Gharial

Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus)
Attribution: Clpramod / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0), this image was modified from the original version. Image source.

Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) were once found throughout river networks associated with the Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra-Meghna, and Mahanadi rivers of the Indian subcontinent. Water pollution, habitat loss due to dams and water extraction from rivers, persecution by fishermen, entanglement in fishing nets, harvest of gharial eggs for human consumption, and hunting for skins have all played a role in the decline of this species. Gharial no longer occur in Bhutan, Myanmar, Pakistan, and river networks associated with the Indus River.
(Information summarized form Lang et al. 2019)

River networks associated with the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna rivers. The general location of the Mahanadi river basin is indicated in blue text.
Pfly / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0). This map was modified from the original version. Image source.

Indus River location (dark blue).
OpenStreetMap contributorsOpenstreetmap contributors / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0). Image source.

Today, gharial are found only in a handful of isolated regions within India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. Despite ongoing conservation efforts over the past several decades, which have included captive breeding and reintroductions, the species remains listed as critically endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), but with numbers increasing in the wild (Lang et al. 2019).

Distribution of gharial (dark blue regions) according to IUCN Red List 2019  (Lang et al. 2019).
Image attribution: BhagyaMani / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0).This map was modified from the original version. Image source.

For more information on gharial conservation efforts:
IUCN Red List - Gharial
IUCN - Gharial conservation
WWF India - Gharial

Works cited
Lang, J, Chowfin, S. & Ross, J.P. 2019. Gavialis gangeticus (errata version published in 2019). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T8966A1492277430. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T8966A149227430.en