THE REPTILES - CORBETT WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
Main Attractions: Mugger, Gharial, Monitar Lizards, Soft -Shelled River Tortoises, Indian Python, King Cobra, Common Krait, Rat Snake, Common Cat Snake, Wolf Snake, Common Sand Boa & Water Snakes.
The Crocs!
The Ramganga is notable for holding the freshwater Crocodilians of
India, the Mugger (Crocodylus Palustris) and the Gharial (Gavialis
Gangeticus). With the rapid depletion of these reptiles all over the
country, and the attempts now being made to revive them artificially, the
Corbett Reserve is truly remarkable in offering these widely different
Saurians wholly natural sanctuary in the same waters.
The Mugger, also called The Marsh Crocodile, has now taken freely to the
lake. The Gharial or fish-eating Crocodile, with its long, narrow, thin
snout with a broad disc at the end of the snout in the male, is much rare.
The common Monitor and the Lesser Lizards are also to be found here, as
in most other forested reserves in the country.
Creepy Crawlers
Soft-shelled River Tortoises are quite a feature of the Ramganga. There
are three different kinds here, all of which are carnivorous. They will
feed on the kills of predators like the Tiger and Leopard, even quite some
distance from water, when they get the chance to do so.
The snakes of the reserve do not seem to have been comprehensively worked
out as yet. Both the most magnificent snakes of India occur here, the
Indian Python also called the Rock Python and the King Cobra, which is the
largest poisonous snake in the world, though the latter is rare.
Among other snakes should be mentioned the Cobra and the Common Krait,
the Rat Snake and also the common Cat Snake, the Wolf Snake, the Common
Sand Boa, and some water-snakes, including the Striped Keelback.
