92 species recorded in bird survey

The Hindu, August 30, 2017   E.M. Manoj KALPETTA A three-day monsoon bird survey, organised jointly by the Forest Department, College of Forestry, Thrissur, and the Hume Centre for Ecology and Wildlife Biology (HCEWB), in the North Wayanad Division recently recorded 92 species. No bird surveys have been conducted in...

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Burrowing frogs add to diversity of Western Ghats

T. Nandakumar, Thiruvananthapuram The Hindu , June 19, 2017  Opening another window into the fascinating world of amphibian diversity in the Western Ghats, a research student at the Delhi University has reported the discovery of four new species of burrowing frogs. The finding, published in the international journal Zootaxa,...

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A new cast of crabs in Western Ghats

T.Nandakumar, Thiruvananthapuram  The Hindu, June 08, 2017 The Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot is in the spotlight once again, as scientists have discovered a new genus and six new species of freshwater crabs in these mountainous forests. With the recent finding in Kerala, freshwater crab diversity in the State has risen...

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Elephant census begins on May 17 in Kerala

E.M. Manoj, Kalpetta The Hindu, May 12, 2017 An elephant census will be held in southern India from May 17 to May 19. It is estimated that there are more than 6,000 elephants in the Wayanad, Nilambur, Anamudi, and Periyar elephant reserves of the State. The last census in 2012 had put the number of elephants at 6,177. P.S. Easa, wildlife...

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Walking to revive a near-dead Varattar

Radhakrishnan Kuttoor, PATHANAMTHITTA  The Hindu, May 11, 2017 Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac will lead a ‘river walk’ along the Varattar, a more or less dead tributary of the Pampa, on May 29 as part of the government’s proposed Varattar rejuvenation project. The initiative is to collect first-hand information on the original...

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AHADS projects cut a sorry figure

K A Shaji, Attappady The Hindu, May 11, 2017  With the State government backtracking completely from initiating follow-up action to preserve its gains in areas of eco-restoration and tribal empowerment, the once celebrated Attappady Hill Area Development Society (AHADS) has turned into a complete wastage of public money. Lack ...

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Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary hitches wagon to star tortoises

Ignatius Pereira,  KOLLAM The Hindu, May 08, 2017 An ambitious project of the Kerala Forest Department at the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) to rehabilitate Indian star tortoises (Geochelone elegans) seized from smugglers has turned into a major success. This makes the CWS the only rehabilitation centre for star tortoises in...

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Leopard entangled in steel net dies

The Hindu,May 07, 2017 KOLLAM,   A wild leopard that strayed into human habitat close to forest areas at Edapalayam here got entangled in a steel net and died following suspected fatigue as it tried in vain to free itself. The net was spread by farmers to keep crop-raiding wild boars at bay. Aryankavu forest range officer Jiyaz Jamaluddin Labba said the male leopard was around 9 years old. The net was spread...

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Varattar rejuvenation soon

The Hindu,  PATHANAMTHITTA May 03, 2017 The State government will soon prepare a comprehensive action plan to rejuvenate the Varattar river, a tributary of the Pampa, and execute the same in a time-bound manner, Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Issac has said. The Minister was inspecting the badly degraded Varattar riverbed at...

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Water shortage: Crop loss pegged at Rs 724.5 crore

Times Of India, May 3, 2017 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Water shortage has brought about crop damages to the tune of Rs 724.5 crore this summer, agriculture minister V S Sunil Kumar said in the assembly on Tuesday. The estimates were based on preliminary findings and the damage figure could go up once final tabulation is done, the minister said. Water scarcity has damaged crops in about 41,592.3 hectares across the state. ...

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Sky bridges for monkeys

Giji K. Raman, IDUKKI   The Hindu, March 20, 2017 After the success of the sky bridge for Grizzled Giant Squirrel, authorities are planning sky bridges for the Tufted Gray Langur (Semnopithecus priam) of Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary. Like the squirrel, the langur also known as Madras Gray Langur is endemic to South India and Sri Lanka....

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House sparrow numbers fall

George Jacob, KOTTAYAM The Hindu,  March 20, 2017 The survey of house sparrows held in connection with the World Sparrow Day has registered a steep drop in the sparrow population in Kottayam and Ernakulam city areas. Punnen Kurian Venkadath, secretary of the Tropical Institute of Ecological Sciences (TIES), here which conducted...

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Over 4,000 waterbirds spotted

Special Correspondent  Thiruvananthapuram The Hindu, February 01, 2017 A considerable increase, both in the number of species and individual count, of water birds has been reported in the Asian Water Bird Census 2017 conducted in the capital district. In the day-long census carried out on January 21 in nine different bird-rich...

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Rare birds sighted in Polachira wetlands

The Hindu,January 24, 2017  KOLLAM:   The 27th annual waterfowl census in the Polachira wetlands in Kollam district carried out by Warblers and Waders (WW) counted 3,117 water birds of 43 species. The census, which concluded on Sunday, was led by founder-member of WW C. Susanth. The highlight of the census was the sighting of Comb ducks, a rare winter visitor to Kerala. The previous few sightings in Kerala...

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