more than 40 gharials were found dead downstream in the Chambal river, ahead of its confluence point with the Yamuna. Preliminary reports indicated liver cirrhosis was among the causes of the deaths, said D N S Suman, chief wildlife warden of Uttar Pradesh.

According to GSridhar, divisional forest officer, wildlife, National Chambal Sanctuary, heavy metal pollution may have caused the liver cirrhosis. "Floods in the Yamuna in 2007 may have carried heavy metals either through the backflow or fish population, which the gharials consumed. There was no contamination found upstream of the Chambal river,' he says.

Conservationists are concerned because the deaths were species-specific. Only gharials that were over 10 years