A 98% decrease in the population of the gharial, a fish-eating crocodile on the Indian sub-continent, makes this species critically endangered. Once nearly 10,000 of these crocodiles inhabited the quiet murky waters of the rivers in India, Bhutan and Nepal, but are now reduced to about 200 from over-hunting, habitat loss and the construction of dams and irrigation canals. There are two protected areas in northern India where this crocodile lives. Will this be enough to prevent the gharial from going the way of the mastodon??? Only through conservation efforts will this species be brought back from the brink of extinction. (Photograph taken at Tampa’s Lowery Park Zoo.)