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| Photo : Harry
Andrews |
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| Toxin Suspected As the
Cause of Mass Gharial Deaths in Chambal River |
- Gharial death toll reached 101 on
February 11th.
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National Chambal River Sanctuary, India.
February, 20, 2008 : Indian government
officials and an international collaboration of
researchers and laboratories continue the
investigation into the deaths of at least 101
gharial in the National Chambal River Sanctuary.
Starting the last week of January, specialists
began arriving in the Chambal from around India
and the world to investigate the deaths. The
team has ruled out the possibility of any
infection or parasite as the cause of the
gharial deaths. The dead gharial were diagnosed
with kidney damage and failure, significant gout
within the body cavities and around internal
organs (visceral gout), and gout within the
joints (articular gout). It is suspected that a
toxin caused the kidney damage and failure,
though a toxin and its source have not yet been
identified. Lab results and a report by the team
are expected soon, which may shed more light on
the specific cause of the deaths. Fish
inhabiting the Chambal and Yamuna Rivers will be
a focus of further investigation, as will
industrial and other human activities in the
region. More information will be posted here as
soon as it becomes available. Details of the
current known information can be found in the
latest GCA Press release.
Those wishing to contribute
to the Chambal Gharial Crisis Response
financially or otherwise can CONTACT
US here
Download the latest GCA Press Release on the Chambal Gharial Crisis here. |
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