Dead Gharial Fitted With GPS Tracker Found In Mahanadi In Odisha

Sambalpur: An eight-ft-long dead saltwater gharial with a GPS tracking device attached to it was found floating in the Mahanadi river in Odisha’s Sambalpur on Monday.

Some villagers who had gone fishing into the river spotted the gharial and informed forest officials. While fishing, the villagers left their boat at a point and were walking when they came across the gharial. At first they thought it was alive and got scared but realised it was dead. The villagers then informed forest officials.

A forest official told a news channel that it was likely to have come from Satkosia gorge. Gharials from Satkosia gorge sometimes travel all the way to Anikut but return, he said.

As per preliminary inquiry, the GPS seems to have been installed by the Satakosia Forest Department.

The body was sent for autopsy to ascertain the cause of death.