15 GHARIAL ECOLOGY PROJECT - UPDATE 2018-2019. The Gharial Ecology Project (GEP) has fnished its 11th feld season, since its initiation in 2008, immediately following the mass die-off of Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) in the winter of 2007-08. To date, our research approach has been productive, and has been sustained by strong support from the international zoo community, and concerned NGOs. In particular, little was known about Gharial reproductive behaviours, and the species is one of the most desired for exhibit, because of its unusual appearance and unique position as the only living member of its crocodilian subgroup. Gharials in captivity have the reputation of being very diffcult to breed, and only recently has a North American zoo facility, St. Augustine Alligator Farm, been able to successfully breed and produce a hatchling. Within India, captive Gharial have bred since the 1980s, but seldom have other facilities been successful with captive reproduction. International zoos have taken the lead in providing range state conservation funds. And there is sustained interest among crocodilian conservationists to foster feld research and conservation efforts on the remaining extant populations. The GEP has as its ultimate goals: 1) to develop a comprehensive assessment of Gharials in the National Chambal Sanctuary (NCS); 2) to identify and protect the species’ critical riverine habitats; and, 3) to reduce threats and challenges to the species’ continued survival. Gharials are listed as Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List, with an estimated 650-700 mature adults globally; 500+ are resident in the NCS. Project activities are conducted by a small core staff (3-4) of Indian biologists/naturalists, under the banner of the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust (in south India, near Chennai, Tamil Nadu), and with inputs from the Senior Scientifc Advisor, Professor Jeff Lang. Over the last decade (2008-2018), the GEP has produced a detailed description of Gharial behavioural ecology in the bottom third of the 625-km NCS. Adult Gharials make seasonal migratory movements of 200+ km and exhibit complex social interactions at large crèches of hatchlings [Lang and Kumar 2013, 2016; summarized in Lenin (2018) and Sohn (2018)]. Comprehensive Surveys. In February 2017 and 2018, the GEP team partnered with Madhya Pradesh Forest Department (MPFD) staff and other researchers based at the Deori EcoCentre near Morena to survey the Gharial population within the NCS (bottom 425 km, from Pali to Pachnada). In 2018, the total number of Gharial counted and estimated in the NCS was ~1675 individuals. Adjusted for accuracy in size categories, these counts included 75 mature males (with ghara), 464 reproductive females plus 52 “near reproductive” females, 462 sub-adults, 366 juveniles and 208 yearlings. In 2017, comparable counts were lower, totaling 1300+ Gharial, with an estimated 415 nests laid. In 2018, a total of 443 nests at 37 sites was documented, of which 318 nests hatched and 115 were lost. Survey details and comparable data are presented for 2017 and for 2018 in GEP (2018). The relative importance of the Chambal Gharial population cannot be overstated. Now, with realistic size estimates of the other sub-populations, totaling approximately 650-700 adults globally, the NCS population comprises 85% of the global total (550/650). It also represents ~90% (450/500) of the global annual nesting. Importantly, the Chambal population is the ONLY self-sustaining population living in an open river, protected habitat. Major threats are, in order of importance: a) dams and river-linking; b) water extraction; c) sand mining; and, d) net fshing. Red List Reassessment. Together with co-authors Subir Chowfn and J. Perran Ross, and substantive inputs from many knowledgeable colleagues, a reassessment of Gharial for the IUCN Red List was completed (June 2018), and is “in press” (Lang et al. 2019). Today, Gharial are limited to only 14 widely spaced, restricted localities in north India and in lowland Nepal. Only 5 sub-populations (4 in India; 1 in Nepal) exhibit recent reproduction/recruitment. In approximate rank order of importance (from high to low), these are: Chambal, Katerniaghat, Chitwan, Gandak, Corbett; a sixth locality, Babai River in Bardia National Park (BNP- Nepal) is potentially another breeding population, but recent evidence of nesting/hatching is absent. The updated CR status of Gharial is based on: 1) a 94% exponential decline in adult numbers, within 3 generations (using 25 y/generation, from 1943), from >20,000 adults historically (based on 1 Gharial/river km) to 650 adults today; and, 2) a 94% exponential decline in occupancy area from 80,000 km 2 historically to 4400 km 2 today. Continuing major threats include dams/barrages, water extraction/irrigation, river inter-linking, fshing net mortality, sand/boulder mining and introduced species. Conservation actions have included captive breeding and head-starting in past decades, but now require smart, site-specifc programs with local river communities to reduce multiple threats in-situ. Gharial in Nepal. In early 2018, an updated Nepalese Action Plan for Gharial was outlined by the Nepalese Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, and was reviewed upon request by the CSG. In brief, the revised plan for Gharial in Nepal refocuses attention on in-situ versus ex-situ conservation strategies, including an emphasis on an evidence-based program, informed by science. Phoebe Griffth, an Oxford University PhD student, has initiated a comprehensive series of studies, from telemetry of wild resident Gharials to “local ecological knowledge” surveys in riverside communities surrounding Chitwan National Park (CNP) (Figs. 1-3). To date, 5 wild resident Gharial have been outftted with VHF and/or GSM transmitters, and are being tracked successfully in CNP. The GEP has been instrumental in assisting the Nepal telemetry study by loaning equipment and supplies, as well as sharing capture and tagging methodologies. Phoebe joined GEP staff on the Chambal in late February and early March during the Gharial breeding season. In November, she assisted with capture, tagging and tracking resident wild Gharial living near our Garhaita base near Etawah, Uttar Pradesh.