Rare Asian crocodiles on view at Bronx Zoo

The Bronx Zoo is providing visitors with the opportunity to view three newly acquired Sunda gharial in the World of Reptiles.

Sunda gharials are a freshwater crocodilian species found in flooded forests, swamps, and wetlands throughout Southeast Asia, with individuals reported in Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia. The species, known as one of the giant crocodilians, can grow as long as 18 feet and is considered an apex predator within its ecosystem. Fewer than 2,400 adults are believed to remain in the wild and the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the species as endangered, and it is also considered extinct in Thailand and the Malaysian state of Sabah; its presence in Vietnam is uncertain.

The three male siblings on display are about five years old and were hatched at Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. They will be raised at the Bronx Zoo to support the propagation efforts of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums’ Sunda Gharial Species Survival Plan. The Bronx Zoo was the first U.S. zoo to successfully hatch the Sunda gharial in 1985.

There are only 36 Sunda gharials in AZA zoos and aquariums and another 118 estimated in zoos and aquariums worldwide.

Photo courtesy of Joachim S. Müller / Flickr Creative Commons