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Communicating science for conservation

Vol. XXXII, No. 12, December 2017 ISSN 0971-6378 (Print); 0973-2543 (Online)

Contents

ActivityABC of Indian Wildlife, Pp. 1-4Bear Mask, P. 5

Fantastic FactsThe Sacred Langurs of Chamba, Western Himalaya, Pp. 6-7

Small Mammal MailLesser False Vampire Bat: Range extension of Lesser False Vampire Bat (Megaderma spasma) in Southern Eastern Ghats-- A. Kalaimani, R. Nagarajan & M. Salman, Pp. 8-9

Bugs R All Mite: Life cycle of Red Palm Mite, Raoiella indica Hirst (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) on coconut leaves-- Sanjoy Podder, Himani Biswas, Amlan Ghosh & Salil Kumar Gupta, Pp. 10-13

Reptile RapTurtle Predation: Evidence of partial consumption of adult female Indian Star Tortoise (Geochelone elegans) by Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica): account of vertebrate predation on Testudines-- Raju Vyas & Manoj Thaker, Pp. 14-20

Bird-o-soarRecord of Some Unusual Avian Species from the Wetlands of Urbanizing Haryana, India-- Purbasha Banerjee & Arijit Pal, Pp. 21-26

Are the heronry birds adapting to urbanization?-- R. Roshnath & Palatty Allesh Sinu, Pp. 27-33

ZOOREACH ActivitiesHuman Elephant Coexistence: Teaching Trainers for Asian Elephant Conservation in Erode Dt. of Tamil Nadu, India-- Rengasamy Marimuthu & B.A. Daniel, Pp. 34-39

More awareness programmes on Pangolin conservation-- Rengasamy Marimuthu & B.A. Daniel, Pp. 40-42

Field ReportEducation Report, Pp. 43-44

Activity ages 3+

Zoo’s Print Vol. 32 | No. 12 1

ABC OF INDIAN WILDLIFE

Activity ages 3+


colour these!

Activity ages 3+


Activity ages 3+


Illustrations by Maya Kamathadapted by Sanjay Molur

Activity ages 3+


Print this mask on a card and cut it

Collect these masks for exciting games

Brown Bear

Activity ages 3+


The Sacred Langurs of Chamba, Western Himalaya

Colobine Dushaalas: The adult male Chamba Sacred Langurs are a handsome lot. They flaunt a brownish-grey cape like Dushaala*, falling loosely down their arms and shoulders, swaying as they walk and l eap in the mountains. The females lack the Dushaala and are relatively plain but sport a characteristic long fur on the shoulders and back that give them a furry appearance.

Patriarchal duties: Adult males protect their group from vagrant bachelor bands and neighbouring groups and engage in subtle scare tactics to keep the miscreants at bay. The males have also been observed to look out for their groups while feeding, scouring the feeding area for danger and alerting the members.

The ‘Sacred’ Call: Chamba Sacred Langur call is a mix of deep grunt followed by a strong burp. Only the adult males have been observed to call, either to collect the group before a movement or to signal the location of one male to another.

Sacred status: The langurs are worshipped as embodiments of the Hindu god Hanuman and considered sacred by the local communities in Chamba.

Conservation threats: Deforestation and habitat degradation due to unsustainable tourism is a considerable threat to the langur habitat. With the decreasing forest cover, langurs increasingly come in proximity to human settlements and agricultural farms, often resulting in a conflict situation. Such issues threaten the conservation of the already dwindling population of Chamba langurs and demands pro-active conservation.

The Himalayan Langur Project is an initiative of Wildlife Information Liaison Development (WILD) and works to establish sustainable conservation in Chamba through research and education.

To learn more about the project and its activities in Chamba visit www.zooreach.org/hlp.htm or write to [email protected].

*Dushaala is a Punjabi/Hindi term for a handmade shawl worn by men over their traditional long sleeved tops in northern India.

Activity ages 3+


The Sacred Langurs of Chamba, Western Himalaya

A pleasant morning in Chamba. Prakriti wakes to the ong of the whistling thrush and gets on with her morning routine.

The cool mountain water is fresh and Prakriti has a refreshing bath.

After her sumptuous breakfast, Prakriti kisses her sister bye and gets ready for school.

On her way to school, she realizes that the mountains are barren. Not a tree left. Just dead tree stumps.

Before she could recover from her shock, she notices a dark shadow walking towards to her. Oh! It is just a langur.

“What happened?” she asks the langur. Despair loomed when Prakriti wakes up to realize it was just a bad dream.

She rushes out of the house to make sure it was indeed a dream. What a relief!!! The trees and the birds are still around.

Suddenly she noticed the langur she saw in her dream on the tree and rushed to enquire about the barren mountains of her dream. “Calm down! Prakriti” said Gaula, the langur. “Come with

me and I will show you all about it.


SMALL MAMMAL MAIL # 41521 December 2017

LESSER FALSE VAMPIRE BAT

Mammalia[Class of Mammals]

Chiroptera[Order of Bats]

Megadermatidae[Family of False Vampire Bats]

Megaderma spasma[Lesser False Vampire Bat]

Species described by Linnaeus in 1758

The genus Megaderma consists of two species in India, Greater False Vampire Bat Megaderma lyra (E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire,1810) and Lesser False Vampire Bat Megaderma spasma (Linnaeus,1758). Lesser False Vampire Bat (Megaderma spasma) distributed in South Asia and Southeast Asia (Debata et al., 2017).

Lesser False Vampire Bat (Megaderma spasma) is found in variety of habitats ranging from dry arid lands to hot humid forests to coastal areas. It roosts in small to large colonies ranging from a single individual to several hundred individuals in caves, old buildings, thatched huts, old disused wells, temples, forts, tunnels, mines, cow sheds (Csorba et al.,2008).

Lesser False Vampire Bat (Megaderma spasma) in Javadhu Hills, Eastern Ghats, Southern India

Range extension of Lesser False Vampire Bat (Megaderma spasma) in Southern Eastern Ghats

IUCN Red List:Least Concern (Csorba et. al., 2008)


SMALL MAMMAL MAIL # 41521 December 2017

Here we present a new site location of Lesser False Vampire Bat (Megaderma spasma) in Javadhu Hills (also spelled Javadi Hills), Eastern Ghats, Southern India. On 29th April 2017, the roosting site was encountered from an abandoned house in Tamil Nadu Forest Department Check post house in Melpat, Javadhu hills, Tiruvannamalai. (12026′14.65”N & 78049′04.69”E; elevation: 990 m) and two individuals of Megaderma spasma were photographed.The Photographs clearly shows the typical short nose leaf with convex-sided and heart shaped base (Bates & Harrison,1997).

Previously, Lesser False Vampire Bat (Megaderma spasma) were recorded in the Western Ghats, Eastern Ghats, Andaman Islands and North-East India. In Eastern Ghats have only few records, especially from Odhisha (Debata et al., 2017). This observation is the first record of Lesser False Vampire Bat (Megaderma spasma) in Javvadhu Hills, Eastern Ghats, Southern India and further studies are required in the Eastern Ghats.

ReferencesBates, P.J.J. & D.L. Harrison (1997). Bats of the Indian Subcontinent. Harrison Zoological Museum, Sevenoaks, England, UK, 258pp.Debata, S., S.K. Palita & A.K. Nayak (2017). Additional record of Lesser False Vampire bat from Odisha, India. Small Mammal Mail 32(1): 21-25.Csorba, G., S. Bumrungsri, K. Helgen, C. Francis, P. Bates, M. Gumal, T. Kingston, L. Heaney, D. Balete, J. Esselstyn, S. Molur & C. Srinivasulu (2008). Megaderma spasma. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T12939A3399869. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T12939A3399869.en. Downloaded on 05 December2017.

Acknowledgements: We thank the Department of Zoology and Wildlife Biology, A.V.C College (Autonomous), Mannampandal, Mayiladuthurai for providing support in this survey and Daniel (Zoo Outreach Organisation, Coimbatore) for identified the bat species and Brawin Kumar (Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing) during the field study. Additionally, we thank Alice Hughes (Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, China) for comments.

Global Distribution: Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

A. Kalaimani1, R. Nagarajan2 & M. Salman3

1&2Department of Zoology and Wildlife Biology, A.V.C. College (Autonomous), Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Tamil Nadu, India3Muhalpura Islamic School, Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, IndiaEmails: 1 [email protected],[email protected] & [email protected]

Citation: Kalaimani, A., R. Nagarajan & M. Salman (2017). Lesser False Vampire Bat: Range extension of Lesser False Vampire Bat (Megaderma spasma) in Southern Eastern Ghats. Small Mammal Mail#415. In: Zoo’s Print 32(12): 8:9


XX XXXXXXX XXXX xxxxxxx 21 February 2017

No. 23, Feb 2017

Newsletter of the Invertebrate Conservation & Information Network of South Asia (ICINSA)

ISSN 2230-7052


No. 23, Feb 2017


ISSN 2230-7052

The red palm mite, Raoeilla indica Hirst, is a pest of several ornamental and fruit producing palm species in West Bengal, India. This mite becomes serious pest in leaves of Coconut trees (Cocos nucifera). The infested leaves show chlorosis with several yellow spots on it, which eventually coalesces to form yellow patch. Subsequently, the infested leaves wither. Apart from this host, this mite attacks several other plants viz, Palm tree, Banana, beans etc. It is a serious pest of the fruits (coconuts) of the coconut palm in many countries in the tropics of the Eastern and Western hemispheres. It is distributed in India, Philippines, Mauritius, Reunion, Malaysia, Israel and Egypt, Trinidad and Tobago, Guadeloupe, and Saint Martin (Gupta 2005); Kane et al.,

Raoiella indica life stages: Larva to adult

MITELife cycle of Red Palm Mite, Raoiella indica, Hirst

(Acari: Tenuipalpidae) on coconut leaves

# 16621 December 2017

IUCN Red List:Not Assessed

Arachnida[Class of Joint-legged arthropod]

Trombidiformes[Order of Mites]

Tenuipalpidae[Family of Mites]

Raoiella indica[Red Palm Mite]

Species described by Hirst in 1924



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2005; Etienne and Fletchmann, 2006). Since coconut tree is a good deal of importance in different aspects, the life cycle of R. indica on leaves of coconut was carried out.

MethodsAdult mites were isolated from laboratory stock culture of R. indica, maintained on

excised leaf discs (3 cm2) and were placed on a water saturated cotton swab in a Petridish (3”diameter). Leaf discs were made with fresh leaf of C. nucifera without mite infestation. The cotton bed was kept wet by soaking with water twice daily so that the discs remained fresh. Mass culture of R. indica was set up under controlled condition in the laboratory at 300C and 70% R.H (relative humidity) maintained in a BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) incubator. All the Petridishes were kept in BOD incubator at the constant temperature and humidity.

To determine the duration of life stages, 20 freshly laid eggs were placed in 20 separate petridishes and observations were recorded at 24 hours interval under stereo-binocular microscope. The time development of different stages from egg to adult was recorded. The data pertaining to different life stages were taken from those cases when the complete life cycle could reach and also the percentage of mortality at different stages were recorded. Similarly, for computation and statistical analysis of the data, only those cases where life cycle was completed was used. The data was subjected to statistical analysis which was done by SPSS 10.0 for windows.

ResultsEggs required an average of 28.9 days to develop into adults. Fifteen of the 20 eggs

Global Distribution:Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, Mauritius, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Réunion, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico, Saint Martin, Trinidad and Tobago, Haiti and Jamaica

Stage Duration (days)

Mean ± S.E % mortality RangeEgg 6.5 ±0.31 Nil 5-8Larva 7.1 0.60 23% 4-10Protonymph 6.6 0.34 7% 5-8Deutonymph 8.2 0.91 Nil 2 –3Egg – adult 28.9 ±1.98 Nil 18-36

Table 1. The duration of different developmental stages (in days) of Raoiella indica at 300C and 70% RH



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observed (70%) became adult. Mortality at the larval and protonymph stages was 23% and 7% respectively. There was no mortality at the deutonymph stage. Duration of egg stage was approximately 6.5 days, followed by larval 7.1, protonymphal and deutonymphal stages each accounting for 6.6 and 8.2 days, respectively (Table 1). Quiescent protonymphal and resting deutonymphal stages were also observed, each one with duration of approximately 1 day.

Discussion Since, no studies have been made earlier by others on life-cycle of this mite on

leaves of C. nucifera, from India, the results obtained in the present study could not be compared with those of other workers. But few reports are available on the life cycle of R. indica in other hosts from others parts of the world. According to Vasquez et al. (2015), R. indica was able to complete immature development only on coconut, Adonidia merrillii, Ptychosperma macarthurii, H. psittacorum and A. purpurata at 290C and 60% RH. Duration of the immature phase (egg-adult) ranged between 21.5 days on coconut to 34.1 days on A. purpurata. In the present study R. indica completed its life cycle (egg-adult) in 28.9 days at 300C temperature and 70% RH. It may be due to the fact that the biology and growth of plant mites depend on the availability of temperature, RH and food, and these factors decide their life-cycle pattern, their abundance and population fluctuations in different seasons (Podder, 2016).

ReferencesEtienne, J. & C.H.W. Flechtmann (2006). First record of Raoiella indica Hirst, 1924) (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) in Guadelerope and Saint Martin, West Indies. International Journal of Acarology. 32: 331-332. Gupta, S.K (2005). Insects and mites infesting Medicinal Plants in India. Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Narendrapur, pp. 1- 210. Kane, E., R. Ochoa, G. Mathurin & E.F. Erbe (2005). Raoiella indica (Acari: Tenuipalpidae), an island hopping mite pest in the Caribbean, Post Lauderdale, Entomological Society of America, Annual Meeting. Available in: http://www.sel.barc.usda.gov/acari/PDF/Raoiella indica-Kane et alpdf. Accessed: December 2005. Podder, S. (2016). Life cycle of Eutetranychus orientalis (Acari) on leaves of Tabernaemontana coronaria (Klein) in West Bengal, India. International Journal of Scientific Research. 5(4): 33-34.Vasquez, C., Z. Colmenare & G.J. de Moraes (2015). Life cycle of Raoiella indica Acari: Tenuipalpidae) on ornamental plants, mostly Arecaceae. Experimental and Applied Acarology. 65(2): 227-235.

Acknowledgement: The author is grateful to Principal, Barasat Government College, West Bengal, India. Thanks are also due to Head, Post Graduate department of Zoology, Barasat Government College for providing infrastructural facilities for this work.



No. 23, Feb 2017


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No. 23, Feb 2017


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Newsletter of the Invertebrate Conservation and Information Network of South Asia (ICINSA) and Invertebrate Specialist Group (ISIG) of Conservation Planning Specialist Group, South Asia. ICINSA and ISIG are

coordinated by Dr. B.A. Daniel, Scientist, Zoo Outreach OrganizationEditor: B.A. Daniel

Editorial Advisor: Sally Walker and Sanjay Molur

Bugs ‘R’ All is published by ZOO and CPSG South Asia as a service to invertebrate Conservation community. This issue is published with the financial support of Zoological Society of London

For communication contact:The Editor, ZOO/CPSG South Asia office

12, Thiruvannamalai Nagar, Saravanampatti PO, Coimbatore 641035 TN India Phone: +91 422 6575854; Email: [email protected]

Sanjoy Podder1, Himani Biswas2, Amlan Ghosh3 & Salil Kumar Gupta41Post Graduate, Department of Zoology, Barasat Govt. College, Kolkata, West Bengal - 700124, India. Email: [email protected] (Corresponding author)2Post Graduate, Department of Zoology, Krishnagar Govt. College, Nadia, West Bengal. Email: [email protected] of Biological Sciences, Presidency University. Email: [email protected] Joint Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India. Email: [email protected]

Citation: Podder, S., H. Biswas, A. Ghosh & S.K. Gupta (2017). Mite: Life cycle of Red Palm Mite, Raoiella indica Hirst (Acari: Tenuipalpidae) on coconut leaves. Bugs R All #166. In: Zoo’s Print 32(12): 10:13.

# 16621 December 2017


REPTILE RAP# 178

21 December 2017

TURTLE PREDATIONEvidence of partial consumption of adult female Indian Star Tortoise (Geochelone elegans) by Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica): account of vertebrate predation on Testudines

Predation plays a major role in shaping the structure and dynamics of communities and is of pivotal importance in reptile ecology (Zug et al 2001). The most important predators of adult reptiles are various species of birds, small carnivores, and other reptiles, including con-specifics (Pianka & Vitt 2003; Žagar & Carretero 2012; Somaweera et al 2013).There were few examples about encounters between large carnivores and adult turtles (De Silva 2011; Krofel2012). Overall, encounters are rather uncommon and rarely reported from different parts of the globe, especially on various species of turtle from hatchlings to large adults. The literature review shows about 19 species of turtles of eight families are predated by various groups of vertebrates, including amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals and (Table 1). Here, we present an unusual case of

Two adult Asiatic lionesses (Pantheraleo persica) seated in an open small patch of grass at Develiya, Gir forest: an Indian star tortoise on the left side lioness right side of the figure

IUCN Red List:Vulnerable A4cd ver 3.1 (D’Cruze, N., B.C. Choudhury & A. Mookerjee

Reptilia[Class of Tetrapoda/Reptiles]

Testudines[Order of turtles, tortoises and terrapins]

Testudinidae[Family of land dwelling turtles]

Geochelone elegans[Indian Star Tortoise]

Species described by Schoepff in 1795


REPTILE RAP# 178

21 December 2017

predation behaviour of large carnivore on adult tortoise.This account outlines an encounter between Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica) and

a tortoise at Gir forest. Gir forest is the only remaining prime natural habitat of Asiatic Lion. This large forest block encompasses about 1412.13 sq km of dry deciduous forest (Champion& Seth, 1968) in the Peninsular Saurashtra, Gujarat, India. This forest is legally protected and is known as Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary (Singh 2017). Total 42 species of reptiles have been recorded from Gir forest, including G. elegans as a common species (Vyas 2001 & 2006). This species is legally protected under schedule IV of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and Vulnerable as

IUCN RedList (D’cruze et al. 2016). On October 2011, we were on a

forest trek from Sasan to Kamleshwar Dam for assessing the water body. This manmade water body built on Hiran River, is one of the best habitats of Mugger (Crocodylus palustris) in the forest (Whitaker 2002), known for its dense population of mugger crocodiles (Whitaker & Whitaker 1984). While a returning, we visited Develiya Forest block in noon about 1430 hrs; and about 150 meters away noted two adult lionesses seated in an open small patch of grass. One of the lioness suddenly woke up and immediately began to play with a large

boulder nearby. The lioness was tossing and turning the boulder with her anterior paws. After a while, she sat down on the ground and began to play with all four paws. Upon observing carefully, with the help of a binocular (8 x 40), we were able to identify that it was not actually a boulder that she was playing with. It was a large sized (approx. 30 cm carapace length) live Indian star tortoise. The tortoise shell was well covered with mud, therefore making it difficult to identify with naked eyes. The act of playing with the tortoise lasted for almost 30-40 minutes, wherein she made several attempts to bite the shell. However, she was fairly unable to damage the shell, except a hard/deep bite made on the right side of the shell. She could consume a small part of the carapace shell along with a chunk of meat, during the entire episode.

On the basis of shape and size, we identified it to be a large female of Indian Star

Global Distribution:India (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa, Tamil Nadu), Pakistan, Sri Lanka

Asiatic lioness (Panthera leo persica) pressing the Indian star tortoise (at first sight it looks like a boulder) with her anterior left paw.


REPTILE RAP# 178

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No. Family Common Name

Scientific name Age Name of Predator Source Reference

1

Cheloniidae

Logger head sea turtle

Caretta caretta A Jaguar Panthera onca

Arroyo-Arce et al 2017

2 Green turtle Chelonia mydas A Jaguar Panthera onca

Troëng 2000; Arroyo-Arce & Salom-Pérez 2015

3 Hawksbill Eretmochelys imbricate

Jaguar Panthera onca

Arroyo-Arce et al 2017

4

Olive ridley sea turtle

Lepidochelys olivacea

A American crocodile Crocodylus acutus

Ortiz et al 1997

A Saltwater crocodiles Crocodylus porosus

Whiting &Whiting 2011

5 Flatback Sea turtle

Natator depressus A Saltwater crocodiles Crocodylus porosus

Whiting &Whiting 2011

Sea Turtle (un identified) H Black-necked stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus

Whiting & Guinea 1999

6Chelydridae

Common snapping turtle

Chelydra serpentine

H, J Red-shouldered Hawks Buteo lineatus

Stewart 1949; Jacobs & Jacobs 2002

7

Dermochelyidae Leatherback Dermochelys coriacea

A Jaguar Panthera onca

Troëng 2000

A Killer whale Orcinus orca

Caldwell &Caldwell 1969; Sarti et al 1994; Pitman & Dutton 2004

8

Emydidae

Western painted turtle

Chrysemyspicta belli

J Red-shouldered Hawks Buteo lineatus

Welch 1987

9 Red-eared Slider

Trachemysscripta elegans

H Cane Toad Rhinella marina

Kelehear 2016

10

Kinosternidae Co. musk turtle Sternotherus odoratus

H, J Red-shouldered Hawks Buteo lineatus

Kimmel & Fredrickson 1981

H, J Black Vulture Coragyps atratus

Munscher et al 2016

11

Testudinidae

Star tortoise Geochelone elegans

A Mugger crocodile, Crocodylus palustris

De Silva et al 2011

A Leopard Panthera pardus

De Silva 2003

J Bengal Monitor Varanus bengalensis

Karunarathana et al. 2017

12

Desert tortoise Gopherus agassizii

H Common raven, Corvus corax

Boarman 1997

H Coyotes Canis latrans

Boarman 1997

H Kit foxes Vulpes macrotis

Boarman 1997

Table 1: List of vertebrate predators and preyed turtle species


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tortoise (Geochelone elegans). This is the first photographic evidence of G. elegans predation and partial consumption by a large carnivorous animal (Panthera leo persica). Asiatic lions are well known predators. There have been various prey items recorded in the diet of Asiatic lions, ranging from small to large wild mammals, including domesticated animals (Joslin 1973; Hayward & Kerley 2005; Dharaiya & Soni 2012). However, none of the items included of any reptile species, except a rare case of encounter with a juvenile mugger crocodile recorded at Gir forest (Vijaykumar 1997).

No. Family Common Name

Scientific name Age Name of Predator Source Reference

13

Testudinidae

Gopher tortoise Gopherus polyphemus

A American alligator Alligator mississippiensis

Rautsaw et al 2016

14

Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoises

Testudo graeca

H Eagle Owl Bubo bubo,

Nikolay TZankov & BoyanMilchev. 2014

Short-toed eagle Circaetus gallicus

Zankov&Milchev. 2014.

H Brown-necked ravens Corvus ruficollis

Geffen & Mendelssohn 1997

15

Hermann’s tortoise Testudo hermanni

H White Stork, Ciconia ciconia

Muzinic&Rašajsk. 1992

H Eagle Owl Bubo bubo

Zankov&Milchev. 2014

H Short-toed eagle Circaetus gallicus

Zankov&Milchev. 2014

A Brown bear Ursus arctos

Mertzanis 1994; Paralikidis et al. 2010; Krofel 2012

16 Egyptian tortoises

Testudo kleinmanni H Brown-necked ravens Corvus ruficollis

Geffen & Mendelssohn 1997

17

Trionychidae Indian flap-shelled turtle Lissemys punctata

J Chequered keel-back water snake Xenochrophis piscator

Vyas &Thaker 2014

J Black-necked stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus

Vyas &Thaker 2014

H Cattle egret Bubulcus ibis

Vyas &Thaker 2014

H, J Greater AdjutantLeptoptilos dubius

Sivasubramanian & Bhupathy 1991

18

Chelidae

Common Snake-necked Turtle

Chelodina longicollis

J Black-necked stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus

Clancy 2011

19 Alligator Snapping Turtle

Macrochelys temminckii

J, A American alligator Alligator mississippiensis

Sanspree et al 2016

H = Hatchling; J = Juvenile; A = Adult


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(a) Lioness and mud coated injured Star tortoise (Geochelone elegans) (b) animal without mud coating shows a missing small part of the carapace shell with a chunk of meat, which was consumed by the lioness

Present literature survey shows a limited range of predators who prey upon turtles or tortoises, while most prey one eggs, hatchlings and sub-adult animals; but very few prey up on large adult animals (Table 1). It’s very difficult to predate on large adults, especially hard-shelled tortoises and then devour them. To predate upon large adult tortoises, the predator requires some special skills and tactics, enabling it to crush and break the hard shell, to further consume the soft insides of the animal. There is a recorded case about a young leopard (P. pardus) who was able to kill a large adult G. elegans at Yala National Park, Sri Lanka. Another case where a juvenile tortoise was killed by a domestic dog (de Silva 2003) and Bengal Monitor (Varanus bengalensis) (Karunarathana et al. 2017). So, the present account, indicates a noteworthy observation of predation and partial consumption of tortoise by an Asiatic lion. The reason might likely be associated with developmental behaviour learnt by the lioness in her early years. Thus, making it probable, that the lioness specialized at the skills required to devour a tortoise. Further studies are however needed to confirm this possible individual and local variation in tortoise predation by lion.

The lioness playing cheerfully with the Star tortoise (Geochelone elegans).


REPTILE RAP# 178

21 December 2017

References Arroyo-Arce, S., I. Thomson, E. Harrison, S. Wilmott& G. Baker (2017). First record of jaguar (Pantheraonca) predation on a loggerhead sea turtle (Carettacaretta) in Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica. Herpetology Notes,10: 17-18. Arroyo-Arce, S. & R. Salom-Pérez (2015). Impact of jaguar Panthera onca(Carnivora: Felidae) predation on marine turtle populations in Tortuguero, Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. Revista de Biología Tropical 63: 815-825.Boarman, W.I. (1997). Predation on Turtles and Tortoises by a “Subsidized Predator”. (abstract). In J. Van Abbema (Ed.), Proceedings: Conservation, Restoration, and Management of Tortoises and Turtles, An International Conference, p. 103-104. July 1993, State University of New York, Purchase. New York Turtle & Tortoise Society, New York.Caldwell, D.K. & M.C. Caldwell (1969). Addition of the leatherback sea turtle to the known prey of the killer whale Orcinusorca. Journal of Mammalolgy 50:636.Clancy, G.P. (2011). The feeding behaviour and diet of the Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus australis in northern New South Wales. Corella 36(1): 17-23.Champion, H.G. & S.K. Seth (1968). A revised survey of the forest types of India. New Delhi: Manager of Publication, Government of India. 404 pp.D’Cruze, N., B.C. Choudhury & A. Mookerjee (2016). Geochelone elegans. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T39430A115173155. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-1.RLTS.T39430A2926441.enDe Silva, A. (2003). The biology and status of the startortoise in Sri Lanka. Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. 100pp.De Silva, M.C., A.A.T. Amarasinghe, A. De Silva & D.M.S. Suranjan Karunarathna (2011). Mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palustris Lesson, 1831) preys on a radiated tortoise in Sri Lanka. Taprobanica 3(1): 38-41.Dharaiya, N. & V.C. Soni (2012). Identification of hairs of some mammalian prey of large cats in Gir Protected Area, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 4(9): 2928–2932.Geffen, E. & H. Mendelssohn (1997). Avian predation on tortoises in Israel (abstract). In J. Van Abbema (Ed.), Proceedings: Conservation, Restoration, and Management of Tortoises and Turtles, An International Conference, p. 105. July 1993, State University of New York, Purchase. New York Turtle & Tortoise Society, New York.Hayward, M.W. & G.I.H. Kerley (2005). Prey preferences of the lion (Pantheraleo). Journal of Zoology 267: 309–322. doi:10.1017/S0952836905007508Jacobs, J.P. & E.A. Jacobs (2002). Conservation Assessment for Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteolineatus). USDA Forest Service Eastern Region, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 25pp. Joslin, P. (1973). The Asiatic Lion - A study of the ecology and behaviour. Ph.D.Thesis, University of Edinburgh. 249pp.Karunarathna, S., T. Surasinghe, D. Dissanayake, M. Botejue, D. Gabadage & M. Madawala (2017). Dietary Habits and the Predators of the Bengal Monitor Varanus bengalensisin Sri Lanka. Biawak 11(1): 28-39.Kelehear, C. (2016). Trachemys scripta elegans (Red-eared slider) predation. Herpetological Review 47(1): 120-130.Kimmel, V.L. & L.H. Fredrickson (1981). Nesting ecology of the Red-shouldered Hawk in southeastern Missouri. Transactions of the Missouri Academy of Science 15:21-27.Krofel, M. (2012). Predation and partial consumption of an adult Hermann’s tortoise (Testudo hermanni Gmelin, 1789) by a brown bear (Ursus arctos Linnaeus, 1758). Herpetology Notes 5: 499-501.Mertzanis, G.A. (1994). Brown bear in Greece: distribution, present status-ecology of a Northern Pindus subpopulation. International Conference on Bear Research and Management 9: 187-197.Munscher, E., S. Ross, M. Farris & C. Collins (2016). Sternotherus odoratus (Eastern musk turtle) preda tion. Herpetological Review 47(1):128-129.Muzinic, J. & J. Rašajsk (1992). On food and feeding habits of the White Stork, Ciconia c. ciconia, in the Central Bal kans.-Okologie der Vogel, remseck. Ludwigs burg 14 (2): 211-223.Ortiz, R.M., P.T. Plotkin & D.W. Owens (1997). Predation upon olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) by the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) at Playa Nancite, Costa Rica. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 2:585–587.Paralikidis, N.P., N.K. Papageorgiou, V.J. Kontsiotis & A.C. Tsiompanoudis (2010). The dietary habits of the Brown bear (Ursus arctos) in western Greece. Mammalian Biology 75: 29-35.Pianka, E.R. & L.J. Vitt (2003). Lizards.Windows to the evolution of diversity. Berkeley, University of California Press.Pitman, R.L. & P.H. Dutton (2004). Killer whale predation on a leatherback turtle in the northeast Pacific. Pacific Science 58: 497–498.Rautsaw, R.M., C. Yanick, S. Medina, C.L. Parkinson, S. Martin & M.R. Bolt (2016). Gopherus polyphemus (Gopher Tortoise) predation. Herpetological Review 47(3): 447-448.Sanspree, C.R., C.M. Murray & B. Folt (2016). Macrochelys temminckii (Alligator snapping turtle) predation.Herpetological Review 47(1): 124-125.Sarti, M.L., O.L. Flores & L.A. Aguaya (1994). Evidence of predation of killer whale (Orcinus orca) on a leatherback sea turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) in Michoacan, Mexico. Revista de Investigacion Cientifica de la Universidad Autonoma de Baja California Sur 2: 23–26.Singh, H.S. (2017). Dispersion of the Asiatic lion Pantheraleo persica and its survival in human-dominated landscape outside the Gir forest, Gujarat, India. Current Science 112(5): 933-940.Sivasubramanian, C. & S. Bhupathy (1991). Indian flapshell turtle Lissemys punctata in the food of the Adjutant Stork Leptoptilos dubius. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 87 (3): 460.Somaweera, R., M. Brien & R. Shine (2013). The role of predation in shaping crocodilian natural history. Herpetological Monographs 27: 23–51.


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Stewart, R.E. (1949). Ecology of a nesting Red-shouldered Hawk population. Wilson Bulletin 61: 26-35.Troeng, S. (2000). Predation of green (Cehlonia mydas) and leatherback (Dermochelys coriacea) turtles by jaguars (Panthera onca) at Tortuguero National Park, Costa Rica. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 3: 751–753.Vijaykumar, V. (1997). Evaluation of restocked mugger crocodiles and its implication in long-term conservation and management of the species in Gujarat, India, Gujarat Instituteof Desert Ecology, Bhuj-Kachh, Gujarat, 65 pp. (Unpublished Report).Vyas, R. (2001). Reptile richness and diversity in and around the Gir forest, Gujarat, India. Tiger paper 28(3): 15- 19.Vyas, R. (2006). The Indian star tortoise Geochelone elegans status in few protected areas of Gujarat state and in Indian zoos. Zoos Print J. 21(4): 2220-2222. http://dx.doi.org/10.11609/JoTT.ZPJ.1140.2220-2Vyas, R. & M. Thaker (2014). Note on predators of Lissemys punctata (Lacépède, 1788). Sauria 36(1): 75-78. Welch, R.J. (1987). Food habits of the Red-shouldered Hawk in Wisconsin. Passenger Pigeon 49: 81-92.Whitaker, R. & Z. Whitaker (1984). Reproductive biology of the mugger (Crocodylus palustris). Journal of Bombay Natural History Society 81(2): 297-317. Whiting, S.D. & M.L. Guinea (1999). Nocturnal foraging by the Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus on sea turtle hatchlings. Emu 99: 145–147Whiting, S.D. & A.U. Whititing (2011). Predation by the Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) on Sea Turtle Adults, Eggs, and Hatchlings. Chelonian Conservation and Biology 10(2): 198–205.Žagar, A. & M.A. Carretero (2012). A record of cannibalism in Podarcis muralis (Laurenti, 1768) (Reptilia, Lacertidae) from Slovenia. Herpetology Notes 5: 211-213.Zankov, N.T. & B. Milchev (2014). Tortoises as prey of three bird species in Bulgaria: Implications for tortoise reintroduction programs. Herpetozoa 26 (3/4): 174-177. Zug, G.R., L.J. Vitt, & J.P. Caldwell (2001). Herpetology. An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles, 2nd Edition. San Diego, Academic Press.

Raju Vyas1 & Manoj Thaker2

1505, Krishnadeep Tower, Mission Road, Fatehgunj, Vadodara, Gujarat - 300002, India. Email: [email protected]/C Divyajyot Society, Nr. Akashvani, Makarpura Road, Vadodara, Gujarat - 390009, India.Email: [email protected]

Citation: Vyas, R. & M. Thaker (2017). Turtle Predation: Evidence of partial consumption of adult female Indian Star Tortoise (Geochelone elegans) by Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica): account of vertebrate predation on Testudines. Reptile Rap#178. In: Zoo’s Print 32(12): 14-20.


# 00721 December 2017Bird-o-soar

Record of Some Unusual Avian Species from the Wetlands of Urbanizing Haryana, India

Haryana, known for its agricultural lands with ponds, lakes and other water logged sites, is counted as one of the key habitats for wetland dependent resident and migratory birds. However, being situated near Delhi, the capital of the country, this state is rapidly urbanizing, where only 3.9% of the total area of the state is covered by forest (Haryana Forest Department, 2015). Among the urbanizing districts of Haryana, Gurugram and Jhajjar are two such districts that have witnessed the maximum growth of urbanization in the past decades and now have become two important hubs for many industries. In spite of these massive anthropogenic changes, these two districts host thousands of migratory birds in winter from Central Asia and Western Palearctic region, as the area falls in the Central Asian Migratory Flyway.

The present study was conducted in five wetlands viz. Sultanpur National Park, Basai wetland, Najafgarh Jheel (a Hindi word for wetland, water body or lake), Bhindawas Bird Sanctuary and Dighal wetland complex of Gurugram and Jhajjar district during a period of two years (October 2014 - December 2016). This article aims to report the unusual sightings of some globally important species from these wetlands which include two protected areas and three non-protected areas. Among these wetlands, Sultanpur National Park, Basai wetland and Najafgarh Jheel are qualified as Important Bird Areas (IBAs) (Islam & Rahmani, 2005).

Site 1: Sultanpur National ParkSultanpur National Park (28.4630N & 76.8910E) is situated in a predominantly

agricultural landscape in Gurugram district occupying an area of 1.43 km2. The core area of the Park is the Sultanpur Jheel, which is a seasonal wetland with irregular margins and fluctuating water level throughout the year. Before the urbanisation and constructions of drainage system in the areas around the Park, it remained waterlogged and attracted a large number of birds. However at present the lake is artificially revived using pumped water from the Yamuna River.

Site 2: Basai WetlandBasai Wetland (28.4720N & 76.9800E) is located in the Basai village of Gurugram



district. It is a non-protected wetland, facing threat from the unsustainable development and urbanization. Till the early 1990s, the lake was spread over an area of 1.01km2, vibrant with biodiversity; but large-scale urbanization led the wetland to the verge of extinction by leaving only 0.4 km2 area of the wetland (Banerjee et al. 2017).

Site 3: Najafgarh JheelThe Najafgarh Jheel (28.4990N & 76.9380E) is a part of the proposed Najafgarh Drain

Bird Sanctuary, which was located on the basin of the Najafgarh drain. The part of the basin in Gurugram district is surrounded by agricultural lands and hosts a vast population of resident and migratory birds. The water body of this area is one of the most polluted water bodies of the capital of India due to the direct inflow of untreated sewage water from surrounding areas. However, many small wading birds were found in large numbers in this shallow saline water body.

Site 4: Bhindawas Bird SanctuaryBhindawas Bird Sanctuary (28.5320N & 76.5510E) of Jhajjar district, is spread over

an area of 4.12 km2, with a periphery of 12 km. It is a man-made perennial water body

Study Area



constructed to store the excess water of Jawaharlal Nehru Canal from river Yamuna, through an escape channel at the time of power failure of lift irrigation. Being surrounded by agricultural fields the wetland hosts a vast diversity of birds during the winter months.

Site 5: Dighal Wetland ComplexThe wetland complex of Dighal village (28.6020N & 76.6280E) is comprised of two

ponds, a water storage tank and a waterlogged agricultural field spread on the both sides of the Jhajjar-Rohtak Expressway. In spite of the increase in transportation and nearby road constructions it holds a large population of birds during the winter months.

During the present study, birds were recorded fortnightly in these five wetlands. Observations were made using Nikon binoculars (10×50X). Bird identification in the field and their taxonomic nomenclature was done by following Grimmett et al. (2011). A total 270 species of birds were recorded from this area during the study period. This includes many species, which are rare and uncommon in this area. Some important and rare species from these wetlands are described below.

Kashmir Flycatcher (Ficedula subrubra)It is a very rare and globally Vulnerable

species (IUCN 2017, BirdLife International 2017). A pair of the species was recorded from Sultanpur National Park in January 2016. The birds were found regularly in the forested area of the Park, which was dominated with Acacia sp., Zyzipus sp. and Azadirachta sp. tree.

This species of flycatcher breeds in North-western Himalayas mainly in Kashmir and the Pir-Pinjal Range during summer and winters in Nilgiris (Grimmett et al. 1998; Zarri 2003), Western Ghats and Sri Lanka with isolated records from Punjab (Robson 1999; Kalsi 2001), Maharashtra (Baker 1922-1930) and Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Nepal and Uttarakhand (Ali & Ripley 1983). However, the bird was also reported from Gujarat (Rasmussen & Anderton 2005) and Karnataka (Bhat 2014) in recent years. But there is no record from Haryana.

Lesser White-fronted Goose (Anser erythropus)This rare bird was recorded from this area in two successive years. In November

2015, a single individual was recorded from Sultanpur National Park, mixed with a flock of

Kashmir Flycatcher



Bar-headed Geese (Anser indicus). The bird stayed only for a week in the shallow water (2-3ft.) areas of the Park. Again in December 2016 an individual was spotted with a flock of Bar-headed Geese at Site 5. This time it was found throughout the month in the agricultural fields of Dighal village.

In the IUCN Red list, Lesser White-fronted Goose is listed as a Vulnerable species (IUCN 2017). It is a rare and sparse winter visitor to North India. From Haryana, the species has an old record from

Bhindawas Bird Sanctuary (Islam & Rahmani, 2005), but there was no report until the recent years. However, it was sporadically recorded from Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Bengal, Bihar and Assam (Ali & Ripley 1983). There is also an old record of the presence of the species from Maharashtra, Pune district (Trevenen 1922). The bird has been reported recently from Little Rann of Kutch, Gujarat, where a single individual was found mixed with a flock of Greater White-fronted Geese (Anser albifrons) (Shreeram et al. 2014). Generally the bird is found only two or three in numbers, separately or mixed with flocks of Greylag Geese (Anser anser) (Ali & Ripley 1983), but in both cases from Haryana the bird was spotted with the flocks of Bar-headed Geese. The record of the species in two successive years from this part of the country indicates that it might become a regular winter visitor in this area.

Pallas’s Fish Eagle (Haliaeetus leucoryphus)This species of global concern (IUCN 2017) has

disappeared from many wetlands of India, either as a breeding bird or as a winter visitor (Islam & Rahmani 2005). This resident bird was formerly a rare winter visitor to Haryana with records from Ambala, Hissar and other areas (BirdLife International 2001), but there was no recent record of the presence of the species from this region. However, a juvenile Pallas’s fish eagle was spotted in Bhindawas Bird Sanctuary in January 2015 and again in September 2015 at Sultanpur National Park.

White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster)This occasional wintering raptor is essentially a sea eagle, but occasionally wanders

Pallas’s Fish Eagle

Lesser White-fronted Goose



in large lakes and rivers. A juvenile of this species was seen in February 2016 in the Bhindawas Bird Sanctuary. The bird was seen throughout the month. It is a casual winter migrant in Northern India with very few records from Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat and Rajasthan (Ali & Ripley 1983). Although the bird has a wide distribution but it is very rare in this region.

Common Shelduck (Tadorna tadorna)This unusual wintering species was recorded

from the Najafgarh Jheel in both study years. In December 2015 only one individual was sighted, however, in November-December 2016 a group of three individuals were recorded from the same site. In both cases it was found mixed with flocks for Bar-headed Geese and Greylag Geese in the shallow waters of the Jheel.

Common Shelduck is a rare casual winter migrant to India with occasional records from Kashmir, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Bengal, Bihar, Assam, Orissa, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh (Ali & Ripley 1983). Recently the bird is also reported from Vidarbha, Maharashtra (Wadatkar et al. 2014). Although the bird is an occasional visitor to Delhi and Punjab but it is not documented from Haryana.

Dunlin (Calidris alpine)A group of 14 individuals of this unusual

wintering wader was seen in the muddy banks of Dighal wetlands in December 2016. It is a common and widespread winter visitor to the coastal mudflats of India, but sparsely recorded from the muddy inland wetlands. Although the species is an occasional passage migrant in the Gangetic river system, very rarely seen in this part

of the country (Manakadan et al. 2011).Although this part of Haryana experiencing massive urbanization, still it hosts a

large population of avian species which includes many rare species. However, due to anthropogenic development the wetlands of this area are rapidly altering into unsuitable habitats for avifauna. Growing urbanization, traffic and pollution in this region has affected

White tailed Eagle (Juvenile)

Common Shelduck

Dunlin



ReferencesAli, S. & S.D. Ripley (1983). Handbook of the birds of India and Pakistan together with those of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Compact ed. Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1-737 pp.Baker, E.C.S. (1922-1930). The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Vol.II, 2nd ed. Taylor and Francis, London, 561 pp.Banerjee, P. & V. Prakash (2017). Monitoring Waterfowl population at Sultanpur National Park, Haryana 2014-17. Report, Bombay Natural History Society.Bhat, S. (2014). Kashmir Flycatcher Ficedula subrubra at Bengaluru: A first record for Karnataka. Indian BIRDS 9 (3): 82–83.BirdLife International (2001). Threatened Birds of Asia: The BirdLife International Red Data Book. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.BirdLife International (2017). IUCN Red List for birds. Website: http://www.birdlife.org [Accessed on 8 January 2017]Grimmett, R., C. Inskipp & T. Inskipp (2011). Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. 2nd ed. Oxford University Press & Christopher Helm, London, 1-528 pp.Haryana Forest Department (2015). Website: www.haryanaforest.gov.in [Accessed on 11 January 2017]. Islam, M.Z. & A.R. Rahmani (2005). Important Bird Areas in India: Priority sites for conservation. Indian Bird Conservation Network, Bombay Natural History Society and BirdLife International, Mumbai and UK, 1-574 pp.IUCN (2017). IUCN Red List of threatened species. Version 2016. Website: www.iucnredlist.org [Accessed on 6 January 2017].Kalsi, R.S., A. Dua & M. Kalsi (2001). Status survey and identification of Important Bird Area Sites for the Bristled Grass-Warbler and Kashmir Flycather. Report, Bombay Natural History Society.Manakadan, R. & A. Pittie (2001). Standardized common and scientific names of the birds of Indian Subcontinent. Buceros 6(1): 1-28.Rasmussen, P. C. & J.C. Anderton (2005). Birds of South Asia: the Ripley guide. 1st ed. 2 vols. Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions, Washington, D.C. and Barcelona.Robson, C. (1999). Recent reports: India. OBC Bulletin 29:51-52.Shreeram M.V. & A. Deomurari (2014). A Record of Lesser- Anser erythropus and Greater- White-fronted Geese A. albifrons from Gujarat, India. Indian BIRDS 9 (5&6): 148-149.Trevenen, W.B. (1922). Shikar Near and Around Poona, Journal of Bombay Natural History Society 28: 1075-1081.Wadatkar, J.S. & G.A. Wagh (2014). First report of Common Shelduck Tadorna tadorna from the Vidarbha region, Maharashtra, India. Indian BIRDS 9 (5 & 6): 162.Zarri, A.A. (2003). Wintering of the Kashmir Flycatcher (Ficedula subsubra), in the Nilgiris Upper Plateau. Mistnet 4 (1):7.

the bird diversity of both protected and non-protected areas, resulting in irregular breeding of resident birds and early return of wintering birds (Banerjee et al. 2017). Nevertheless, the burgeoning anthropogenic pressure arise a question about the sustainability of avifauna of this area. Therefore, we are strongly recommending a detailed study to prepare a sustainable management plan and implementing it before it is too late!

Purbasha Banerjee1 & Arijit Pal21Bombay Natural History Society, Hornbill House, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Mumbai 400001, Maharashtra 2Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, PO. Anaikatty, Coimbatore 641108, Tamil Nadu.Email: [email protected] (Corresponding author)

Citation: Banerjee, P. & A. Pal (2017). Record of Some Unusual Avian Species from the Wetlands of Urbanizing Haryana, India. Bird-o-soar #07. In: Zoo’s Print 32(12): 21:26.

Acknowledgements: The authors are thankful to Haryana Forest Department, for providing permission and funding to carry out the project. We are grateful to Dr. Vibhu Prakash, Dy. Director of Bombay Natural History Society, for giving us the opportunity to work on the project and providing the administrative help. AP thanks Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India for the award of an INSPIRE Fellowship during which the article was prepared. The authors are also grateful to Mr. Pankaj Gupta, Mr. Sanjay Sharma and Mr. Rakesh Ahlawat for helping us with the photographs of the rarely seen birds and Mr. Ram Kumar for accompanying us during the survey.



Are the heronry birds adapting to urbanization?

Different reasons are suggested for birds occupying in human-influenced habitats, but, the most widely-accepted hypothesis is the enemy exclusion hypothesis (King, 1983). Urban environment has provided protection against predators for birds (Walasz, 1990; Gliwicz et al. 1994; Shochat et al. 2010). Simultaneously, some studies also have showed that the proximity of humans cause physiological and behavioural stress in the birds by increasing corticosterone and suppressing immunity (Saino et al. 2005; Fletcher & Boonstra, 2006; Ylönen et al. 2006). The characteristics such as behavior, physiology and life history of species that have adapted to urbanization are poorly known (Diamond 1986). Through urbanization humans have been occupying the habitats of the wild species, forcing animals and plants to either adapt to novel conditions or to disappear (Moller, 2008). In India only few attempts have been made to investigate the impacts of urbanization on birds (Urfi, 2006) and many Indian cities offer foraging and nesting habitat for birds, especially colonial waterbirds such as stork, ibis, spoonbill, heron, egret, cormorant, and spoonbill (Urfi, 2010).

Heronry birds are wetland dependent birds, but most of their breeding sites are within highly crowded towns and human settlements in Kerala. Year-round food resources, nesting opportunities, more homogenous and predictable environmental conditions, along with protection from predators had increased the density and population some avian species (Griffin et al. 2017). More than 45% of all heronries in India are located in parks and gardens in urban areas (Subramanya, 1996) and similarly in North Kerala they are found nesting close to human inhabited areas such as towns, along roads sides, residential areas and non-residential areas (Sashikumar & Jayarajan, 2007). Our observation in Kannur and Kasaragod districts of Kerala state supports this; in 2015

Cattle egrets scavenging in local fish market in Kasaragod district



survey, heronry birds were found to select a total of 172 trees in human habituated areas (road-130, residential area-22, non-residential area- 20; Roshnath & Sinu, 2017). These data indicate that the birds select sites with human presence. As Subramanya (2005) mentioned, “it also, rather probable that in a state like Kerala, there are hardly any area without people inhabiting it” could be the reason of nesting of large waterbirds, within human compounds. This paper summarises a few observations like changes in flight distance, foraging behaviour and diet, nesting proximate to food source etc. which show

the adaptions of heronry birds to humans and human altered environment.

Little Cormorant and Indian Pond Heron are the common species found nesting in urban areas in Kannur-Kasaragod districts. Little Cormorants were believed to be occupied in the Kannur city by late 1980s (pers. comm. C Sashikumar) and later showed a sudden population increase

(Sashikumar et al. 2011) and began nesting in human habitated area and mangrove as well. Similar reports of increase in existing population of cormorants in human habitations were reported elsewhere (Des-Granges & Reed, 1981; Rodgers & Smith, 1995) but some study showed productivity of cormorant colonies lowers by human disturbances (Henny et al. 1989). Cormorants are found to be highly opportunistic feeders and forage in diverse habitat conditions and have high upper tolerance level to the human disturbances if the benefit of foraging is high (per. observ.). The risk-reward continuum shapes behavioral variation and is associated with the speed-accuracy trade-off that partly explains inter-individual and inter-species differences in cognition (Sih & del Giudice, 2012). We have observed Little Cormorants preying upon shrimps and fishes from aquaculture farms even though many bird deterrents such as distracting with loud sounds, crackers are being used. Similarly in Irrity River in Kannur, we observed Little Cormorants competing for fishes with men after fishing using explosives takes place; the local people said that Little Cormorants and Egrets arrive at the river with the hearing of explosion. These indicate how well these birds are adapting with human activities for their living.

Indian Pond Heron fledgling feeding on thrown out fishes in Marachappa heronry in Kannur district



In Kannur district, Indian Pond Herons are the principal nesting species in most of the heronries (Roshnath et al. 2014). Colonial nesting waterbirds are most sensitive to land-related intrusions (Carney & Sydeman, 1999). Human presence had no effect on reproductive success of Tricolored Herons (Frederick & Collopy, 1989). However human disturbances associated with logging operations were found to affect the colony size, nest occupancy rate and fledging rate of Great Blue Herons nests (Werkschul et al. 1976). Herons were found to respond to local disturbance and local shifting of nesting (Kelly et al. 2007), such a case was noted during 2015 survey where construction activity near Koduvally heronry made all the birds to abandon the nesting and re-colonize a month later after the construction

Changes in flight distance Human visitation in heronries has no ill effect when an appropriate buffer area was set (Burger et al. 1995). A study in a mixed heronry found 30-50m was the average distance taken by birds to flush out when approached (Erwin, 1989). Hence a buffer zone of 100 m to minimize disturbance in colony were advised (Rodgers & Smith, 1995). In Kannur, there are a group of birds nesting in isolated mangrove habitat surrounded by water and another group nesting in busy town with high human activities. We found that there is difference in behaviour between these two groups. Birds nesting in mangrove patches were found to be less tolerable to human presence as were found to fly way when approached to a distance of 30m, whereas same species of birds nesting in the town heronry near to Stadium Complex in Kannur, were found to tolerate human presence and the nesting birds were not seen to fly away even when approached very close (5m). Such change in behavior of urban adapted species were reported elsewhere (Ditchkoff et al. 2006). Variation in flight initiation distance (VFID) is an important measure for analysing a bird’s tolerance to urbanization (Lin et al. 2012). Hence we believe there is a change in behavior among the two groups of birds where one is adapted with urban conditions and tolerate human presence and another is completely isolated with more flight initiation distance.

Little egrets scavenging in Ayikkara Harbour, Kannur



Difference in flight distance by birds will influence the distribution and abundance of different species (Blumstein & Fernández-Juricic, 2004; Blumstein, 2006) and most adapted species are likely to survive during environmental changes including urbanization and habitat conversion (Moller, 2008). Ducatez et al. 2017, concluded that urban birds are bolder, less neophobic and have shorter flight distances than their less urbanized conspecifics. Although nesting herons and egrets at some sites may tolerate human activities at close range (Nisbet, 2000; Hothem & Hatch, 2004), their tolerance levels are highly variable and sensitive to differences in the timing, type, proximity, or intensity of human activity (Vos et al. 1985, Rodgers & Smith, 1995, Kelly, 2002). More scientific research on such behavioral changes can help to learn and understand the adaptive nature of these birds.

Nesting near food sourceDuring the heronry survey in Kannur and Kasaragod area, it was noted that most of the heronries were located close to fish markets or local fish sellers (unpublished data). While interacting with few fish sellers, significant clues on the behavior of these birds were obtained. Nesting Indian Pond Herons in Marachappa, a rural junction in Kannur were reported to feed on fish waste thrown out from local fish market and that was

demonstrated by the fisher seller by throwing a small fish (sardine) which was fed soon by a heron fledgling which came down from the tree. Similar instances were observed in Puthiyatheru fish market (Per. comm. Sethu). There is a heronry site at Ayikkara fishing harbor with 290 nests of Indian Pond Herons in 12 trees and plenty of thrown-out fishes to feed. Egrets and herons feeding on the waste fishes could be seen most of the time. Coping with novel food source

and overcoming fear of humans to access those, the urban animals become more flexible in their foraging strategies than animals living in non-urban habitats (Federspiel et al. 2017).

Changes in foraging behaviour During the present heronry survey (2016) in Kannur a new site in Thrikkanapuram was

Adult Indian Pond Heron feeding a Threadfin Beam (Nemipterus japonicus) to chick in Stadium Heronry, Kannur



observed with nesting Indian Pond Herons (11 nest) in Jack Fruit trees in a house compound. As it was a new site, we enquired about the colonization history with the house owners. According to them, the herons used to visit her backyard daily from previous year when she cleaned the fish and would also scavenge on discarded fish waste and later on they found that the herons have started nesting in their compound. Observations of Indian Pond Heron feeding on marine fishes like Sardine (Seedikkoya et al. 2012) and Threadfin Beam (Nemipterus japonicus) (Roshnath, 2014). These observations indicated shifts in the foraging behavior of these birds from sit and wait strategy to scavenging. Being commensal with humans (Murray, 2005) and with wide niche occupancy (Carrick, 1962; Ross, 2004) which are the general characteristic for an urban adapted species (Ditchkoff et al. 2006) our urban nesting heronry birds could be changing their foraging behavior.

Major foraging grounds of these birds were paddy fields, river banks, ponds, and other water sources, but now these birds are getting adapted to garbage dumps in towns, waste water canals etc. Increase in food source (insects, bugs and worms) may have attracted these birds to garbage. Urban adapted birds are expected to forage at the closest site which provide high quality resources but they also forage at local sites which provide lower quality food if there is minimal energetic expenses from travelling or completion (Baird, 1991; Olsson et al. 2008).

Foraging trips may increase during breeding season, when the growing chicks need more food and greater quality/ quantity of food per trip has to be assured (Johst et al. 2001). This might result in opportunistic feeding or human animal conflicts. The most favored foraging place of Cattle Egrets are the waste bins with abundant dipteran maggots at low energy expenditure (Seedikkoya et al. 2007). Conflict of the Little Cormorants with fisheries for quality prey like shrimps were also reported (Roshnath et al. 2016). Use of urban landscape like parks and landfills by Australian White Ibis rather than foraging in natural habitat has been reported by Martin et al. (2011). Murray (2005) has mentioned that the concept of home range does not provide a complete description of movements and interactions. Similarly our concept of foraging ground of these birds are vague as they are opportunistic feeders, feeding on a wide range of prey species and well adapted to human environments. Species depending upon the ability to colonize would establish permanent populations that may be further more adapted to urban environment (Moller, 2008). With these observations on changes in flight distance, nesting proximal to food source, shift in the foraging behavior and strategy we believe that the heronry birds are getting adapted to urbanization. More research on the ethology of such urban adapted birds is needed.



References Baird, P. H. (1991). Optimal foraging and the intraspecific competition in the tufted puffin. Condor 93 (3): 503-515.Blumstein, D.T. & E. Fernández-Juricic (2004). The emergence of conservation behavior. Conservation Biology, 18: 1175–1177.Blumstein, D.T. (2006). Developing an evolutionary ecology of fear: how life history and natural history traits affect disturbance tolerance in birds. Animal Behaviour, 71: 389-399.Burger, J., M. Gochfeld, & L.J. Niles (1995). Ecotourism and birds in coastal NewJersey: contrasting responses of birds, tourists, and managers. Environmental Conservation, 22: 56-65.Carney K. M. & W.J. Sydeman (1999). A Review of Human Disturbance Effects on Nesting Colonial Waterbirds. Waterbirds: The International Journal of Waterbird Biology, 22(1): 68-79.Carrick, R. (1962). Breeding, movements and conservation of ibises (Threskiornithidae) in Australia. Wildlife Research, 7 (1): 71–88.Des-Granges, J. & A. Reed (1981). Disturbance and control of selected colonies of Double-crested Cormorants in Quebec. Colonial Waterbirds, 4: 12-19.Diamond, J.M. (1986). Rapid evolution of urban birds. Nature 324: 107–108. Ditchkoff, S.S., S.T. Saalfeld & C.J. Gibson (2006). Animal behavior in urban ecosystems: Modifications due to human-induced stress. Urban Ecosystem, 9 (1): 5-12.Ducatez, S., J.N. Audet, J.R. Rodriguez, L. Kayello & L. Lefebvre (2017). Innovativeness and the effects of urbanization on risk-taking behaviors in wild Barbados birds. Animal Cognition 20: 33-42.Erwin, R. M., J.D. Nichols, T.B. Eyler, D.B. Stott’s & B.R. Truitt (1998). Modelling colony-site dynamics: A case study of Gull-billed Terns (Sterna nilotica) in coastal Virginia, Auk, 115: 970-978.Federspiel, I.G., A. Garland, D. Guez, T. Bugnyar, S.D. Healy, O. Gunturkun, & A.S. Griffin (2017). Adjusting foraging strategies: a comparison of rural and urban common mynas (Acridotheres tristis). Animal Cognition, 20: 65-74.Fletcher, Q.E. & R. Boonstra (2006). Do captive male meadow voles experience acute stress in response to weasel odour. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 84: 583-588Frederick, P.C. & M.W. Collopy (1989). Researcher disturbance in colonies of wading birds: effects of frequency of visit and egg-marking on reproductive parameters. Colonial Waterbirds, 12: 152-157.Gliwicz, J., J. Goszczynski & M. Luniak (1994). Characteristic features of animal populations under synurbanization -the case of the Blackbird and the striped field mouse. Memorabilia Zoologica, 49: 237-244.Griffin, A.S., S. Tebbich & T. Bugnyar (2017). Animal cognition in a human-dominated world. Animal Cognition, 20: 1-6.Henny, C.J., L.J. Blus, S.P. Thompson & U.W. Wilson (1989). Environmental contaminants, human disturbance and nesting of Double-crested Cormorants in Northwestern Washington. Colonial Waterbirds, 12: 198-206.Hothem, R.L. & D. Hatch (2004). Reproductive success of the Black-crowned Night-Heron at Alcatraz Island, San Francisco Bay, California, 1990-2002. Waterbirds, 27:112-125.Johst, K., R. Brandl & R. Pfeifer (2001). Foraging in a patchy and dynamic landscape: Human land use and the white stork. Ecological Applications, 11(1): 60–69.Kelly, J.P. (2002). Disturbance patterns in heronries: a safe place to nest. Ardeid 2002: 1-3. Publication of Audubon Canyon Ranch, Stinson Beach, CA 94970.Kelly, J. P., K.L. Etienne, C. Strong, M. McCaustland & M.L. Parkes (2007). Status, trends, and implications for the conservation of heron and egret nesting colonies in the San Francisco Bay area. Waterbirds, 30: 455-478.King, W.B. (1983). Seabird Breeding Habits. Oceanus, 26:28-35.Lin, T., T. Coppack, Q.X. Lin, C. Kulemeyer, A. Schmidt, H. Behm & T. Luo (2012). Does avian flight initiation distance indicate tolerance towards urban disturbance? Ecological Indicator, 15(1): 30-35. Martin, J.M, K. French, G.A. Ross & R.E. Major (2011). Foraging distances and habitat preferences of a recent urban colonizer: The Australian white ibis. Landscape and Urban Planning, 102: 65– 72.Moller, A.P. (2008). Flight distance of urban birds, predation, and selection for urban life. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 63: 63–75.Murray, N.J. (2005). Diurnal movements, behaviour and foraging ecology of the Australian white ibis Threskiornis molucca in an urban landscape. B.Sc. (Hons) thesis. Gold Coast, Queensland: Griffith University.Nisbet, I.C.T. (2000). Disturbance, habituation, and management of waterbird colonies. Waterbirds, 23: 312-332.Olsson, O., J.S. Brown & K.L. Helf (2008). A guide to central place effects in foraging. Theoretical Population Biology, 74(1): 22–33.Rodgers, J.A. & H.T. Smith (1995). Set-back distances to protect nesting bird colonies from human disturbance in Florida. Conservation Biology, 9: 89-99.Roshnath, R. & P.A. Sinu, P.A. (2017). Nesting tree characteristics of heronry birds of urban ecosystems in peninsular India: implications for habitat management. In press. Current Zoology.Roshnath, R. (2014). Preliminary study in diet composition of Indian Pond Heron during breeding season. International Journal of Ornithology and Avian Biology, 1(1): 1-4.Roshnath, R., G. Chandy & E.A. Jayson (2016). Does the diet of the Little Cormorant Microcarbo niger affect commercial fisheries? Indian BIRDS, 12(1): 7–9.Roshnath, R., M. Ashokkumar, ReviUnni, SreeJith & A. Jose (2013). Status of birds in Heronries of Kannur district, Kerala. Malabar Trogon, 11(1-3): 15-20.Ross, G.A. (2004). Ibis in urban Sydney: A gift from Raor a pharaoh’s curse? (p 148-152) In D. Lunney, & S. Burgin (eds.). Urban Wildlife: More than Meets the Eye, Sydney: Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales



R. Roshnath1 & Palatty Allesh Sinu21&2Department of Animal Sciences, Central University of Kerala, Padannakad PO 671314, Kerala, India.2Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Bioscience West, University of Arizona, Tucson 85721, USA.Email: [email protected] (Corresponding author)

Citation: Roshnath, R. & P.A.Sinu (2017). Are the heronry birds adapting to urbanization?. Bird-o-soar #08. In: Zoo’s Print 32(12): 27:33.

Saino, N., M. Romano, R.P. Ferrari & A.P. Moller (2005). Stressed mothers produce low-quality offspring with poor fitness. Journal of Experimental Zoology, 303: 998–1006.Sashikumar, C., C.K. Vishnudas, S. Raju, P.A. Vinayan & V.A. Shebin (2011). Heronries of North Kerala 2011. Malabar Trogon, 9: 10–16.Sashikumar, C. & O. Jayarajan (2007). Census of the heronries of north Kerala. Malabar Trogon, 5(1): 2-8.Seedikkoya, K., P.A. Azeez & E.A.A. Shukkur (2007). Cattle Egret as a biocontrol agent. Zoo’s Print Journal, 22(10): 2864-2866.Seedikkoya, K., P.A. Azeez & E.A.A. Shukkur (2012). Breeding biology of pond heron in Kerala, south India. Scientific Journal of Zoology, 1: 42-51.Shochat, E., S.B. Lerman, J.M. Anderies, P.S. Warren, S.H. Faeth & C.H. Nilon (2010). Invasion, competition, and biodiversity loss in urban ecosystems. Bioscience, 60(3): 199-208. Sih, A. & M. Del Giudice (2012). Linking behavioural syndromes and cognition: a behavioural ecology perspective. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 367: 2762-2772.Subramanya, S. (1996). Distribution, status and conservation of Indian herons. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, 93: 459-486.Subramanya, S. (2005). Heronries of Kerala. Malabar Trogon, 3(1): 2-1.Urfi, A.J. (2006). Biodiversity conservation in an urban landscape: a case study of some important bird areas on the river Yamuna in Delhi (India) (p 303-317). In Conservation Biology in Asia (2006) McNeely, J.A., T. M. McCarthy, A. Smith, L. Olsvig- Whittaker, and Wikramanayake E.D., (eds). Published by the Society for Conservation Biology Asia Section and Resources Himalaya, Kathmandu, Nepal.Urfi, A.J. (2010). Using Heronry Birds to Monitor Urbanization Impacts: A Case Study of Painted Stork Mycteria leucocephala nesting in the Delhi Zoo, India. Ambio, 39(2): 190–193.Vos, D.K., R.A. Ryder & W.D. Graul (1985). Response of breeding Great Blue Herons to human disturbance in north central Colorado. Colonial Waterbirds, 8: 13-22.Walasz, K. (1990). Experimental investigation of the behavioral differences between urban and forest blackbirds. Acta Zoologica Cracoviensia, 33: 235–271.

Acknowledgments: We thank Arjun, C.P. and Prasoon Kiran for sharing their photographs for the article.


ZOOREACH Activities

Human Elephant Coexistence: Teaching Trainers for Asian Elephant Conservation in Erode Dt. of Tamil Nadu, IndiaRengasamy Marimuthu1 & B.A. Daniel2

The International Elephant Foundation IEF funded a project this year on “Fostering Human Elephant Coexistence (HECx) awareness in Erode, Tamil Nadu, India”. The main objective of the project is to conduct a teacher training workshop on human elephant coexistence for 25 teachers and 25 mass awareness programmes for students and through this reaching out 2500 students who live in human elephant conflict areas.

Zoo Outreach Organization has developed a methodology to introduce and teach about Human Elephant Coexistence by

active learning / teaching tool. This aims at reaching out a wide range of audience from children to adult of both literate and non-literate audience. Hence this has been proved to be very effective especially in the rural areas. ZOO translated the teaching guide “Getting along with Elephants” and the “Ele-kit” packets in local language. These materials are used in this project.

The elephant teaching guide consists of five units having activities on different assessment methods, kinds of elephants, elephant facts, drama with themes on elephant biology and threats, systematic position of Asian elephants in animal kingdom, comparing elephants with that of

1Sr. Education Officer, ZOO, Coimbatore. Email: [email protected]/Education Coordinator, ZOO, Coimbatore. Email: [email protected]

Mrs. T. Geetha, Eco-club Coordinator welcoming the participants during inaugural

Participant’s knowledge on elephants evaluated through attitude assessment


ZOOREACH Activities

other pests, elephant role in human culture, elephant behaviour, past and present Asian elephant distribution – Map activity, illustrated history of elephant, peoples perception of elephants - Role play, village committee and debate. This teaching guide can be used as a medium for conveying a wide range of active learning techniques for both experienced and casual educators. This also provides education about Asian elephants generally and creates interest among

students and other target groups to contribute at individual level to help

mitigate HEC. This can be used as a comprehensive volume to run a course

Understanding elephants past and present distribution through a map activity

In between the sessions various energizer games were also taught

A scene from Mini drama

depending on the group and the time availability. The complicated scientific facts can be delivered through indoor or outdoor activities.

This module help the educators to conduct programme in a very interesting and make the audience understand the concept in a playful method. The approach in the teaching guide is “first and foremost” that

individuals and families who live in elephant areas, take responsibility for themselves which includes learning ways to avoid confrontation and promoting self- protection, become willing to exchange some old habits and beliefs for survival and thus reduces the incidence of injury and death due to HEC. At the same time they may also learn other techniques which may help them both “Get Along with Elephants” and salvage property,


ZOOREACH Activities

An activity to understand how elephants communicate using sense organs

One of the teachers explaining about her illustrations drawn for timeline activity

Exhibition of elephant timeline drawings done by participants

crops, etc., but our primary purpose is mitigation...reduction of incidence of death and injury, both to humans and animals.

The teacher training was held on 16-17 November 2017 at Bharathi Vidhyalaya Matriculation Higher Secondary School. Twenty-five teachers from Sathyamangalam, Bargur, Anthiyur and Thalavadi areas participated. Assistant Education Officer, Andhiyur, inaugurated this and coordinated by Mrs. T.

Geetha, District Eco-Club Coordinator from o/o Chief Education Officer, Erode and

In two days training most of the contents from the teaching guide was covered. The teachers learnt new teaching tools, which can be applied for any species or issues. They were also taught about how to plan an education programme by using ele-kit packets. They actively involved in all the activity with great zeal. As a follow up of this, in the coming months all 25 schools will be visited

to meet the teachers for evaluation and to conduct mass awareness programmes at their schools for the students.

Our sincere thanks to International Elephant Foundation for the funding support, Chief Education Officer Erode for the coordination and Mr. P.R. Velumani, Correspondent, Bharathi Vidhyalaya MHSS for the venue and other support.

Mr. L. Vijeyendran, District National Green Corps Coordinator, Gobi.


ZOOREACH Activities

Practical demonstration on how to plan an edu-cation programme by using ele-kit packets

Presentation on Do’s and don’t’s in elephant range areas


ZOOREACH Activities

Participants List

Human Elephant Coexistence HECx - Educators Skills Training Workshop Bharathi Vidhyalaya MHSS, Gobi, Erode Dt.

16-17 November 2017

R. PrakashSecondary Grade TeacherPanchayat Union Middle School Arigiyam, SathyamangalamEmail: [email protected]

K. SrideviGovernment High School ChikkarasampalayamSatyamangalamErode

R. MoorthiAgricultural InstructorGovernment Higher Secondary School Kembanaicken Palayam Sathyamangalam - 638 503Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

S. BakiyalakshmiB.T. Assistant (Science)Government Higher Secondary School Kalkadambur, Sathyamangalam Tk Erode (Dt.) - 638 503

J. Grace KathaleenB.T. AssistantGovt. Girls Hr. Sec. School ThuckanaickenpalayamSathyamanagalam

M. SelvakumarHeadmasterGovt. Tribal Residential Middle School KathirimalaiAnthiyur

V. KokilamHeadmasterPanchayat Union Primary School Oosur, Thamaraikari (P.O) Burgur, Anthiyur - 638 501

C. KamaladeviHeadmasterPanchayat Union Primary School Velampatti, Burgur - 638 501Anthiyur Taluk

G. Rosini PriyaB.T. Assistant (Science)Panchayat Union Middle School Thalakkarai, Tamaraikarai Post, BargurEmail: [email protected]

M. SaravananSecondary Grade TeacherGovernment Tribal Residential Middle School, Kongadai - 638 501Anthiyur Taluk

T. UmadeviB.T. Assistant (Maths) Panchayat Union Middle School Onthanai, Anthiyur -638504Email: [email protected]

S. KavithaSecondary Grade TeacherPanchayat Union Middle School Bejalatti, Anthiyur


ZOOREACH Activities

M. SaravananSecondary Grade TeacherPanchayat Union Primary School Periya UllepalayamKaralayam Post Sathyamanagalam-638503

S. LoganathanSecondary Grade TeacherPanchayat Union Middle School Periyakallipatti, Bhavanisagar

M. Rajesh KumarSecondary Grade TeacherGovernment Tribal Residential Middle School, Bathri Padugu, Karalayam Post

K. RavikrishnanB.T. Assistant (Maths)Panchayat Union Middle School Anaikkarai Post, SathyamangalamEmail: [email protected]

S. ManoharanB.T. Assistant (Maths)Panchayat Union Middle School Thattkarai, Andiyur Taluk, Erode

S. PunithaHeadmistressPanchayat Union Primary School Sujjilkarai, Thalavadi Email: [email protected]

G. MarichamiSecondary Grade TeacherPanchayat Union Middle School Irutti Palayam, Sathyamangalam

R. SakthivelHeadmasterPanchayat Union Primary School Thikkarai, Sathyamangalam Eroade (Dt.)

S. RaghuHeadmasterPanchayat Union Primary School Uginiyam, Sathyamangalam

N. GanesamoorthiB.T. Assistant (Tamil)Panchayat Union Middle School Malliammandurgam SatyamangalamEmail: [email protected]

M. ThangaduraiB.T. Assistant (Science) Panchayat Union Middle School Kurumbur, Sathiyamangalam

A. GopalakrishnaHead MasterPanchayat Union Primary School Mallayanapuram, Thalavadi M. JacobHeadmasterR.C. Primary School Mudianur, Thalavadi - 638461

Coordinators:

Mrs. T. GeethaDistrict Eco-club CoordinatorO/o. Chief Education OfficerOld Railway Station Road, Erode-638 001Email: [email protected] Mr. L. VijeyendranNational Green Corps CoordinatorGobi Education District, Erode


ZOOREACH Activities

More awareness programmes on Pangolin conservation Rengasamy Marimuthu1 & B.A. Daniel2

Government Higher Secondary School, Pappampatti students going through the Pangolin booklet

Zoo Outreach Organization conducted Indian Pangolin conservation awareness programmes during Indian Wildlife Week covering Western Ghats districts of Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Virudunagar and Theni districts. The report has been published in October 2017 issue of Zoos Print. (http://www.zoosprint.org/ZooPrintMagazine/2017/October/1-4.pdf).

This is part of the project funded by The Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund under the title “Survey on species threats and Conservation Outreach Programmes for Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) in Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu”.

We developed special awareness materials on pangolin including a booklet, placard, sticker and posters and our main target will be the students from forest fringe area villages. So weselected the schools on this basis and has been conducting the awareness programmes. The programmes received

Government High School, Sikkarasampalayam marching for Pangolin Conservation

1Sr. Education Officer, ZOO, Coimbatore. Email: [email protected]/Education Coordinator, ZOO, Coimbatore. Email: [email protected]


ZOOREACH Activities

very good response and support from other non-governmental organisations, teachers, students and forest department personnel as well.

In November 2017, we conducted few more awareness programmes in Dindugul, Tirupur, Erode and Nilgiri districts. The programmes were conducted at Government Higher Secondary School, Amaravathi, Tirupur district; Government Higher Secondary School, Pappampatti, Dindigul District; Government High School, Chikkarasampalayam, Erode District; Kasturiba Higher Secondary School, Rajan Nagar, Erode District and Government Tribal Residential School,

Mavanalla, The Nilgiris District.

In each school, the programme last for about one and half hours to two hours. The students were given general facts on pangolin through a presentation and followed

by using the education materials more information on pangolins, their kinds, habitats, characteristics, major threats, conservation measures, world pangolin day and how could they involve in pangolin conservation. Then using the placards the students took a march raising slogans on pangolin conservation. At the end of the programme students pledged to save this species.

Our sincere thanks to the following persons, without their involvement and support it would not have been possible to reach out the students and teachers. Mr. Peter Prem Chakravarthi, Research Fellow, Anamalai Tiger Reserve;

Government Higher Secondary School, Amaravathi

Kasturba HSS, Rajan Nagar students taking a pledge to save pangolins


ZOOREACH Activities

Mr. Gopalakrishnan, Evergreen Society, Udumalpet; Mrs. T. Geetha,District Eco-club Coordinator, CEO Office, Erode; Mr. L. Vijeyendran, National Green Corps Coordinator, Gobi; and Dr. B. Ramakrishnan, Asst. Professor, Government Arts College, Udhagamandalam and his reasearch scholars, also all school headmasters and school teachers.Government Triball Residential school, Mavanalla students who

participated in the awareness programme


Field Report education

Conservation education during Wildlife Week 2017 in Government Schools, Uttar Pradesh

Students preparing animal masks

In India, the first week of October month is celebrated as Wildlife Week since 1952 with the view to preserve the Natural wealth of India. Wildlife Week is an important occasion to involve the younger generation so as to sensitize them towards the natural world. The conservation education is often neglected in the prescribed school setting, particularly with the increasing stress on consistent testing in most of the school systems. With this vision, conservation education was planned for the Wildlife Week (1st -7th October 2017) in Government schools of Uttar Pradesh. Total 50 schools were covered in a week with the help of 7 team leaders and 14 volunteers. The total strength of students that were well-informed during the week varied between 2500-3000.

The surplus of approaches by the team members to wildlife conservation teaching in schools

highlights the significance of perception, and utilizing the school atmosphere in a group of learners to give full advantage of benefits to students and teachers. The first step in celebrating Wildlife Week in schools was to take the time to understand the school environment by interacting with the teachers. The second step was to involve every student present in the school. No competition was organized in any of the schools; the participation of every student was ensured. The two activities were coloring

Students colouring the animals according to numbers


Field Report education

according to numbers and mask preparation of various animals such as lion, monkey, Langur, elephant, butterfly and owl. The team members shared fascinating facts about these animals and their role in our ecosystem. The students also noted these in their note books. Another interesting activity was learning animal drawings from numbers. The volunteers

also taught the students to draw animals keeping numbers as base such as stork from 2, monkey from 69, owl from 63, rabbit from 3, whale from 22, woodpecker from 12. The connection between teachers and conservation educators’ makes conservation edification in schools not only feasible, but also important to one and all. Understanding of the students and their minds helped in linking the Wildlife conservation education program to the local environment. The activities undertaken also addressed serious thoughts, creative ideas, mutual learning, and values explanation related to wildlife. Supplemental materials such as flyers, posters, pamphlets and bookmarks were provided to the schools by IBCS team members. Dissemination of education on wildlife conservation is an influential move towards the involvement of students, teachers, organizations and local people. The one week celebration was possible with the cooperation of teachers, students, School staff and volunteers of Indian Biodiversity Conservation Society and Sarthak Pragati Prayas Sansthan, Jhansi.

Animal drawings from numbers

Sonika Kushwaha, Indian Biodiversity Conservation Society, B.H.E.L - Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh. Email: [email protected]

Students with their prepared animal masks

Communicating science for conservation

ZOO’s PRINT Publication Guidelines

We welcome articles from the conservation community of all SAARC countries, including Afghanistan, Bang-ladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and other tropical countries if relevant to SAARC countries’ problems and potential.

Type — Articles of semi-scientific or technical nature. News, notes, announcements of interest to conserva-tion community and personal opinion pieces.

Feature articles — articles of a conjectural nature — opinions, theoretical, subjective.

Case reports: case studies or notes, short factual reports and descriptions.

News and announcements — short items of news or announcements of interest to zoo and wildlife commu-nity

Cartoons, puzzles, crossword and stories

Subject matter: Captive breeding, (wild) animal husbandry and management, wildlife management, field notes, conservation biology, population dynamics, population genetics, conservation education and inter-pretation, wild animal welfare, conservation of flora, natural history and history of zoos. Articles on rare breeds of domestic animals are also considered.

Source: Zoos, breeding facilities, holding facilities, rescue centres, research institutes, wildlife depart-ments, wildlife protected areas, bioparks, conservation centres, botanic gardens, museums, universities, etc. Individuals interested in conservation with information and opinions to share can submit articles ZOOS’ PRINT magazine.

Manuscript requirementsArticles should by typed into a Word format and emailed to [email protected]. Avoid indents, all caps or any other fancy typesetting. You may send photos, illustrations, tables.

Articles which should contain citations should follow this guideline: a bibliography organized alphabeti-cally and containing all details referred in the follow-ing style: surname, initial(s), year, title of the article, name of journal, volume, number, pages.

Editorial detailsArticles will be edited without consultation unless pre-viously requested by the authors in writing. Authors should inform editors if the article has been published or submitted elsewhere for publication.

Publication Information

ZOO’s PRINT, ISSN 0973-2543Published at: CoimbatoreOwner: Zoo Outreach Organisation, 12, Thiruvanna-malai Nagar, Saravanampatti - Kalapatti Road, Sara-vanampatti, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641035, India.

Editor: Sally R. Walker and Sanjay MolurAssociate Editor: Daniel B. AyyachamyManaging Editor: Latha G. RavikumarEditorial Assistant: R. Marimuthu

Zoo Outreach Organisation Trust Committee and Sr. Staff Managing Trustee: Sally R. WalkerExecutive Director Trustee: R.V. Sanjay MolurFinance Director Trustee: Latha G. RavikumarScientist: B.A. DanielResearcher: R. Marimuthu, Priyanka IyerOther staff: B. Ravichandran, K. Geetha, S. Radhika, Arul Jagadish, K. Raveendran, S. Sarojamma

ZOOs’ PRINT magazine is informal and newsy as op-posed to a scientific publication. ZOOS’ PRINT maga-zine sometimes includes semi-scientific and technical articles which are reviewed only for factual errors, not peer-reviewed.

Address Zoo Outreach Organisation Post Box 5912, 12, Thiruvannamalai Nagar, Saravanampatti - Kalapatti Road, Saravanampatti, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641035, IndiaPhone: +91 422 6575852, 6575853, 6575854E-mail: [email protected]: www.zoosprint.org, www.zooreach.org

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