بررسي وضعيت تمساح پوزه كوتاه palustris Crocodylusو زيستگاه آن در ايران

Study of Short-snout crocodile Crocodylus palustris, and its habitat in Iran

Short-snout crocodile, Crocodylus palustris, (Mugger) (Gandu, local name) has a medium to large sized body with a wide snout, and they feed on variety of food sources from insects to mammals. Identifying habitat of the short snout crocodiles, Crocodylus palustris, and finding native protection solution took place over one year of evaluations, from January 2005 to January 2006 in the areas of Chabahar, Sarbaz, and Nikshahr in Sistan & Baluchestan Province, I.R.Iran, in order to study the habitat of the crocodiles, 26 stations were selected. The research for identifying the crocodiles of the region started with observing and collecting information from the area including: geographical features, local societies, vegetation coverage of the area, type of the riverʹs basins, etc. During the process, the areas of crocodile sightings were reported. The next step involved identifying all possible threats to the life of the short snout crocodiles. It was found that the most important threat to these creatures was the destruction of habitat. Keywords: Crocodylus palustris, Habitat, Iran