We request that Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister of India act immediately in the crisis of the gharials (the desi crocodile) in the Chambar River sanctuary, which spans Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. Swift action is critical to solving the riddle of recent mysterious deaths in the sanctuary. Out of a worldwide population of 1,500, at the time of this petition, 81 gharials have died since December 9, 2007: this is in a span of just two months. The gharial is in serious danger of extinction. Conditions at the sanctuary are pivotal to preventing the sunset of the gharial\'s time on earth because over half of the world\'s gharials are resident there. TIME IS RUNNING OUT!! We ask that Manmohan Singh\'s government immediately: - establish a task force on the gharial. The task force should be able to: a)hire well qualified experts to study and monitor the gharials for clues as to why they are dying. b)liase with the sanctuary wardens, conservation groups, and the Indian Veterinary Research Institute c) expedite potential solutions to resolve the gharial deaths and cut red tape around obtaining permissions and funding for said solutions (such as removing gharials for treatment and monitoring, or flooding the river to alleviate possible heavy metal poisoning) We also ask the government to: - enforce the ban against fishing in the Chambal sanctuary - reinstate the successful captive breeding program of gharials that was halted in 1982 If the gharial is allowed to become extinct through neglect and mismanagement of the Sanctuary, we feel that it would be a terrible blot on India\'s honour. The situation is dire, but we hope that it can be remedied and government will help to save this creature for all time. Please take action now.

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