Type: Species

Gharial ( Gavialis gangeticus ) have been successfully reintroduced the in the Beas River of Punjab where it had become extinct half a century ago.

One may often get confused between the Mugger, Gharial and the Saltwater Crocodile. Note the differences about their IUCN status, habitat (freshwater/saltwater) etc..

Gharials

• The Gharial is a fish-eating crocodile is native to the Indian subcontinent. They are a crucial indicator of clean river water.
• Small released populations are present and increasing in the rivers of the National Chambal Sanctuary, Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, Son River Sanctuary.
• It is also found at the rainforest biome of Mahanadi in Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary, Orissa.
• Gharials are ‘Critically Endangered’ in the IUCN Red List of Species.
• The species is also listed under Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.

Into the wild

• A major chunk of gharials in India is found in the Chambal River, which has about 1,000 adults.
• The Ghaghara acts as an important aquatic corridor for gharials in Uttar Pradesh. The river is a major left-bank tributary of the Ganges.
• Like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar too is releasing gharials in the Valmiki Tiger Reserve as part of restocking the wild population. Unlike crocodiles, gharials do not pose any danger to humans.

Ambitious project in Punjab

• The gharial reintroduction in the Beas Conservation Reserve is an ambitious programme of the Punjab government.
• The reptiles were commonly sighted in the Beas River till the 1960s but later became extinct.

Back2Basics:

Mugger

• The mugger is a marsh crocodile which is found throughout the Indian subcontinent.
• It is a freshwater species and found in lakes, rivers and marshes.
• IUCN Status: Vulnerable

Saltwater Crocodile

• It is the largest of all living reptiles.
• It is found along the eastern coast of India.
• IUCN Status: Least Concerned

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In a major discovery, the longest in-country migration route of lesser floricans, the endangered birds of the bustard group, has been tracked for the first time from Rajasthan to Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district.

Lesser Florican

• The lesser florican (Sypheotides indicus), also known as the likh or kharmore, is the smallest in the bustard family.
• It is endemic to the Indian Subcontinent where it is found in tall grasslands and is best known for the leaping breeding displays made by the males during the monsoon season.
• The male has a contrasting black and white breeding plumage and distinctive elongated head feathers that extend behind the neck.
• These bustards are found mainly in northwestern and central India during the summer but are found more widely distributed across India in winter.
• The only similar species is the Bengal florican (Houbarobsis bengalensis) which is larger and lacks the white throat, collar and elongated plumes.

Conservation status

• The Lesser Florican is protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, Lesser Florican
• The bird is listed as “Critically Endangered” on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.

Threats

• It is threatened both by hunting and habitat degradation.
• The species is highly endangered and has been officially hunted to extinction in some parts of its range such as Pakistan.

Try this PYQ:

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

 

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An elusive swallowtail butterfly carrying ‘India’ in its name and found in next-door China will become the State butterfly of Arunachal Pradesh.

Kaiser-i-Hind

Protection status: Schedule II of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972

• Kaiser-i-Hind (Teinopalpus imperialis) literally means Emperor of India.
• This butterfly with a 90-120 mm wingspan is found in six States along the Eastern Himalayas at elevations from 6,000-10,000 feet in well-wooded terrain.
• The butterfly also flutters in Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and southern China.
• The move was made with a view to boosting butterfly tourism and saving the species from extinction in the State.

Other butterflies in news

• The Malabar Banded Peacock or the Buddha Mayoori which was recently declared the ‘State Butterfly’ of Kerala will have a dedicated butterfly park in Kochi.
• Tamil Nadu has also recently declared Tamil Yeoman (Cirrochroa Thais) as its state butterfly to symbolize its rich natural and cultural heritage.
• Other states to have state butterflies are Maharashtra (Blue Mormon), Uttarakhand (Common peacock), Karnataka (Southern birdwings).

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The Wildlife Institute of India (WII-Dehradun) Conservation Biologists will begin collaring ten Fishing Cats (Prionailurus viverrinus) in the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) in Andhra Pradesh.

About Fishing Cats

• About twice the size of a typical house cat, the fishing cat is a feline with a powerful build and stocky legs.
• It is an adept swimmer and enters water frequently to prey on fish as its name suggests.
• It is known to even dive to catch fish.
• It is nocturnal and apart from fish also preys on frogs, crustaceans, snakes, birds, and scavenges on carcasses of larger animals.
• It is capable of breeding all year round but in India its peak breeding season is known to be between March and May.

Conservation status

• IUCN Red List: Endangered
• CITES: Appendix II
• Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule I

Various threats

• One of the major threats facing the fishing cat is the destruction of wetlands, which is its preferred habitat.
• As a result of human settlement, drainage for agriculture, pollution, and wood-cutting most of the wetlands in India are under threat of destruction.
• Another threat to the fishing cat is the depletion of its main prey-fish due to unsustainable fishing practices.
• It is also occasionally poached for its skin.

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Environmentalists have recently written to the Assam government on the urgent need to prevent land-use changes at Kokilabari Seed Farm in the state to protect Bengal floricans and other species.

Bengal Florican

• The Bengal florican also called Bengal bustard, is a bustard species native to the Indian subcontinent, Cambodia, and Vietnam.
• Fewer than 1,000 individuals were estimated to be alive as of 2017.
• It has two disjunct populations, one in the Indian subcontinent, another in Southeast Asia.
• The former occurs from Uttar Pradesh (India) through the Terai of Nepal to Assam (where it is called ulu mora) and Arunachal Pradesh in India, and historically to Bangladesh.
• It has a very small, rapidly declining population largely as a result of the widespread loss of its grassland habitat.

Conservation status

• IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered
• CITES: Appendix I
• Wildlife Protection Act of India, 1972: Schedule I

A recent study has identified some priority talukas/tehsils where habitats can be consolidated to enhance population connectivity for the dhole or Asiatic Wild Dog (Cuon alpinus).

About Dhole

Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule II (Absolute protection – offences under these are prescribed the highest penalties.)

IUCN: Endangered

• The dhole is a canid native to Central, South, East Asia, and Southeast Asia.
• India perhaps supports the largest number of dholes, with key populations found in three landscapes — Western Ghats, Central India and Northeast India.
• It is a highly social animal, living in large clans without rigid dominance hierarchies and containing multiple breeding females.

Their significance

• Dholes play an important role as apex predators in forest ecosystems.
• Factors contributing to this decline include habitat loss, loss of prey, competition with other species, persecution due to livestock predation and disease transfer from domestic dogs.

Try answering this PYQ:

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

 

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Assam will mark World Rhino Day — September 22 — with a special ceremony by burning a stockpile of nearly 2,500 horns of the one-horned rhinoceros.

Rhino Horn Reverification

• The public ceremony — scheduled at Bokakhat in Kaziranga National Park (KNP) has been publicized as a “milestone towards rhino conservation” aimed at “busting myths about rhino horns”.
• It’s a loud and clear message to the poachers and smugglers that such items have no value.
• Thus the case for the destruction of horns — a process that is in compliance with Section 39(3)(c) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972.

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:

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

 

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Back2Basics: 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.

India’s first Dugong conservation reserve will be built in Tamil Nadu for the conservation of Dugong, a marine mammal.

Try answering this PYQ:

With reference to ‘dugong’, a mammal found in India, which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. It is a herbivorous marine animal.
2. It is found along the entire coast of India.
3. It is given legal protection under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1974.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 3 only

 

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Dugong Conservation Reserve

• The reserve will spread over an area of 500 km in Palk Bay on the southeast coast of Tamil Nadu.
• Palk Bay is a semi-enclosed shallow water body with a water depth maximum of 13 meters.
• Located between India and Sri Lanka along the Tamil Nadu coast, the dugong is a flagship species in the region.

Dugong: The sea cow

• Dugong or the sea cow is the State animal of Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
• This endangered marine species survive on seagrass and other aquatic vegetation found in the area.
• It is the only herbivorous mammal that is strictly marine and is the only extant species in the family Dugongidae.
• Dugongs are usually about three-meter long and weigh about 400 kg.
• Dugongs have an expanded head and trunk-like upper lip.
• Elephants are considered to be their closest relatives. However, unlike dolphins and other cetaceans, sea cows have two nostrils and no dorsal fin.

Their habitat

• Distributed in shallow tropical waters in the Indo-Pacific region, in India, they are found in the Gulf of Kutch, Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
• Dugongs are long-living animals, that have a low reproductive rate, long generation time, and high investment in each offspring.
• The female dugongs do not bear their first calf until they are at least 10 and up to 17 years old.
• A dugong population is unlikely to increase more than 5% per year. They take a long time to recover due to the slow breeding rate.

Causes of extinction

• Having being declared vulnerable, the marine animal calls for conserving efforts.
• Studies have suggested the reasons for the extinction of the animal such as slow breeding rate, fishing, and the loss of habitat.
• They are also known to suffer due to accidental entanglement and drowning in gill-nets.

Conservation in India

• The conservation reserve can promote growth and save vulnerable species from the verge of extinction.
• Dugongs are protected in India under Schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife Act 1972 which bans the killing and purchasing of dugong meat.
• IUCN status: Vulnerable

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