TOP OF THE CROCODILE

摘要

Not only do India's fish-eating gharials lookstrange, they make unusually attentive mums and dads. These reptiles are among the best in the world, says Janaki Lenin.February fog blankets the wide River Chambal in northern India and shrouds from view the settlements along its banks. A new tension fills the air. Until now, one particularly impressive scarred 5m-long male gharial, sporting a magnificent bulbous lump called a ghara on the end of his long snout, has been civil. He has been lazing alongside his fellow gharials as their dark hides soak up the rays. But now, suddenly, he can't bear the sight of another big male.