A gharial at at a breeding centre at Chitwan national park, south-central Nepal. This endangered species is bred in captivity and released into the wild. Gharials once thrived in all the major river systems of the Indian subcontinent, but figures show a population decline of 96-98% over a three-generation period since 1946. The once widespread population of an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 individuals has been reduced to less than 235 individuals in 2006. Conservationists attribute this decline to over-hunting for skins and trophies, egg collection for consumption, killing for indigenous medicine, and killing by fishermen

Photograph: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters

(Source: Guardian, via p-e-r-e-g-r-i-n-e)