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 the forest division in the past eight years. The survey found five species of bulbuls, seven species of babblers, five species of pigeons, and three species of raptors. It recorded Bright Headed Cisticola and broad-tailed grassland birds in the higher grasslands of the Brahmagiri hills. “Presence of these birds showed higher conservation significance of the Brahmagiri grasslands,” C.K. Vishnudas and R.L Rathish of the HCEWB, which performed scientific and technical coordination of the survey, told The Hindu.
“Other species include Rufous-Bellied Hawk Eagle, Lesser Coucal, ”Mr. Vishnudas added. As many as 25 birdwatchers from Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu participated in the survey. The survey was conducted during torrential rain braving leeches. “This was one of the toughest expeditions, especially during the monsoon. ,” Hemanth Batroy from Bengaluru, who led a trek to the Banasura mountains for the survey, said. The survey reports will aid in sanctuary management, North Wayanad Divisional Forest Officer K.C. Prasad said. The logistic support for the survey was coordinated by range forest officers M.N. Najmal Ameen, Prem Shamir, Arunesh, and K.J.John, section forest officer of the Mananthavadi forest range.
Birdwatchers Hemanth Batroy (Bengaluru), A. Shwetha (Mysuru), H. Sahana (Mysuru) Arun Chungapally, Muhammad Aslam, Abhijith, C. Anusreedha, and R.L Rathish led various camps.

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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, is the result of five years of extensive explorations in the Western Ghats forests. The four new species belong to the genus Fejervarya, but unlike other members of the family, they possess the ability to burrow.
“Two of the new species could be facing serious threats from human activities,” says Sonali Garg, who conducted this study as part of her PhD research.
“Like most amphibians, they are highly sensitive to changes in the climate, and hence can be studied as environmental indicator species,” says Ms.Garg.
“We need to be concerned about the threats to these frogs and do more studies to re-assess their conservation status,” says Prof. S.D. Biju, who led the study.
The first of the new species, Manoharan’s Burrowing Frog (Fejervarya manoharani), was discovered from the Agasthyamala hills in South Kerala and is named after T.M. Manoharan, former Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, in recognition of his conservation efforts. The Kadar Burrowing Frog (Fejervarya kadar) was collected from the Vazhachal forests and named after the Kadar tribe that was in the forefront of the agitation against the Athiripilly hydel project. The CEPF Burrowing Frog (Fejervarya cepfi) was found in Amboli, a popular hill station in Maharashtra and is named after the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund which had contributed to the preservation of biodiversity in the Western Ghats.
Discovered in the Parambikulam tiger reserve, the Neil Cox’s Burrowing Frog (Fejervarya neilcoxi) was named after Dr. Neil Cox of the International Union for Conservation of Nature who was instrumental in preparing the Red List of global amphibian species.

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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 to 34 species, the highest in the country. Nearly 50% of crabs in the Western Ghats (27 of 47 species) occur here.
All six species were discovered on the Kerala side. The researchers including S.K. Pati and P.M. Sureshan from Zoological Survey of India, L. Rajesh, Smrithy Raj and A. Biju Kumar of the Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, University of Kerala and V.U. Sheeja, Holy Cross College, Nagercoil published the find in Journal of Natural History.
Karkata, which stands for crab in Sanskrit, has been given a separate genus, indicating a higher order of distinctive features. It is endemic to the Western Ghats.
One of its species, Karkata ghanarakta, was collected from the Thattekad bird sanctuary in Ernakulam district while the second, Karkata kusumbha was reported from Mankulam in Idukki district. The species name ghanarakta is derived from the Sanskrit for maroon, reflecting the colour of the crab. The word kusumbha (Sanskrit for safflower) refers to the orange-red colours of the creature that resemble the floral hues.
The researchers found two new species in the genus Pilarta. While Pilarta aroma inhabits cold water mountain streams in the Agasthyamala Reserve in Thiruvananthapuram, Pilarta punctatissima was collected from Ovumkal in the Thattekad sanctuary.

Paddy embankments

One new species, Cylindrotelphusa longiphallus, came from deep burrows along paddy fields at Kuzhikattusseri, Thrissur. The name is derived from the Latin ‘longi’ for long and the Greek ‘phallus’, a reference to long male gonopods of the animal. Another new discovery, Cylindrotelphusa breviphallus, is from Ponmudi in Thiruvananthapuram.

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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 expert and coordinator of the programme, told The Hindu that along with Kerala, the census would be held in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. “Elephants are migratory animals and cross over to the adjoining States, which may lead to overestimation or underestimation. Hence, the count will be conducted simultaneously with the three States,” Dr. Easa said.
A twelve-member core committee has been constituted for the programme. Amit Mallick, field director, Periyar Tiger Reserve, is the nodal officer and chairman of the team.
The census, involving direct and indirect count, will cover elephant habitats spread around 9,670 sq km of the 11,119.3 sq km forest area of the State. The direct counting method is based on sightings of elephants, while in the indirect method, surveyors follow a dung decay formula for arriving at an estimate.
As many as 641 select blocks, a block may be of six to seven sq km, have been identified in the State and a three-member team, including a watcher and two beat forest officers, will be engaged in each block.
As many as 120 resources persons have been trained for the census and they will train close to 2,000 field staff.
The direct count will begin on May 17 and the indirect count on May 18.
The third day will be exclusively for collecting information on population structure of the jumbos and will be in open areas where the pachyderms are frequently sighted.
The Periyar Tiger Conservation foundation will coordinate the census.

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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 boundaries of the river, spread across Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha districts.
The nine-km Varattar was a perennial freshwater source linking the Pampa and the Manimala rivers till its degradation started four decades ago. Dr. Isaac visited the Varattar river mouth near Othera-Puthukkulangara during an official programme of the Eraviperoor grama panchayat on May 1. The once prolific river is almost dry now, with heavily weeded patches of water and narrow streams at certain points. Indiscriminate sand-mining over the past four decades drastically lowered the riverbeds of the Pampa and the Manimala, blocking the natural water flow between the two rivers through the Varattar.

House panel inspection

An inspection by the Legislative Committee on Environment in 2002 found that almost two-third of the Varattar riverbed had been encroached upon for cultivating tapioca, paddy, vegetables, and fodder. Concrete structures too have come up on the riverbed at certain points. In its report to the government, the panel recommended rejuvenation of the Varattar, saying it could be a boon to the water-scarce river basin. The river was once a water channel for the kettuvalloms (cargo boats) from Alappuzha to Aranmula.

Meeting planned

Water Resources Minister Mathew T.Thomas will convene a meeting in Thiruvananthapuram to prepare a draft rejuvenation plan for the Varattar. Dr. Isaac too will attend the meeting.
Local body chiefs of the Thiruvanvandoor municipality as well as the grama panchayats of Thiruvanvandoor, Eraviperoor, Kuttoor, and Koipram too will accompany Dr. Issac in the ‘river walk’. Eraviperoor panchayat vice-president N.Rajeev said the panchayat resumed 12 acres of river poromboke from encroachers in 2015. Dr. Isaac said the government was planning to include the Varattar rejuvenation plan in the Harita Keralam project. He said Central funds would also be sought under the Pampa Action Plan.

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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 of maintenance of the multi-crore projects it implemented, along with the prevailing drought and acute drinking water scarcity, are making life miserable for the common man.
The society, which had received an assistance of Rs. 219 crore from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), stopped functioning when the contract with the external agency was over three years ago. It was then the responsibility of the State government to initiate follow-up actions to preserve the achievements of the society, especially in revitalising the dried up water sources.
River dries up again
The 38-km Kodungarapallam, which had a rebirth because of the eco-restoration initiatives undertaken by AHADS, has completely dried up now because of indiscriminate sand-mining and deforestation. Same is the case of Uppumkarapallam, a 11-km rivulet that ensured water security to a number of tribal hamlets.
Though the project helped afforestation of 11,000 hectares of barren land, apart from bringing 5,000 hectares of fallow land under cultivation, lack of efforts over the past three years made the initiative an abject failure.
Soil and water conservation projects initiated in 17,000 hectares have also turned big failures. Check-dams and rainwater harvesting measures initiated under the project have completely failed because of the lack of periodic repair and maintenance.
Other than converting AHAD’s huge office complex at Agali as a training centre for local bodies, nothing has been done to preserve its achievements.
“Before winding up its projects, AHADS had prepared a Rs. 253-crore total hamlet development programme. It had also submitted to the government a Rs. 159.34-crore agriculture package to sustain the gains of the project and make Attappady an organic food hub of Kerala,” says S. Palaniswamy, a tribal activist who had worked with AHADS initiatives. Around 310 institutions having participation of tribespeople have turned idle after the collapse of AHADS.

 

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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 the country.
The CWS is the only place in Kerala where star tortoises are known to occur in the wild. The sanctuary is now a haven for at least 450 such tortoises seized from poachers in less than two years. The success of the programme is so overwhelming that the star tortoise has turned into an icon of the sanctuary.
It all began in August 2015 when Customs sleuths of the Nedumbassery International Airport seized an out-of-the-ordinary consignment that contained 200 star tortoises meant for an east Asian destination. In these regions, live Indian star tortoises are considered auspicious for gaining wealth. It is the reason why Indian star tortoises, which are protected under the Wildlife Act, are poached and smuggled. Seized consignments have to be handed over to the Forest Department under law but it led to the question of where to release them.
Fearing they would perish in a zoo or a forest area where they cannot adapt naturally, the CWS authorities created a special project under the Wildlife Warden of the Eravikulam National Park G. Prasad, and CWS’ Assistant Wildlife Warden P.M. Prabhu.

Species indentification

The tortoises were then kept under quarantine for 30 days at Chinnar, where they were scientifically identified as a southern Indian species, Mr. Prasad said, adding, “This was important to avoid mixing of genetically different populations since there was also a western Indian species inhabiting Gujarat and Rajasthan.” Mr. Prasad said that species identification is done through a molecular genetics process.
Rehabilitation partly adopts the ‘soft releasing’ process in which randomly selected tortoises are taken to the wild in an enclosure from which they may enter the forest at will.
The enclosures are monitored to prevent attacks by wild animals, and after the entire batch leaves, the enclosures are removed, Mr. Prasad said.
He added that during the quarantine period, the natural food preferences of star tortoises were identified and found to include a herb locally known as thazhuthama, and a particular variety of cactus found abundantly inside the CWS.

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