Conservation drones top wish list of tiger reserves

K.S. Sudhi
KOCHI,  
TheHindu, May 26, 2015
The Periyar and Parambikulam tiger reserves and the Eravikulam National Park are planning to procure conservation drones to step up their conservation drive.

While the Periyar reserve will get one drone (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) at a cost of Rs.25 lakh, the Parambikulam reserve hopes to get three such aerial vehicles. This is the first time the managers of three protected areas have decided to go in for conservation drones.

Apprehension about Maoists using their territory also seems to have influenced the Periyar managers to go in for e-eye technology, electronic surveillance cameras that can scan 360 degrees.

Modernisation process

The Periyar reserve has included the suggestion in its proposals for “strengthening modernisation process and upgrading implementation and management effectiveness” during 2015-16.”

According to its project proposal, “since Periyar shares an interstate boundary of around 90 km and the adjacent landscapes on both sides are undulating and inaccessible, the possibility of the presence of Maoist groups is high.

“We can use the e-eye technology in a befitting manner to curb the aforesaid menace,” it said.

The e-eye technology can be used to track animal and human movements. It also has short-range infrared night vision camera stations, long-range thermal camera stations, remotely-operated cameras, and Wi-max devices, it said.

O.P. Kaler, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, said the Periyar and Parambikulam Tiger Conservation Foundations would move ahead with the proposal for procurement of drones.

Central support

The two reserves together had received an additional Central support of Rs.4 crore last year, which can be used to procure the gadgets, he said.

According to Sanjayankumar, Deputy Director, Periyar Tiger Reserve, drones can be effectively used for conservation activities and to monitor parts of the reserve. Illegal entry of persons into the protected areas and movement of animals can be monitored.

Enforcement

Enforcement activities of the reserve are mostly by foot patrolling and it would take much time to cover the inaccessible and non-motorable areas, he said.

Presence of canopy may prove obstructive in some parts. However, it could be effectively used in other parts of the reserve, he said

Satellite imagery

A proposal to procure satellite imagery of 6,000 sq km of the southern Western Ghats at a cost of Rs.60 lakh has also been mooted.

The wish-list of the Periyar tiger reserve also includes thirty night-vision binoculars and two all-terrain vehicles.

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Eco-tourism brings succour to tribespeople

K A Shaji
Palakkad, The Hindu, May 13, 2015  

The community-based eco-tourism now being practised at the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve with the active involvement of 234 members of six tribal settlements within the reserve has become a model to emulate in tiger conservation, said B.N. Anjan Kumar, deputy director of the reserve.

In an interaction with The Hindu , he said the initiative was launched six years ago. The reserve, which shares its borders with Tamil Nadu’s Anamalai Tiger Reserve, was able to make rapid strides in initiatives relating to eco-tourism as well effective forest management through the involvement of tribals, who earlier found it tough to live in a forest environment cut off from the world outside.

The tribespeople, who were forced to sell their cattle and forgo other means of livelihood after the sanctuary attained a tiger reserve status, are now employed as tourist guides, forest watchers and helping hands for eco-tourism initiatives. They are paid salary by the Parambikulam Tiger Foundation.

Endemic flora varieties

“The Parambikulam Tiger Reserve has many firsts to its credit, made possible through participation of tribespeople. Being a most protected forest area, the reserve has nearly five endemic flora varieties. It had 29 direct sightings of tigers,” he said. Ever since Joint Forest and Participatory Management was introduced, there have been no incidents of poaching in the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve. Also, there had been no incident of forest fire. It is now ‘the first domestic cattle-free protected forest area.’

Tribespeople have become part of the Social Tiger Protection Force and are effectively combating forest and wildlife-related offences. There are seven eco-development committees serving the restricted and regulated eco-tourism needs and looking after the livelihood of tribal people. There are 13 eco-tourism packages oprated by the department through tribal people. Plastic waste has reduced drastically and the remaining waste is recycled and made into key chains, embedded with PTR-related images and slogans. They are sold as souvenir to tourists. Tourism activities are regulated in such a way as to not cause disturbance to wildlife. Entry of private vehicles to the reserve has been banned.

Four new 18-seater vehicles have been bought to take tourists around the reserve.

Farming activities

Referring to the farming activity in Poopara hamlet, Mr.Anjan Kumar said banana cultivation earlier had led to man–animal conflict. Now, with inputs from Forest Department, they have switched over to ginger, coffee, pepper and turmeric cultivation. Organic certification and good prices have benefited them, he added. In order to address alcoholism prevalent among the local community, the Excise Department would soon start a de-addiction centre in Parambikulam, , which is otherwise a no-liquor zone. An ambulance was sanctioned for the local community by A K Antony, MP, from his local area development fund for meeting immediate medical needs.

 

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Ghats yields new limbless amphibian

T. Nandakumar
Thiruvananthapuram,  
The Hindu, May 5, 2015  

The new species, named Gegeneophis tejaswini after the Tejaswini river in north Kerala, is the 12th Gegeneophis species discovered from the Western Ghats.

A team of scientists from the Government College, Chittur, Kerala State Biodiversity Board (KSBB), and Natural History Museum, London, have reported the discovery of a new species of caecilian (limbless) amphibian from the southern part of the Western Ghats.

The new species, named Gegeneophis tejaswini after the Tejaswini river in north Kerala, is the 12th Gegeneophis species discovered from the Western Ghats and the fourth from Kerala.

Caecilians are limbless subterranean amphibians found in wet tropical and sub-tropical regions.

Of the 204 caecilian species reported so far, some resemble snakes while others look like worms.

Over two years

The scientists collected the specimens over a period of two years from 2008 from Bedoor village bordering the Kamballur reserve forest, near Cheemeni, in Kasaragod district.

All the eight specimens were dug out from the soil in home gardens bordering plantations and the reserve forest.

Nearly blind

The species is nearly blind, with the eye covered by bone. The identification of the species has been confirmed by the Natural History Museum.

The team of scientists including K. Ramachandran from the Government College, Chittoor; Mark Wilson from the Natural History Museum; and Oommen V. Oommen, Chairman, KSBB, have published the finding in the latest edition of Zootaxa, an international journal on zoological taxonomy.

Features

Measuring 135 mm to 224 mm in length, the specimens are pinkish in colour and easily mistaken for earthworms.

According to the authors, people usually fail to recognise caecilian amphibians because of their secretive underground life and superficial similarity to earthworms.

‘Data Deficient’

Given that G.tejaswini is known only from a small series of specimens from a single locality and that very little is known of its general ecology and nothing of its reproductive biology, the authors have proposed that the species be classified as Data Deficient under IUCB criteria.

Not abundant

They surmise that the species is not abundant in the region, considering that 39 man hours of digging in localities 20 km from the site failed to yield additional specimens.

According to the paper, the discovery of G.tejaswini reinforces the perception that the Western Ghats region of northern Kerala and southern Karnataka is particularly diverse for caecilians.

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Newfound swamp could throw up surprises

Giji K. Raman
IDUKKI,  
The Hindu, April 29, 2015

Patches of Myristica swamps, described as the most endangered forest ecosystem in Kerala, have been identified in the Idukki Wildlife Sanctuary, raising prospects of a rich diversity of plants and unexplored organisms there.

The patches are freshwater swamps with trees of the Myristica family, which are water-tolerant with dense stilt roots helping them stay erect in the inundation-prone wetland. P.A. Jose of the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), who has widely researched plants and organisms in Myristica swamps, says this is for the first time that the patches are being reported in Idukki district. There are five species of the Myristica family in Kerala and the KFRI has submitted a proposal to the Forest Department to protect Myristica swamps and restore the plants in areas where they are threatened.

It is believed that the widely spread Myristica swamps disappeared from the Indian subcontinent long back. Now they are confined to Siwalik, the Doon valley, and the Brahmaputra valley in addition to the Western Ghats.

Kulathupuzha, Anchal, and Shendurney also have patches of the swamp, covering a total area of under 2 sq km in the State.

Myristica swamps are rich in trees, shrubs, fishes, spiders, amphibians, snakes, and butterflies and are confined to the low-lying waterlogged areas undisturbed by humans.

Wildlife warden P.R. Suresh says the identification of the freshwater swamps has significance as its biological evolution has widely been researched by scientists. Human intervention and climatic changes often put the swamps in danger. The sanctuary, with mostly dry grasslands and limited valleys, is now being more closely studied.

A survey of plants and other organisms in the swamps could spring surprises as the Western Ghats still throws up unexplored botanical and biological diversity.

The importance of the Myristica swamps lies in the fact that many animals and plants documented there in the past are on the endangered or endemic list. Mr. Suresh says that an exclusive survey is needed to assess the swamp’s biodiversity in the sanctuary.

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Rare Himalayan bird sighted

E.M. Manoj
KALPETTA,  
The Hindu, April 28, 2015 
The rare chestnut-winged cuckoo ( Clamator coromandus ), found usually in the western and eastern Himalayas and southeast Asia, has been spotted by ornithologists in the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. There have been very few recordings of the species from the State in the past, C.K. Vishnudas, an ornithologist who coordinated a survey held recently in the sanctuary, told The Hindu . The bird, said to be a winter migrant to south India, was sighted at Nallathanni and was photographed by A. Navneeth Nair, a budding ornithologist. The bird has glossy black upper parts, a black head with a long crest, rufous throat, chestnut wings, and long graduated tail.

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River terns at summer rain’s mercy

Giji K. Raman
Kattappana,  
The Hindu, April 26, 2015

This summer is unlikely to add much to the population of Indian river tern ( Stema auratia ), a common bird species on the islet of Vairamani. The islet, a natural habitat of the bird, is strewn with eggs and dead chicks. Heavy summer rain is believed to have caused the damage.

Vairamani is accessible only by boat and is situated deep inside a sanctuary. It is considered the largest breeding place of the bird, which lays eggs on sand and hatches them if undisturbed by human or other intervention.

The breeding season of river tern is from March to May. By March, the birds would arrive there and the islet would soon have hundreds of eggs, each pit having one to four. Ornithologist R. Sugathan says the eggs need a particular temperature for a particular duration to hatch. If there are winds, the brooding birds could fly away, and the eggs would not hatch. Mr. Sugathan says that many factors, including climate change, result in advancing of the breeding season. There are chances of a second brooding by a bird, depending on the availability of food in the area. Forest Department officials are keen on protecting the habitat from outside intervention. Assistant Wildlife Warden G. Jayachandran says the breeding is being monitored.

The death toll of chicks this year is the highest, he says. It could also see a drop in the number of arrivals. Heavy rain could be a reason for the chicks’ death as they lie in the open without any natural protection.

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Elephants in a trouble trench

K.A. Shaji
Sholayur (Palakkad), 
The Hindu, April 23, 2015

Call it an elephantine problem. As many as 13 elephants, separated from their herd after the creation of trenches in the elephant corridors in eastern Attappady, are apparently in a dilemma.

They are virtually trapped in between habited areas and the forest due to the creation of trenches. The elephants have been raiding crops in Thoova, Vattalakki, and Kulukkur villages in the Sholayur belt.

Traffic disruption

They appear on the Mannarkkad-Coimbatore main road, causing disruption to vehicular movement. Road-users, especially tourists who take the route to reach Ootty, via Mulli and Manjur, are often taken by surprise when they spot wild elephants on the road. “The elephants are trapped in the region as the manmade hurdle disrupted their path. Elephant-proof trenches were dug in the Anaikatty forest fringes on the Tamil Nadu side following a public outcry. The elephants were not herded back to the forest ahead of the digging of trenches. The animals are in a state of fear and anxiety as their seasonal pattern of movement has been disrupted,” says Naseer Usman, an ornithologist-turned farmer in Ezhuthukalpara, near Sholayur.

“The elephants had a large area to roam freely, irrespective of the State borders. It was their unchallenged habitat. Now, the unscientific trenches have caused the alienation of male elephants. They are trapped in small wild patches surrounded by human settlements in eastern Attappady,” says Palani Swamy, a forest watcher attached to the elephant squad of the Forest Department.

The situation forces them to stray into farmlands and human habitations, causing human-animal conflict. The lack of adequate fodder makes them crop-raiders. Senior forest officials said they were yet to find a way to resolve the crisis. Animal experts say chances of reuniting the animals with the herds are remote. Herds do not accept elephants after long intervals. The trenches were dug six months ago, they say.

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