Tilapia fish may have killed gharials in Chambal
scientists seem to have come to a conclusion on what could have killed more than 100 gharials in Chambal waters recently. Tilapia, an invasive fish could have caused the deaths along the Uttar Pradesh-Madhya Pradesh border, says a new report. Circumstantial evidences suggest that the critically endangered reptiles could have consumed the fish abundantly found in the Yamuna which is polluted with heavy metals. The Yamuna meets the Chambal 40 km downstream of the affected area.
A toxin in the fish could have entered the gharials' body and damaged their kidney, resulting in gout-like symptoms and then death, says a recent report of the crisis management group (cmg) submitted to the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests on February 29, 2008. The team has not yet identified the toxin. The cause of the deaths has so far eluded the scientists (see