GHARIAL FOOD CONVERSION CITATION: SINGH, L. A. K. (1982): Food Requirement and Food Conversion the Gharial, Gavialis gangeticus (Gmelin) (Reptilia, Crocodilia). Abstract of paper presented at: International Crocodile Symposium, Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, September 1982. FOOD REQUIREMENT AND FOOD CONSERVATION IN THE GHARIAL, GAVIALIS GANGETICUS (GMELIN) (REPTILIA, CROCODILIA). Dr. Lala A.K. Singh, Government of India, Central Crocodile Breeding and Management Training Institute, Hyderabad, India. The results are based on a five- year study. 1. At hatching gharial are 35 cm approx in length. Under good husbandry during the first five years they grow at an average rate of 50–55cm per year. During this period they increase from 75 gm to 71.75 kg body weight, an increase by 956.6- fold. 2. In nature, gharial is almost exclusively a specialized fish-eater. Only adults over 4m may attend to human and animal carcass or swallow a small aquatic bird. 3. In captivity, gharial were fed 6 days a week with more than 99.9% fish and less than 0.1% of other experimental food like prawn and suitably-cut freshwater turtle meat. 4. The food requirement per day showed a change from 5.5% to 1.0% of the body weight between hatching and 5 years. Projected results indicated further gradual slowing down beyond this age.