Type: Species

A gecko found in Visakhapatnam in 2017, then thought to belong to a known species, has now been identified as a member of a new species.

Eublepharis pictus

• The species, Eublepharis pictus, also known as the Painted Leopard Gecko, has been described in the journal Evolutionary Systematics.
• Phylogenetic study and morphological comparisons have distinguished it as a new species.
• It is endemic to the forests of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
• The gecko genus Eublepharis now has 7 species.

Conservation status

• The species occurs outside protected areas.
• Most leopard geckos are killed when encountered.
• Activists have called for raising awareness about the fact that the species is actually harmless.

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A new species of old world monkey recorded from Arunachal Pradesh has been named after a strategic Sela pass at 13,700 ft above sea level.

Sela macaque (Macaca selai).

• This new primate was identified and analysed by a team of experts from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and the University of Calcutta.
• Earlier it was called as White- Cheeked Macaque displaying white cheeks, long and thick hairs on the neck area, and a longer tail.
• Their study has been published in the latest edition of Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.
• Phylogenetics relate to the evolutionary development and diversification of a species or group of organisms.
• The phylogenetic analysis revealed that the Sela macaque was geographically separated from the Arunachal macaque (Macaca munzala) of Tawang district by Sela.
• This mountain pass acted as a barrier by restricting the migration of individuals of these two species for approximately two million years.

Protection status

• It has NOT been yet included in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 of India.
• The potential threat to all species of macaques in the landscape is due to hunting by locals for consumption and habitat degradation due to urbanization and infrastructure development.

 About Sela Pass

• The Sela Pass is a high-altitude mountain pass located on the border between the Tawang and West Kameng districts in Arunachal Pradesh.
• It has an elevation of 4170 m and connects the Indian Buddhist town of Tawang to Dirang and Guwahati.
• The pass supports scarce amounts of vegetation and is usually snow-covered to some extent throughout the year.
• While Sela Pass does get heavy snowfall in winters, it is usually open throughout the year unless landslides or snow require the pass to be shut down temporarily.
• The strategically-significant Sela Tunnel project is now nearing completion well before the deadline.

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Indian tent turtle is now listed in Schedule –I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 and is thereby provided the highest degree of protection.

Why in news?

• The Indian tent turtle is threatened due to illegal mining in Narmada River.
• This turtle has also been widely traded as a pet at aquariums.

Indian Tent Turtles

IUCN status: Least Concerned

• The Indian tent turtle (Pangshura tentoria) is a species of turtle in the family Geoemydidae. The species is endemic to India and Bangladesh.
• Its preferred habitats are freshwater rivers and swamps.
• The species is native to India, Nepal and Bangladesh, with three subspecies recorded from the region viz., P. t. tentoria, P. t. circumdata and P. t. flaviventer.
• t. tentoria occurs in peninsular India and is recorded from Orissa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Assam and Madhya Pradesh.
• t. circumdata occurs in the western tributaries of Ganga and the rivers of Gujarat. It is found in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat.
• t. flaviventer occurs in the northern tributaries of Ganga and is recorded from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam.

Back2Basics:  Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972

• WPA provides for the protection of the country’s wild animals, birds and plant species, in order to ensure environmental and ecological security.
• It provides for the protection of a listed species of animals, birds and plants, and also for the establishment of a network of ecologically-important protected areas in the country.
• It provides for various types of protected areas such as Wildlife Sanctuaries, National Parks etc.

There are six schedules provided in the WPA for protection of wildlife species which can be concisely summarized as under:

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The population of the greater one-horned or Indian rhinoceros in the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve has increased by 200 (from 2413 in 2018) in four years, the latest census of the flagship animal has revealed.

About Indian Rhino

• The Indian rhinoceros also called the greater one-horned rhinoceros and great Indian rhinoceros is a rhinoceros native to the Indian subcontinent.
• It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and Schedule I animal in the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
• It once ranged across the entire northern part of the Indian Subcontinent, along the Indus, Ganges and Brahmaputra River basins, from Pakistan to the Indian-Myanmar border.
• Poaching for rhinoceros horn became the single most important reason for the decline of the Indian rhino.

Why are Rhinos poached for horns?

• Ground rhino horn is used in traditional Chinese medicine to cure a range of ailments, from cancer to hangovers, and also as an aphrodisiac.
• In Vietnam, possessing a rhino horn is considered a status symbol.
• Due to demand in these countries, poaching pressure on rhinos is ever persistent against which one cannot let the guard down.

Try this PYQ:

Q. Consider the following statements:

1. Asiatic lion is naturally found in India only.
2. Double-humped camel is naturally found in India only.
3. One-horned rhinoceros is naturally found in India only.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

 

Post your answers here.

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About 2.45 lakh Olive Ridley sea turtles crawled ashore on the Nasi-II beach of the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary along the Odisha coast for laying eggs, marking one of the largest opening day arrivals of turtles at the site.

Olive Ridley Turtles

• The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a medium-sized species of sea turtle found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
• In the Indian Ocean, the majority of olive ridleys nest in two or three large groups at Rushikulya rookery near Gahirmatha in Odisha.
• The coast of Odisha in India is the largest mass nesting site for the olive ridley, followed by the coasts of Mexico and Costa Rica.
• The species is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List, Appendix 1 in CITES, and Schedule 1 in Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Special feature: Mass nesting

• They are best known for their behavior of synchronized nesting in mass numbers, termed Arribadas.
• Interestingly, females return to the very same beach from where they first hatched, to lay their eggs.
• They lay their eggs in conical nests about one and a half feet deep which they laboriously dig with their hind flippers.
• They hatch in 45 to 60 days, depending on the temperature of the sand and atmosphere during the incubation period.

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Neighbours of a golden langur habitat in western Assam’s Bongaigaon district have opposed a move by the State government to upgrade it to a wildlife sanctuary.

Kajoijana Bamuni Hill Wildlife Sanctuary

• The Assam Forest Department has issued a preliminary notification for converting the 19.85 sq. km. patch of forest into the Kajoijana Bamuni Hill Wildlife Sanctuary.
• It is one of the better-known homes of the golden langur (Trachypithecus geei) found only in Assam and Bhutan.

About Golden Langur

• Gee’s golden langur (Trachypithecus geei), also known as simply the golden langur, is an Old World monkey.
• It is found in a small region of Western Assam and in the neighboring foothills of the Black Mountains of Bhutan.
• Long considered sacred by many Himalayan people, the golden langur was first brought to the attention of the western world by the naturalist Edward Pritchard Gee in the 1950s.
• Adult males have a cream to golden coat with darker flanks while the females and juveniles are lighter.
• It has a black face and a long tail up to 50 cm in length.

Its habitat

• It lives in high trees and has a herbivorous diet of ripe and unripe fruits, mature and young leaves, seeds, buds and flowers.
• The average group size is eight individuals, with a ratio of several females to each adult male.
• It is one of the most endangered primate species of India and Bhutan.

Distribution

• Its habitat is bounded on the south by the Brahmaputra River, on the east by the Manas River, on the west by the Sankosh River, in Assam and on the north by the Black Mountains of Bhutan.

Conservation status

• IUCN Red List: Endangered
• CITES: Appendix I
• Wildlife Protection Act, 1972: Schedule I

Try this question from CSP 2014:

 

Q. Which one of the following groups of animals belongs to the category of endangered species?

 

(a) Great Indian Bustard, Musk Deer, Red Panda, Asiatic Wild Ass

(b) Kashmir Stag, Cheetah, Blue Bull, Great Indian Bustard

(c) Snow Leopard, Swamp Deer, Rhesus Monkey, Saras (Crane)

(d) Lion Tailed Macaque, Blue Bull, Hanuman Langur, Cheetah

 

Post your answers here.

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A section of aquarists and ornamental fish breeders are surprised that the Denison barb (Miss Kerala), a native freshwater fish species commonly found in parts of Karnataka and Kerala, has been included in Schedule I of the Wild Life Protection Act, 1982 (amendment bill).

Miss Kerala

• Miss Kerala is also known as Denison barb, red-line torpedo barb and roseline shark.
• Its scientific name is Sahyadria denisonii.
• The fish is featured with red and black stripes on its body.
• It is found in the States of Kerala and Karnataka.
• It has been listed on the IUCN Redlist as Vulnerable, in 2010.
• This species is known to inhabit fast-flowing hill streams and is often found in rocky pools with thick vegetation along river banks.

Why included in Schedule I of WPA?

• Ironically, its beauty is the biggest threat to its survival, as it is highly sought-after in the international aquarium trade, constituting 60 – 65% of the total live ornamental fish exported from India.
• Its numbers are also decreasing owing to habitat degradation due to deforestation, mining, agriculture, urban expansion and hydro-electric projects.

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