Once you finish your answers, submit the form and find the answers here. You shall also get a look on how others performed. Courtesy: Venkataraman, K., Chattopadhyay, A. and De, J. K. 2012. National and State Animals of India: 1-173.( Published by the Director, Zool. Surv. India, Kolkata) Download a free book on National and State Animals of India
In a very apt move the central Ministry of Environment
and Forest has submitted a set of guidelines which put forward suggestions on
how pilgrim activities can be restricted inside forest areas in the country.
The guidelines which were submitted to the Supreme
Court as part of the proceedings of a progressing case seek to restrict unregulated
surge of pilgrims during festival periods in shrines situated inside protected
forest areas.
Pilgrims at
Sorimuthaiyan Temple inside
the Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu
They put forward suggestions to the temple
authorities to take measures that will decrease the number of pilgrims in order
to protect the ecological integrity of the area. The guidelines which are
pending notification assert that temple authorities and related departments
should implement them within three years of its notification.
Through the guidelines, MoEF also demands
that such pilgrim areas should comply with the sections of the Forest
Conservation Act, 1980, Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and Environmental
Protection Act, 1986. Such compliance, according to the guidelines, will help
prevent further expansion of such pilgrim centers.It is also suggested that the
temple authorities should channel 10 percent of the earning of the temple for
the benefit of the local communities with the help of Gram Sabha.
The guidelines have also formulated a
detailed framework for planning, developing, implementation and monitoring of
eco-tourism in and around natural ecosystems. The guidelines related to
ecotourism is also applicable to all protected forest areas in the country
which seeks the state governments to take a 10 percent of the turnover of all
tourist facilities within a five kilometer range of ecologically sensitive
areas as local conservation fee.
Presently there are many pilgrim centers
situated inside crucial protected areas in the country, even in Tiger Reserves.
Sabarimala in Kerala is situated in Periyar Tiger Reserve while Sorimuthu
Ayyanar temple is situated in the core area of Kalakkad Mundanthurai TigerReserve. The influx of pilgrims to these pilgrim centers and related activities
have provide to be taking heavy toll of the wild life and ecological integrity of
these areas. The guidelines set up by the Ministry may regulate the pilgrim
influx to these places.
However, environmentalists are skeptical
that the guidelines may be diluted by the government due to pressure from
political parties and religious organizations to make it just a scare crow,
before it gets officially notified.
Central government has recently taken a
stand in the court that it is to control the pilgrim related activities in theprotected areas in the country considering the damage to the undisturbed forest
patches. However the time coincides with the Aadi Amavasai fest celebrated at Sorimuthaiyan
Temple in the banks of Tamiraparani River in the core area of Kalakkad
Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu.
The festival which attracts around 5 lakh
devotees from the southern districts of the state and the resulting pressure
and pollution of KMTR has become a growing concern among environmentalists and
forest officials.
“It is a matter of great concern for us.
Some five lakh people throng to this area during these days and they camp in
the forest during the fest, it is strenuous to prevent hazards like forest
fire, stampedes and the degrading hygiene of the place due to the heaping up
waste during this time, said a forest official. Ailing Forest Department
Despite facing acute human power
shortage, forest officials are keen to check up all vehicles at least in the
beginning days of the festival when the number of vehicles are just hundreds
and are allowed only during the day time.
However, once it reaches the two peak days, there is virtually no
traffic curb on the road and it is difficult to carry out a carpet check on the
thousands of vehicles that move in and out of the sanctuary, admits forest
officials.
The Indian Made foreign Liquor bottles seized
from ‘pilgrims’
to the Sorimuthaiyan Temple at the first check post
of KMTR.
Photo: Indian Biodiversity Talks
“ it
is difficult to carry out the routine check-up for the vehicles moving into the
forest during the festivities when the usual 6pm to 6 am traffic ban in the
area is lifted, however we are doing our duty to the best possible level”, says
Assistant Conservator of Forests, KMTR. The fact can be understood easily with
the heaped up alcoholic bottles which have been seized from the devotees at the
first check post.
So the whole staff from the neighboring
ranges is drawn to the Mundanthruai range for crowd management operations and to
be part of the vehicle checking operation in the three check posts which are
put up in the route. Though some hundreds of state police personnel are usually
pressed into the service, it is restricted to the peak days only.
“Most often during the peak days, we will
be in such a state that we cannot sit for a moment. The continuous standing and
checking will leave our backs paining for rest”, said a woman forest guard who
was deputed on special duty since the smuggled in alcohol bottles are easier to
find if women staff question the women members of the pilgrim group, as per
Forest department intelligence. Festive
time for Poachers too
The festival is causing major concern for many reasons. During the days of the festival, the whole anti-poaching patrolling which is a crucial routine in the tiger reserve is virtually stopped since all the anti-poaching watchers in the Mundanthurai and neighboring ranges of KMTR are deployed at the check posts to make sure that excessive alcohol is not adding to the spirit of the festivities and that no arms and plastic are taken into the forest areas.
It was recently reported that the tiger poaching rackets are alive around the tiger reserves and other protected areas in South India when a six member gang from Haryana was nabbed by forest officials near BRT Tiger reserve in the neighboring state of Karnataka.
At least five lakhs people throng to this
core area of KMTR
during the festival, says forest authorities
The group had very clear knowledge about the anti-poaching operations in Tiger reserves and was camped near BRT reserve on specific instruction from the top of the network. The group had an interesting modus operandi which made use of the vulnerabilities of the patrolling system.
Since the whole anti- poaching patrolling takes place during the day, the poachers used to go to the forest areas in the evening to spread their traps and then kept hiding all through the day to avoid being detected by patrolling party. The move makes it clear that tiger poaching networks are still active in the country and are dangerously organized in when they are on the prowl.
When asked about the chances of poachers
making use of the situation, officials told that the chances cannot be completely
written off. “There are no anti-poaching patrols taking place these days since
all anti-poaching patrol staff have come back there to carry out special duties
related to the festival crowd. Though we have not noticed any such poaching taking
place in connection with the festival period, the chances cannot be completely set
aside”, said a forest official at the rank of forester at KMTR.
“We have a very efficient network of
intelligence around the villages neighboring the reserve which will help us get
an alert whenever such things happen”, said the Forest Range Officer at
KMTR. “We have successfully built up a cordial relationship between the
villagers in the surrounding area so that they notice the arrival of strangers
and their activities to inform us anytime”, says he. That would be enough
prevention towards poaching during this festival period, he said.
Disturbance
to wild life
During this whole festive season, wild life
keeps draws itself back into the deep forest, annoyed by the huge human
movement and continuous honking of vehicle horns, says a forest official whom
we talked to at the tiger reserve. However, no issues of animal –devotee
conflict have been reported from this area where leopards and tigers are occasionally
spotted while wild boars are usual visitors.
A baby spotted deer crossing the road inside
KMTR
The chances of forest fire also keep the
forest staff on the top vigil to avert an accident. The situation is very prone
to trigger a massive fire considering the way at which individual cooking ovens
are set up to cook food burning firewood. The presence of dry forest and strong
wind add to the chances of such a mishap.
Such a fire will not only destruct the semi
deciduous and deciduous areas of the sanctuary, it may also trigger mayhem and
stampede among the crowded devotees.
Less is studied about the disturbance
caused by the continuous traffic through the roads inside the reserve during
the festival season. At an unofficial estimate, more than 500 vehicles pass
through the road every day during the festival. Research studies on the impact of roads through protected areas have shown that the roads seriously restrict large
mammal’s movements and usual tracks.
Though reports on road kills from KMTR are
not available in the form of records, the chances cannot be completely written
off. Now watch pilgrims/tourists shooting spotted deer in KMTR
The remaining part of the article can be read here.
After a gap of thirty years, Streaked
Shearwater, a bird found in the open sea with Western Pacific origin was found
in the Indian coast last week. The spotting was made during a pelagic bird
service conducted in the Kerala coast near Kannur last week.
Streaked Shearwater found in Kerala coast Photo by K V Uthaman, MNHS
Apparently, the spotting turned out to be the
first record of the species from the state of Kerala. According to bird
watchers, the bird was recorded from India only twice – the first being from
Ramaeshwaram Coast in 1978 and then from KanyaKumari in 1982 – both places
belong to the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
According to the members of the survey
which was conducted by Malabar Natural History Society and Kerala Birder, a
single Streaked Shearwater bird was foundsome 9 kilometers away from the coast
in the open sea with a group of Flesh-footed Shearwaters, a common pelagic bird
in the South Indian coast. “The bird was quite distinctive with its pale
plumage as against the dark-brown Flesh-footed Shearwaters”, said a team
member.
According to IUCN, the bird is actually
found in the western Pacific, often in the shore and offshore islands in
countries like Japan, Russia,
China, North Korea and South Korea. The bird is known to migrate during winter to
destinations like New Guinea,
the Philippines, Australia and Vietnam. Though the population trend is recorded as decreasing it
is included in the least concern category of IUCN Red List.
The rapid monsoon pelagic bird survey also recorded
more than 1000 Wilson'S Storm-petrel at
a distance of 3.6 kilometers from the coast. More than three hundred Fleshfooted
Shearwaters were also sighted during the survey of three hours. The survey team
also found 3 Bridled Terns and a few Greater & Lesser Crested Terns.
Mohammed
Jafer Palot, KV Uthaman of Malabar
Nature History Society and Dipu K, Praveen J
and PP Sreenivasan of Kerala Birder took part in the survey. The survey is part of a first of its kind study
about seabirds across the west coast.
The south Indian state of Kerala has got a
new entrant to its list of insects recently when a group of researchers have found Microgomphus souteri Fraser, a dragonfly which was not spotted from the state in the past. The fly adds to the 138 member strong Odonata fauna of Kerala.
The new fly adds to the 138 member
strong Odonata fauna of Kerala. The insect was spotted from Vlayamchal in the
Aaralam Wildlife Sanctuary in Kannur district which is located in the slopes of
the Brahmagiri ranges in northern Western Ghats.
The fly which belongs to the Microgomphus genus actually
comes under Gomphidae family of dragonflies which are also known as Club-tails for the bulbous last segment of their abdomain. The Microgomphus members of Gomphidae are the smallest in the family with a unique appearance of black and greenish yellow
colours.
Microgomphus souteri found in Aaralam Wild Life Sanctuary in Kerala (Photo courtesy Dr. Mohammed Jafer Palot)
According to researchers, the discoidal
cell on the fore wing and hind wing of these flies differ in their shape.
Moreover, the fore wing is shorter than the hind wing. The absence of an
incomplete basal antenodal nervure and inner branches of superior anal
appendages makes them distinct. Slightly notched inferior appendages and the
presence of more than two transverse nervures between the sectors of the arc,
also helps identifying the genus Microgomphus.
Among other members of
the genus Microgomphus, M. souteri differs with Antehumeral stripes on its thorax which are not confluent with
mesothoracic collar. Apart from other features, the two large triangular
greenish spots on the black labrum also helps distinguishing them. The 4th
and 5th abdominal segments of this fly don’t have the mid dorsal
oval yellow spots while the 8th and 10th segments have no
yellow markings.
However, it is also reported that the specimen
collected from Aaralam Wildlife Sanctury showed minor variations from the specimen in the earlier
record.
Distribution
of Microgomphus souteri
Usually found in the humid parts of the
Western Ghats and North East India from heights of 609.5 MSL and above, other
members of this genus are reported from South Asian countries like Myanmar,
Malaysia, Sumatra, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Borneo and
Africa.
Though usually arboreal, the males of the
species are found resting on rocks in the streams or vegetation on the
banks of their parent rivers. India has four members of the species M. chelifer, M. torquatus (Selys,
1854) and M. verticalis (Selys, 1873), apart from M. souteri.
The present study is the second recorded spotting
of the species from India, the first being from Sampaje in Coorg district of
the adjacent state of Karnataka some 88 years back.
