Working with the False Gharial – One of the World’s Largest, Rarest Crocodiles

Chlidonias said:
oh and I meant gibe. (Jibe is an alternative spelling but also has the meaning of "being in accord or agreement with", which wasn't what I meant at all!). And also I meant it more like "a friendly gibe" rather than "a mean-spririted gibe". So don't get upset nanoboy :p
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I love jokes and zingers! :D I just like to ensure that I understand them so I can laugh too and fire back accordingly. :D
 
Maybe you should think about your phone that does make you miss stuff although why were you using that phone again? :p
 
Hi all,

Thanks for all the interest and feedback.

Re False Gharial attacks, a colleague of mine, citing a field study done by a researcher he's in touch with, relays this fascinating bit of info:

T. schlegelii - Another fairly surprising one; I recorded 7 attacks resulting in 5 fatalities during the 2008 - 2012 period; two of the fatal attacks (in Central Kalimantan) were mentioned in the CSG Newsletter and confirmed as T. schlegelii; a fatal attack far up the Belayan River in East Kalimantan was said to be a T. schlegelii; a fatal attack along the middle Rokan River of Riau was attributed to this species after a large individual was shot and bones "resembling a human" were apparently found in it's stomach; in the far inland Musi Rawa regency of South Sumatra a fatal attack was reported from an area in which large Tomistoma had been recently captured. So in most cases T. schlegelii was the most likely culprit, although we can't entirely discount the possibility of a random C. porosus wandering hundreds of miles inland into peat swamp.

Hard part is the confusion re the C. porosus factor....last thing Tomistoma needs right now are false accusations; geez they're already false gharials!

Best, Frank
 
findi said:
Hi all,

Thanks for all the interest and feedback.

Re False Gharial attacks, a colleague of mine, citing a field study done by a researcher he's in touch with, relays this fascinating bit of info:

T. schlegelii - Another fairly surprising one; I recorded 7 attacks resulting in 5 fatalities during the 2008 - 2012 period; two of the fatal attacks (in Central Kalimantan) were mentioned in the CSG Newsletter and confirmed as T. schlegelii; a fatal attack far up the Belayan River in East Kalimantan was said to be a T. schlegelii; a fatal attack along the middle Rokan River of Riau was attributed to this species after a large individual was shot and bones "resembling a human" were apparently found in it's stomach; in the far inland Musi Rawa regency of South Sumatra a fatal attack was reported from an area in which large Tomistoma had been recently captured. So in most cases T. schlegelii was the most likely culprit, although we can't entirely discount the possibility of a random C. porosus wandering hundreds of miles inland into peat swamp.

Hard part is the confusion re the C. porosus factor....last thing Tomistoma needs right now are false accusations; geez they're already false gharials!

Best, Frank
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Yes the concept of such a large crocodilian not taking down a 60kg, defenceless animal (ie a human) always seemed improbable. There must be anecdotal evidence through the ages, especially from when they were more common. What a terrifying way to die though!! As human populations increase we can probably expect to read more man eater stories, although I suppose that the crocs' numbers will also decrease so there might be less attacks.
 
I nipped into the Herpetarium on lunch and got pics of the two we have on display right now (see attached). Very fascinating to watch!
 

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BlueSky said:
I nipped into the Herpetarium on lunch and got pics of the two we have on display right now (see attached). Very fascinating to watch!
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Thanks very much for the photos; I look forward to hearing more about them,best, Frank
 
The gharial in the second picture (I love how he's blending) is around 12 feet. The one lounging in the pool is about 10 feet. Ages are unknown because they came to us from the wild.
 
BlueSky said:
The gharial in the second picture (I love how he's blending) is around 12 feet. The one lounging in the pool is about 10 feet. Ages are unknown because they came to us from the wild.
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mUCH APPRECIATED, bEST REGARDS, fRANK
 
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