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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The Odisha Forest and Environment Department has completed its first-ever radio-tagging of the Indian pangolin in an attempt to standardize the rehabilitation protocol for the animal in the State.

Why radio-tagging?

• The radio-tagging aims to know its ecology and develop an effective conservation plan for it.
• The radio-tagging is part of a joint project by the department and non-profit, the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) that also involves the species’ monitoring apart from other activities.

About Pangolin

IUCN status: Endangered

• India is home to two species of pangolin.
• While the Chinese Pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) is found in northeastern India, the Indian Pangolin is distributed in other parts of the country as well as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
• Both these species are protected and are listed under Schedule I Part I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 and under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
• Commonly known as ‘scaly anteaters’, the toothless animals are unique, a result of millions of years of evolution.
• Pangolins evolved scales as a means of protection. When threatened by big carnivores like lions or tigers they usually curl into a ball.
• The scales defend them against dental attacks from predators.

Pangolin in China

• Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy in China and Vietnam.
• Their scales which are made of keratin, the same protein present in human nails — are believed to improve lactation, promote blood circulation, and remove blood stasis.
• These so-called health benefits are so far unproven.

What makes pangolins the most trafficked animals in the world?

• Their alleged health benefits in traditional Chinese medicines prompted a booming illicit export of scales from Africa over the past decade.
• Officials quote the trafficking price of Pangolin and its scale anywhere between Rs 30,000 and Rs 1 crore for a single animal.
• Conservation of pangolins received its first shot in the arm when the 2017 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) enforced an international trade ban.

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Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh was all prepped to welcome the African cheetahs — a project that has been a decade in the making — this year. The project has now been postponed, as the new coronavirus variant of concern omicron prompted travel restrictions.

Confused over Leopard and Cheetah?

The most common difference between these two animals is the patterns on their coat. At first glance, it may look like they both have spots, but in actual fact, a leopard has rosettes which are rose-like markings, and cheetahs have a solid round or oval spot shape.

About Asiatic Cheetah

• Cheetah, the world’s fastest land animal was declared extinct in India in 1952.
• The Asiatic cheetah is classified as a “critically endangered” species by the IUCN Red List, and is believed to survive only in Iran.
• It was expected to be re-introduced into the country after the Supreme Court lifted curbs for its re-introduction.
• From 400 in the 1990s, their numbers are estimated to have reached to 50-70 today, because of poaching, hunting of their main prey (gazelles) and encroachment on their habitat.

Why reintroduce Cheetahs?

• Reintroductions of large carnivores have increasingly been recognized as a strategy to conserve threatened species and restore ecosystem functions.
• The cheetah is the only large carnivore that has been extirpated, mainly by over-hunting in India in historical times.
• India now has the economic ability to consider restoring its lost natural heritage for ethical as well as ecological reasons.

Why was the project halted?

• The court was worried whether the African cheetahs would find the sanctuary a favorable climate as far as the abundance of prey is concerned.
• Those who challenged the plan argued that the habitat of cheetahs needed to support a genetically viable population.

Try this PYQ:

Q. Consider the following:

1. Black necked crane

2. Cheetah

3. Flying squirrel

4. Snow leopard

Which of the above are naturally found in India?

(a) 1, 2 and 3 only

(c) 2 and 4 only

(b) 1, 3 and 4 only

(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4

 

Post your answers here:

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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

 

Post your answers here.

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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

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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

 

Post your answers here.

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