Wildlife photographer Ian Redmond went eye-to-eye with the rare and bizarre-looking gharial in Nepal.

The gharial is a species of crocodile and has been listed as "critically endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Ian told Newsflare: "Its numbers are slowly recovering thanks to captive breeding centres such as this one in Chitwan National Park, Nepal.

"Once released into their dwindling natural habitat, however, gharials face many dangers, including abandoned fishing nets - look closely at the right-hand gharial in the Rapti River at the end of this video and you'll see its jaws are tangled in nylon netting.

"Without the intervention of the park rangers it would slowly starve to death - another victim of plastic pollution."

The eye of the crocodilian - perhaps one of the most bizarre life-forms on the planet is the Gharial, Gavialis gangeticus, a critically endangered species of slender-snouted crocodile found in India and Nepal. Its numbers are slowly recovering thanks to captive breeding centres such as this one in Chitwan National Park, Nepal. Once released into their dwindling natural habitat, however, gharials face many dangers, including abandoned fishing nets - look closely at the right-hand gharial in the Rapti River at the end of this video and you'll see it's jaws are tangled in nylon netting... without the intervention of the park rangers it would slowly starve to death - another victim of plastic pollution.
This is No.36 in the #BrightenYourDay series to expand minds in #Covid19 #lockdown, reminding us of the diversity of life on Earth while we self-isolate and socially distance from each other to get through the pandemic.


Eye to eye with a bizarre blinking crocodilian - a Gharial cools off with gaping jaws, then another one tangled in fishing net in Rapti River, Chitwan, Nepal.