Fort Worth Zoo shares back-to-back birth of endangered species, ‘conservation achievement’
.jpg "On Wednesday, the Fort Worth Zoo announced the hatching of two gharial crocodiles in June. This is the second year in a row that eggs from this critically endangered species have hatched at the zoo.")
A critically endangered species has hatched at the Fort Worth Zoo for the second year in a row in “a massive conservation achievement,” zoo officials said in a news release Wednesday.
The hatching of two baby gharial crocodiles in June following the birth of four of the rare animals during the summer of 2023 makes the Fort Worth Zoo the only institution in North America to have successfully repeated the gharial breeding process, the release states.
The public can see the hatchlings this coming Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. inside the Fort Worth Zoo’s Museum of Living Art.
The zoo has been involved in efforts to breed gharials for more than a decade. The two hatchlings came from eggs laid by two different females in the Fort Worth Zoo’s gharial population, according to the release.
“Having two additional hatchlings is a big win for growing the gharial population in zoos and expanding knowledge to help this critically endangered species survive,” said Vicky Poole, the associate curator of ectotherms at the Fort Worth Zoo.
Gharials, which can grow up to 20 feet long, are one of the largest croc species in the world. They are also one of the most endangered. Historically, the gharial’s range spanned rivers of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute.
The species remains only in Nepal and northern India and is classified as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List. The biggest threat to the gharial is habitat loss, unsustainable fishing practices and hunting, according to the Smithsonian.
Gharials arrived at the Fort Worth Zoo in 1995. When the zoo’s herpetarium, known as the Museum of Living Art, opened in 2010, the gharial exhibit was built for the specific purpose of reproducing the species. Since then, the zoo staff have constantly manipulated conditions to facilitate successful breeding.
Poole said in 2023 that the females initially dumped their eggs in the water instead of building a nest in the sand. Heat coils were added to the sand to keep it the right temperature for nesting. Then the staff realized the eggs weren’t being properly fertilized, so they started modifying water temperature to help with that.
“It’s usually trying to solve one little piece at a time,” Poole told the Star-Telegram at that time. “So incubation is one thing, nesting is another thing. So we’ve got all these different layers we’ve got to provide to them.”
Zoo staff are closely monitoring the growth and development of the new gharial hatchlings, the release said. Except for a few hours this coming Saturday and Sunday, they will continue to remain behind the scenes at the zoo.
This story was originally published July 24, 2024 at 3:06 PM.
