

Dear CSG Members: Here is the most recent Newsletter 45(2) April - June 2026! 🐊

Follow the link here or in our profile:

https://t.co/pCWNaHoBsG

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

Read more about these celebrations in our latest Newsletter: https://t.co/pCWNaHp9ie

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

The Ghaghra (Saryu) River is home to the Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), and serves as marginal habitat for the Mugger (Crocodylus palustris). To mark World Crocodile Day (17 June), an awareness event for Human-Crocodile Coexistence was organised by the TSA Foundation India...

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

Read more about this in our latest newsletter 45(2) April-June 2026 : https://t.co/pCWNaHp9ie

World Crocodile Day is celebrated worldwide on June 17th.

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

Conservation in Action! 🐊 American crocodile nesting study in the Dominican Republic and the World Crocodile Day celebrations that followed: The 2026 American crocodile nesting season in Lago Enriquillo concluded on 17 June, when the last nest was opened by the monitoring team.

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

As part of World Crocodile Day celebrations, an educational outreach activity was conducted on 20 June 2026 at the National Zoological Park. This event provided an opportunity to raise awareness and educate the public about the importance of conserving Crocodylus acutus.

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

Sunda gharial (Tomistoma schlegelii): Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei.
- Conservation Status: Endangered
Indian gharial (Gavialis gangeticus): India, Nepal, Bangladesh.
- Conservation Status: Critically Endangered

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

There are 2 types of crocodiles called Gharials — the Indian Gharial uses its slender jaws and sharp teeth strictly to catch fish, however its look-alike cousin—the Sunda Gharial—uses their strong slender snouts to catch fish, as well as hunt monkeys and deer!
#WorldTomistomaDay

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

Also known as the Malay Gharial or False Gharial.
Scientific Name: Tomistoma schlegelii
Conservation status is Endangered due to severe habitat loss from logging, forest fires, and plantation development.

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

Secretive and handsome, the Sunda Gharial is disappearing from the swamp forests and freshwater rivers of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. World Tomistoma Day is celebrated on August 5th to highlight crocodile conservation, specifically of this unique endangered crocodilian.

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

...While some crocodiles, alligators, and caiman have more blunt teeth for catching mammals, birds, and other reptiles. But all crocodilians swallow their food whole.

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

Different crocodilians are designed to catch different types of prey items. The Indian Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) has a long slender snout with lots of long slender teeth designed for catching fish.

Photo of young Indian Gharial by Pheobe Griffith

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

...and incidental capture in fisheries. Once widely distributed across the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Mahanadi River systems, the species now persists in only a few river stretches in India and Nepal.

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

Status Update on Critically Endangered Gharial in the Gandak Riverscape in Bihar, India, and it's looking good!

Read more here: https://t.co/WypiIwIHjf

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

The Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), a critically endangered crocodilian native to South Asia, has experienced severe range contractions over the past century primarily due to hunting for skins and trophies, followed by egg harvesting, river regulation, habitat alteration ...

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

...in Bhitarkanika. Of additional significance, Bhitarkanika National Park/Wildlife Sanctuary holds the largest wild C. porosus population amongst regional range states, and represents over 75% of the total Indian population.

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

Recovering the Estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) population in the Bhitarkanika National Park/ Wildlife Sanctuary in Odisha, India.

Read more here: https://t.co/WypiIwIHjf

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

The “rear and release” program implemented since 1975 has resulted in the release of 3008 crocodiles around 1 m total length between 1977 and 2024 into Bhitarkanika wetlands. The FAO/UNDP, Government of India and state Forest Department program found this to be a success story...

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

This large freshwater crocodilian, the Malay Gharial or Sunda Gharial, lives in the slow-moving rivers and peat swamp forests of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei. They are secretive and opportunistic ambush predators feeding mostly on fish, as well as birds and small mammals.

[Crocodilian Specialist Group @CrocSpecGroup]

Conservation of Kalimantan's crocodiles - the Siamese crocodiles & Tomistoma - The Kalimantan Province of Indonesia comprises approximately 75% of the island of Borneo, and maintains a diverse fauna. Read more here: https://t.co/WypiIwIHjf