Olive Ridley Turtles need a push in the right direction

Light, especially of the artificial kind, is a no-no for nesting Olive Ridley turtles. In fact, artificial light distracts young hatchlings, which make their way to the sea at night, and attracts predators. However, metaphorically speaking, the turtles need a guiding light.

 

Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra, a non-governmental organisation based in Maharashtra, has been working to conserve the nesting sites of the Olive Ridley Turtles. The NGO has so far protected over 16,000 hatchlings in about 30 coastal villages in the region. To facilitate their work, SNM recently called for donations to procure a GPS navigation system. A donor promptly responded to their call.







That's just a baby step. As the nesting season approaches, more work remains for these dedicated volunteers. In March last year, SNM organised a Turtle Festival in Velas, Maharashtra jointly with the Forest Department and the Velas gram panchayat. About 250 visitors from across Maharashtra participated in the roadshows, film screenings and book release ceremonies. Over 120 hatchlings were released safely into the sea over the two days of the festival. An important outcome of the festival was that the residents of the village were awakened to the urgency of the issue of conserving marine turtles. The festival also brought in Rs 50,000 in funds, which will be used for stepping up conservation efforts. SNM also works for the conservation of the White-bellied Sea Eagle, Indian Swiftlet and the White-backed Vulture.
 


Photographs: Courtesy Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra/Laxmikant Deshpande. 
More information and photographs of the Turtle Festival at http://www.snmcpn.org/photos_festival.html

Greater Mekong: 10 years, 1068 new species discovered

For over ten years, researchers have toiled away in the Greater Mekong region, uncovering its secrets. A WWF report describes the region as the "richest waterway for biodiversity on the planet, fostering more species per unit area than the Amazon". Quantitatively speaking, in number of species, that's 20,000 plants, 1,200 birds, 800 reptiles and amphibians, 430 mammals and at least 1,300 fish. Of these, the new discoveries include 519 plants, 279 fish, 88 frogs, 88 spiders, 46 lizards, 22 snakes, 15 mammals, 4 birds, 4 turtles, 2 salamanders and a toad. And to imagine that most of them lay unknown to science until a decade ago. This funky chap (above) is the Dragon Millipede (Desmoxytes purpurosea), and it has a bodily function that will greatly interest terrorist groups. Our pink friend secretes cyanide, and if you have the guts to pop one of these bubblegum-coloured critters and chew well, you will soon be history. And this tempting resident of the Garden of Eden (above) is the Gumprecht's green pitviper (Trimeresurus gumprechti). The yellow spots are the eyes, and the dark pits below them are used as heat-sensing devices. Much meaner than meets the eye, the Burmese Spitting Cobra (Naja mandalayensis) (below), discovered in 2000, is another venomous customer. Among the new species of birds is this Naung Mung Scimitar Babbler (Jabouilleia naungmungensis) (above). The Woolly Bat (above), the Laotian Rock Rat (below), and the Annamite Striped Rabbit (bottom) are the most intriguing mammalian finds. The rock rat, believed to have been extinct for millions of years, was found in a local food market! WWF has more

When a tiger couldn't bear it

The tiger and the sloth bear are two major predators of the Indian jungles. Between them, it's clear who's boss. Some people know that tigers hunt and eat bears. Others don't. And then, there are people who can't bear to think about either possibility. The acclaimed wildlife filmmaker Shekar Dattatri has captured an intriguing and amusing interaction between a tiger and a sloth bear in Nagarahole, Karnataka. Looking into a patch of forest from a watchtower, the filmmaker and his companions (one of whom was wildlife biologist and tiger expert Dr. Ullas Karanth) saw a large male tiger pursued by a sloth bear. Knowing well the equation between the two animals, they expected a bloody confrontation resulting in the end of the bear as we knew it. Instead, what followed was comedy. The tiger lay down, yawned and regarded the bear's threat displays with apparent amusement. Once finished, the bear went away. And the tiger returned to his nap. Grand stuff. And lucky are those who witnessed it and caught it on film. The insight: Tigers, we are led to believe, are not interested in their prey when they are not hungry. That's a good lesson for little children: Eat at mealtimes and never in between. Text and pictures here

Down in Serendip, Amila Salgado clicks away

I stumbled upon (not via Stumbleupon but via BlogCatalog) a very attractive blog on birding and wildlife from Sri Lanka. Gallicissa, Amila Salgado's blog, provides informed photographic insight into the wildlife, birds and insect life of his fascinating island nation. I'm making a travel plan for a birding trip. And I'll soon put up a donation button here. So, start saving! Take a look, and stay stuck. It's addictive.

Encounter: Pop goes the weasel

In spring of 2001, my good friends Bruce Lee Mani and Rajeev Rajagopal (better known as guitar player and drummer, respectively, of Thermal And A Quarter) dragged me to the Himalayas on a trek for which I was quite unprepared. Bass player Rzhude, who had been there and done that before, had charted out our 'itinerary' - which meant heading to some nameless Himachali hamlet and hunting out people he remembered only by first name, then coaxing them to help us find accommodation. All on a budget that resembled my frayed shoestrings. I had spent the last six months in California driving on freeways to every national park within driving distance and getting fat on all the hormone-laden meat and milk and Washington apples I could shop at Safeway. A cardio workout in the Himalayas seemed a perfect way to burn off that ill-gotten tallow, and also to reorient myself among my countrymen. So much for excuses. Without even a pair of proper trekking shoes (I had on a pair of morning-walk-worn Power sneakers) and no backpack to call my own, I was bundled into a train that took the longest possible route to reach Delhi. On the bus to Manali, I got over my jet-lag only by listening to a tribe of multicultural fellow Hindustanis snore away in unison. What a homecoming! We trekked from Manali to Solang, but could not go to Rohtang as the pass was snowed in. No disappointments, though. At the end of our trek, we made our way back through the cobbled, undulating streets of old Manali village hopping goat-like across streams and trying to make polite conversation with the villagers (mostly with the intent of scoring some hash - as luck would have it, every second man turned out to be peddling some). Passing a stone fence in that village, a flash of hot orangey red caught my eye. A ribbon of movement among the piles of boulders, it was about an arm's length away. I had to peek over the wall to see what it was, and that earned me the opportunity to stare into the wrinkled face of an ancient woman with truck-window glasses who was either hard of hearing or irate or both. She hollered at the top of her voice at this outlandish peeping tom (moi) and waved her arms about, while I peered into the cracks of her compound wall. A black-tipped nose emerged, then a pointed white snout. Then a pair of beady, insolent eyes and a mouth that opened to reveal a row of sharp teeth. Here it was - a Himalayan Weasel (Mustela sibrica), that tiny little giant-killer of the foothills. He frowned his carnivore frown and slunk his sinuous body around the rocks and emerged now and then to look us in the eye, not hesitating to bare his fangs lest I found him too cute. Despite his huggability, he was a carnivore all the way - right from the bloodthirsty quivering of his nostrils to the merciless gleam in his eye. But, of course, these are human attempts at personification and what really matters is that this little fellow can bring down prey many times his size - such as hares, pikas, marmots, squirrels and small birds. The Himalayan Weasel is not getting any commoner in the hills, and we were very lucky to see this guy up close. Humankind's war against nature has pushed these little carnivores to the brink. Meeting this fierce little killer in the hills, I was reminded of Strange Meeting, Wilfred Owen's telling poem on the futility of war, especially these three lines from it: I am the enemy you killed, my friend. I knew you in this dark: for so you frowned Yesterday through me as you jabbed and killed.

One hundred years of wildlife filmmaking

Via AB Apana's very engaging blog, I came across WildFilmHistory, a riveting website that chronicles one hundred years of wildlife filmmaking. The website hosts profiles of nearly a hundred wildlife filmmakers from the familiar to the obscure - Jacques Cousteau, Gerald Durrell, David Attenborough, George Schaller, Doug Allen, Jen and Des Bartlett, Lyndon Bird, Desmond Morris and Steve Irwin among many others. There are pages dedicated to over 185 films, along with short clips from each. Preview Jen and Des Bartlett's The Flight of the Snow Geese (1972), Joan and Alan Root's Two in the Bush (1978) and Gerald Durrell's Catch me a Colobus: The Beef Mine (1966). Excellent way to pass the time, and to learn so much about the history that fascinated enthusiasts like us during our growing-up years (truth is, the growing up never ends). Also, I couldn't help ruminating on the fact that a great many of these wildlife films were shot at a time when photographic and recording technologies were in their infancy but when wildlife was more plentiful. Today, when access to equipment is ubiquitous, we have to travel a long way to locate the wildlife. How ironic!

Wildlife Direct - list of wildlife conservation blogs on Africa

Wildlife Direct links to a large number of excellent wildlife blogs from around Africa. The list also covers a blog about Orangutans in Malaysia, Snub-nosed Monkeys in Vietnam, Amazon Parrots and a blog on the wildlife of the Seychelles. An excellent resource.

More here

Technorati Tags: Wildlife Direct, conservation, blogs

On camera - Sumatran rhino in Borneo

For the second time (the video above is the first sighting), a Sumatran rhino in Borneo has shown itself on camera. This guy is one of about 25 or 50 individuals known to remain in the wild. A camera trap was successful in capturing the subject, thought to be a young female. The rainforests of Borneo are waging a last-ditch battle against loggers, palm oil farmers and poachers. Habitat encroachment is the greatest threat. WWF has more details Technorati Tags: sumatran rhino, camera trap, conservation

The best bird photographers are ethical

KolkataBirds has compiled a very interesting showcase of the best bird photographers in India. There is a disclaimer at the bottom of the page that brushes aside all criticism or opinions one may have of this list and the methods employed to compile it. It's a bewildering list - some are unknowns, some are known schmoozers, and others merely photographers because they own some fancy equipment. But among this motley crowd are some real stars - Sudhir Shivaram, Kalyan Varma, Joanna van Gruisen - photographers whose work reveals more than posed portraits of the bird's appearance. Through their pictures they offer a revelation of rarity, of poorly known and little studied birds, as well as insight into their behaviour, habit and habitat. Dhritiman Mukherjee offers glimpses of two rarely sighted birds - the Blood Pheasant and the Himalayan Snowcock. Joanna van Gruisen's remarkable picture of a male Pheasant-tailed Jacana (the best picture of the collection) with an egg - probably not its own - in its mouth is a revelation of extraordinary and probably undocumented parental/ territorial behaviour. Kalyan Varma's wonderful picture of Wreathed Hornbills in flight offers little by way of detail but plenty in terms of behavioural insight. These are pictures worth a thousand words or more. Many of the others are just showing off their lifers. Today, photographers have better access to great equipment and many have the money and means to travel. This means that more and more shutterbugs interested in getting a great photograph and earning peer respect are travelling to forests, deserts, grasslands and other habitats on photographic safaris. What is the impact of their frequent visits on these fragile and sensitive habitats? Are their means ethical? Some of the most reputed photographers of our time were known to be absolutely callous to the plight of their photographic subjects - disturbing nesting sites, exposing nests and chicks and resorting to trickery with recorded bird calls and suchlike. With the best equipment, even a fashion photographer can photograph birds in the wild. But wildlife photographers are not merely artists and wildlife photography isn't art for art's sake. They are pilgrims in nature's great shrine, their methods are acts of prayer, and every photographic opportunity is a blessing. POSTSCRIPT: Gopi points out that Kalyan Varma's picture of the Wreathed Hornbill offers rare insight into the flocking behaviour of this species and that flocks can be quite large for a bird of this size. He also ponders the question if the increasing interest in bird photography is actually leading to increased conservation of birds - or is it just leading to more disturbed habitats.

A leopard, a village and a photographer's conscience

From a respectful distance, I have always admired Kalyan Varma for his gift - the talent to tell stories and unravel mysteries through his wildlife photographs. But his coverage, in March this year, of a leopard trapped in the village of Valparai is sheer testament to the fact that this young man is no mere shutterbug collecting photographic souvenirs in our forests and trading them for awards. He is what wildlife conservation needs with utmost urgency -- a wildlife photojournalist with a conscience. 


Not many people I know want to run into a leopard in the wild. So when one comes visiting a village, it is far from welcome. The leopard in this story was not above blame - it was responsible for the death of a young girl. It doesn't take much to anger a village and this killing provided ample tinder to fan a blazing hatred for the cat. A trap was set and the leopard was caught. The dramatis personae - villagers, forest officers, policemen and local press photographers - all played their part. The fallen hero, of course, was the leopard. What struck me about Kalyan's account was the irony of the 'shoot'. A veterinarian tries - first in vain - to bring the cat down, while all the while Kalyan clicks away feverishly, capturing through his trained eye the predicament of a wild animal that is down, but far from out.


In his journal, Kalyan writes: 'A tear rolled down its eye and the leopard slowly went down. I cocooned myself from the whole crowd as the cops were taking care of them and I could not see anything but the face of the leopard through the camera. I just broke down at this point and walked away.' 


Read all about it here 


Salut, Kalyan Varma. For boldly doing what no wildlife photographer has dared do before - for bringing out in detail the inexorable sadness of human-animal conflict.

Ok, ok, Okapi

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, stop whatever you are doing and bring your eyes here to ogle at the tallest legs in zebra stockings on the unglamorous ungulate that Cousin Giraffe nicknamed Shorty. Only relatively, of course. Enough bad puns. After long years, a wild Okapi has been recorded thanks to camera traps set by the Zoological Society of London in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The BBC reports...

Video - B.R. Hills

Crocodile tears... on IBN blogs

Couldn't take it any more... I have vented my angst over the reportage of the gharial crisis on IBN blogs. Here's the text:

Curious how the stuff of Animal Planet becomes a mainstream media issue and everyone in the animal kingdom a spokesperson for it.

First, it was the tiger - when the Sariska poaching incident came up, our friends in the media announced doomsday for the big cat. Sorry, even before that it was the elephant - Veerappan and his ivory oligarchy won Jumbo a number of page-one anchors.

And then we forgot about them.

Now, because tigers are so last year and elephants scarcely a blip on the radar, media melancholia has shifted to the knob-nosed, fish-eating crocodilian we know as the Gharial.

Read the full post here

Brian may shreds whaling

Via Google Reader:

Join Brian May against whaling

via Madame Arcati by Madame Arcati on 11/30/07

One of the better celebrity blogs is Brian May's. The Queen star posts regularly and actually interacts with his audience – and I'm impressed by his recent outspoken attack on the resumption of whaling by Japan. "I was looking at murderous Japanese boats going out to kill 1,000 intelligent, beautiful higher mammals ... the magnificent whales. And we all sit back and watch it happen?" he writes. As Greenpeace reports, "If the countries that oppose whaling were putting one-tenth of the effort into ending it that the Japanese government invests in maintaining a sham research programme, whaling would have ended by now." If you'd like to sign Greenpeace's message to various world leaders to call Japan's Prime Minister Fukuda to stop whaling, click here. May's blog click here.

Bhadra - A River Sutra

100 tigers, but where's the forest?

The Chinese, in all their ecological ignorance, have reason to be proud. After systematically decimating all things living from their once-bountiful land, they now expect to be felicitated for their 'conservation' efforts. China announced on May 22 that it expects the birth of 100 Siberian Tigers at the Manchurian Tiger Park in the city of Harbin. The cats, bred entirely in captivity, are likely to have limited or no hunting or survival skills (a publicity shot shows a young tiger relishing a chicken). But even if some of them survive, where is the habitat available for their successful reintroduction? Wildlife biologist and noted tiger researcher Dr. Ullas Karanth showed, in his documentary 'Tigers: Fighting Back' that though the tiger is adaptive enough to change its millennia-old habits -- such as the need for large territories -- it still needs undisturbed habitat and plentiful prey in order to survive and successfully reestablish itself at the apex of the food chain. There are, at present, about 400 wild Siberian tigers in the wild, and nearly all are at risk from poachers who hunt them for their hide and for their bones and sexual organs, which Chinese quacks covet for supposed aphrodisiac properties. Captive breeding and reintroduction may work in the case of smaller mammals, which are less territorial. But in the case of the tiger, this is a dubious achievement. Case in point: at a lecture following the screening of 'Tigers: Fighting Back' in Bangalore last year, Dr. Karanth was interrupted by a middle-aged man who claimed to be a senior veterinarian. He earnestly offered to set up 'farms' where he could help breed the tigers. He imagined that tigresses, like heifers, would be injected with fertility hormones to breed faster and more prolifically. He was confident that he could solve the crisis within a few years. Dr. Karanth heard him out and responded that merely bloating the tiger's population would not solve the problem. It is more important to preserve its habitat, allow it to return to its winning ways and settle itself once more at the top of the food chain. Are the Chinese 'conservationists' listening?