A 'conservation success': Texas zoo hatches 4 critically endangered gharial crocodiles

Four hatchlings from a critically endangered crocodile species have been successfully hatched at a Texas zoo in what they are calling a "monumental conservation success."

The Fort Worth Zoo announced on social media that four gharial crocodiles, also known as gavial or fish-eating crocodiles, have hatched. According to the zoo, they are the only institution in the U.S. to have produced multiple offspring of the species.

Gharial crocodiles are are critically endangered, thanks primary threats of habitat loss due to human encroachment, unsustainable fishing and hunting practices, and came very close to extinction in the 1970's, according to the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.

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One of the largest crocodiles, the aquatic species is native to rivers in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan, and according to the Smithsonian. Only tiny populations of gharial crocodiles remain in Nepal and northern India today.

The Fort Worth Zoo estimated that only about 200 reproducing adults remain in the wild.

"We are so proud of our ectotherms team for this historic achievement!" the zoo wrote on social media.

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