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B695

NH

Bombay Natural History

Society

Vol. 83, No. 1

Editors : J. C. Daniel, P. V. Bole & A. N. D, Nanavati

April 1986 Rs. 90

NOTICE TO CONTRIBUTORS

Contributors of scientific articles are requested to assist the editors by observ-

ing the following instructions:

1. Papers which have at the same time been offered for publication to other

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2. The MS. should be typed (double spacing) on one side of a sheet only,

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.3. All scientific names to be printed in italics should be underlined.

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Banerji, M. L. (1958): Botanical Exploration in East Nepal. 7. Bombay nat.

Hist. Soc . 55(2): 243-268.

Prater, S. H. (1948): The Book of Indian Animals. Bombay. Titles of papers

should not be underlined.

8. Reference to literature in the text should be made by quoting the author’s

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9. Synopsis : Each scientific paper should be accompanied by a concise,

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Hombill House,

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road,

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Editors,

Journal of the Bombay

Natural History Society.

ERRATA

On p. 1 of Journal Vol. 83, No. 1, for

August 1986, read April 1986

VOLUME 83(1) : APRIL 1986

Date of Publication : 30-6-1986.

CONTENTS

Page

Rediscovery of the Jerdon’s or Double-banded Courser Cursorius bitorquatus

(Blyth). By Bharat Bhushan. ( With a colour plate & a text-figure ) .. 1

Rediscovery of the Golden Gecko Calodactylodes aureus (Beddome) in the

Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh. By J. C. Daniel, Bharat Bhushan and

A. G. Sekar. (With a colour plate) . . 15

Movement and flock composition of the Great Indian Bustard Ardeotis

nigriceps (Vigors) at Nanaj, Solapur District, Maharashtra, India. By

Asad A. Rahmani and Ranjit Manakadan. (With two text-figures ) . . 17

Wildlife in Bangladesh Mangrove ecosystem. By Mohammad Ali Reza Khan.

(With a text- figure ) . . 32

Drug immobilisation of Indian Elephant. By J. B. Sale, V. Rishi, K. N. Singh

and V. K. Verma. (With a plate) . . 49

Distributional records for some Indian Turtles. By Edward E. Moll, and J.

Vijaya . . 57

Some observations on Wild Boar (Sus scrofa) and its control in sugarcane

areas of Punjab, Pakistan. By M. M. Shafi and A. R. Khokhar . . 63

Observations and comments on bird casualties at Malshej Ghat Holiday

Camp, Maharashtra. By Sunjoy Monga and Ulhas Rane. (With two text- figures) 68

Taxonomic revision of the Genus Gagea Salisb. (Liliaceae) in India and

adjoining regions. By Syamali Dasgupta and D. B. Deb. (With four text-

figures) . . 78

Feeding ecology of the Bonnet Macaque at the Mundanthurai Sanctuary,

Tamilnadu. By Rauf Ali. (With three text-figures) . . 98

The Indian Chameleon, Chamaeleon zeylanicus (Laurenti) in Satkoshia Gorge

Sanctuary, Orissa: notes on availability, growth and biometrics. By

L. A. K. Singh. (With three text-figures) .. Ill

Some aspects of the population dynamics of the bat, Rhinopoma hardwickei

in A cave system. By K. Usman. (With three text-figures) . . 120

A Catalogue of the Birds in the Collection of Bombay Natural History

Society — 30. By Humayun Abdulali .. 130

New Descriptions:

A New Species of Gagea (Liliaceae) from Pakistan. By Syamali Dasgupta &

D. B. Deb. (With a text- figure) .... 164

Description of a New gall midge species (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae) from Maha-

rashtra, India. By R. M. Sharma. (With fourteen text-figures) . . 165

A New Subspecies of Simocephalus vidyae Rane, 1983 (Cladocera, Daphnidae)

from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India. By Pramod D. Rane. (With six text-

figures) . . 168

A New freshwater fish of the genus Barilius Hamilton (Pisces: Cyprinidae)

from West Bengal, India. By R. P. Barman. {With a text- figure ) . . 171

A New Species of Rhynocoris (Fabricius) from southern India (Heteroptera-

Reduviidae-Harpactorinae). By Dunston P. Ambrose & David Livingstone.

{With six text- figures ) . . 173

On a New Subspecies of Chagunius chagunio (Hamilton-Buchanan) (Pisces:

Cyprinidae) from Burma. By P. K. Talwar and A. Das. {With a text-figure ) 177

Three New Species and a New variety of Monocotyledons from Savantwadi,

Maharashtra. By S. M. Almeida. {With two plates & four text- figures ) . . 180

Obituary :

Raol Shree Dharmakumarsinhji (1917-1986) {With a photograph ). .. 186

Reviews :

1. Mountain Wildlife. (Lavkumar Khacher) .. 190

2. Plant Hunting in Nepal. (Meena Haribal) . . 191

Miscellaneous Notes:

Mammals: 1. Dung with a difference. By Heta Pandit and Debi Goenka (p. 192); 2. A

possible sighting record of the Malabar Civet {Viverra megaspila Blyth) from Karnataka.

By K. Ullas Karanth (p. 192); 3. Note on the breeding of Indian Wolf Canis lupus

pallipes at the National Zoological Park, New Delhi. By J. H. Desai, Mammen Koshy

and T. Nainan (p. 193); 4. Observations on the Red Fox {Vulpes vulpes arabica ) in the

A1 Ain area, United Arab Emirates. By Chris W. Furley (p. 194); 5. Possible play between

the Indian Giant Squirrel {Ratufa indica indica) and the Common Langur {Presbytis

entellus ). By Renee Borges (p. 197); 6. An instance of predation of Grey Quail by the

Indian Gerbille. By Manjit S. Saini and V. R. Parshad (p. 197).

Birds: 7. A Common Sandgrouse’s reaction to a Short-toed Eagle. By Asad R. Rahmani

and Carl D’Silva (p. 198); 8. An abnormal behaviour by a breeding pair of Blue Rock

Pigeon {Columba livia Gmelin). By Y. R. Malhotra and Deep N. Sahi (p. 199); 9. On

the occurrence of the Ceylon Frogmouth {Batrachostomus moniliger ) in North Kanara,

Karnataka. By Renee Borges (p. 200); 10. Breeding biology of Baybacked Shrike {Lanius

vittatus ) at National Zoological Park, New Delhi. By J. H. Desai and A. K. Malhotra

(p. 200) ; 11. A re-assignment of two small babblers at present in the genus Yuhina.

{With a text-figure ). By C. J. O. Harrison (p. 202); 12. The Rufoustailed Flycatcher,

Muscicapa ruficauda in Bharatpur, Rajasthan. By R. Kannan (p. 206); 13. On the identity

of the easternmost race of Prinia criniger (Hodgson) in Indian limits. By Humayun

Abdulali and Saraswathy Unnithan (p. 206); 14. Removal of the Northern Leaf Warbler,

Phylloscopus trochilus acredula (Linnaeus) from the Indian avifauna. By Humayun Abdulali

and Saraswathy Unnithan (p. 209); 15. Plucking of male flowers of Momordica dioica

by the Blackthroated Weaver bird Ploceus benghalensis. By Satish Kumar Sharma (p. 210);

16. Record of Rustic Bunting. By F. M. Gauntlett (p. 212); 17. The birds of Delhi and

Meerut. By Yado Mohan Rai (p. 212); 18. The effect of grazing on the abundance and

diversity of birds in scrub vegetation at Nathdwara, Rajasthan. By A. J. Gaston (p. 214).

Reptiles: 19. Significance of residual egg-fluid to hatching patterns in the Gharial {Gavialis

gangeticus ) and emydid freshwater turtles (Reptilia; Crocodilia and Chelonia). {With a

text-figure). By L. A. K. Singh and R. J. Rao (p. 217); 20. The distribution and popula-

tion of Crocodiles in the provinces of Sind and Baluchistan (Pakistan). By Ashiq

Ahmad (p. 220) ; 21 . Net-bound death of Marine Turtle Lepidochelys olivacea off

West Bengal coast during 1984-85. By S. K. Raut and N. C. Nandi (p. 223); 22. A note

on cannibalism in freshwater softshelled turtle Trionyx gangeticus (Cuvier). By R. J. Rao

(p. 224); 23. A note on reproduction in the Himalayan pit viper ( Agkistrodon himalayanus) .

By Shekar Dattatri (p. 224).

Amphibia: 24. Unique behaviour of bull frogs. By R. R. Bharos (p. 225); 25. The

status of the Nicobar toads Bufo camortensis Mansukhani & Sarkar, 1980 and Bufo spinipes

Fitzinger in Steindachner, 1867. By Ronald I. Crombie (p. 226).

Fishes: 26. Fecundity of some hill-stream fishes of Garhwal Himalaya. By S. P. Baloni

(p. 229); 27. Pise Dam — an ecological disaster for the freshwater pipe-fish Doryichthys

cuncalus (Ham.-Buch.) . (With a text-figure & a map). By B. F. Chhapgar and J. N. Pande

(p. 232); 28. Nemipterus peronii (Valenciennes 1830) (Pisces: Nemipteridae) — a new

record from Indian waters. (With a text-figure) . By D. Manikyala Rao and K. Srinivasa

Rao (p. 236); 29. Cynoglossus lachneri Menon (Pisces: Cynoglossidae) — a new record

from Indian waters (Bay of Bengal. Off Visakhapatnam) . By M. Rama Murty and K.

Srinivasa Rao (p. 241).

Insects: 30. New record of the termite Microcerotermes annandalei Silvestri (Isoptera:

Termitidae: Amitermitinae) from Rajasthan. By N. S. Rathore (p. 244); 31. Histological

studies of scarlet red patch induced by the Whitefly Bemisia tabaci (Gennadius) on under-

surface of leaf of Achyranthes aspera Linn. (With a photograph and two text-figures). By

R. W. Alexander Jesudasan and B. V. David (p. 245); 32. Bioecology of Sphedanolestes

aterrimus Distant (Heteroptera: Reduviidae). (With a text-figure). By Dunston P. Ambrose

and David Livingstone (p. 248); 33. Mass aggregation of the Arctiid Moth Argina argus

Kollar (Lepidoptera, Arctiidae) in Corbett National Park, Kumaon, U.P. (With a text-

figure). By Torben B. Larsen (p. 253); 34. Moths feeding on lachrymal fluids of ungulates

in Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan. By W. A. Rodgers (p. 255); 35. Zoogeography

of Indian Dacinae (Diptera: Tephritidae). (With two text-figures). By M. L. Agarwal

(p. 256).

Other Invertebrates: 36. Life-history pattern of the freshwater leech Glossiphonia weberi

(Blanchard) [Hirudinea: Glossiphonidae]. (With a text-figure). By S. K. Raut and T. C.

Saha (p. 260).

Botany: 37. Ixora pubirama Brem. (Rubiaceae) — a new record for Indian Flora. (With

ten text-figures). By Tariq Husain and S. R. Paul (p. 263); 38. Three new distribution

records of Pyrrosia Mirbel. (Polypodiaceae) from southern India. By N. C. Nair, P.

Bhargavan and V. S. Ramachandran (p. 265) ; 39. Additions to the alpine flora of Tungnath.

By J. K. Semwal and R. D. Gaur (p. 267); 40. New distributional records of some

mangrove species from Orissa coast. By L. K. Banerjee (p. 271); 41. Some observations

on three little known species endemic to Bhutan and northeast India. By J. K. Sikdar

(p. 273); 42. Orchids newly discovered and added to the Orchidaceae from India. By P. K.

Sarkar (p. 276); 43. Family Lemnaceae in the Kashmir Himalayas. By A. Majeed Kak

(p. 279).

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.

Plate

Jerdon’s or Double-banded Courser Cursorius bitorquatus (Blyth).

JOURNAL

OF THE

BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY

SOCIETY

August 1986 Vol. 83 No. 1

REDISCOVERY OF THE JERDON’S OR DOUBLE-

BANDED COURSER CURSORIUS BITORQUATVS (BLYTH)1

Bharat Bhushan2

{With a colour plate & a text-figure)

The Jerdon’s or Double-banded Courser Cursorius bitorquatus, last recorded in 1900,

is one of the rarest avian species in the world. Lack of subsequent records led to

the presumption that the species may be extinct. Surveys carried out in 1985-86

finally established the presence of the species in Cuddapah district of Andhra

Pradesh.

Introduction

The Jerdon’s or Double-banded Courser

Cursorius bitorquatus (Blyth) was first “pro-

cured” and recorded for science by Dr. T. C.

Jerdon (Blyth 1848) in c. 1848 “from the

hilly country above the Eastern Ghats, off

Nellore, and in Cuddapah” (Jerdon 1877).

Blanford (1898) recorded the Double-banded

Courser in March 1871 near Sironcha and

Bhadrachalam near the Godavari river-valley

in northern Andhra Pradesh. The last “pre-

sumably authentic sighting” was by Howard

1 Accepted February 1986.

2 Field Biologist, Endangered Species Project,

Bombay Natural History Society, Hornbill House,

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Bombay-400 023.

Campbell in 1900 in the Pennar river valley

near Anantapur (Ali 1977).

The 1900 record near Anantapur being the

last, led to the Double-banded Courser being

considered as one of the rarest avian species

in the world.

Jerdon (1877) on the basis of his bird sur-

veys in the Eastern Ghat areas in southern

Andhra Pradesh remarked that he believed the

Double-banded Courser to be a “permanent

resident” and an “almost unique instance of

a species of Plover having such an extremely

limited geographical distribution”. The lack of

sightings subsequent to Blanford (1898) and

Campbell (Ali 1977), indicates that the

Double-banded Courser is known only “from

a restricted area in eastern India, from the

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY, Vo!. 83

valley of the Godavari river, near Sironcha

and Bhadrachalam, and from Nellore, Cudda-

pah and Anantapur in the valley of the Pennar

river” (Greenway 1958, Ali and Ripley 1969).

Whistler and Kinnear (1930) during the

ornithological survey of the Eastern Ghats (in

1929-31) and Ali (1933-34) during his

Hyderabad State Ornithological Survey (in

1931-32) had covered the known range

of the Jerdon’s Courser “pretty thoroughly”

without success. Later, two “special explora-

tions” organized by the Bombay Natural

History Society in 1975 and 1976 with the

collaboration of Smithsonian Institution and

World Wildlife Fund-India respectively did

not achieve positive results (Ali 1977). A

poster prepared for the Society by J P Irani

showing the Jerdon’s with the Indian Courser

in colour, was circulated in Andhra Pradesh

and adjoining States during these years with-

out eliciting any positive response.

This continual failure to record the Double-

banded Courser resulted in several authors

(Ripley 1952, 1961, Howard and Moore 1980,

Walters 1980, King 1981) listing the species

as either extinct or thought to be as such. The

possibility of this truly peninsular endemic be-

coming extinct was very improbable consider-

ing the vastness of potentially suitable habitat

in the lower peninsula. As results from this

Study show, the effort to search out the Double-

banded Courser had been “too little” (Ali &

Ripley 1985).

Survey

The Bombay Natural History Society under

the aegis of its research project — ‘Study of

the Ecology of Rare and Endangered Species

of Wildlife and their Habitat’, funded by the

Fish & Wildlife Service, USA, through the

Department of Environment, Government of

India — decided in May 1985 to survey the

Pennar river valley areas in southern Andhra

Pradesh and try to establish whether the

Double-banded Courser is still present or ex-

tinct in these areas.

Towards this end, a preliminary survey

(Bhushan 1985a) was carried out over the

Pennar river-course and its adjoins (9th- 16th,

23rd-24th June and 2nd-4th July 1985). Based

on results from the preliminary survey, spot-

survey locations were decided upon and con-

ducted (Bhushan 1985b) at Somasila in Nellore

district and at Siddavatam in Cuddapah dis-

trict (5th-6th and 12th September to 5th

October 1985; 12th-27th January and 3rd-6th

February 1986).

Jerdon had mentioned the “hilly country

above the Eastern Ghats, off Nellore, and in

Cuddapah” and Campbell had sighted the

Courser in the Pennar river valley areas near

Anantapur. Since the Pennar river flows

through Cuddapah and Nellore before flowing

into the Bay of Bengal, the river-course was

to be considered as the first term of reference.

The next point to be determined was the

habitat-type in which to locate the Double-

banded Courser. Found to inhabit “rocky and

undulating ground with thin forest jungle”,

Jerdon (1877) believed the Double-banded

Courser to be a “mountain form of Cursorius,

frequenting rocky hills with thin jungle”. Blan-

ford (1898) recorded the species “in thin forest

or high scrub, never in open ground”. He

“never saw any on hills”, in contrast to Jer-

don’s belief.

Thus, going by their descriptions of the

habitat-types, the Double-banded Courser

would be inhabiting areas totally unlike those

favoured by the Indian Courser. The survev

2

REDISCOVERY OF THE JERDON'S COURSER

3

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

had to locate hilly and low undulating ground

near the Pennar river or better still compris-

ing valley areas over the river’s course through

the three districts, (see Fig. 1).

Methodology

The BNHS had used a poster from a colour

painting by J. P. Irani showing both the Jer-

don’s and Indian Courser. This had been dis-

tributed along with a descriptive note written

in English for Andhra Pradesh and adjoining

states for feedback. The most obvious error

here was the absence of a Telugu note for the

Pennar river-valley areas. The Godavari river-

valley areas would require notes in the Telugu,

Marathi, Oriya and Urdu languages.

This error was rectified by having the

English note translated into Telugu and xerox-

ed along with the colour plate. One hundred

copies were distributed personally by me to

only concerned individuals like Forest Officials,

local shikaris and tribals proficient in bird-

trapping.

The second visual aid used for cross-

examining locals was the pictorial guide to

BIRDS OF THE INDIAN SUB-CONTINENT by Ali &

Ripley (1983). This was used to verify the

local informants’ depth of knowledge; his

ability to distinguish different birds at a glance;

and, the ability to describe each bird that he

identified coupled with a local logical name.

The enquiries were followed up by walking

about in the area, listing the birds seen and

deciding if it would be the correct habitat -

type for the Double-banded Courser. This was

alternated by examining the area from a con-

venient point using a spotterscope for scanning.

Equipment used included a 12 x 50 Binocu-

lars and a spotterscope of 10 x magnification.

Bhushan (1985a & b) has described the

preliminary survey and spot-surveys in detail.

From the number of enquiries made during

these surveys, three shikaris gave three ver-

sions of what may be the Jerdon’s or Double-

banded Courser. Of these three versions, an

account of the Siddavatam locality — which

turned out to be correct — is given below.

The Siddavatam area: Cuddapah District

The Lankamalai ranges at Siddavatam are

about 20 km from Cuddapah. From Siddava-

tam, the hills range north towards the Nalla-

malais at Nandyal (in Kurnool district) and

south to the Palakondas at Vontimitta and to

Tirupati (in Chittoor district). Eleven kilo-

metres from Cuddapah towards Siddavatam,

the slopes are gentle and all the hills have

scrub vegetation. This type of apparently

suitable vegetation /habitat (to the Double-

banded Courser) continues to Siddavatam along

the foothills. The Pennar river flows along

the Siddavatam settlement.

With the help of the local (Siddavatam)

Forest Range Officer, I met a small-game

‘vetagadu’ (= shikari) named Aitanna residing

at Reddipalli village, 12 km from Siddavatam.

He could not recognise the Double-banded

Courser, but said he knew the Lesser Florican

Sypheotides indica, known here as ‘nela

nemili’ (nela 1 ground; nemili = peafowl),

which was seen only in the rains. Some of the

other villagers standing around, could also

recognise the Lesser Florican from the ‘Picto-

rial Guide’. Aitanna later informed me of the

presence of an experienced Yaanadi (= name

of a tribe, that used to depend partly on shikar

as subsistence; now settled in exclusive settle-

ments or at village-adjuncts) tribal named

Pichchanna, at Kumbagiri village, about 12

4

REDISCOVERY OF THE JERDON’S COURSER

km after Reddipalli, between Siddavatam and

Badvel.

Pichchanna recognised the Double-banded

Courser from the poster and said that it was

known as ‘Kalivi-kodi’. The word ‘Kalivi’ is

the Telugu word for Carissa which is the

common scrub vegetation along with Zizyphus

and Acacia in the area. ‘Kodi’ means fowl.

According to Pichchanna, the name ‘Kalivi-

kodi’ was an apt description for the bird on

account of its habit of hiding amidst the thorny

Carissa bushes.

The Carissa grows to about 2-3 metres in

height in the reserve forest areas on the foot-

hills of the Lankamalai, whereas in the revenue

areas, i.e., non-protected areas below the

range-demarcation line towards Kumbagiri, the

Carissa is shorter, about 1-2 m tall. Also due

to over browsing, Carissa in the revenue areas

grows horizontally in some spots at an height

of about 50 cm from the ground. It was next

to these low Carissa bushes that Pichchanna

had seen the Kalivi-kodi and not under taller

ones.

According to Pichchanna, the Kalivi-kodi is

‘just a bit’ larger than the Grey Partridge

Francofinus pondicerianus, and mainly seen

during the rainy season and is difficult to spot.

When disturbed, the Kalivi-kodi walks for

‘some distance’ stops and flies away to a nearby

spot. He has always seen them in flocks of

7-8 birds, never seen them in cultivation, near

artesian wells or near other water-areas. He

described the call as to be ‘very sad’; a single

note and very soft.

He has always seen the birds only during

the rainy season in the plain-foothills, exploit-

ed-scrub areas after the range demarcation

line (on the foothills), and presumes that it

may be seen on the hills. It was ‘many’ years

since he stopped shikar (This statement may

have been due to the presence of the Forest

Range Officer with me) and could not pinpoint

any location in the hills, but could take me

around in the foothill scrub areas after the

monsoon started.

Pichchanna knew birds well and said he could

identify them in the field separately. He could

identify and describe the habits of partridge,

sandgrouse, lapwings (here known as ‘utha-

titti’ (!), ‘uththithi’ and also as ‘Uththutha-

gaadu’ at Chittapalli village; — meaning ‘stam-

merer’), Lesser Florican (which he claims to

have trapped a number of times ‘a long time

back’) and Grey Jungle Fowl Gallus

sonneratii.

The name ‘thiththi’ may phonetically cor-

respond to the ‘Adavi-wuta-titti’ mentioned by

Jerdon (1877) as being the Telugu name of

the Double-banded Courser, supposedly mean-

ing ‘Jungle-empty-purse’. Ali and Ripley

(1969) mention that the name is not current

and/or locally understood. Obviously, the name

must have meant ‘Forest Lapwing’ (Adavi =

Forest), and not the literal translation that

Jerdon claimed.

I visited the Siddavatam area again in Octo-

ber 1985 and contacted Pichchanna at Kumba-

viri village. His information was not very help-

ful. He maintained that his meagre financial re-

sources over the past few months had pre-

vented him from indulging in shikar /bird-

trapping on the hills.

Aitanna at Reddipalli village was very

encouraging. During the preliminary survey

he had disclaimed knowledge of the Double-

banded Courser. This time however, he claim-

ed to have kept a watch during his shikar

5

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

trips and had sighted the Kalivi-kodi a number

of times in the scrub forests, below the Lanka-

malai hills. He claimed that he sighted the

birds in the night when out hunting with power-

ful torches. He insisted that the bird was seen

to be feeding normally at night.

During the period of my stay in October

1985 at Siddavatam and Somasila, there were

heavy rains and a dense cloud-cover present

on the hill-slopes. Aitanna refused to search

for the bird in the night with the flashlight as

the equipment would be useless in the rains.

With the cloud-cover on the slopes, there

would be no visibility at all. These areas were

then decided to be surveyed in detail during

December 1985 to January 1986.

Discussion

Having come to know first-hand the possi-

ble locations of the Double-banded Courser

along the Pennar river, and having got three

presumptive descriptions of the species, the

next step had to be towards minimising field-

effort towards procuring a definite record.

Naturally, this would depend on the presump-

tive descriptions.

The claims by local people about the Double-

banded Courser could not be cross-checked

with literature on the species as the record-

ed information (Jerdon 1877, Blanford 1898)

lacked in detail vis-a-vis the specific location /s

and the biology. Since the congeneric under

Rinley’s (1961) listing, Cursorius coromande-

licus orefers “dry stony plains and fallow

fields” unlike the C. bitorquatus (as recorded

by Jerdon and Blanford). I decided to check

on congenerics under Rhinoptilus as listed by

Howard and Moore (1980) for the Double-

banded Courser.

Peters (1934). Howard and Moore (1980)

and Walters (1980) classify the Jerdon’s or

Double-banded Courser as Rhinoptilus bitor-

quatus. The congenerics of the Double-banded

Courser according to their ‘Checklist’s are the

Two-banded Courser R. africanus, Heuglin’s

Courser R. cinctus and the Bronze-winged

Courser R. chalcopterus. Presuming that con-

generics would have some similar behavioural

characteristics, interesting points about the

three African Rhinoptilus that were thought to

be pertinent when compared to my survey re-

sults is tabulated (Bannermann 1931, 1951,

Mackworth-Praed and Grant 1952) (Table 1).

Taking into consideration the congenerics’

descriptions, and comparing them to survey

records, the Double-banded Courser was

thought to be (in December 1985): Found in

thorn scrub country; similar in field-appearance

to the lapwings; ground nesting bird with no

nest-building; resting during the day under

shade of a thorn tree; uncommon in areas

of distribution-range and also able to evade

observation successfully; and, crepuscular and /

or nocturnal in habit. These points were to be

regarded as a ‘reference frame’ for future

surveys.

JANUARY 1986

Following the two surveys and comparisons

of congenerics in literature (mentioned

above), T decided to leave aside the Anantapur

and Nellore areas. Ali (1977) had claimed

the Anantaour record to be only a “presu-

mably authentic sighting”, and the Nellore

areas at Somasila had very high disturbance

levels to the local fauna due to the Telugu

Ganga Canal working (Bhushan 1985b).

The probable claim of knowing the bird at

Cuddapah was from the Yaanadi Pichchanna

at Kumbagiri village and Aitanna at Reddipalli

village in the Siddavatam area. Before these

6

REDISCOVERY OF THE JERDON’S COURSER

Table 1

Comparison between Rhinoptilus spp. (as classified in Howard & Moore 1980)

claims could be investigated in detail, justifi-

cation had to be sought from records in lite-

rature. Cuddapah had been mentioned only by

Jerdon (1877).

First, I had to decide whether the Lanka-

malai ranges of the Eastern Ghats complex

was in confirmation with Jerdon’s geographi-

cal pointer. Second, was the question, as to

whether the Yaanadi tribals, my contacts in

the Cuddapah and Nellore areas, were ever

contacted by Jerdon during his surveys in the

Eastern Ghats.

Elliot (1873) in his biography of T. C.

Jerdon, lists the latter’s army postings in de-

tail. He states that (that Jerdon had): "...

an opportunity of seeing a part of the country

difficult of access and rarely visited; and he

did not neglect it, as his notices of the birds

of the Eastern Ghats subsequently showed.”

“After passing about four years with his

regiment, he obtained leave of absence to visit

the Nilgiri hills, where he was married in

July 1841. Six months afterwards, he was

appointed Civil Surgeon of Nellore. .

“The wilder parts of the country between

Madras and Nellore are occupied by the

Yaanadis, a remarkable aboriginal tribe, of

seminomad habits, subsisting on the sponta-

neous produce of the jungles, and possessing

in consequence a minute acquaintance with the

7

JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

forms of animal and vegetable life around

them. By their means Dr Jerdon discovered

many new species, ...”

Having thus been proved by Jerdon’s bio-

graphy that I was on the right track, as regards

the Yaanadis, there still remained the first

point about the geographical location to be

decided upon. Jerdon (1877) had claimed of

procuring the bird “in the hilly regions above

the Eastern Ghats, off Nellore and in

Cuddapah”.

The Eastern Ghats at Cuddapah are the

Velikonda ranges running north/north-easterly

from Tirupati. The other ranges, the Sesha-

chalams, Palakondas, Nagari, Lankamalai,

Nallamalais, and Erramalais together with the

Velikondas form the Eastern Ghats complex

in southern Andhra Pradesh.

The Velikonda ranges, if regarded as the

“Eastern Ghats”, cancelled out the Nellore

district as any area for survey. Jerdon had

mentioned “off Nellore” and the Velikondas

were the district boundary between Nellore and

Cuddapah. The subsequent mention, “and in

Cuddapah” would then obviously mean a loca-

tion in that district.

The only point that confused me was the

mentioned of “hilly regions above the Eastern

Ghats”. Jerdon had been posted at Nellore.

From the Nellore city, any hills /hill-ranges

west of the Velikondas could be hilly regions

“above” the Eastern Ghats if Jerdon had

generalised in describing the location. Thus,

the “hilly regions” would be either the Pala-

kondas or the Lankamalai hills.

Taking into consideration — (1) the proxi-

mity of the Pennar river to the Lankamalai

rather than the Palakondas, (2) Pichchanna,

an experienced aged Yaanadi bird -trapper.

who described the ‘Kalivi-kodi’, (3) Aitanna,

who though not a Yaanadi had confirmed that

the ‘Kalivi-kodi’ could be the Double-banded

Courser by having examined it closely with his

powerful torchlight, (4) the mention of the

Rhinoptilus spp. being nocturnal /crepuscular

in habit being confirmed by Aitanna for the

‘Kalivi-kodi’, and (5) the presence of the

correct habitat-types in the areas specified by

Pichchanna and Aitanna, — I decided to once

again contact Aitanna, who being a “noctur-

nal” shikari, was the only possible hope of

enabling me to see the Double-banded Courser

with minimal effort.

The survey had to be put off in late Decem-

ber 1985 as planned due to heavy rains. Aitanna

had refused to go out during rains in October

1985. The rains subsided by the first week of

January 1986. I wrote to Aitanna from Pala-

maner (in Chittoor district of Andhra Pra-

desh where I was helping Mr. Sivaganesan,

field biologist of the Society in our study of an

elephant herd which had entered the State)

asking him to keep a watch for the ‘Kalivi-

kodi’ and point out the locations for me when

I would arrive.

Travelling on 12th January by motorcycle

from Palamaner, I reached Vontimitta, a

village situated in the Palakondas south of the

Pennar river. Deciding to set up camp at the

Vontimitta Forest Rest House, I stayed there

overnight. There were no rain clouds in the

night. According to local forest department

officials, it had not rained since the previous

night. I was getting hopeful. But, the unexpect-

ed happened !

Aitanna had gone out that night (12th

January) with his colleagues for his regular

shikar as usual. He claimed to have been

seeing the ‘Kalivi-kodi’ at a particular area in

8

REDISCOVERY OF THE JERDON’S COURSER

the ‘foothill-scrub’ over the past few days. He

had been going there daily to check their pre-

sence. His main shikar quarry was the Grey

Partridge and the Hare Lepus nigricollis.

This time, according to him, just before

the ‘Kalivi-kodi’ spot, they flushed some par-

tridges. The partridges rose swiftly over the

scrub-line and kept flying low towards the

hills. While they had their torchlights focussed

on the flying birds, Aitanna heard some slight

noise in a nearby bush (c. 20 cm tall/approx,

time = 0130 hours). Lowering his torchlight,

he saw a ‘Kalivi-kodi’ standing there confused

and motionless in the torch-beam. Before the

bird could react, Aitanna ran up to it and in

the same continuing motion, picked up the

bird in his hand.

He brought the bird back to Reddipalli

village and kept it in his house. It started

raining soon after this incident by early dawn

and continued drizzling steadily on 13th Janu-

ary. Not knowing about the capture, I went

ahead to Cuddapah and contacted the Divi-

sional Forest Officer, Mr Yusuf Sharif, to make

arrangements for the survey. The Siddavatam

Range Officer informed me that Aitanna had

caught some ‘nela nemili’ on the previous

night at Reddipalli.

‘Nela nemili’ being a Telugu word for the

Lesser Florican, was a highly improbable

capture for a nocturnal shikari who works

with torchlights. I returned to Vontimitta

without going to Siddavatam as it had started

raining heavily and one had to cross the Pennar

river on a low causeway that got easily sub-

merged at such times.

It rained heavily throughout the 14th of

January making it impossible for me to travel

on the motorcycle. With the help of a local

villager, I managed to send a message to

Aitanna at Reddipalli by a local bus about my

arrival. Late at night, the bus-driver on his

return journey informed the rest-house watch-

man that Aitanna had caught ‘some’ bird and

wanted my presence in the village as soon as

possible.

I started early on the 15th January and

rode the motorcycle in the rain to Siddavatam.

The Pennar was flowing above the bridge at

two spots and the Siddavatam roads were in

a total mess. I reached Reddipalli by 0800

hours and went to Aitanna’s house. He bade

me sit and went inside to fetch the bird.

He brought the bird in his hand. There was

no disturbed movement from the bird. Its legs

were dangling from between his fingers. Aitanna

had tied string to its legs. The neck was low,

and only the top of the head could be seen.

I had not been hoping to see the Jerdon’s

Courser so easily. Even with the bird in his

hand, it did not strike me that it could be

the same. The coronal streak was not clearly

visible. The Black crown and the grey upper

plumage was all that was visible. The pale

fleshy yellow legs had no hallux. Apart from

this, I was about to decide to myself that it may

be some other species when the bird raised

its head and stretched its neck. And, there it

was !

The broad white supercilium, the white

throat with a broad rufuous band below, fol-

lowed by the narrow white semi-collar with a

broad brown “gorget” below. Lifting Aitanna’s

hand, I could see the white collar “margined

above and below with dusky” below the brown

gorget. There was a faint white mesial line in

the centre of the black crown. Now there was

no doubt.

9

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Thus, finally after 86 years, was the Jerdon’s

or Double-banded Courser, locally known here

as the Kalivi-kodi, rediscovered.

The bird was not struggling at all in his

hands. Aitanna had been keeping Grey Par-

tridges and claimed knowledge of handling

birds. He informed that he had been feeding

the bird some powdered rice along with ter-

mites and black ants.

Asking him to keep the bird with him in

safe custody, I rushed to Cuddapah and in-

formed the Divisional Forest Officer. By 1330

hrs, I had informed the Curator, BNHS, Mr

J. C. Daniel. He informed Dr Salim Ali who

wished to see the bird for himself. I saw the

bird again on 16th January. It was fine and

accepting the ants and termites being given

to it by Aitanna as claimed by him. Informing

him of Dr Salim Ali’s pending visit, I went to

Tirupati on the same day. Dr Salim Ali and

Mr P. B. Shekar arrived at Tirupati on 19th

January and reached Reddipalli. but were too

late to see the bird alive. The bird died barely

4-6 hours before we could reach (1800 hours)

the village. Aitanna was the saddest of us all.

Dr Salim Ali expressed surprise at the easy

method of capture as described by Aitanna.

He asked the shikari if I could try with the

later to capture another individual on the

same night. Aitanna agreed for the attempt

and asked me to reach the village by 2100/

2200 hours.

Aitanna’s method of capture needs record-

ing here. He was not a “nocturnal” shikari

earlier, having then preferred to use a gun.

About five years ago, a bird-trapper had arriv-

ed at Reddipalli from Venkatagiri in Nellore

district. This trapper had used the modified

torchlights and the method was learnt by

Aitanna and his colleagues while accompany-

ing him.

The equipment consisted of a four-cell

metal tubular torchlight. The cells had been

removed. The contacts for the bulb were then

attached to an Enfield Bullet 350 cc motor-

cycle battery unit of six volts. The Battery

unit was slung over the shoulder keeping

a rubber sheet on the chest to prevent damage

to the skin. The torchlight could only be used

in moonless nights.

Aitanna informed us that the battery units

needed charging and would be done at Badvel

by 2100 hours. The moon would set by 2400

hours and we would have to be in the foothill-

scrub by then. Leaving Aitanna to arrange

these details, we left the village with the dead

bird for Cuddapah where the skin was pre-

pared for preservation by Mr P. B. Shekar.

FIRST FIELD SIGHTING

I reached Reddipalli at 2200 hours along

with the Siddavatam Range Forest Officer.

Collecting Aitanna, we went to Badvel to bring

his colleagues who had gone there to get the

two battery units charged and purchase bulbs

for the torches. We reached Reddipalli at 2130

hours and prepared for the night survey.

By 2400 hours, we were nearly a kilometre

inside the foothill-scrub and reached the Re-

serve forests’ range demarcation line. The line

is about two metres wide and runs along the

entire length of the demarcated Lankamalai

reserve forest. The non-reserve areas are regard-

ed as ‘below’ the ‘range-line’ and reserve areas

as ‘above’ the line. Aitanna wanted us to

search both ‘above’ and below’ the line alter-

natively. We divided into two parties with a

battery-unit each and went north-south.

10

REDISCOVERY OF THE JERDON’S COURSER

Aitanna’s method was to keep walking till

he reached the fringe of an open patch in the

scrub. Standing beside a bush, he would switch

on the torch and scan the open patch. Occa-

sionally he would shine the torch into the

smaller bushes. This time he had designed a

net fitted into a hoop at the end of a long

pole much like a butterfly collection net. This

was carried by his colleague. I followed behind

them carrying two 4-cell torches.

We kept walking for about an hour along

the line till we neared the spot where Aitanna

had previously collected the Kalivi-kodi on 12th

January. It was an open patch (c. area = 70

sq m) circled by thorn scrub bushes (c. 200 cm

tall). Moving behind the bushline, Aitanna

focussed the torch-beam on the patch. Soon

enough (0130 hours) it focussed on two birds

standing motionless. Turning to his colleague

and taking the net from him, he motioned for

me to follow.

The birds stood motionless in the open patch.

The torch beam never left them. The dark

throat patch and the double bands characte-

rising the Double-banded Courser could be

easily seen. The net was stiffly held by Aitanna

next to his body. Our approach being slow

enough for the birds to react, they took off

just as we were 4-5 metres from them. As

the birds flew up, Aitanna’s torch-beam fol-

lowed them along with beams from my torch

and the one given to the former’s colleague.

The birds broke their ascent flight and glided

into the scrub about 10 metres towards the

hills. The entire incident must have taken place

within one minute.

We left the open patch and walked — with

switched-off torches — towards the spot where

the birds were presumed to have alighted. Each

open patch was being searched quickly by a

fast scan with the torch-beam. At approx.

0215 hours, we sighted the two coursers again.

They were in a smaller open patch, with a

lot of gravel and rubble (consisting of broken

fuelwood) lying around. I stayed behind with

the third man while Aitanna rushed ahead,

but failed. The birds took off the moment

Aitanna broke the brushline and stepped into

the open patch.

The birds took off in a vertical take-off

without any fluttering wing-sound to disclose

their flight. As our beams followed them, they

repeated the sudden break-off from flight and

noiselessly glided into the next open patch.

We could see where they had landed. The

torch beam from the third man had them

under focus while ours’ were broken by in-

tervening bushes. Deciding that Aitanna’s

methods were not productive at that moment,

I asked him to avoid another attempt.

We switched off our torches and walked

upto the brush-line of the patch keeping the

bushes between us and the birds. Aitanna and

his colleague sat behind a bush and focussed

on the birds. I sat behind a nearer bush and

observed the birds in order to confirm that they

were indeed the Double-banded Courser. I

could only confirm the large eye, the dark

throat patch contrasting with the two white

bands, and the distinct white supercilium. The

characteristic courser posture decided it, before

the birds took off once again. I must have

seen them for about 7-10 seconds only.

We kept walking about trying to spot more

coursers. By about 0700 hours, we had seen

two wolves Canis lupus , one jungle cat Fells

sp., three hares, three partridges, two birds that

Aitanna claimed were Stone Curlews Burhinus

oedicnemus, one Quail Perdicula sp? and one

caniid that we could not identify. The other

11

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

party — we met at 0630 hours — had not

seen any Double-banded Courser.

Habitat of the Double Banded Courser

Jerdon (1877) mentioned “rocky and un-

dulating ground with thin forest jungle” as

the habitat of the Double-banded Courser. The

Lankamalais were exactly the same. The foot-

hills had been ‘worked’ approx. 40-50 years

ago and were yet to recover. The natural

regeneration was severely affected by grazing/

browsing and fuelwood collections.

The bush-height below the line was on

an average just below 100-150 cm and above

the line was 200-350/400 cm. Two to four

kilometres above the line, the bushes gave way

to thin forests with lesser open patches.

The foothill-scrub forest types were both

Thorny and Non-Thorny Scrub Jungle patches

(Champion and Seth 1968). While the Thorny

Scrub consisted of Acacia , Zizyphus and

Carissa among other species, the Non-Thorny

Scrub was made up of Cassia , Hardwickia,

D alter gia, Butea and Anogeissus among other

species. Further ahead, towards the Lanka-

malai, in varying densities, were a gradual suc-

cession and/or an admixture of Thorn and

Non-Thorn Scrub to Hardwickia binata forests.

The scrub patches were generally 200-400

cm in height while the Hardwickia was more

than 500 cm tall. The vegetation was also

closer and open patches were very few. The

Hardwickia continued till the foothills and was

also present on the lower gentle slopes. The

tree species along with Hardwickia binata

were Anogeissus, Albizzia and Zizyphus among

others.

The Hardwickia type is followed by thorn

forests dominated by Anogeissus along with

Albizzia, Acacia, Zizyphus, Cassia and Carissa

among others. The Dry Red Sanders bearing

forests were present in the upper slopes and

plateaux of the Lankamalais. These forests

were dominated by Pterocarpus santalinus

along with Anogeissus, Hardwickia and Ter-

minalia among other species (Reddy 1983).

Similar habitat continues from Reddipalli to

Siddavatam and Cuddapah-adjuncts. North

from Reddipalli, the continuity is towards

Badvel and further ahead towards Ahobilam

and other areas till the Nallamalais. Eastwards

of the Lankamalais, both eastern and western

sides of the Velikondas show similar vegetation

and topographical features from Udayagiri to

Somasila and on to Venkatagiri and Erpedu

areas.

South of Siddavatam, the Palakondas show

typical Double-banded Courser habitat in

Nandalur, Vontimitta, Rajampet, Rayachoti

and intervening areas. The other possible loca-

tions are the Jammalamadugu-Mylavaram;

Marrutla and Rapur-Rajampet areas (Bhushan

1985a & b). Future surveys should be able

to locate the Double-banded Courser in these

areas.

Measurements :

(Compared to Baker 1929 in Fauna British India)

All measurements are in millimetres.

12

REDISCOVERY OF THE JERDON’S COURSER

Acknowledgements

The Bombay Natural History Society

permitted me to undertake the survey

under their research project on “study of

ECOLOGY OF SOME ENDANGERED SPECIES OF

WILDLIFE AND THEIR HABITATS”. This Study

received financial assistance from the Fish and

Wildlife Service, U.S.A., in the form of a

grant (USDIFWS Grant no. 8851-658-02) re-

ceived through the Department of Wildlife,

Ministry of Environment, Forests and Wild-

life, Government of India, I am grateful to

these organisations for their support.

Grateful thanks are due to Mr. J. C. Daniel,

Curator, BNHS, for his encouragement and

supervision throughout the many stages in the

final outcome of the survey.

I am also grateful to: Dr. Salim Ali, Dr.

Asad Rahmani, Mr. S. R. Nayak and Mr. P.

B. Shekar.

The Andhra Pradesh Forest Department and

particularly Mr. Pushp Kumar, ACCF- Wildlife,

for the facilities granted; Mr. Yusuf Sharif,

DFO, Cuddapah, for his hospitality and help.

To my parents who never showed their

anxiety at my absence during the survey —

mere thanks would be insufficient.

References

Ali, S. (1933-34- ) : The Hyderabad State Orni-

thological Survey. 5 parts. /. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.

vols. 36-37.

(1977) : President’s letter: “Mystery”

Birds of India-2: Jerdon’s or Double-banded Cour-

ser. Hornbill. Oct-Dee. 1977 : 5-7.

Ali, S. & Ripley, S. D. (1969) : Handbook of

the Birds of India and Pakistan. Vol. 3: 11-12. Com-

pact Edition. Oxford University Press.

(1983): A Pictorial

Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent.

Oxford University Press, Bombay.

(1985) : Distributional

and Ecological studies of relictual avian populations

on the Indian peninsula. Unpublished project pro-

posal. Smithsonian Institution. Washington, D.C.,

USA.

Bannermann, D. A. (1931): The Birds of Tropi-

cal West Africa. Vol. 2: 92-107. London.

(1951) : The Birds of Tro-

pical West Africa. Vol. 8: 214-217. London.

Baker, E. C S. (1929) : The Fauna of British

India: Birds. Vol. VI: 88-89. Taylor and Francis.

London.

Bhushan, B. (1985a) : Jerdon’s or Double-banded

Courser Cursorius bitorquatus (Blyth) — Prelimi-

nary Survey : Pennar river valley areas. Andhra

Pradesh. Technical Report no. 9., Endangered Species

Project. Bombay Natural History Society. Bombay.

Bhushan, B. (1985b) : Jerdon’s or Double-band-

ed Courser Cursorius bitorquatus (Blyth) — Pennar

river valley areas: Andhra Pradesh. Surveys and

Discusion. In : ‘The Floricans’ Annual Report 1984-

85. Endangered Species Project. Bombay Natural

History Society. Bombay.

Blanford, W. T. (1898) : The Fauna of British

India. Birds. Vol. IV. Taylor and Francis. London.

Blyth, E. (1848): Proceedings of the Asiatic

Society — Report of the Curator, Zoological De-

partment. Journal Asiatic Soc. Bengal, xvii (1) : 254.

Champion, H. G. & Seth, S. K. (1968): A Re-

vised Survey of the Forest Types of India. Govern-

ment of India Press, Delhi.

Elliot, W. (1873): “Memoir of Dr. T. C. Jer-

don”. In: Jerdon, T. C. (1862): The Birds of India.

Vol. I. Later edition. Calcutta.

Greenway, J. C. (1958): Extinct and Vanishing

Birds of the World. American Committee for Inter-

national Wild Life Protection. New York. pp. 270-

271.

Howard, R. A. & Moore, A. (1980) : A Com-

plete checklist of the Birds of the World. Oxford

University Press, London.

Jerdon, T. C. (1877) : The Birds of India. Vol.

II, Part II. Calcutta, pp. 626-629.

13

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

King, B. S. (Ed) (1981): Endangered Birds of

the World: The ICBP Red Data Book. Smithsonian

Institution Press & ICBP. Washington, D. C.

Mackworth-Praed, C. M. & Grant, C. H. B.

(1952): Birds of Eastern and North-Eastern Africa.

Longman. New York. pp. 396-402.

Peters, J. L. (1934) : Checklist of Birds of the

World. Vol. II. Harvard University Press, Cam-

bridge.

Reddy, C. S. (1983): Managament Plan for the

forests of CUddapah District. 1982-1997. Vol. I. Re-

search and Development Circle. Andhra Pradesh

Forest Department.

Ripley, S. D. (1952): Vanishing and extinct Bird

species of India. /. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 50: 902-

906.

— (1961): A Synopsis of the Birds

of India and Pakistan. First edition. Bombay Natu-

ral History Society. Bombay.

Walters, M. (1980) : The Complete Birds of the

World. David and Charles, London.

Whistler, H. & Kinnear, N. B. (1930-37): The

Vernay Scientific survey of the Eastern Ghats. Orni-

thological section. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 16 parts,

vols. 34-39.

14

J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 83 Plate

Daniel, Bhushan & Sekar: Calodactylodes aureus

The Habitat of the Golden Gecko.

The Golden Gecko Calodactylodes aureus (Beddome). ( Photos : J. C. Daniel)

REDISCOVERY OF THE GOLDEN GECKO

CALODACTY LODES AUREUS (BEDDOME) IN THE

EASTERN GHATS OF ANDHRA PRADESH1

J. C. Daniel, Bharat Bhushan and A. G. Sekar2

(With a colour plate )

The Golden Gecko Calodactylodes aureus

was described in 1870 by H. R. Beddome

who collected ten specimens (Smith 1935)

from the Tirupati hills (named as “Tripatty

hills” — Beddome 1870) in the Eastern Ghats

complex in the then North Arcot district of

Madras Presidency. All known specimens are

in the British Museum.

The Tirupati hills (13°41'N and 79°21'E;

in the Chittoor district) are part of the Eastern

Ghats Complex in southern Andhra Pradesh.

The hills are better known as the ‘Sesha-

chalam’ ranges and together with the Veli-

kondas, Palakondas, Yerramalais, Lankamalais

and Nallamalai ranges form the Eastern Ghats

complex in southern Andhra Pradesh.

The Velikondas (running north-easterly

from Tirupati) are the eastern most among

the ranges. Its southern tip lies adjacent to

the ‘Seshachalam’s and has continuous forests

from Mamandur-Balapalli areas to Erpedu.

North of Cheyyeru river (which cuts across

the Seshachalams) are the Palakonda ranges

that continue till the confluence of the Pennar

and Cheyyeru.

The varied terrain of steep slopes, deep

valleys, plains and wide plateaux hold different

forest types that can be said to characterise

1 Accepted February 1986.

2 Bombay Natural History Society, Hornbill House,

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Bombay-400 023.

each topographical feature. The plains have

typical Thorn Scrub types, though mostly

overrun by Prosopis. The foothills, wherever

forested, shows patches of Non-Thorny Scrub

Jungle followed by Tropical Dry Deciduous

Forest Types.

The upper slopes and the plateaux have a

forest type of pure stands of Red Sanders

( Pterocarpus santalinus). Most of the plateaux

show Miscellaneous Forest Types consisting of

Eugenia, Pterocarpus, Shorea and also Euca-

lyptus wherever planted. The valleys are the

most spectacular, with very luxurient vegeta-

tion dominated by tall Shorea, Mango and

Tamarind trees, which may be due to numer-

ous nearly perennial streams.

These waterfall-fed deep valleys show conti-

nuous perpendicular and vertical fissures. The

streams that lead away from the fall areas

have numerous boulders strewn along their

path. It was in these areas that the Golden

Gecko was found and collected in July 1985,

115 years after their original description. Speci-

mens were obtained and seen in Seshachalam

and Velikonda ranges and may occur in suitable

habitats in the other ranges also.

Morphometry

Calodactylodes aureus is characterised by the

two horizontal expansions on the vertical

eye-slit; and, digits with large trapezoid distal

and penultimate expansions among other

15

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

characters (Beddome 1870). The morpho-

metric details of the specimens collected are

given in the table below:

All measurements are in millimetres.

Colour variation

Beddome in his original description men-

tioned that the Golden Gecko was brilliantly

golden in colour. Only two of our specimens

were golden. One was brownish black and one

was slightly golden yellow with close black

granules giving it a black appearance dorsally.

One individual was pure golden yellow while

one ‘Golden Gecko’ was distinctly reddish

without any sign of golden colour.

The stomach held insect remains, mainly

hymenoptera (ants) and beetles in all cases.

ACK NO WLEDGE M E NTS

Grateful thanks are due to Mr. Pushp

Kumar, ACCF-Wildlife, Andhra Pradesh, and

Mr Upendra Reddy, DFO-wildlife, Tirupati,

for their co-operation.

References

Beddome, R. H. (1870) : Descriptions of some

New Lizards from the Madras Presidency. Madras

Monthly Journal of Medical Science. Vol. I: 30-35

(Art. II). Reprint in /. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 59:

430-436.

Smith, M. A. (1935) : The Fauna of British

India: Reptilia and Amphibia — Vol. II. Sauria.

Taylor and Francis, London. Indian Reprint Edition.

16

MOVEMENT AND FLOCK COMPOSITION OF THE

GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD ARDEOTIS NIGRICEPS

(VIGORS) AT NANAJ, SOLAPUR DISTRICT,

MAHARASHTRA, INDIA1

Asad R. Rahmani and Ranjit Manakadan2

(With two text-figures)

Many animals of the arid zones are nomadic

in order to survive the temporal and spatial

fluctuations in the food availability in their

environment. Food supply, especially for in-

sectivores and herbivores, is generally depen-

dent on precipitation. Numerous workers (e. g.

Keast & Marshall 1954, Davies 1968, 1984,

Thomas 1984) have shown the correlation

between rainfall and movement of birds of the

arid areas. The Great Indian Bustard Ardeotis

nigriceps (Vigors) is a bird of open spaces of

scanty grassland interspersed with scrub and

cultivation in more or less semi-desert country.

It is resident and seasonally nomadic, dispers-

ing widely in the monsoon with the creation

of grasslands (Ali & Ripley 1969). The pattern

of its local movements have not been studied

in detail (Ali 1970).

The Great Indian Bustard (GIB) has be-

come rare [Ripley 1952 (see Editors’ com-

ments), Ali 1970, Gupta 1970] but its over-all

distributional range has not changed much

(Goriup 1980). Due to its rarity and destruc-

tion of its habitat, the movements of the GIB

have presumably become more erratic. How-

ever, with the revival of a few grasslands since

1 Accepted October 1985.

2 Bombay Natural History Society, Hornbill House,

Shaheed Bhagat Singh Road, Bombay-400 023.

1976 under the Drought-Prone- Areas-Program-

me (DPAP) in Maharashtra, sightings of the

GIB in some rehabilitated areas have become

more common especially during the monsoon.

The present paper on the local movement and

flock composition forms a part of the study

of the ecology and behaviour of the Great

Indian Bustard. This study is based on un-

marked birds, therefore movements outside the

study area could not be followed. Daily move-

ments and flock composition of a resident GII3

population at Karera (Shivpuri district,

Madhya Pradesh) will be dealt with separately.

Study area and methodology

Study area : Nanaj in Solapur district (17°

41'N, 75°56'E, alt. 486 m) in Maharashtra

State, India was selected as one of the field

stations. The study period extended from

August 1981 to December 1984.

Near Nanaj village three small areas which

were previously grazing land were taken over

by the State Forest Department in 1976 under

the DPAP to be developed as pastures and

woodlots. Later more plots were added. The

terrain of Nanaj is gently undulating, charac-

teristic of the Deccan Plateau. The climate

is dry and the maximum temperature varies

from 25.5°C in winter to 42.5°C in summer.

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY, Vol. 83

The year can be divided into three seasons :

winter (Mov.-Jan.); summer (Feb.-June) and

monsoon (July-Oct.). Solapur district is semi-

arid (meaning an area with 7-8 months of

the year dry and an annual rainfall of less than

750 mm (Bagnols & Gaussen 1957). Average

annual precipitation in Solapur is 724 mm.

Rainfall is erratic and ill distributed with year

to year fluctuations.

Methodology : In order to determine the

local movement and flock composition of the

GIB, a daily record of the following para-

meters was kept, namely (1) Total number

of bustards seen in the study area, (2) Maxi-

mum number of birds seen in a flock, (3)

Flock composition, (4) Plot(s) where seen,

(5) Time, (6) Local weather conditions and,

(7) Local movements between plots to record

habitat preference. Mother and chick were

taken as one unit as they were always seen

together. Only post- juvenile chick was noted

separately. Birds moving together for hours

were considered as a group or a flock. Tempo-

rary association while foraging was not noted

as a flock. Every week the maximum number

of bustards seen on any day, and the maximum

number seen in a flock was noted (figs. 1 &2).

Even bustard (s) seen for a day or two in any

particular week was included in the histo-

grams. In 1983, for instance, between 25 to 31

December two hens were seen on 26th evening

after a slight drizzle, they were not seen the

next morning but in Figure 1 C, covering that

particular week they are shown as if present

throughout the week.

Results

Annual Movement of Bustards

1981: During a preliminary visit to Nanaj

on 29th April, the area was totally dry and

no bird was sighted (fig. 1, A). In the second

visit in August, eight bustards (three males

and five females) were sighted. The monsoon

had already started (fig. 2, A) and the birds

were settling to breed. Thereafter, one or two

males and four to five females were regularly

seen. By the third week of November, the

territorial cock was irregularly seen and soon

all the females left the area with their respec-

tive chicks, except for one late-nester which

was seen till mid-December.

1982: No bird was seen from January till

April. There were unseasonal showers from

mid-April as a result of which grass started

growing. Though there was no rain during the

next week, the sky was generally overcast.

Between 30 April and 6 May, 3.5 mm of rain

fell. First two, then three male bustards were

seen together and no agonistic behaviour was

noted probably because the breeding season

had not started.

Due to erratic rains at Nanaj in 1982, and

consequently greening and drying of grass

alternately, daily bustard movement was also

unpredictable. Though the territorial cock was

seen more or less throughout the breeding

season, non-territorial males and females were

not seen daily, or were seen in highly fluctuat-

ing numbers (fig. 2, B). Breeding was not

recorded (Table 4) and most of the females

were seen in twos or threes or occasionally

in group-size of six to seven birds (Table 2,

B). In October, the females were not seen at

all in our study area (Table 2, B) and we

presume they had moved in search of more

favourable areas for nesting. (In 1983 we saw

two juvenile chicks with their respective

mothers, which shows that the birds had nest-

ed elsewhere).

1983: A few mm of rain fell between 6

18

THE GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD AT NANAJ

□ Total Number of Bustards H Number of Bustards in a Flock

Fig. 1. Movement of bustards at Nanaj.

19

Number of Bustards Number of Bustards Number of Bustards Number of Bustards

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

\

Number of Bustards

□

Rainfall in mm.

D: Drizzle

"*"■ No Study

Fig. 2. Rainfall and movement of bustards at Nanaj.

20

Rainfall in mm. * Rainfall in mm.

THE GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD AT NANAJ

and 12 May (fig. 2, C) and the first bustard,

an adult cock, was sighted on 14 May when

there was a slight drizzle. In June, one or two

males were occassionally seen, either solitarily

or together. A female was seen for two days

in June. By the last week of June, the monsoon

started in full force, resulting in the re-

appearance of bustards. Due to sufficient and

timely rains between July and November (fig.

2, C), seven to ten birds were seen almost

daily. Many hens bred (Table 4) and were

seen solitarily while the non-breeders moved in

small groups (Table 2, C). The territorial cock

was seen till the second week of December.

The maximum number of birds in 1983 was

seen in the morning of 18 September while it

was raining: twelve birds, mainly females, in

small groups of 3-4 birds, one hen on the nest,

and the territorial cock in the display area.

The same evening, six males were seen forag-

ing together. During another rainy day (24th

September), eight males (seven in one flock)

were observed in one plot, and six females in

another plot.

1984: Three female bustards were seen out-

side our main study area in the third week of

February after a few days of rain and cloudy

weather. One was probably with a post- juve-

nile female chick.

Due to unseasonal showers in February and

April, the GIB returned to Nanaj (fig. 2, D)

but soon disappeared when it again became

hot and dry. Till the monsoon started on 11

July, there was a constant movement of bus-

tards depending upon the local weather

conditions.

Heavy rains on 11 July brought six females

and a young male. During another rainy day,

nine femaids hi ond flock, three sub-adult

males and the territorial cock were seen. Un-

seasonal dry weather between 13 August and

16 September, greatly reduced the adult

grasshopper population therefore many birds

left the area. By October, except for the terri-

torial cock and two females with a chick each,

other birds were erratically seen. As expected,

more birds were seen during rainy or cloudy

days. For example, on 22 October, five birds

(two adult cocks and three hens) were seen,

but after the rains on 22nd night, ten birds

were counted the next morning.

Flock composition : During the breeding

season, the adult cock bustard remains soli-

tary (Tables 1, 2, 3). Most of the sightings

of two or three adult cocks in a flock were in

the non-breeding months (e.g. April-May in

1982, June in 1984). During the breeding

season, only the subadult males stay together.

The most common male flock size was two.

However, during a rainy day the males of an

area sometimes congregate like females (see

below). For example, seven males were seen

together in September 1983 during a rainy

day.

The adult cock tolerates a juvenile male,

especially away from the display ground. This

toleration was more markedly seen in 1982

and 1984, two bad years as far as breeding is

concerned. For example, in August 1983

(Table 2, C) the territorial cock was always

seen alone or near females but in August 1984

(Table 2, D) it occasionally tolerated a juvenile

male.

In the non-breeding season, most of the

hens live in flocks consisting of 2-10 birds

(Table 2). A single female is rarely seen bet-

ween January to June. With the onset of

monsoon in July/ August, the bustards come

to Nanaj. The females arrive in group size

21

Number of groups (n) and percentages (%) of Bustards in different months at Nanaj

JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY. Vol. 83

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Mean group size 2 2 1.8 1.3 2.5 1 2 2.7 1.1 2.3 2 1.5 6.3

THE GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD AT NANAJ

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Mean group

size 1‘ VS 1 1.5 1 2.5 1 3^ 1.1 5.5 1.3 3 1.2 2 1.1 2.4 4.5

JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Table 3

Mean Group size of four years = 1.6 birds.

Table 4

Number of sightings (n) of female groups during the breeding season (July-December) at Nanaj

( * August to December) .

ranging from 2 to 10 birds (Table 2, C, D).

Generally in any particular day all the females

of an area are seen in one flock. As the breed-

ing season progresses, one by one the females

separate for nesting, thus sighting of solitary

females between August and November be-

comes more common (Table 4). Only the

juvenile females and non- or late-nesters remain

together. As the chicks are fledged, the hens

leave the area with their respective chick, thus

departure of female bustards from Nanaj is

gradual. More solitary females (or with a

chick) are seen during November /December

(Table 2). Occasionally two hens each with

about-to-be-fledged chick move together but

this association is not permanent.

Female and male of the GIB are rarely seen

together (Table 2, A-D). Most of the sight-

ings of mixed flocks were of a post- juvenile

male with its mother and other hens (e.g.

August 1983, Table 2, C). Nevertheless, once

or twice we did see adult male(s) with adult

26

THE GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD AT NAN A J

female (s) (e.g. in May and July 1982) but

this association was not permanent as in an

all-female flock.

Discussion

Influence of rain on the movements of bus-

tards: Jerdon (1864) was the first observer to

point out that the Great Indian Bustard occurs

in large numbers in the rainy season in the

Deccan plains. Davidson & Wenden (1878)

also mentioned that “they are very much more

common (in Deccan) during the rains and cold

season than at other times”. Hume and Mar-

shall (1880) noted that in the Sirsa district

it is “extremely abundant during the rainy

season, when it breeds, whereas during the

cold season, it is comparatively scarce”. Fraser

(1881) mentions seeing 80-100 bustards near

Malegaon (Maharashtra) in 1840’s. He adds

“whether a flight of locusts or grasshoppers

had alighted to attract this extraordinary flight

of birds, or whether they assembled for migra-

tory purposes, I cannot say ”. Baker

(1929) on the basis of existing literature and

“numerous letters from observers and sports-

men” wrote that the GIB in many parts of

India is most irregular in its movement, and

that in other parts it is merely a seasonal visi-

tor, either for the purpose of breeding or

during the non-breeding season. Ali & Ripley

(1969) have summarized its habit as resident

and seasonally nomadic, dispersing widely in

the monsoon with the creation of grasslands.

Our studies also reveal that the maximum

number of bustards and the largest flocks at

Nanaj were sighted during rainy days (weeks

in the histograms. Figs. 1, 2), Even unseasonal

showers in February and March 1984 bring-

ing back a few birds. Dharmakumarsinhji

(1957) also noted that sudden and erratic

rainfall during the winter in certain localities

will attract a bird or two, who go there in the

hope of finding better food. The Australian

Bustard Ardeotis australis (Mathews 1913,

White 1983) also has the habit of flocking to

certain grasslands after the rains.

Tyabji (1952) reported seeing congregations

of 200 or 300 bustards in 1923 between

Ahmednagar and Manmad, and later (in

1926) of about 400 birds again near Manmad.

Commenting on these unusual sightings,

Dharmakumarsinhji (1953) opined that Tyabji

might have confused the Eastern Common

Crane Grus grus lilfordi with the bustard. The

Editors (1953) of the JBNHS support Dharma-

kumarsinhji’s opinion. Burton (1954) was also

sceptical and wrote “In these days of the

bustard in India having become a vanishing

species it should be reported that during the

years 1923-26, flocks of 200-400 bustards were

seen”. We think that in the olden days it

would not have been unusual for the GIB to

congregate at some prime grasslands in large

numbers during certain seasons. The closely

related Australian bustard is reported to have

been seen in a loose group of 300 birds

(Mathews 1913) and in 1897 even in a flock

of one thousand (Barrett 1945).

Tyabji has not given the dates of sightings

and the weather conditions to set the record

straight. The Eastern Common Crane is a

winter visitor, most abundant in the north-

western parts of the subcontinent, straggling

south to, the former Deccan down to c. 18°N

lat. (Ali & Ripley 1969). Most of the bustard

congregations were recorded by us during the

monsoon, the time when the Crane is not pre-

sent in the country. Therefore, there is no

chance of confusing the two species if Tyabji

27

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

had seen the bustards during the monsoon.

The GIB still survives in Ahmednagar dis-

trict and the topography is most suited for

this species. Incidentally, the largest number of

bustards (961) were shot in Ahmednagar

district between 1808 and 1833 (Elliot 1880),

so in the olden days, Ahmednagar along with

Solapur seems to have been one of the strong-

holds of this species. Due to the erratic nature

of the rainfall in these districts, it is not un-

likely that 200-400 bustards had congregated

in some locally good rainfall section of the

region. ■

On i8 July 1984, while it was raining, we

counted 35 bustards in a grassland of about

200 ha near Rollapadu village, Kurnool dis-

trict of Andhra Pradesh. A thorough search

in the surrounding agricultural fields could not

reveal any more bustard, so obviously, most

of the birds of that region had concentrated

in that small grassland to feed on the

abundant grasshoppers. Earlier to this sighting

the GIB had been considered almost extinct

in Andhra Pradesh and Pushp Kumar (1980)

had reported that probably only 15 GIB were

left in the State though “no census has been

carried out”. When 35 bustards could be seen

in 1984 in a small area when the GIB has

become much more uncommon, the sighting

Of 200-400 bustards, about sixty years ago in

their main stronghold should not be consider-

ed so impossible. Moreover, Tyabji’s com-

ments that he had seen the bustards “not in

a flock, but scattered 50 to 100 paces from

each other”, and that when one was shot,

the birds flew “not in a flock but scattered all

over the countryside” strongly supports his

assertion that the birds were GIB. and not

cranes. The Common and Demoiselle ( Ant hr o -

poides virgo) cranes keep in large cohesive

flocks and when disturbed generally fly off

together noisily. On the contrary, the GIB are

generally found in loose parties and when dis-

turbed, scatter in different directions.

Precipitation determines the greening of

vegetation and indirectly in the increase of

insect populations on which the bustards nor-

mally feed. Recently Davies (1984) has shown

that nomadism is an adaptation in response

to desert conditions where finding adequate

food in a particular place year by year is less

predictable for some birds than in higher rain-

fall areas. Emus Dromalus novaehollandiae

(Davies 1968, 1984) and sandgrouse (Thomas

1984) also move towards recent rainfall areas

in search of food and for nesting.

The bustard is known to be a “rains-

breeder”, especially in the arid and semi-arid

regions of its distribution. Dharmakumarsinhji

(1954) states that, like the Lesser Florican

Sypheotides indica the breeding season of the

bustard is dependent on the rains. Regarding

the breeding season of the bustards of Solapur

Davidson & Wenden (1878) state “the birds

come in, in the beginning of the rains to breed

and leave, when the young are able to fly”.

Davidson and Wenden’s above statement agrees

with our findings. The GIB’s arrival with the

rains and dependence on adequate precipita-

tion for breeding is not difficult to understand,

as in semi-arid areas, animals and plants are

almost completely dependent on rainfall (Tree

1972). And since the majority of birds breed

at a time when food is most plentiful for the

young (Thompson 1950, Skutch 1950, Moreau

1950. Lack 1950, 1968 and Perrins 1970) the

bustards of Nanaj come and breed during the

monsoon.

28

THE GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD AT NANAJ

Flock composition : Many workers (e.g.

Gupta 1970, Neginhal 1980, Kapoor and Bhatia

1980, etc.) have reported seeing the GIB in

pairs. On the contrary our studies reveal that

pair formation as seen in geese, sarus, mynas,

bulbuls etc., is not found in the GIB and

they rarely live in pairs. A hen with her post-

juvenile male young one is generally confused

as a pair.

The male and the female of the GIB stay

in their own flocks. Mixed flocks are rare

(Table 2) and temporary. Even in a mixed

flock, different sexes form their own sub-

groups, except for the post- juvenile male which

is strongly attached to its mother.

Though the sex ratio is not known in the

GIB, apparently there are more females than

males. Most of the larger group sizes (8-10)

were of females and in all the four years, more

females were sighted than males (Tables 1,2).

The larger female groups break up into

smaller units as the breeding season progresses

and the females start nesting separately. As

expected, solitary females were more common-

ly seen at Nanaj in good breeding years (i.e.

1981 and 1983) than in bad breeding years

(i.e. 1982 and 1984) (Table 4).

The mean group size of female GIB is more

than the mean group size of males (Table 2,

A-D). Moreover, the mean group size of

females also varies in different months and in

different years depending on the breeding

chronology. It should be noted that due to

strict protection, the GIB population is in-

creasing at Nanaj (and elsewhere in Solapur

district), therefore, in addition to sighting of

more birds in later years (fig. 2, C-D) the

mean group size was also more in 1983 and

1984 compared to 1981-82.

Taking the total number of sightings and

the total number of birds seen during these

sightings, the mean group size of four years

comes to 1.6 birds. This is much below ex-

pectation. The mean group size of Blue Kor-

haan Eupodotis caerulescens (Maclean et al.

1983) was 3.39 birds, and of Karoo Korhaan

E. vigor sii (Viljoen 1983) was 2.35 birds.

Maclean et al. (1983) think that this differ-

ence is probably because the Blue Korhaan

inhabits a less severe environment and lays a

clutch of two eggs (as ooposed to one egg in

the desert dwelling Karoo Korhaan). The GIB

also lays one egg (Dharmakumarsinhji 1957,

Ali & Ripley 1969) and the chick moves with

the mother for about a year (this study). Even

then we found the mean group size for all the

four years of study to be less than two birds

(Table 3). This can be explained by the fact

that the birds were sighted mainly during the

breeding season and the maximum sightings

were of the solitary cock and the nesting hens

resulting in bias in the data. A more detailed

study of marked and/or radio-collared GIB

throughout the year would perhaps indicate

that the nomadic population of the GIB of

the Deccan region live in a mean group size

of more than two birds.

Acknowledgements

The study forms a part of the Endangered

Species Project (Great Indian Bustard) fund-

ed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (Pro-

ject No. 8851-658-04) through the Govern-

ment of India. We are grateful to Dr. Salim

Ali and to Mr. J. C. Daniel for their critical

comments during the writing of this paper.

Thanks are also due to Mr. Carl D’Silva for

drawing the diagrams and to Mrs. Shalet Alva

for typing and retyping the manuscript Lastly

we wish to express our gratitude to the Maha-

rashtra Forest Department for help and co-

operation during the study period.

29

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

References

Ali, S. (1970): The Great Indian Bustard Cho-

riotis nigriceps (Vigors). IUCN Eleventh Technical

Meeting. Vol. II, No. 18, pp. 58-62. Merges, Swit-

zerland.

Ali, S. & Ripley, S. D. (1969): Handbook of

the Birds of India and Pakistan. Vol. II, pp. 188-

191. Oxford University Press, Bombay.

*Bagnols, F. & Gaussen, H. (1957): Les climats

biologiques et. leur classification. Ann Geogr. 355 :

193-220

Baker, E. C. S. (1929): The Fauna of British

India: Birds (VI) 2nd ed. Taylor and Francis, Lon-

don. pp. 64-66.

Barrett, C. (1945): Australian Bird Life. p. 24.

Oxford University Press, Melbourne

Burton, R. W. (1954): The Great Indian Bus-

tard. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 52 : 604.

Davidson, C. S. & Wendon, C. E. (1878): A

contribution to the avifauna of the Deccan. Stray

Feathers 7 : 68-95.

Davies, S. J. J. F. (1968) : Aspects of a study

of Emus in semi-arid Western Australia. Proc. ecol.

Aust. 3: 160-166.

(1984): Nomadism as a res-

ponse to desert conditions in Australia. Jour. Arid

Environ. 7: 183-195.

Dharmakumarsinhji, K. S. (1953) : The Great

Indian Bustard. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 51 : 740.

(1954) : The Birds of

Saurashtra. Times of India Press, Bombay.

(1957): Ecological

study of the Great Indian Bustard in Kathiawar

Peninsula. Jour. Zool. Soc. India. 9: 140-152.

Elliot, W. (1880) : Notes on the Great Indian

Bustard with special reference to its gular pouch.

Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond. 1880: 486-489.

Fraser, T. G. (1881) : Records of Sports and

Military Life in Western India, p. 139. Allen & Co.,

London.

Gcriup, P. D. (1980) : Decline of Great Indian

Bustard: A Literature Review. In: Bustards in de-

cline. (Eds. Goriup, P. D. & Harsh Vardhan) pp.

20-31. Tourism & Wildlife Society of India, Jaipur,

India.

Gupta, P. D. (1970) : The Great Indian Bustard

Choriotis nigriceps (Vigors), a vanishing species in

India, and some suggestions for its preservation.

IUCN Eleventh Technical Meeting. Vol. II, No. 18.

pp. 63-67. Morges, Switzerland.

Hume, A. O. & Marshall, C. H. T. (1880) : Game

Birds of India, Burmah and Ceylon. Vol. I, pp. 1-33.

A. O. Hume and C.H.T. Marshall, Calcutta.

Jerdon, T. C. (1864) : Birds of India. Vol. III.

George Wyman & Co., Calcutta.

Kapoor, J. P. & Bhatia, H. M. (1980): Ecology

of Great Indian Bustard. In Bustards in decline (Eds.

Goriup, P. D. & Harsh Vardhan). pp. 137-145.

Tourism & Wildlife Society of India, Jaipur, India.

Keast, J. A. & Marshall, A. J. (1954): The in-

fluence of drought and rainfall on reproduction in

Australian desert birds. Proc. Zool. Soc. London,

124: 493-499.

Lack, D. (1950): The breeding season of Euro-

pean birds. Ibis 92: 288-316.

( 1 968) : Ecological Adaptations for Breed-

ing in Birds. Methuen 8c Co. Ltd., London.

Maclean, G. L., Galdenhuys, J. N. & Allan,

D. G. (1983): Group size in Blue Korhaan. Ostrich

54: 243-244.

Moreau, R. F. (1950): The breeding season of

African birds. Ibis 92: 223-267.

Mathews, G. M. (1913): Birds of Australia. Vol.

IH, pp. 361-370. Witherby & Co., London.

Neginhal, S. G. (1980): Ecology and behaviour

cf the Great Indian Bustard. In Bustards in decline.

(Eds. Goriup, P. D. & Harsh Vardhan.) pp. 155-

163. Tourism & Wildlife Society of India, Jaipur,

India.

Perrins, C. M. (1970) : The timing of birds breed-

ing season. Ibis 112: 242-253.

Pushp-Kumar (1980): Great Indian Bustard in

Andhra Pradesh. In Bustards in decline. (Eds.

Goriup, P. D. & Harsh Vardhan.) pp. 164-166.

Tourism & Wildlife Society of India, Jaipur, India.

Ripley, S. D. (1952): Vanishing and extinct bird

species of India. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 50: 902-

906.

Skutch, A. F. (1950) : The nesting seasons of

Central American birds in relation to climate and

food supply. Ibis 92: 185-222.

Thomas, D. H. (1984) : Adaptations of desert

birds: Sandgrouse (Pteroclididae) as highly success-

ful inhabitants of Afro-Asian arid lands. Jour. Arid

Environ. 7: 157-181.

Thomson, A. L. (1950): Factors determining the

breeding seasons of birds: an introductory review.

Ibis 92: 173-184.

30

THE GREAT INDIAN BUSTARD AT NANAJ

Tree, A. J. (1972): Ornithological comparisons

between differing dry seasons at a pan in Botswana.

Ostrich 43: 165-168.

Tyabji, F. H. B. (1952): The Great Indian Bus-

tard. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 51: 276-277.

Viljoen, P. J. (1983): Distribution, number and

group size of the Karoo Korhaan in Kaokolaack

South West Africa. Ostrich 54: 50-51.

White, D. (1983): (Pers. Comm.,).

* Not consulted in original.

31

WILDLIFE IN BANGLADESH MANGROVE ECOSYSTEM1

Mohammad Ali Reza Khan2

(With a text-figure)

The wildlife of the mangrove ecosystems of the Sunderbans, Chakoria Sunderbans

and other mangrove formations in Bangladesh comprises of about 400 species, including

eight amphibians, 50 reptiles, 261 birds and 49 mammals. Several of these are

either endangered or vulnerable particularly species restricted to these ecosystems.

Introduction

A great variety of wildlife, defined here as

all organisms from Amphibia to Mammalia,

has enriched the mangrove ecosystems of the

Sunderbans, Chakoria Sunderbans and tidal

forests of Bangladesh. It is quite evident from

the century-old as well as current literature,

viz. , Baker 1887, O’Malley 1908, Law 1945,

1948a & b, 1954, Mitra 1957, Mukherjee 1959,

Mandal 1964, Acharji & Mukherjee 1964,

Mukherjee & Gupta 1965, Mountfort 1969,

Biswas 1973, Hendrichs 1975, Mukherjee 1975,

Green 1978, Seidensticker & Hai 1978, Gittins

1981, Khan 1981, 1982a & b, Khan & Ahsan

1981, and Khan & Rahman 1982.

Most of the mangrove vegetation of Bangla-

desh lies within the Sunderbans of Khulna dis-

trict. This covers 62% of the total Sunderbans

of Bangladesh and West Bengal of India, the

1 Accepted March 1984. The paper was present-

ed in the ‘Regional symposium on the mangrove,

coral and island ecosystems’ jointly organised by

SACEP/ESCAP and the Environment Pollution

Control Department of Bangladesh at Dhaka in

August 1983.

2 Department of Zoology, University of Dhaka,

Dhaka-2, Bangladesh. Present Address : Curator, A1

Ain Zoo & Aquarium, P. O. Box 1204, A1 Ain, Abu

Dhabi, U.A.E.

32

latter comprising 38% (Hendrichs 1975). The

total area of Bangladesh Sunderbans is about

5800 km2, of which 4100 km2 are land and

1700 km2 water. Bangladesh Sunderbans have

been divided into four forest ranges, 14 blocks

and 55 compartments varying in size from 40 to

160 km2 (Fig. 1). There are some isolated, small

patches of both planted and naturally growing

mangrove vegetation along the southern parts

of the districts of Patuakhali, Barisal, Naokhali

and Chittagong, mostly on the inshore and

offshore islands and coast. This type of forest

also occurs in the Chakoria Sunderbans,

21°45'N and 92°E; Whykeong, 21°05'N and

92°12'E, and Teknaf 21 °N and 92°15'E along

the River Naaf, bordering Burma; and on the

lone coral island of the country — St. Martin’s,

23 .35°N and 92.22°E (Fig. 1).

From the wildlife point of view, the forests

of the Sunderbans of Bangladesh and India

were studied by Hendrichs (1975) and Mukher-

jee (1975), respectively. The Bangladesh Sun-

derbans lie between 21°31'N to 22°30'N and

89°E to 90°E. Gittins (1981) working with the

Rhesus Macaque of the Sunderbans divided

the forest into three zones according to the

salinity of the surrounding water, but without

providing the range of salinity.

(i) the fresh-water zone — to the North

and East of a line drawn from Cobadak

WILDLIFE IN BANGLADESH MANGROVE ECOSYSTEM

33

Fig. 1. Bangladesh Sunderbans showing forest compartments. Inset: Bangladesh

showing Sunderbans.

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Forest station (22°15'N, 89°20'E) in

the North to the mouth of Katka Khal

(21°5Q'N, 89°45'E) on the sea face,

consisting of 1920 km2 of Heritiera

fames dominated forest:

(ii) moderately salt-water zone — West of

the above line to the Malancha River

(21°40'N, 89°18'E), consisting of 1324

km2 of Excoecaria agallocha dominated

forest: and

(iii) the salt-water zone — West of the

Malancha River to the international

boundary with India, consisting of 781

km2 of sparse E. agallocha and dense

patches of the palm Phoenix paludosa.

The plants of the Sunderbans show marked

adaptation to life under saline condition and

to frequent inundation by the tides. Thus, they

have developed succulent leaves, stilt roots,

pneumatophores and vivipary. EL. fomes and

E. agallocha cover the most part of the Sun-

derbans. Oryza coarctata, Nipa fruticans and

Imperata cylinderica are prevalent on the mud-

flats.

The Chakoria Sunderbans, 84 km2, is domi-

nated by Dalhergia spinosa and Aegialitis rotun-

difolia. The planted areas and the mangrove

formations of the islands, including those along

the River Naaf, consist mainly of Sonneratia

spp., Avicennia spp. and Acanthus ilicifolius,

whereas that of the St. Martin’s has stunted

Lumnitzera racemosa, Aegialitis rotundifolia

and Caesalpinia crista.

The Sunderbans ecosystem presents a unique

opportunity of studying wildlife which no other

ecosystems viz., the dry and moist deciduous

sal forests, semi-evergreen and evergreen forests

of the central and eastern Bangladesh, could

provide. As far as wildlife is concerned, the

Bangladesh Sunderbans is one of the most

open forests of all, in spite of the compactness

of the trees. This is mainly because innumera-

ble khals (channels) and rivers cut the whole

of the Sunderbans into thousands of fragments.

The peripheries of all fragmented pieces of

forest make it convenient for the wildlife to

utilize these open and well-lighted areas, which

are to some extent similar to the ecotonal zones

of other forest ecosystems.

Method

During 1980 and 1982 I and one of my

research fellows paid a total of five visits to

the Khulna Sunderbans, where we covered 608

km, including 64 Ion on foot, 187 km in a

dinghy and 357 km in powered boats. About

200 hours spread over 30 days, were devoted

to the field observations. A little over 15 days

were spent on the St. Martin’s Island and 15

days on various other islands, and many visits

were made to the mangrove formations along

the River Naaf. A research fellow monitored

the activities of the Crab-eating Macaque and

other wildlife of the River Naaf mangrove

formation at Whykeong. I paid one visit to the

Bay of Bengal on board the fishing vessel

‘Anushandhani’ in January 1981 and spent four

days in the bay, south of the Khulna Sunder-

bans.

Most of the wild animals, given in appendix

I, were observed by myself and a few by the

research fellows. Records of the extinct and

some uncommon wildlife have been taken from

Mitra (1957), Hendrichs (1975) and Mukher-

jee (1975). The wildlife were noted either from

direct visual observation, from foot-prints, pug-

marks, scats on the muddy shores, faecal

materials or calls. Nocturnal observations were

made with the help of a 4-cell spotlight and

headlight of the powered boats. Animals

34

WILDLIFE IN BANGLADESH MANGROVE ECOSYSTEM

which occurred in the human habitations or

forest villages bordering the Sunderbans have

also been included in the appendix and in all

calculations. The number of such wildlife

species probably does not exceed five per cent

of the total number of species listed.

The stratification patterns or vertical layer-

ing of the wildlife of the various mangrove

ecosystems are based on the mode of food

gathering and not on the habitat preferences.

They have been categorized as aquatic, terres-

trial, amphibious, arboreal, arbo-terrestrial and

shore-dwellers, depending upon collection of

food from water, land, and both, from foliage,

foliage and land, and from mud-flats and/or

sand-flats. The arboreals included those ani-

mals which fed on both plant and animal

matter from the trees or shrubs /herbs, and

winged insects /animals through aerial pur-

suits, e.g., flycatchers, bee-eaters, bats, etc.

The wildlife has been classified as carni-

vores, omnivores and herbivores basing on the

natural feeding behaviour. Those found by us

or known to be feeding on live or dead ani-

mals, from invertebrates to mammals, have

been categorized as carnivores. These include

both insectivores, piscivores, carrion-feeders

and other flesh-eaters. Omnivores include these

wildlife which fed almost equally on animal

and plant matter. The herbivores either fed

on ground vegetation through grazing; on clim-

bers, lianas and shrubs through browzing; or

on leaves, fruits, buds and bark of mangrove

trees. Wildlife which normally fed on animal

matter and casually collected nectar and other

such plant matter have been included under

carnivores, e.g., drongos, magpie-robins, bab-

blers, etc.

Attempts have been made to provide a popu-

lation estimate of chital (spotted deer) and

rhesus macaque.

Results and Discussion

The amphibia included eight species be-

longing to four genera of four families (appen-

dix I). It is dominated by Rana hexadactyla

— a brackish water species, the toad Bufo mela-

nostictus and the tree frog Rhacophorus macu-

latus. During the monsoon, between June and

September, the last two species occur almost

all over the Sunderbans, except the southern

part, facing the sea. The remaining species

were noted in the peripheral areas of the Sun-

derbans.

The reptilian fauna included 10 species each

of chelonians and lizards, 29 species of snakes

and one species of crocodile. Of these, the

common batagur Batagur baska, does not

occur outside the Sarankhola Range of the

Sunderbans Forest Division. Four species of

marine turtles, Chelonia my das, Caretta caret ta,

Lepidochelys olivacea and Eretmochelys im-

bricata, visit the sandy southern islands such

as Katka, Supati, Nilkamal, Dubla and Putney.

The other turtles occur in the north-eastern

rivers and in the villages bordering the forests.

The lizards belonged to five genera and four

families. The house lizards, Hemidactylus fre-

natus and H. brooki, wall lizard Gekko gecko,

and ring lizard Varanus salvator were found

almost everywhere. The snakes belonged to 22

genera and nine families. The keelbacks, water

snakes, cobra, sea snakes and pit vipers were

commonly found in the Sunderbans, either in-

side the forest, or in the khals and rivers. Two

rare species the rock python Python molurus

and king cobra, Opiophagus hannah are re-

presented by fairly good populations in the

Sunderbans. The sand boa Eryx conicus, and

the wart snake Acrochordus granulatus have

been reported by Mukherjee (1975) from the

West Bengal part of the Sunderbans. I pre-

sumed these to be present in our part too. The

35

JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. S3

whitebellied mangrove snake Fordonia leuco-

balia, and glossy marsh snake Gerardia pre-

vostiana and the Malacca sea snake. Hydrophis

caerulescens have been seen so far in the

Sunderbans only.

The estuarine or salt water crocodile Croco-

dylus porosus, occurs only in the Sunderbans.

Although there is a single report of its occur-

rence in the coast of Cox’s Bazar, eastern

Bangladesh (Fr. R. W. Timm, pers. comm.).

Hendrichs’s (1975) report of the gharial

Gavialis gangeticus, from the Sunderbans is

possibly erroneus as it appears to be a purely

freshwater species and no one else has seen

it in the Sunderbans. The marsh crocodile,

Crocodylus palustris, is possibly extinct from

the Sunderbans and it occurs nowhere else

in the country, excepting two small captive

populations: 4-5 in a tank at Bagerhat, under

Khulna district, and three in the only zoo of

the country at Dhaka (Khan 1982c).

It is most likely that the reptilian list will

expand once an extensive collection of lizards

and snakes is made in the Sunderbans.

Of the 261 species of birds, recorded from

the mangrove ecosystems, 14 have been taken

from Hendrichs (1975) and Mukherjee (1975)

and one from a Yale University collection re-

ported by Ripley (1982). Altogether, 180

species of 105 genera and 32 families were

non-passerine; 81 species of 50 genera and 19

families passerine. One hundred and sixty three

species were resident and 98 migratory. All

locally migratory and summer visitors have

been considered under the resident category,

as they breed either in the Sunderbans or

elsewhere in the country. The non-passerines

included 107 resident and 73 migratory species

So far 11 species of kingfishers have been

reported from Bangladesh (Khan 1982a), of

which eight are present in the Sunderbans.

Out of these the brownwinged kingfisher Pelar-

gopsis amauroptera and the ruddy kingfisher

Halcyon coromandra were found only in the

Sunderbans. Two other species, blackcapped

and whitecollared kingfishers. Halcyon pileata

and H. chloris , do not occur outside the man-

grove ecosystems of the Sunderbans, Chakoria

Sunderbans, coastal and the St. Martin’s

islands. The whitebellied and goliath herons,

Ardea insignis & A. goliath, white stork Cico-

nia ciconia , whitebellied sea eagle Haliaeetus

leucogaster, oriental hobby Falco sever us &

Indian skimmer Rhynchops albicollis (report-

ed by Mukherjee 1975), swamp partridge

Francolinus gularis, masked finfoot Heliopais

personata, parasitic skua Stercorarias parasiti-

cus (found in the Swatch-of-no-ground, at the

Bay of Bengal), lesser & large crested terns

Sterna bengalensis & S. bergii (reported by

Mukherjee 1975), oystercatcher Haematopus

ostralegus, avocet Recurvirostra avosetta, Euro-

pean starling Sturnus vulgaris (seen on St.

Martin’s Island), mangrove whistler Pachyce-

phala grisola and orangebellied flowerpecker

Dicaeum trigonostigma have so far been sight-

ed in the mangrove formations.

There are many species of birds which are

opportunistic in the sense that they roost in-

side the Sunderbans and other mangrove areas

but gather food from the neighbouring areas,

mostly cultivated fields, e.g. most of the mynas,

parakeets, doves, pigeons, egrets, etc. These

birds breed in the mangrove vegetations also.

Many smaller species of passerine birds such

as warblers and non-passerine charadriids could

not be identified. Netting followed by specimen

collection may reveal the presence of several

more species, thereby raising the total figure

to 300 or so, that means half of the Bangladesh

avifauna.

The living mammals of the Sunderbans are

36

WILDLIFE IN BANGLADESH MANGROVE ECOSYSTEM

represented by 42 species belonging to 37 genera

and 22 families. In addition the crabeating

macaque Macaca fascicularis, occurs in the

mangrove formations of the River Naaf. The

species of mammals which have disappeared

in the recent past from the mangrove areas

of Bangladesh include onehorned rhinoceros.

Rhinoceros unicornis ; smaller onehorned rhino-

ceros, R. sondaicus ; wild buffalo Bubalus

bubalis\ swamp deer, Cervus duvauceli; hog

deer, Axis porcinus; and the leopard, Panthera

pardus. The royal Bengal tiger, Panthera tigris

and chital, Axis axis have disappeared from

the whole of Bangladesh, excepting the Kulna

Sunderbans. Possibly the biggest populations

of tiger, chital, rhesus macaque Macaca

mulatta\ smooth Indian otter Lutra perspicil-

lata and wild boar Sus scrofa occur in the

Sunderbans. The Irrawaddy dolphin, Orcaella

brevirostris ; shortfinned pilot whale, Globice -

phala macrorhynchus ; finless porpoise Neo-

phocaena phocaenoides ; and the Malay dolphin

Stenella malayana are rather restricted to the

Sunderbans estuary.

Stratification pattern

In all, 15 species of mammals were terres-

trial; 12 arboreal, including 11 species of

flying mammals; 7 arbo -terrestrial (crabeating

macaque also come under this category); 6

aquatic and two amphibious. All extinct

mammals were terrestrial.

About 83 non-passerine species of birds were

aquatic, 32 terrestrial, 30 shore-dwellers, 21

arboreal, 11 amphibious and 3 arbo -terrestrial.

Twenty passerine species were terrestrial, 44

arboreal and 17 arbo-terrestrial

Among the reptiles all the chelonians were

aquatic, 4 lizards arboreal, two skinks and

three monitor lizards were normally terrestrial

and casually arboreal, 11 species of snakes

were aquatic, 10 terrestrial, 3 arboreal, 3 arbo-

terrestrial and 2 amphibians. The crocodile is

amphibious too. The amphibians comprised 6

terrestrial and 2 aquatic species.

Out of the total, 112 species of wildlife of

the mangrove ecosystem of Bangladesh gather-

ed food from the aquatic environment, 89

from land, 84 from air and foliage, 30 from

mud-, sand-flats, 36 from land, air and foliage

and the remaining 17 from both water and

land.

Feeding habits

Of the wildlife recorded from the mangrove

ecosystem, 24 mammals were carnivorous, 11

herbivorous and 8 omnivorous; 157 non-pas-

serine birds were carnivorous, 12 omnivorous

and 11 herbivorous; 60 passerine species were

carnivorous, 13 omnivorous and 8 herbivorous;

46 reptiles were carnivorous, and 4 omnivorous

when 7 amphibians were carnivorous and

one, Rana hexadactyla, almost invariably fed

on dragon and damsel flies although some algal

materials were found in the stomach. The

presence of algal material in the stomach

might be merely accidental.

A total of 294 species were carnivorous,

including insectivores, piscivores and flesh-

eaters; 38 omnivorous and 30 herbivorous,

both folivorous and frugivorous.

International status

International Union for Conservation of

Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) defines

endangered species as those in danger of ex-

tinction and whose continued survial is un-

likely if the casual factors continue operating.

The common batagur, green turtle, olive ridley

turtle, hawksbill turtle, rock python, peregrine

falcon, royal Bengal tiger and leopard of the

mangrove ecosystems are endangered so far

37

JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

as the Red Data Book (RDB) of IUCN is

concerned. The RDB has included the estua-

rine crocodile as a vulnerable species, mean-

ing that this species is believed likely to be-

come extinct in the near future if the adverse

casual factors continue operating.

Schedule I of the Convention on Inter-

national Trade in Endangered Species of Wild

Fauna & Flora (CITES) includes 7 turtles

and tortoises, Bengal and yellow lizards, rock

python, white stork, spotted green shank,

Ganges river dolphin. Unless porpoise, royal

Bengal tiger and leopard cat. Another seven

species — ring lizard, marsh crocodile, rhesus

macaque, smooth Indian and clawless otters,

fishing and jungle cats — are in Schedule II

of the CITES.

Population estimation

Hendrichs ,(1975) for the first time attempt-

ed estimating the populations of tiger, otter,

wild boar, chital, rhesus macaque and some

other vertebrates and invertebrates of the

Khulna Sunderbans. Gittins (1981), and Khan

& Ahsan (1981) attempted estimating the

population of the rhesus macaque, while I

have made an attempt to provide a rough

estimate of the spotted deer (chital).

Hendrichs (1975) estimated the total popu-

lation of the tiger in the Sunderbans to be 350,

otter 20000, wild boar 20000; chital 80000 and

rhesus macaque 40000. His estimated density

of these were tiger — 0. 1/km2, otter — 5/km2,

boar 5/ km2, chital — 20 /km2 and macaque —

10/km2. Gittins (1981) noted 2.6 groups of

macaques with 20 individuals in each group,

that is a density of 52/km2. He has estimated

the total population of macaque in 2274-km2

of natural forests to be 118,248, and another

7972 in 1533-km2 scrub forest of the Sunder-

bans. In the scrub forest the density of the

macaque was 5. 2 /km2.

Ahsan and I covered 608 km linear

distance, equivalent to 20.83 km2 of transects,

where we encountered 1.58 groups /km2 with

17.05 macaques /km2 and the total population

was estimated to be 68,200 in an area of about

4000 km2. The population estimation done by

the three authorities showed much variation.

Our estimation of 68,200 macaques is much

nearer to Hendrich’s 40,000 than Gittins’

126,220.

In the 608 km of linear distance and 15.2

km2 of transects which we covered we en-

countered 200 deer. The density of chital was

13.15/km2. The Sunderbans, therefore, sup-

ports an estimated 52,600 deer. This is 34.25%

less than the estimated population given by

Hendrichs (1975). But the difference is close

to his 25% range of deviation. This difference

is mainly because he devoted more time and

covered each of his sampling areas in great

detail, which we could not do because of lack

of time and logistic support.

Recommendations

The Government of Bangladesh has already

gazetted three areas of the Sunderbans man-

grove forest as wildlife sanctuaries. These are

the East, West and South Wildlife Sanctuary,

consisting of compartments no. 6 (54 km2),

part of no. 54 (90 km2), and part of no. 43

and the whole of no. 44 (177 km2) respec-

tively. Unfortunately, these declarations have

paid little or no attention to the earlier recom-

mendations made by several expeditions and

an enquiry committee meetings by the experts

of FAO, IUCN, WWF and the Government

Forest Department, viz., Mountfort & Poore

1968, Seidensticker and Hai 1978, and Oliver

38

WILDLIFE IN BANGLADESH MANGROVE ECOSYSTEM

1979. Although these recommendations were

based on sound ecological considerations.

To save the wildlife from extinction, to stop

appreciable changes in the mangrove ecosystem,

and to make the already declared sanctuaries

meaningful so that these support viable popu-

lations of wildlife I strongly recommend that:

1. Compartment no. 3 to 8, 11, 12 and 45

be declared as the Sunderbans National

Park, incorporating the existing East

Sanctuary;

2. The remaining portion of the Compart-

ment no. 43 be added to the existing South

Sanctuary;

3. Instead of West Sanctuary a new one be

declared in the North, comprising com-

partments no. 30 to 33;

4. The sanctuaries /national parks be suffi-

ciently manned by technical staff so that

they can monitor the faunal and floral

changes year round.

5. Cheaper tourist facilities be developed to

compensate the revenue lost due to dis-

continuation of forestry practises.

Ack nowledgements

Fr. R. W. Timm CSC, Director, CARITAS,

Dhaka has kindly read and corrected the

Ref

Acharji, M. N. & Mukherjee, A. K. (1964).':

Report of a collection of snakes from Lower Bengal

(Reptilia : Ophidia). /. Zool. Soc. India. 16(1 & 2):

76-81.

Baker, E. B. (1887): Sport in Bengal and how,

when and where to seek it. Ledger, Smith & Co.,

London.

Biswas, R. N. (1973) : On the domestication of

the otter by fishermen in Bangladesh. /. Bombay

nat. Hist. Soc. 70(2) : 374.

Gittins, S. P. (1981): A survey of the primates

of Bangladesh. Report to Fauna Preservation Society

of London and Conder Conservation Trust, England.

64 pp.

manuscript. Messers Shah Ali Imam, Conser-

vator, Coastal Circle, Ghulam Habib DFO

Khulna, A. K. Fazlul Haque DFO Noakhali

Coastal Afforestation, Munshi Anwarul Islam

DFO Coastal Afforestation Chittagong, A. Z.

M. Shamshul Huda DFO Cox’s Bazar and S.

Choudhury ADFO Khulna, all the range offi-

cers of the four ranges of Khulna, ranges of

Noakhali, Chittagong Coastal Afforestation

Divisions and Cox’s Bazar Forest Division pro-

vided me necessary guides and boat and gene-

rous hospitality. Directors of SPARRSO and

Environment Pollution Control Department;

President, Natural Flistory Society of Bangla-

desh allowed me to take part in the Expedi-

tions to the Bay of Bengal and St. Martin’s

Island, and SACEP/ESCAP Symposium on

the mangrove, coral and island ecosystems.

Mr. Noor Mohammed Sarker, Conservator,

Wildlife Circle, organised a survey of the

islands of Chittagong and Noakhali Coastal

Afforestation Divisions, when Mr. Mukhlesur

Rahman, JRO, Wildlife Circle; Messers Md.

Farid Ahsan, M. A. Wahab, SMA Rashid,

all research fellows of the Department of Zoo-

logy of Dhaka University offered their assis-

tance in the field work conducted between

1980 and 1983. I thank them all.

rences

Green, K. M. (1978) : Primates of Bangladesh

a preliminary survey of population and habitat

Biol. Conserv. 13: 141-160.

Hendrichs, H. (1975) : The status of the tiger

(Panthera tigris L., 1758) in the Sunderbans Man-

grove Forest (Bay of Bengal). Saugetierk, Mitt. 23

(3): 161-199.

Khan, M. A. R. (1981) : The non-human pri-

mates of Bangladesh. Tigerpaper 8(1): 12-15.

(1982a): Wildlife of Bangladesh

— a checklist. Dhaka University, Bangladesh. 173 pp.

(1982b) : On the distribution

of the mammalian fauna of Bangladesh. Proc. 2nd

Bangladesh Nat. Conf. Forestry. 560-575.

39

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 83

— — — (1982c): Present status and

distribution of the crocodiles and gharial of Bangla-

desh. Proc. 5th Working Meeting Crocodile Specia-

list Group of SSC/IUCN. 229-236.

Khan, M. A. R. & Ahsan, M. F. (1981): The

population status of the non-human primates of

Bangladesh. Report to Univ. Grants Commission,

Dhaka, 25 pp.

Khan, M. A. R. & Rahman, M. M. (1982) :

Avifauna of the Char Rahman and Sonadia Island

of Chittagong district of Bangladesh. Proc. 2nd

Bangladesh Nat. Conf. Forestry. 547-555.

Law, S. C. (1945): Note on the occurrence of

some hitherto unrecorded birds in Central and

south Bengal. Ibis 87: 405-408.

— — (1948a) : On the occurrence of Sitta

frontalis Swainson and Sitta castanea Lesson in

Khulna Sunderbans. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 47

(3): 733-734.

(1948b): Occurrence of the Large

Himalayan Malkoha [Rhopodytes t. tigris (Less.)]

in Khulna Sunderbans. ibid. 45(1): 183-184.

— (1954) : A contribution to the orni-

thology of the Sunderbans. /. Bengal nat. Hist. Soc.

27(1): 59-65.

— (1956): A contribution to the omi-

theology of the Sunderbans. ibid. 25(1): 149-152.

Mandal, A. K. (1964): The behaviour of the

Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta Zimmerman) in

the Sunderbans. ibid. 33 : 153-165.

Mitra, S. N. (1957) : Banglar Shikar prani (in

Bengali). Bengal Govt. Press, Calcutta.

Mountfort, G. (1969): The vanishing jungle.

Collins, London.

Mountfort, G. & Poore, D. (1968): Report on

the 1967 World Wildlife Fund expedition to Pakis-

tan. WWF, Switzerland.

Mukherjee, A. K. (1959): Pakhirala, Sajnakhali

— an introduction to a bird sanctuary in the Sun-

derbans. /. Bengal nat. Hist. Soc. 30: 161-165.

(1975): The Sunderbans of

India and its biota. /. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 72(1) :

1-20.

Mukherjee, A. K. & Gupta, S. (1965) : Habits of

the Rhesus Macaque Macaca mulatta (Zimmerman)

in the Sunderbans, 24 Parganas, West Bengal, ibid.

62(1): 145-146.

Olivier, R. C. D. (1979) : Wildlife conservation

and management in Bangladesh. Report to FAO,

Rome.

O'Malley, L. S. S. (1908): Bengal district gazet-

teers, Khulna. The Bengal Secretariat Book Depot,

Calcutta.

Ripley, S. D. (1982): Synopsis of the birds of

India and Pakistan. 2nd rev. edn. Bombay Natural

History Society, Bombay (India).

Seiden sticker, J. & Hai, M. A. (1978) : The

Sunderbans wildlife management plan: Conservation

in the Bangladesh coastal zone. Report to Govt, of

Bangladesh and WWF, Switzerland.

40

Appendix I

Checklist of the wildlife of Bangladesh mangrove ecosystems

41

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

* possibly extinct now.

42

WILDLIFE IN BANGLADESH MANGROVE ECOSYSTEM

SI no. Scientific name

84. Threskiornis aethiopica

85 . Anser fabalis

86. Anser anser

87. Anser indicus

88. Dendrocygna javanica

89. Tadorna ferruginea

90. Anas acuta

91. Anas crecca

92. Anas platyrhynchos

93. Anas strepera

94. Anas penelope

95. Anas clypeata

96. Anas querquedula

97 . Netta rufina

98. Ay thy a ferina

99. Ay thy a nyroca

100. Ay thy a fuligula

101 . Nettapus coromandelianus

102. Elanus caeruleus

103. Pernis ptilorhynchus

104. Milvus migrans

105. Haliastur indus

106. Accipiter badius

107. Buteo rufinus

108. Buteo buteo

109. Aquila rapax

110. Aquila pomarina

111. Haliaeetus leucogaster

112. Haliaeetus leucoryphus

113. Icthyophaga ichthyaetus

114. Gyps bengalensis

115. Circus macrourus

116. Circus melanoleucos

117. Circus aeruginosus

118. Circaetus gallicus

119. Spilornis cheela

120. Pandion haliaetus

121. Falco peregrinus

122. Falco subbuteo

123. Falco chiquera

124. Falco tinnunculus

125. Francolinus gularis

126. Gallus gallus

127. Rallus aquaticus

128. Porzana fusca

129. Amaurornis phoenicurus

130. Gallicrex cinerea

Common name

White Ibis

Bean/Pinkfooted Goose

Grey Lag Goose

Barheaded Goose

Lesser Whistling Teal

Ruddy Shelduck

Pintail

Common Teal

Mallard

Gad wall

Wigeon

Shoveller

Ganganey

Redcrested Pochard

Common Pochard

White-eyed Pochard

Tufted Duck

Cotton Teal

Blackwinged Kite

Honey Buzzard

Pariah Kite

Brahminy Kite

Shikra

Longlegged Buzzard

Buzzard

Tawny Eagle

Lesser Spotted Eagle

Whitebellied Sea Eagle

Pallas’s Fishing Eagle

Greyheaded Fishing Eagle

Whitebacked Vulture

Pale Harrier

Pied Harrier

Marsh Harrier

Short-toed Eagle

Crested Serpent Eagle

Osprey

Peregrine Falcon

Hobby

Redheaded Merlin

Kestrel

Swamp Partridge

Red Jungle Fowl

Water Rail

Ruddy Crake

Whitebreasted Water Hen

Water Cock

Status

43

73>ow2;’o;o2;ssi22;o;s222;s?o*i*i2222;c;o;o:sso;s2222222S2222*222jo

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Status

44

S222222222222222222222222222222222;s;sS?32*!s;o5B»ss:a:a

WILDLIFE IN BANGLADESH MANGROVE ECOSYSTEM

Sl.no. Scientific name

178. Chlidonias leucopterus

179. Gelochelidon nilotica

180. Hydroprogne caspia

181. Sterna aurantia

182. Sterna hirundo

183. Sterna acuticauda

184. Sterna fuscata

185. Sterna albifrons

186. Sterna bergii

187. Sterna bengalensis

188. Rhynchops albicollis

189. Treron pompadora

1 90 . T reron phoen ico ptera

191. Columba livia

192. Streptopelia orientalis

193. Streptopelia decaocto

194. Streptopelia tranquebarica

195. Streptopelia chinensis

196. Psittacula krameri

197. Psittacula finschii

198. Clamator jacobinus

199. Cuculus varius

200. Cuculus micropterus

201 . Cacomantis sonneratii

202. Cacomantis merulinus

203. Eudynamys scolopacea

204. Rhopodytes tristis

205. Centropus sinensis

206. Tyto alba

207. Otus scops

208 . Otus bakkamoena

209. Bubo bubo

210. Bubo zeylonensis

211. Bubo flavipes

212. N inox scutulata

213. Athene brama

214. Asio flammeus

215. Caprimulgus indicus

216. Caprimulgus macrurus

217. Cypsiurus parvus

218. Ceryle rudis

219. Alcedo atthis

220. Pelargopsis amauro ptera

221. Pelargopsis capensis

222. Halcyon coromandra

223 . Halcyon pileata

224. Halcyon smyrnensis

225 . Halcyon chi oris

Common name

Whitewinged Black Tern

Gullbilled Tern

Caspian Tern

Indian River Tern

Common Tern

Blackbilled Tern

Sooty Tern

Little Tern

Large Crested Tern

Lesser Crested Tern

Indian Skimmer

Greyfronted Green Pigeon

Green Pigeon

Blue Rock Pigeon

Rufous Turtle Dove

Ring Dove

Red Turtle Dove

Spotted Dove

Roseringed Parakeet

Slatyheaded Parakeet

Pied Crested Cuckoo

Brainfever Bird

Indian Cuckoo

Banded Bay Cuckoo

Rufousbellied Plaintive Cuckoo

ICoel

Large Greenbilled Malkoha

Crow-Pheasant/Coucal

Barn Owl

Scops Owl

Collared Scops Owl

Eagle-Owl/Great Horned Owl

Brown Fish Owl

Tawny Fish Owl

Brown Hawk-Owl

Spotted Owlet

Shorteared Owl

Jungle Nightjar

Longtailed Nightjar

Palm Swift

Lesser Pied Kingfisher

Common Kingfisher

Brownwinged Kingfisher

Storkbilled Kingfisher

Ruddy Kingfisher

Blackcapped Kingfisher

Whitebreasted Kingfisher

Whitecollared Kingfisher

Status

45

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

SI. no. Scientific name

Common name

Status

226. Merops orientalis

227 . Coracias benghalensis

228. U pupa epops

229. Megalaima lineata

230. Megalaima haemacephala

231. Jynx torquilla

232. Micropternus brachyurus

233. Picus myrmecophoneus

234. Dinopium benghalense

235. Picoides macei

236 . Picoides mahrattensis

237 . Picoides nanus

238. Chrysocolaptes lucidus

Aves:

239. Mirafra assamica

240. Alauda gulgula

241. Hirundo rustica

242. Hirundo daurica

243 . Lanius schach

244. Lanius cristatus

245 . Oriolus xanthornus

246. Dicrurus adsimilis

247. Dicrurus leucophaeus

248. Dicrurus aeneus

249. Dicrurus paradiseus

250. Artamus fuscus

251. Sturnus malabaricus

252. Sturnus vulgaris

253. Sturnus con tra

254. Acridotheres tristis

255. Acridotheres ginginianus

256. Acridotheres fuscus

257. Dendrocitta vagabunda

258. Corvus splendens

259. Corvus macrorhynchos

260 . Teph rod orn is pondicerian u s

261 . Coracina novaehollandiae

262. Coracina melaschistos

263. Coracina melanoptera

264. Pericrocotus cinnamomeus

265. Aegithina tiphia

266. Chloropsis aurifrons

267 . Pycnonotus melanicterus

268. Pycnonotus jocosus

269. Pycnonotus cafer

270. Pellorneum ruficeps

271. Trichastoma abotti

Green Bee-eater

Indian Roller/Blue Jay

Hoopoe

Lineated Barbet

Coppersmith

Wryneck

Rufous Woodpecker

Little Scalybellied Green Woodpecker

Lesser Goldenbacked Woodpecker

Fulvousbreasted Pied Woodpecker

Yellowfronted Pied Woodpecker

Pigmy Woodpecker

Larger Goldenbacked Woodpecker

Passerine birds

Bush Lark

Eastern Skylark

Common Swallow

Redrumped/Striated Swallow

Blackheaded/Rufous Shrike

Brown Shrike

Blackheaded Oriole

Black Drongo

Grey/ Ashy Drongo

Bronzed Drongo

Greater Racket-tailed Drongo

Ashy-Swallow Shrike

Greyheaded Myna

Starling

Pied Myna

Common Myna

Bank Myna

Jungle Myna

Tree Pie

House Crow

Jungle Crow

Common Wood Shrike

Large Cuckoo-Shrike

Smaller Grey Cuckoo-Shrike

Blackheaded Cuckoo Shrike

Small Mini vet

Common Iora

Goldfronted Chloropsis

Blackheaded Yellow Bulbul

Redwhiskered Bulbul

Redvented Bulbul

Spotted Babbler

Abott’s Babbler

46

WILDLIFE IN BANGLADESH MANGROVE ECOSYSTEM

SI. no. Scientific name Common name

272. Turdoides striatus

273. Alcippe poioicephala

274. Muscicapa parva

275. Muscicapa rubeculoides

276. Muscicapa thalassina

277 . Culicicapa ceylonensis

278. Rhipidura albicollis

279 . T erpsi ph one par ad isi

280. Hypothymis azurea

281. Pachycephala grisola

282. Brady pterus luteoventris

283. Cisticola exilis

284. Cisticola juncidis

285 . Prinia hodgsoni

286. Prinia socialis

287. Orthotomus sutorius

288. Acrocephalus stentorius

289. Acrocephalus dumetorum

290. Phylloscopus affinis

291. Erithacus svecicus

292. Copsychus saularis

293. Phoenicurus ochruros

294 . Saxicola torquata

295 . Saxicola caprata

296. Monticola solitarius

297 . Zoothera citrina

298. T urdus ruficollis

299. Parus major

300. Sitta castanea

301 . Sitta frontalis

302. Anthus hodgsoni

303. Anthus novaeseelandiae

304. Motacilla flava

305 . Motacilla citreola

306 . Motacilla cinerea

307 . Motacilla alba

308. Dicaeum trigonostigma

309. Dicaeum erythrorhynchos

310. Dicaeum cruentatum

311. Nectarinia zeylonica

312. Nectarinia asiatica

313. Zoster ops palpebrosa

314. Passer domesticus

315. Ploceus philippinus

316. PI oceus manyar

317. Lonchura malabarica

318. Lonchura striata

319. Lonchura punctulata

Jungle Babbler

Quaker Babbler

Redbreasted Flycatcher

Bluethroated Flycatcher

Verditer Flycatcher

Greyheaded Flycatcher

Whitethroated Fantail Flycatcher

Paradise Flycatcher

Blacknaped Flycatcher

Mangrove Whistler

Brown Bush Warbler

Fantail Warbler

Streaked Fantail Warbler

Franklin’s Wren-Warbler

Ashy Wren-Warbler

Tailor Bird

Great Reed Warbler

Blyth’s Reed Warbler

Tickell’s Leaf Warbler

Blue Throat

Magpie-Robin (National Bird)

Black Redstart

Collared Bush Chat

Pied Bush Chat

Blue Rock Thrush

Orangeheaded Ground Thrush

Redthroated Thrush

Grey Tit

Chestnutbellied Nuthatch

Velvetfronted Nuthatch

Indian Tree Pipit

Paddyfield Pipit

Yellow Wagtail

Yellowheaded Wagtail

Grey Wagtail

White Wagtail

Ornagebellied Flowerpecker

Tickell’s Flowerpecker

Scarletbacked Flowerpecker

Purplerumped Sunbird

Purple Sunbird

White-eye

House Sparrow

Bay a/Weaver Bird

Streaked Weaver Bird

Common Sil verb ill

Whitebacked Munia

Spotted Munia

Status

47

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

SI. no. Scientific name Common name

Mammalia

320. S uncus murinus

321 . P ter opus giganteus

322. Rousettus leschenaultii

323. Cynopterus sphinx

324. Rhinopoma hardwickei

325. Taphozous saccolaimus

326 . Megaderma lyra

327 . Coelops frit hi

328. Pipistrellus mimus

329. Pipistrellus coromandra

330. Hesperoptenus tickelli

331 . Scotophilus temmincki

332. Macaca mulatta

333. Macaca fascicularis

334. Canis aureus

335. Lutra perspicillata

336. A onyx cinerea

337. Viverra zibetha

338. Viverricula indica

339. Paradoxurus hermaphrodites

340. Herpestes auropunctatus

341 . Herpestes edwardsi

342. Panther a tigris

343. Panthera pardus

344. FeZ/s bengalensis

345. FeZis viverrina

346 . FeZz's- chaus

347. Rhinoceros unicornis

348. Rhinoceros sondaicus

349. Bu bolus bubalis

350. Cervus duvauceli

35 1 . /Ixz5 porcinus

352. /Iaz's1 ux/s

353. Muntiacus muntjac

354. 5z/^ scrofa

355. Lepus nigricollis

356. Funambulus pennanti

357 . Bandicota bengalensis

358. Bandicota indica

359. booduga

360. Mus musculus

361 . Rattus rattus

362. Hystrix indica

363. Orcaella brevirostris

364. Globicephala macrorhynchus

365. Peponocephala electro

366. Neophocaena phocaenoides

367. Stenella malayana

368. Platanista gangetica

Grey Musk Shrew

Flying Fox

Fulvous Fruit Bat

Shortnosed Fruit Bat

Lesser Rat-tailed Bat

Pouchbearing .Sheathtailed Bat

False Vampire

Tailless Leafnosed Bat

Indian Pygmy Pipistrelle

Indian Pipistrelle

Tickell’s Bat

Lesser Yellow Bat

Rhesus Macaque

Crabeating Macaque

Jackal

Smooth Indian Otter

Clawless Otter

Large Indian Civet

Small Indian Civet

Palm Civet/Toddy Cat

Small Mongoose

Common Mongoose

Royal Bengal Tiger (National Animal)

Leopard/Panther (extinct)

Leopard-Cat

Fishing Cat

Jungle Cat

Onehorned Rhinoceros (extinct)

Smaller Onehorned Rhinoceros (extinct)

Wild Buffalo (extinct)

Swamp Deer/Baras ingha (extinct)

Hog Deer (extinct)

Chital/Spotted Deer

Barking Deer/Muntjac

Wild Boar

Rufoustailed Hare

Fivestriped Palm Squirrel

Lesser Bandicoot

Bandicoot Rat

Indian Porcupine

House Mouse

Common House Rat

Indian Poroupine

Irrawaddy Dolphin

Shortfinned Pilot Whale

Broadbeaked/Melonheaded Dolphin

Finless/Little Porpoise

Malay Dolphin

Ganges Susu/River Dolphin

48

DRUG IMMOBILISATION OF INDIAN ELEPHANT1

J. B. Sale2, V. Rishi3, K. N. Singh4 and V. K. Verma5

(With a plate )

Critical data from the drug immobilisation of six adult wild elephants in U.P. in

1983-84, using Immobilon (etorphine/acepromazine) and Revivon (diprenorphine) are

reported. A standard Distinject N60 powder rifle and accessories was used for

darting, with the addition of a “radio-dart” in three cases. Complete recumbancy

was achieved using doses of 3.0 to 3.5 ml Immobilon (7. 4-8. 6 mg etorphine, 30-35

mg acepromazine). Induction times varied between 15 and 35 minutes; “down” times

between 30 and 324 minutes and revival times between 4 and 41 minutes.

Introduction The method has a number of potential uses

Drug immobilisation has been routinely

employed for the capture of the African ele-

phant ( Loxondonta africana ) since the mid-

sixties and many reports on methodology and

dosages exist in the literature (Young 1973,

Harthoorn 1976). There are several reports

on the use of this method with the Asiatic

elephant ( Elephas maximus) in Malaysia

(Jainudeen and Khan 1977, Jainudeen et al

1971) and Sri Lanka (Jones 1975, Hofmeyr

1979). In India drug immobilisation of ele-

phants using the powerful morphine deriva-

tive etorphine hydrochloride or “M. 99”, has

been reported in two isolated cases only: one

in Orissa (Choudhury & Patnaik 1982), and

one in West Bengal (Ghosh 1982) which pro-

duced rather atypical results.

1 Accepted February 1985.

2 Chief Technical Adviser, FAO Wildlife Project,

Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun.

3 Then Assistant Professor, Wildlife Institute of

India, Dehra Dun.

4 Then Divisional Forest Officer, Shiwalik Divi-

sion, U. P. Forest Department.

5 Wildlife Warden, Dehra Dun, U. P. Forest

Department.

in the context of elephant management

in India. If used to capture elephants for

domestication, in addition to being highly

selective, it has the advantage of causing less

disturbance to the wild herds than traditional

methods such as mela shikar or khedda. In a

well planned immobilisation operation the

candidate can be put to sleep without ever

being aware of the presence of the capture

team. For dealing with crop raiders or rogues

the method allows a rapid and safe capture

of the culprit and subsequent translocation

to a new release area or captivity. This has

been achieved successfully in Malaysia (Jain-

udeen and Khan, l.c.). Similarly, the tempo-

rary immobilisation of a sick animal for exa-

mination and treatment can be achieved with

a minimum of distress to the patient.

In the light of the above, we present infor-

mation on six drug immobilisations of wild

elephants, carried out during the preliminary

phase of a radio-tracking study of elephant

habitat utilization in Rajaji Sanctuary in north-

western U.P., in 1983-84. The aim in each

case was to fix a radio-collar to the immo-

bilised animal and release it as quickly as

49

4

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

possible. However, the details of the procedure

would apply equally well to any situation

where drug immobilisation of elephants was

being attempted.

Methods

All six animals were darted with Immobilon

(Reckitt & Colman, Hull, U.K.), a mixture

containing 2.45 mg /ml of the narcotic etor-

phine hydrochloride and 10 mg/ml aceproma-

zine maleate. The antagonist used was Revivon

(Reckitt) which contains 3.0 mg/ml dipre-

norphine hydrochloride and is a specific

antidote for etorphine. The acepromazine is

not antagonised and has a residual tranquilising

effect on the animal after it is remobilised.

(Immobilon has been widely used in the im-

mobilisation of African elephants and to a

limited extent on the Asiatic elephant.)

Particular care was taken to ensure that an

antidote to etorphine suitable for use in humans

was readily available whenever this highly

dangerous drug was being carried in the field.

A clearly labelled ‘human’ pack containing six

1 ml vials of Narcan injection of naloxone

hydrochloride 0.4 mg/ml (Wintrop Labora-

tories, Surbiton, U.K.), a sterile 2 ml syringe

and needles was always to hand, in case of

accidental administration of Immobilon to a

person. It was also ensured that at least two

members of a capture team were conversant

with the procedure for administration of the

antidote should a human emergency arise.

The immobilising solution was darted into

the elephants, using a Distinject N60 powder

rifie and accessories (Peter Ott & Co., Basel,

Switzerland). A 3 or 4 ml aluminium syringe

barrel was employed and fitted with a stan-

dard Distinject NM6 needle, 63 mm long and

2 mm in diameter. This had a side hole 8 mm

from the tip, in addition to a terminal hole,

and a retention collar 29 mm from the tip.

In three cases the dart used had a standard

Distinject feathered stabiliser (flight), while in

the other three a “radio-dart” was fitted. This

consisted of a dart made for the Cap-Chur

gun (Wildlife Materials Inc. Carbondale,

Illinois, U.S.A.), modified by the replacement

of the Cap-Chur stabiliser with a Distinject

stabiliser which was found to give better flight

characteristics.

In cases where a standard dart was em-

ployed, the prescribed 0.22 blank charge for

the syringe size /distance involved was used, as

per the chart provided by the manufacturers

of the Distinject equipment. Likewise, the

variable rear sight of the rifle was set as pet

the chart. When using a radio-dart, however,

the most powerful (orange) charge was select-

ed irrespective of distance and the sight setting

adjusted to compensate for the additional

weight of the radio transmitter in the rear of

the dart.

Tracking of the radio-dart signals was

achieved using a Wildlife Materials Inc. TRX 6

receiver fitted with a collapsible hand-held

Yagi antenna. Radio frequencies of the trans-

mitter-receiver systems were in the range of

150-151 MHz.

Candidate elephants for immobilisation

were carefully approached on a domestic ele*

phant in five cases and on foot in the sixth

case. The aim was to fire the dart high into

the hind quarters of the candidate from a dis-

tance of between 30 and 45 m. A dart sited

high in the rear of an elephant is less likely

to get dislodged by vegetation as the animal

moves away, than one placed lower down or

in the side of the animal. Darts lodged in the

shoulder region are sometimes quickly remov-

ed by the animal, using its trunk, making

50

Adult female (Case No. 3) immobilised in safe lateral recumbancy, during

radio-collaring operation. {Photo: V. K. Verma)

DRUG IMMOBILISATION OF INDIAN ELEPHANT

subsequent visual identification or radio-track-

ing of the darted individual impossible.

Every effort was made to disturb the candi-

date individual and its companions, where

present, as little as possible prior to firing the

dart. In some cases the individual was appa-

rently totally unaware of the approach of the

domestic elephant. This was also true in the

case of the individual darted on foot, where

the shot was fired from a tree, 4 m above the

ground. Similarly, after firing the aim was not

to harass the darted animal but merely to keep

it in view from a distance — an extremely

difficult objective to achieve in the mixed

deciduous forest of the Rajaji Sanctuary.

Revivon was normally injected into a large

vein in the ear, when the animal was ready for

release. In one case, however, due to the partial

natural recovery of the elephant making close

approach difficult, the antidote was fired into

the lower shoulder with a dart. (The dart was

pulled out by the animal, using its trunk,

shortly after revival.)

Results

Details of the six immobilisations under

consideration are shown in Table 1. All indi-

viduals were fully adult and complete recum-

bancy was achieved in five cases, using doses

of between 3.0 and 3.5 ml Immobilon, equi-

valent to 7. 4-8. 6 mg etorphine and 30-35 mg

acepromazine respectively. The sixth case (No.

4 in Table 1) received only a partial dose of

Immobilon (1.75 ml = 4.3 mg etorphine and

17.5 mg acepromazine) as a result of mal-

function of the dart and, although immobilised,

full recumbancy was not achieved.

Induction times (time from darting to going

down) varied between 15 and 35 minutes in

the four cases where they were ascertained.

Animal No. 4 which received the smallest dose

(1.75 ml) took 35 minutes to reach only

partial recumbancy. However, the series is too

small to provide definite conclusions about a

possible relationship between dosage and in-

duction time. In any case, there are a number

of other factors which influence rate of induc-

tion, such as needle site, angle of entry and

state of alertness of the animal prior to darting.

With all uses of immobilising drugs an

important aim is to revive the animal as

quickly as possible. With very heavy species

such as elephant and rhino it is particularly

important to minimise the time the animal is

in a recumbant posture. Elephants in particu-

lar should not be left in sternal recumbancy

for more than about 20 minutes. With these

considerations in mind. Table 1 shows the time

individuals were “down” (Range 30-324

minutes). This is the time that elapsed between

the animal going down (induction) and getting

up (revival). In cases where either time is

not known a “maximum” time down is indi-

cated which is either the time between darting

and revival (Cases 3 and 6) or induction and

the observation of the already revived (stand-

ing) animal (Case No. 4). Actual time down

is in all likelihood appreciably less than maxi-

mum time in all three cases.

In this series of immobilisations the animals

were given Revivon as soon as the radio-collar

had been fitted, except in Cases 4 and 6. Where

the animal was found before induction it was

possible to complete the operation and get it

on its feet within between 30 and 44 minutes,

some 10 minutes of which was “waiting time”

allowed for the drug effect to deepen prior to

disturbing the animal by handling.

“Down” time in Case No. 6 was extremely

long*, the malfunctioning of the radio-dart re-

sulting in a big delay in locating the elephant.

51

Data on six drug immobilisations of wild elephants in U.P.

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

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53

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Although induction time is not known, the

animal was presumably down for approximate-

ly 5 hours (300 minutes). Fortunately it was

in lateral recumbancy and appeared to suffer

no ill effects from such a long immobilisation.

Body temperature was probably elevated, as

indicated by the animal cooling itself by spray-

ing gastric fluid on its body and excessive ear

flapping following revival.

Doses of Revivon ranged from 3 to 6 ml

(9 to 18 mg diprenorphine) and were of either

equal or greater volume than the amount of

Immobilon given to the animal. In Case No. 5

due to an unusually slow response to the initial

intravenous injection of 3.5 ml Revivon a fur-

ther dose of 2.5 ml was given after 41 minutes

by dart into body muscle which brought an

immediate response.

What may be regarded as normal revival

times (time between injection of Revivon and

animal standing up) were achieved in Cases

1,2,3 and 6, showing a range of 4 to 9 minutes.

Case No. 5 took an unusually long time to get

up permanently, viz. 41 minutes after the first

(intravenous) dose of Revivon. She also took

an extremely long time to regain full mobility,

standing in one spot for 7 hours after revival.

It is not clear what' was responsible for this

slow return to normality. The dose of Immobi-

lon (3.5 ml) was the largest in the series but

the etorphine should have been quickly anta-

gonised by the equal volume of Revivon. How-

ever, the first dose of Revivon given was out-

of-date stock and may have had a reduced

potency. There was rapid revival after the

second (intramuscular) dose of Revivon from

fresh stock. However, the long period of ataxia

following revival may have resulted from the

high dose of acepromazine (35 mg) which

has a prolonged tranquillising effect after

recovery from the etorphine brought about by

the antagonist (Revivon).

The radio-dart proved useful in locating the

darted individual in only one case out of three

in which it was employed, viz . No. 3. In Case

No. 4 the charge proved inadequate for the

distance, resulting in the radio-dart being lodg-

ed low down in the thigh from where it was

soon brushed off as the animal moved away

through thick vegetation. In Case No. 6,

although the dart was satisfactorily sited high

on the animal near the base of the tail, it be-

came dislodged after some distance, presu-

mably as the animal passed under a low branch

of a tree. In addition, the battery was appa-

rently displaced on impact resulting in the

immediate loss of the radio signal. The immo-

bilised animal was only found after a very

prolonged visual search in particularly dense

jungle.

Discussion

The results reported here indicate that a

dosage of 7 to 8 mg etorphine in combination

with 30 to 32 mg acepromazine, is effective for

the immobilisation of wild adult Indian ele-

phants. This upper limit is in general agree-

ment with adult dosages reported in the lite-

rature from other countries (Jainudeen and

Khan l.c.; Jainudeen et al. J.c.). Lower dosages

than 7 mg have been used successfully by seve-

ral workers but we recommend that not less

than 6 mg should be used on adult elephants

in order to ensure relatively rapid immobilisa-

tion without the necessity of a topping-up dose.

Certainly a dose as low as 4 mg runs the risk

of a long induction period or incomolete

immobilisation as in Case No. 4 reported here.

The induction times in this short series show

a similar range (15-35 minutes) and mean (26

54

DRUG IMMOBILISATION OF INDIAN ELEPHANT

minutes) to the eleven cases of Jainudeen and

Khan (Lc.) which were 15 to 45 minutes

and 24 minutes respectively. Both series serve

to indicate that considerable variation in in-

duction times can be expected when immobi-

lising Asiatic elephants with etorphine. There

seems little evidence in the literature that the

addition of acepromazine reduces induction

time in this species. Indeed Jainudeen et al

(1971) achieved unusually short induction

times (8-19 minutes, mean 13 minutes) using

etorphine alone in the immobilisation of four

aggressive working elephants. A way of con-

sistently producing a short induction period

would be of great assistance in the immobili-

sation of free-roaming elephants, as much time

can be wasted in locating the darted animal

if a prolonged induction enables it to move a

long way from the darting site before going

down.

Apart from Case No. 5, the revival times

were similar (range 4-9 minutes) to those re-

ported elsewhere. The unusually long recovery

time of 15 hours in the case of the elephant

immobilised by Ghosh (l.c.) was probably

caused by the unusually high dose of the tran-

quilliser acepromazine (75 mg) administered, in

addition to 10 mg diazepam. It does not appear

to have been due to the etorphine, which

although given in a high dosage (10.13 mg)

appears to have been antagonised by the initial

21 mg diprenorphine, as evidenced by attempt-

ed standing after 8 minutes. The prolonged

ataxia (7 hours) of Case No. 5 in this report

similarly may have resulted from a rather high

dose of acepromazine which is not reversed by

diprenorphine. Prolonged recumbancy in ele-

phants is dangerous, especially in the sternal

position. The 5-hour lateral recumbancy in the

present Case No. 6 was unavoidable due to

radio-dart failure but such long periods of

immobilisation should be avoided if at all

possible.

The removal from its shoulder of the dart

used to inject Revivon into Case No. 6 illus-

trates the desirability of avoiding this site

when darting elephants. It is difficult to identify

a darted animal during the induction period

unless the dart remains attached to it.

The three cases in which radio-darts were

employed do not appear to offer much

encouragement regarding the usefulness of

these devices in elephant immobilisation. How-

ever, it is a very small series on which to base

a definitive judgement. The retention of these

heavy darts in the animal may be improved

by the use of a needle with a barb, rather than

a retention collar as in this series. The dis-

connection of the transmitter battery on impact

indicates the need for a modification of the

radio-dart design on the part of the manufac-

turer. Further trials incorporating these im-

provements would certainly be worthwhile, as

the delayed location of darted elephants in

thick jungle can jeopardise the animals’ lives.

The 3 or 4 ml aluminium syringe barrels

fitted with a standard Distinject NM6 63 mm

needle proved satisfactory for injecting Asiatic

elephants, providing entry of the needle was

more or less at right angles to the skin surface.

However, a longer needle (75 to 80 mm) would

be preferable, especially in cases where an

ideal angle of entry is not achieved. No barrel

breakage or distortion, of the type sometimes

experienced when plastic syringes are used on

thick-skinned species, was experienced.

ACK NO WLEDGE M E NTS

A considerable number of people assisted

in this trial series of elephant immobilisations.

We particularly wish to acknowledge support

55

JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

for the project on the part of Shri V. B. Singh,

Chief Wildlife Warden and later Chief Con-

servator of Forests, Uttar Pradesh, Shri C. B.

Singh, Chief Wildlife Warden, Uttar Pradesh

and Shri V. B. Saharia, Acting Director of the

Wildlife Institute of India. Range Officer D. D.

Kala, Forester H. S. Mandola, the late Shri

Vikram Singh, Assistant Wildlife Warden,

Wildlife Guards Lalitambar and Ratan Ram,

Shri A. Pasha and Shri M. Adil provided

Refer

Choudhury, S. R. & Patnaik, S. K. (1982) :

Story cf Agasthi the Wild Tusker. Unpublished

mimeo report. 28pp.

Ghosh, S. (1982): Drug immobilisation of ele-

phant. Unpublished mimeo report. 9 pp.

Harthoorn, A. M. (1976) : The Chemical Capture

af Animals. Bailliere Tindall, London.

Hqfmeyr, J. M. (1979) : Diary of the Deduru

Oya elephant capture, Sri Lanka. Unpublished mimeo

report. 35 pp.

Jainudeen, M. A., Bongso, T. A. & Pereira, B. M.

stalwart practical help in the field, while Miss

S. Dawson ably assisted in the preparation and

checking of equipment, the careful recording

of field data and literature acquisition. To all

of these persons we offer our sincere thanks.

Equipment for this research was provided by

United Nations Development Programme Pro-

jects IND/74/046, Crocodile Breeding and

Management and IND/ 82/003, Establishment

of the Wildlife Institute of India.

E n ce s

O. A. (1971) : Immobilisation of aggressive working

elephants ( E . maximus). Vet. Rec. 89: 686.

Jainudeen, M. R. & Khan, M. (1977): The

immobilisation and translocation of wild Asian ele-

phant, Elephas maximus in Peninsular Malaysia.

Kaijain Vet. 9(1): 1-7.

Jones, D. M. (1975): Elephant rescue in Sri

Lanka. Oryx 13: 185-190.

Young, E. (1973) : The Capture and Care of Wild

Animals. Human & Rousseau, Cape Town.

56

DISTRIBUTIONAL RECORDS FOR SOME INDIAN

TURTLES1

Edward E. Moll2 and J. Vijaya3

A nine month survey of emydid and trionychid turtles in India conducted by the

authors in 1982-1983 produced noteworthy distribution records for 10 species: Cuora

amboinensis, Geoclemys hamiltoni, Kacliuga tecta, Melanochelys tricarinata, Melano-

chelys trijuga indo peninsular is, Morenia petersi, Chitra indica, Pelochelys bibroni,

Trionyx hurum and Trionyx leithii.

Introduction

From September 1982 through June 1983

we conducted status surveys of emydid and

trionychid turtles in nine Indian states. The

primary objective of the project was to investi-

gate the conservation status and needs of

these frequently exploited species. Certain of

our findings have been reported previously

(Groombridge et al. 1983, Moll 1985a, 1985b

and in press). In the course of these surveys

we discovered several noteworthy distribution

records. These are reported herein.

Methods

Aquatic habitats were sampled with trammel

nets and hoop traps baited with fish or chicken

entrails. Fishermen were asked to bring in any

turtles incidentally caught in their nets. Local

markets and garbage dumps were canvassed

for turtles and skeletal remains respectively.

Specimens were measured to the nearest

millimeter with vernier calipers in the manner

of Carr (1952). Measurements including maxi-

1 Accepted August 1985.

2 Department of Zoology, Eastern Illinois Univer-

sity, Charleston, Illinois 61920, U.S.A.

3 Madras Crocodile Bank, Madras, India.

mum straight line carapace length (CL), cara-

pace width (CW), plastron length (PL) and

shell height (H) are given in millimeters.

Weights were taken with a spring scale to the

nearest 5g for turtles less than 5 kg and to

the nearest 0.5 kg for larger species.

Museum abbreviations include: BNHS —

Bombay Natural History Society, EOM —

E. O. Moll field numbers, FMNH — Field

Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois,

ZSI — Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta.

Results and Discussion

Emydidae

Cuora amboinensis (Daudin)

Material : Juvenile from Mazbat, nr. Mau-

galdai, Darrang District, Assam; ZSI 16690

— 52 CL, 41 CW, 47 PL, 20 H.

Smith (1931) reported Tenasserim as the

western-most limit of the range of this species.

More recent finds indicate that India is the

western limit of the range.

Biswas and Sanyal (1977) reported a speci-

men of Cuora from the Nicobar Islands. In

passing they mentioned another specimen in

the Zoological Survey of India collection from

Assam. In 1983, we had opportunity to verify

the identification of this specimen, ZSI 16690,

57

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

from near Maugaldai which is N of the Brahma-

putra River.

The specimen appears to be a juvenile near

hatchling size. The head pattern of three yellow

stripes is typical for the species. The upper-

most stripe runs from the snout above the eye

and tympanum onto the neck. A lateral stripe

extends from the snout through the eye over

the tympanum and onto the neck. The ventral

most stripe runs under the eye curving upward

to meet the lateral stripe just anterior to the

tympanum.

The plastral pattern is also typical with each

yellow scute being marked with a dark blotch.

However, the carapace pattern of three light

stripes on a dark background appears unre-

ported for the species. It comprises a broad

mid-sagittal stripe flanked by a pair of thin

lateral stripes that extend over a weak, broken,

keel along the pleural scutes.

The discovery of Cuora amboinensis in

Bangladesh (Khan 1982) supports the validity

of this locality.

Geoclemys hamiltoni (Gray)

Material : One carapace found in a garbage

dump at Bherihari Colony Village, c. 10 km

S Gandak Dam, West Champaran District,

Bihar; BNHS 1316 — 322 CL, 201 CW.

Smith (1931) reported the distribution as

Northern India from Sind to Bengal pointing

out that precise locality data were rare. The

only recent information on the range in India

is its discovery in Kaziranga National Park in

Assam (Vijaya 1983).

Reputedly taken in a forest pond, the Bihar

specimen is the largest recorded for India.

Minton (1966) reported a 350 CL specimen

from Pakistan. The finding of this turtle so

near the Nepal border suggests that the range

includes this country as well.

Kachuga tecta (Gray)

Material: Female from Narmada River,

Dhavdi Ghat, Nr Punasa, East Nimar District,

Madhya Pradesh; EOM 2784 — 183 CL, 142

CW, 172 PL, 89 H, 960 g. Two juvenile speci-

mens from Chandola Lake, nr. Ahmedabad,

Ahmedabad District, Gujarat (collected by P.

Kannan) : BNHS 1290 — 86 CL, 65 CW, 80

PL, 45 H; BNHS 1291 — 85 CL, 68 CW, 81

PL, 45 H.

Smith (1931) defined the range as northern

India including the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and

Indus River systems but mentioned its exact

limits were not clearly defined. The above

specimens extend the range from these northern

drainages into peninsular India.

MelanocheSys tricarinata (Blyth)

Material : Three specimens from a forest

near Bherihari Colony Village, c. 10 km

South Gandak Dam, West Champaran District,

Bihar: BNHS 1317, female — 138 CL, 88 CW,

116 PL, 57 H; BNHS 1318 (carapace only)

— 143 CL, 94 CW; living male — 155 CL,

100 CW, 134 PL, 67 H, 440 g.

Smith (1931) reported the range of this

species as “Chaibassa district, Chota Nagpur

(Bihar); Jalpaiguri district, N. Bengal and

Daflas and Bisnath Plain, N. Assam. Although

Smith regarded the species as a hill species,

the present specimens come from flatland

forest. These records extend the turtles range

in Bihar to the extreme northwestern corner of

the state. The close approximation of Uttar

Pradesh and Nepal to this site suggests that

the turtle occurs in these localities as well. In

fact we have seen photos of a tricarinate hill

turtle taken in Nepal’s Chitawan National Park

by Mr. Peter Jackson of the International

Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) .

58

DISTRIBUTIONAL RECORDS FOR SOME INDIAN TURTLES

Melanochelys trijuga iedopenlsularis

(Annandale)

Material : 26 specimens from Bherihari

Colony Village, 10 km S. Valmiki Nagar (at

Nepal Border), West Champaran District,

Bihar: EOM 2887 juv. — 123 CL, 89 CW,

113 PL, 51 H, 265 g; EOM 2888 male — 250

CL, 169 CW, 226 PL, 99 H, 1935 g; 24 shells

EOM 2842-2862 — 129-326 (x = 237) CL, 99-

219 (x = 165) CW.

Smith (1931) reports the range as Chota

Nagpur and Jalpaiguri District, N. Bengal. Our

records extend the range to extreme north-

western Bihar and suggest the likelihood of

its occurrence in adjacent Uttar Pradesh and

Nepal.

According to villagers these specimens came

from forest ponds and small tributaries of the

Gandak River.

Morcnia peters! (Anderson)

Material : Three specimens from an oxbow

lake and nullah, Udaipur Forest, 15 km W.

Bettah, Bihar: FMNH 224146, male im. —

113 CL, 77 CW, 101 PL, 56 H, 235 g; FMNH

224150, male im. — 100 CL, 74 CW, 88 PL,

53 H, 190 g; BNHS 1315, female im. — 128

CL, 92 CW, 116 PL, 67 H, 380 g.

Smith (1931) reported this species only from

Jessore District, Dacca and Fategarth in Ben-

gal, areas which are now in Bangladesh. In

1859, Blyth obtained 2 living specimens from

the Calcutta markets but their origin was un-

certain. Our specimens establish the occurrence

of Morenia in India and extend the western

limits of the range to northwest Bihar. Khan

(1982) reported that the turtle is associated

with riverine habitats in Bangladesh. These

specimens were found in weed choked nullah

with little current and in a more open oxbow

lake.

Trionychidae

Chitra indica (Gray)

Material : One carapace collected from the

Godaveri River at Polavaram, East Godaveri

District, Andhra Pradesh; EOM 2692 — Length

of bony carapace 353. Six carapaces from the

confluence of the Mahanadi and Kathugauri

Rivers, Nanaj, Cuttack District, Orissa: EOM

2697, 2700 — 2703 and FMNH 224234 —

Lengths of bony carapaces, 169-322 (x=210).

This large softshell has long been known

from the Indus and Gangetic drainage in India

(Smith 1931, Minton 1966). Webb (1981)

discovered two specimens collected near Dhond,

Maharashtra (190 km ESE Bombay) in the

collection of the Zoological Survey of India.

Presumably these turtles came from the

Krishna River drainage. Our specimen sup-

ports the occurrence of the narrowheaded soft

shell in peninsular India and adds the Goda-

veri and Mahanadi Rivers to the range.

Pelochelys Mferoei (Owen)

Material: Two carapaces, from the mouth

of Subarnarekha River, Udaipur Village, 3 mi.

NE Chananeswar, Balasore District, Orissa:

FMNH 224233 and EOM 2676 — Lengths of

bony carapaces, 318 and 323 respectively. One

unnumbered juvenile specimen in the Trivan-

drum Museum collected in 1909 and labelled

Trivandrum, Kerala; — 310 CL, 257 CW, 251

PL, 51 H.

Smith (1931) reported a specimen of

Pelochelys in the Indian Museum labelled Cal-

cutta but considered the occurrence of this

species in India to be doubtful. More recently

definite identifications of Pelochelys have been

made in Indian waters. Nair and Badrudeen

(1975) reported on a specimen collected at

sea near Point Calimere. Tamil Nadu. C. S.

59

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol 83

Karr found Pelochelys nesting with olive ridley

sea turtles on the Gahirmata nesting beach in

Orissa (Vijaya 1982).

The two carapaces from the Subarnarekha

River extend the known range in India to

the Orissa — West Bengal border. The speci-

men from Trivandrum indicates that this turtle

also inhabits the West Coast of India. Jerdon

(1853) mentioned that a specimen identified

as Gymnopus indicus was collected at Mahe

along the Malabar coast. Webb (1981) sug-

gested that due to the marine habitat of this

specimen that it might be Pelochelys rather

than a Chitra. The Trivandrum record adds

support to this view.

Trionyx hurum Gray

Material : One male collected in the Gandak

River, Bherihari Wildlife Sanctuary, West

Champaran District, Bihar; BNHS 1313 —

302 CL, 224 CW, 227 PL, 84 H. One imma-

ture female from the Gandak River, border

between India and Nepal, 5 mi S. Valmiki

Nagar, West Champaran District, Bihar; EOM

2863 — 277 CL, 221 CW, 198 PL, 69 H, 2185 g.

Smith (1931) listed the range as lower

reaches of the Ganges and Brahmaputra. Forty

per cent (14 of 36) of the Trionyx that we

observed in markets in Northern West Bengal

(i.e. around Siliguri and Jalpaiguri) were T.

hurum. Market vendors reported that most of

these came from the northern tributaries of the

Ganges. These specimens from the Gandak

River confirm the occurrence of peacock soft-

shells in northwestern Bihar, northeastern Uttar

Pradesh and Nepal.

Trionyx leithii Gray

Material : Two specimens from pond adja-

cent to Godaveri River, Kotipalle, East Goda-

veri District, Andhra Pradesh: FMNH 224235

female im. — 358 CL, 303 CW, 271 PL, 85

LI, 4.4 kg; living male presently at Madras

Crocodile Bank — 591 CL, 488 CW, 435 PL,

175 H, 26 kg. One living female from Balimela

Reservoir, Sileru River, Chitrakonda, Koraput

District, Orissa; currently at Nandankanan

Biological Park, Cuttack, Orissa — 500 CL,

393 CW, 388 PL, 148 H, 15 kg. Six specimens

from Cauvery River drainage:

A. Living female from Moyar River near

Palthatti, Nilgiris District, Tamil Nadu, cur-

rently at Madras Crocodile Bank — 548 CL,

410 CW, 385 PL, 125 H, 14.5 kg.

B. Two carapaces from the Moyar River,

Thivuginamadavu, 25 Km NE Gudalur, Nilgiris

District, Tamil Nadu: EOM 2789 and EOM

2790 — lengths of bony carapaces, 240 and

333 respectively.

C. One male and two carapaces from the

confluence of the Bhavani and Moyar Rivers,

Bhavani Sagar Reservoir, Periyar District, Tamil

Nadu: FMNH 224231 — 635 CL, 471 CW,

427 PL, 154 H, 19.5 kg. EOM 2816 and 2817

— lengths of bony carapaces — 364 and 271

respectively.

Smith (1931) gives the range as the Ganges

and rivers of peninsular India. On our survey

we found no T. leithii in the Ganges River

drainage. Annandale (1915a) also questioned

the validity of records of this species from the

Ganges but shortly thereafter he (1915b) re-

ported finding several young specimens in an

old collection in the Indian Museum from

Allahabad and the River Hughli.

We question these identifications as Annan-

dale’s key to the Trionyx (1912a) used in-

adequate characteristics to differentiate

between leithii and gangeticus (particularly

juveniles). The key stated that ocelli are pre-

sent on leithii juveniles and absent on

gangeticus. Ocelli, however, are present on the

60

DISTRIBUTIONAL RECORDS FOR SOME INDIAN TURTLES

young of both (see photos of juvenile gange-

ticus in Daniel (1983) and Pritchard (1979).

The key also stated that only gangeticus pos-

sessed a ridge along the inner mandible. We

have noted, however, hat this ridge seems to

develop with age and is difficult to discern in

juveniles. As all of the T. leithii records from

the Ganges are young specimens it is possible

that Annandale simply misidentified young

gangeticus. Similarly Annandale’s (1912b)

identification of young Trionyx leithii collect-

ed by Blanford from the Hasdo, a tributary

of the Mahanadi River also requires verifica-

tion.

The key in Smith (1931) follows that of

Annandale (1912a) thus perpetuating identifi-

cation errors. A better external characteristic

for identifying T. leithii is a dense patch of

flat wart-like tubercles at the mid-anterior edge

of the carapace. An additional patch of tuber-

cles usually occurs along the midline just

posterior to the bony portion of the shell. We

have found this character to be discernible on

individuals as small as 80 mm CL. Smaller

individuals still need to be examined to deter-

mine the reliability of this characteristic in early

ontogenetic stages.

Considering the uncertainty of many of the

records for this species, these new localities

seem worth publishing. The specimens from

Kotipalle on the Godaveri River verify Ander-

son’s identifications of the Trionyx collected

by Blanford (1879) on this river. The speci-

R E FE R

Annandale, N. (1912a): The Indian mud-tlrtles

(Trionychidae) . Rec. Indian Mus. 7: 151-178.

(1921b): The aquatic chelonia

of the Mahanadi and its tributaries, ibid. 7: 261-266.

(1915a): Notes on some Indian

Chelonia. ibid. 11: 189-195.

men from Balimela reservoir confirms the

occurrence of the species in Orissa albeit from

the Godaveri not the Mahanadi drainage. The

Balimela turtle is unusual in coloration being

very dark dorsally (almost black) with the

plastron (usually white) also being suffused

with dark pigment. The specimens from the

Moyar and Bhavani Rivers represent the first

records of the genus from the Cauvery River

drainage.

Acknowledgements

Many officials and individuals aided in the

surveys from which these observations were

made. We particularly want to thank Shri

Samar Singh, Joint Secretary for Wildlife and

his staff for providing introductions and help-

ing us to obtain necessary permits in the states

visited. Our collegue Shri Satish Bhaskar pro-

vided invaluable assistance on all aspects of

the survey. Shri Mark Davidar led the expedi-

tion to the Moyar and Bhavani rivers to obtain

specimens of Trionyx leithii. A special thanks

to Rom and Zai Whitaker who provided living

and laboratory space for the project at the

Madras Crocodile Bank. The project was fund-

ed through an Indo-American Fulbright

Fellowship to Moll and by a grant from the

New York Zoological Society to Moll and

Whitaker. Bombay Natural History Society

kindly served as Moll’s host institution in

India.

,N CES

— (1915b) : Herpetological notes

and descriptions, ibid. 11: 331-337.

Biswas, S. & Sanyal, D. (1977): Notes on the

reptilia collection from the Great Nicobar island

during the Great Nicobar expedition in 1966. Rec.

Zool. Sur. India. 72: 107-124.

61

JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Blanford, W. T. (1879) : Notes on a collection

of reptiles and frogs from the neighbourhood of

Ellore and Dumagudem. /. Asiat. Soc. Bengal. 48,

part 2 (2) : 110-116.

Carr, A. F. (1952): Handbook of turtles. The

turtles of the United States, Canada, and Baja Cali-

fornia. Cornell Univ. Press, Ithaca, New York.

Daniel, J. C. (1983) : The book of Indian rep-

tiles. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay.

Jerdon, T. C. (1853): Catalogue of reptiles in-

habiting the peninsula of India. J. Asiatic Soc. Ben-

gal, 22: 462-479.

Groombridge, B., Moll, E. O. & Vijaya, J. (1983):

Rediscovery of a rare Indian turtle. Oryx. 17: 1 30-

134.

Khan, M. A. R. (1982) : Chelonians of Bangla-

desh and their conservation. /. Bombay nat. Hist.

Soc. 79(1): 110-116.

Minton, S. A. (1966) : A contribution to the

herpetology of West Pakistan. Bull. American Mus.

Nat. Hist. 134(2): 27-184.

Moll, E. O. (In Press) : India’s freshwater turtle

resource with recommendations for management.

Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. Centenary Seminar Publi-

cation. Bombay.

(1985a): Freshwater turtles. Sanc-

tuary. 5(1) : 1-59, 66.

(1985b) : Estuarine turtles of tropi-

cal Asia: Status and management. Papers for pre-

sentation. Vol. 2: Estuarine and marine reptiles.

Symposium on endangered marine animals and

marine parks. Marine Biol. Assoc. India. Paper 21 :

1-24.

Nair, R. & Badrudeen, M. (1975) : On the occur-

rence of the soft-shell turtle Pelochelys bibroni

(Owen) in marine environment. Indian J. Fish. 22

(1+2): 270-274.

Pritchard, P. (1979) : The encyclopedia of tur-

tles. TFH Publications. Neptune, New Jersey.

Smith, M. A. (1931) : The fauna of British

India, including Ceylon and Burma. Reptilia and

Amphibia. Vol. I. Loricata, Testudines. Taylor and

Francis, London.

Vijaya, J. (1982) : Pelochelys bibroni from

Gahirmata Coast, Orissa. Hamadryad 7(3) : 17.

(1983): Range extension for the spot-

ted pond turtle, Geoclemys hamiltoni. ibid. 8(2) :

20.

Webb, R. G. (1981): The narrow-headed soft-

shell turtle, Chitra indica (Testudines: Trionychidae)

in peninsular India. Rec. Zool. Surv. India. 79: 203-

204.

62

SOME OBSERVATIONS ON WILD BOAR (SUS SCROFA)

AND ITS CONTROL IN SUGARCANE AREAS OF

PUNJAB, PAKISTAN1

M. M. Shafi and A. R. Khokhar1 * *’

Introduction

In Punjab, the wild boar ( Sus scrofa ), lives

principally in four types of habitat, (1)

riverain ‘belas5 ( Saccharum spontaneum and

S. munja grasses), (2) canal side plantations

( Prosopis juliflora , Dalbergia sissoo and Acacia

arabica ), (3) forest plantations (Acacia sp.,

Dalbergia and Prosopis juliflora) and (4) fields

of mature sugarcane and other tall agricultu-

ral crops which afford sufficient shelter to wild

boar.

The distribution of wild boar in Pakistan

has been favoured during the past 30 years

due to development and spread of irrigation

and irrigated forest plantations which provide

excellent cover to this animal. The absence of

predation pressure due to vanishing of large

carnivores — lions and tigers (Roberts

1977) and Muslim abhorrence towards wild pig

have also contributed to their spread in

Pakistan.

Development of sugar industry in the past

has encouraged large scale cultivation of sugar-

cane crop in the country. This has also led to

the proliferation of wild pigs and their damage

to sugarcane crops. Mirza (1978) has estimat-

ed an annual loss of about Rs. 5,01,22,842.00

1 Accepted October 1984.

2 Vertebrate Pest Control Laboratory, Pakistan

Agricultural Research Council, P. O. Box 8401,

Karachi University Campus, Karachi-32, Pakistan.

sustained to agricultural crops by wild pig in

Faisalabad District alone.

Inspite of the past reports on severe infesta-

tion of wild pigs and their losses to agricultural

crops and forest nurseries in Pakistan, there is

no authentic publication on the use of

poison baits to check their population. Except

for some preliminary information on the bio-

logy of wild pig in Pakistan (Taber 1964,

Roberts 1977, Smiet et al. 1979) there have

also been no previous study on the population

dynamics of the pest. Inayatullah (1973) has

given a good account of wild boar distribution

in Pakistan.

Some of the pig control methods tried in

the past in Pakistan were shooting, hunting by

dogs, use of hog cholera virus, electric fences,

announcement of bounties and some use of

various insecticides. All these control methods

did not bring any substantial reduction in the

pig population.

Study Area

Wild boar control trials were conducted in

sugarcane fields at Chiniot in Sargodha District

(31°43'N, 72° 59' E) along the western side

of River Chenab and at Manan Wala in

Sheikhupura District (31°47'N, 74° 15' E) on

either side of Gogera Branch Canal. The main

crops grown between the sugarcane fields were

wheat (3-4 inch high), potato, sweet potato,

peas and other vegetables.

63

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Materials and Methods

Estimation of sugarcane damage :

Damage estimate of sugarcane crop was made

in randomly selected 25 hectares plot each of

the three mainly grown varieties, i.e. Triton,

BL4 and L118. A transect line bisecting the field

was established. After every 5 steps number

of both damaged and undamaged canes within

approximately a m2 area along the transect

was noted down.

Estimation of pig population :

Crude estimate of pig population living in

the dense cover of sugarcane fields were made

using the following formula:

M N

O

Where M = Number of wild pigs counted

while feeding at the baiting stations at sun

down on the last day of pre-treatment feeding.

N = Total area of sugarcane fields which

on survey was found to be infested with

wild boars.

0= Area of sugarcane fields, selected out

of the total infested area, from where

wild pigs were drawn out to feed at

the baiting stations.

Bait and baiting stations :

Wild boars freely fed on various forms

and combinations of cereal bait typically for

5 nights (Table 1). The bait was laid in 5-6

metres long and 25-30 cm deep mud plastered

trenches excavated in the open between the

sugarcane fields. The idea of laying the bait

in rows was to offer equal chances to all pigs

irrespective of their age, sex and strength to

feed at the baiting stations. This is because

the pigs have intraspecific dominance hierarchy

(Roberts, pers. comm.) and smaller and weaker

males would be afraid to approach near the

bait stations (Singer et al 1981) unless it was

carefully distributed in rows along shallow

channels.

On the 6th night the pigs were fed on poison

bait made in water solution of 1080 ( Sodium

fluoroacetate) and 1081 ( Sodium fluoro-

acetamide ) at 0.03% and 0.035% concentra-

tion, respectively. The activity index of the

animals was determined on the basis of the

bait intake on the last day of pretreatment and

post treatment feeding undertaken for one

night. The bait take was measured in the early

morning and replenished in the evening.

Dead pigs were collected from the sugar-

cane fields. Some data on age, sex and repro-

duction were taken before burying them to

avoid secondary effect of the poison on non-

target wild life.

Results

Pig population in the total sugarcane area

of Chiniot and Manan Wala was respectively

estimated to be 1063 pigs in 3237 hectares

(32.2/km2) and 2037 pigs in 2832 hectares

(72.1 /km2).

The per cent damage in three varieties of

sugarcane was: Triton 35.4%, BL4 8.3% and

Lug 6.7%. Triton was found to be more soft

and sweet than the other two varieties.

Results of the trials are summarized in Table

1. There is gradual increase in the bait takes,

the maximum being on the last day of pre-treat-

ment feeding. The addition of molasses incre-

ases the bait intake. The wild boar activity

reduced sharply by 100% on all but two baiting

stations where it was 83.3% and 80%. Pig

64

WILD BOAR AND ITS CONTROL

Table 1

Results of the poison baiting trials against wild pig ( Sus scrofa ) in sugarcane fields of Punjab areas

* only place where 1081 was used.

behaviour on these two baiting stations, on

query, was found to be disturbed by human

presence near the baiting stations.

Out of the 124 dead pigs collected,

53 were males and 71 were females.

The age ratio was 47 adults to 77 juveniles

separated on the basis of body stripes (Diong

1973, Stegeman 1938). All the juveniles were

maned. Most of the young were found lying

near the adult females close to their bedding

places made of dry grasses. No adult male was

found near the juveniles or the adult females

Altogether, the number of adult females in

the collection was significantly higher than the

adult males (x2 = 9.4; P < 0.01, 1 df, Sokal

and Rohlf 1969). In the juveniles, 40 were

males and 37 were females indicating a nearly

even sex ratio (Table 2).

Table 2

Sex ratio of adult and juvenile wild boar

COLLECTED FROM THE SUGARCANE FIELDS OF PUNJAB

a.b. Each with one black individual.

65

5

JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 83

Discussion

Inayatullah (1973) and Smiet et al (1979)

respectively estimated 27 pigs per sq. mile

(10.4/km2) in Changa Manga forest, Punjab

and 9.6 pigs per sq. mile (3. 7 /km2) in forest

tracks of Thatta in southern Sind. Our esti-

mates in sugarcane area are very high com-

pared with the above estimates. These appa-

rently high population estimates could be attri-

buted to large scale immigration of wild pig

from perpetual cover of forest, riverine ‘belas’

and canal side plantations into thick cover of

sugarcane crop. The collection of all the dead

pigs from within the sugarcane fields and pre-

sence of most of the adult females with juve-

niles just on or near the elaborate bedding

places suggest that they had lived in sugarcane

fields for quite some time before our poison

baiting trials. Obviously, the sugarcane crops

provide shelter to these animals only up to

their harvest after which they seem to migrate

again to their perpetual covers.

The wild pigs not only use sugarcane crop

as protective cover but also cause heavy damage

to it. Our damage estimate work showed that

more soft and sv/eet varieties of sugarcane

are comparatively much more vulnerable to

pig attack.

The gradual increase in the consumption of

plain grain suggests that the pigs are slowly

assembling at the baiting stations, the maxi-

mum number being on the last day. The re-

sults of these trials indicate that 1080 ( Sodium

fluoroacetate (0.03%) with cereal grains and

molasses, if used under strict supervision fol-

lowing pre-treatment feeding, can safely cause

a sharp reduction in the wild pig populations

living in undisturbed and restricted areas.

Significantly less number of adult males than

adult females in the collection shows that the

probably move greater distances and have

larger seasonal home ranges than females

(Singer et al 1981).

62% of the total collection comprised of

stripped and maned juveniles. The mane ap-

pears when the pig reaches the age of 1-2

months (Stegeman 1938). The stripes disappear

when the young are 5 months old (Diong

1973). The presence of mane and stripes on

the young therefore suggests that they were

not less than 1-2 months and more than 5

months in age. Taking into account the col-

lection month (December) of the juveniles and

their possible range of age, they appeared to

have been born some time between July and

October-November. This is supported by

Roberts (1977) who reported that most of the

litters of wild pig in Pakistan are born between

July and October when the vegetational cover

is at its maximum due to monsoon. Even in

India majority of reproduction of wild pig

takes place shortly before and after the rains

(Prater 1971).

Acknowledgements

Thanks are due to the Management of Fauji

Sugar Mills, Sangla Hill and the local farmers

who assisted us during this work. Thanks are

also due to Mr. T. J. Roberts for critically

going through the manuscript.

References

Diong, C. H. (1973): Studies of the Malayan Inayatullah, C. (1973): Wild boar in West

Wild pig in Perak and Johore, Malay. Nat. J. 26: Pakistan. Forest Institute, Peshawar. Bulletin No. 1.

120-151. PP. 1-17.

66

WILD BOAR AND ITS CONTROL

Mirza, Z. B. (1978) : Estimation of the popula-

tion of wild boar, Sus scrofa cristatus and the

damage caused by this animal to agriculture in

Faisalabad District. Report of Project, Pakistan

Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad, pp. 1-17.

Prater, S. H. (1971): The Book of Indian Ani-

mals. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay.

Roberts, T. J. (1977) : The mammals of Pakis-

tan. Ernest Benn Ltd., London.

Singer, F. J., Otto, O. K., Tipton, A. R. &

Hable, C. P. (1981): Home ranges, movements and

habitat use of European Wild boar in Tennessee.

/. Wildl. Manage. 45: 343-353.

Smiet, A. C., Fulk, G. W. and Lathiya, S. B.

(1979): Wild boar ecology in Thatta District: a

preliminary study. Pak. J. Zool. II. 295-302.

Stegeman, L. C. (1938) : The European wild boar

in the Cherokee National Forest, Tennessee. /.

Mammal 19: 279-291.

Sokal, R. R. & Rohlf, F. J. (1969): Biometry.

W. H. Freeman and Company, San Francisco.

Taber, R. D., Sheri, A. & Ahmed, M. (1963):

Mammals of the Lyallpur Region, West Pakistan.

J. Mammal. 48: 392-407.

67

OBSERVATIONS AND COMMENTS ON BIRD

CASUALTIES AT MALSHEJ GHAT HOLIDAY CAMP,

MAHARASHTRA1

Sunjoy Monga2 and Ulhas Rane3

(With two text-figures)

The MTDC resthouse at Malshej Ghat is

situated at Ghatmatha (top of the ghats),

above a deep funnel shaped valley towards

the west, at an altitude of about 750 m. It

is located in Murbad taluka of Thane district.

Lying on the Deccan plateau of the Sahyadri

mountain range, the Ahmednagar and Pune

districts are adjacent to it, also on the plateau

the ghat region and the valley are well clothed

with moist deciduous forests. The enormous

plateau, however, is fairly barren with patches

of scrub forest. Harishchandragadh fort (alt.

1450 m) is located to the north of this plateau,

rising about 700 m higher than the plateau.

A BNHS nature-camp was organised to this

area on 23-24 June, 1984. The SW monsoon

had only recently set and while driving through

the ghat on 23rd June morning, we could see

that a thick mist enveloped the top of the ghat.

By about 10.00 hrs when we reached the top,

the mist had suddenly cleared and there was

sun light. There was an extremely strong

westerly wind, blowing at a velocity which we

estimated to be about 80 km/hr. The average

temperature was 25 °C and relative humidity

about 70-80%. When we went to the edge of

1 Accepted July 1984.

2 45/46 Madhurima, M. G. Road, Kandivli (W),

Bombay 400 067.

3 Laxmi Narayan Bhavan, G. D. Ambedkar Marg,

Bhoiwada, Parel, Bombay 400 012.

the plateau to have a look at the deep valley,

we realised that not only did these strong winds

make walking difficult, but also observing

through binoculars was not easy.

The resthouse staff informed that such strong

winds are characteristic of this area at this

time of the year. It is the massive wall of the

Harishchandragadh mountain in the north which

is the major barrier to the SW winds. These

winds thus get chanelled at an incredible

velocity through the forested valley and are

driven upwards, chilly and biting towards the

plateau.

Less than ten minutes after having reached

here, a Little Brown Dove (Streptopelia sene-

galensis ) was caught, its forehead badly in-

jured. Within a few minutes of this, a dead

bird of the same species was located. Its fore-

head was injured too and the neck was broken.

Within another half hour we spotted a Chest-

nut Bittern ( Ixobrychus cinnamomeus), crouch-

ing on the rocks. On picking it up we found

that its left leg was broken and hanging loose.

A short while later we were standing over

the funnel where the winds gushed at their

fastest. We observed a Whitebacked Vulture

( Gyps bengalensis) taking-off from the cliff-

edge on our approach. So strong was the wind

that the bird could not properly orient itself

and almost turned turtle as it rose. On reach-

ing a good height it regained some control and

68

BIRD CASUALTIES AT MALSHEJ GHAT

UJ

<

eb

E

69

ULHA5 BANE

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

was carried by the wind in a north-easterly

direction, towards Harishchandragadh. Some

time later, it was seen soaring along with an-

other vulture. Flocks of Cattle Egret ( Bubul -

cus ibis) also could not control themselves well

in flight, being carried sideways by the strong

wind for considerable distances.

The happenings in our first hour-and-half

around the resthouse at Malshej ghat greatly

aroused our curiosity and we decided to care-

fully look around the entire area.

By 1900 hrs that evening we had located

twenty-two more dead birds of nine species,

in addition to above-mentioned Little Brown

Dove and Chestnut Bittern. Some of these were

found at a considerable distance from the rest-

house.

The area continued to be lashed by very

strong winds, such as we had been experienc-

ing throughout the day. A thick mist now

rapidly covered the entire area and by 1945 hrs

visibility had been reduced to just a few

metres. The weather and the visibility conti-

nued to deteriorate. We had all given up hopes

of a good night drive when at 2055 hrs a male

Rain Quail ( Coturnix coromandelica ) was seen

banging on the big glass window to the left of

the main entrance on the eastern face of the

resthouse. The bird would flutter up along

the glasspane hitting frantically with its beak

and forehead. Soon it was exhausted and in

our hands. A few minutes later a Yellowlegged

Button Quail ( Turnix tanki ) female was caught

while hitting the same window and at 2115 hrs

a Green Pigeon (Tver on phoenicoptera) was

caught on the same side. By 2145 hrs we had

hold of nine birds. Eight of these were caught

on the eastern face of the resthouse and one

on the western side. One of the Little Brown

Doves was actually caught when it hit the

porch-light ©n the ceiling on the eastern side.

Two females of the Yellowlegged Button

Quail and the male of the Rain Quail died

within an hour of being caught. Of the remain-

ing six live birds, we put colour rings on two

Little Brown Doves, a Green Pigeon and a

Button Quail male. These birds were then re-

leased at about 2240 hrs, almost 200 m south

of the resthouse. We took this step primarily

to find out if the birds would orient themselves

back to the resthouse in the thick mist and so

late at night.

At 2250 hrs we went for what turned out to

be an unsuccessful drive in the jeep, the power-

ful searchlights specially fitted on the top

hardly able to penetrate the dense mist. On

returning we got hold of all available torches

and went for another walk around the rest-

house. On the western side we flushed two

quail (spp?) and one egret-like bird at

2335 hrs. At this juncture we decided to settle

in for the night rather than have some more

dead birds due to our flushing them. Some

other members flushed several other birds

around the resthouse. A lot of birds certainly

appeared to roost in the immediate vicinity of

the resthouse, and all flushed birds flew in the

direction of the lights and the resthouse which

could however be seen only very faintly.

The whole of the night of 23rd June con-

tinued to be thickly mist-laden and it was no

different the next morning at 0610hrs, except

for the accompanying light drizzle. By 0800hrs

that morning we had further located nine dead

birds and these included a Common Quail

{Coturnix coturnix) and a Drongo Cuckoo

(Surniculus lugubris)

For the next few hours the mist did not

clear and there was intermittent rain. We

located several severed heads of Watercock

{Gallicrex cinerea) and also two dead Fruit

Bats ( ~P ter opus spp?), one of which had a

70

BIRD CASUALTIES AT MALSHEJ GHAT

severe head injury. By 1130 hrs the mist was

lifting and a very strong wind had once again

commenced. Another search in the neighbour-

hood of the resthouse resulted in six more

dead birds. Three of these were found in small

cisterns nearby, all on the eastern side.

This brought our overall tally of dead birds

found during the past twentyfour hours to

thirty-nine. Of the nine we had caught late in

the evening of 23rd June, three had died and

another Chestnut Bittern was seen (UR &

others) smashing on to the rocks and getting

killed, thus bringing the total death-count to

forty-three. Fourteen species of birds were

encountered (See notes on birds).

On the afternoon of 24th June we flushed

some Yellowlegged Button Quail west and NW

of the resthouse. On flying with the wind (to-

wards east) the birds could not control them-

selves and one of them actually banged head-

on into the wall of the resthouse while an-

other almost did so. The bird which banged

into the wall on dropping to the ground looked

somewhat dazed, but as one of us approached

to catch it, it flew off haphazardly, almost

smashing into another wall on the way.

We may also mention here that Dr. Meena

Haribal and some other BNHS members who

visited this area between 1900 hrs on 7th July

and 0800 hrs the next morning encountered

over thirty birds of fifteen species within and

around the resthouse premises. Dr. Haribal

felt convinced that these birds most of which

were alive and in a badly battered and ex-

hausted condition, had come into the resthouse

for refuge from the bad weather. Almost all

of these birds were perched in the vicinity of

lights in the verandah, porch and outside the

resthouse. Besides the fourteen species we

found, five additional species of birds were also

seen (MH). Include in bird notes, following

comments.

One of us (UR) visited this place again

on 9th July from 1030-1530 hrs. Though mon-

soon conditions prevailed, the wind was not

very strong. One Little brown dove and two

Whitebreasted waterhens were found dead.

Inquiries with the resthouse manager revealed

that large number of deaths occured during

the first week of monsoon only and the staff

also informed that this phenomenon has been

observed only since the beginning of this mon-

soon. Though the number of casualties had

considerably reduced after the first week, many

birds continued to come into and around the

newly-constructed building for shelter from the

harsh weather late in the evening. Twenty five

quails (of several species) and seven White-

breasted waterhens (all alive) were reportedly

caught within the building premises and sent

to Pune in the first week of July. Many shelter-

ing birds are also kept as pets or sold to

villagers.

Comments

At this time of the year, when the SW mon-

soon settles in, Malshej Ghat and the surround-

ing plateau experiences weather characterised

by very high velocity winds and heavy mist

and fog (locals pers. comm.).

We found that strong winds take a apprecia-

ble toll of birds. The fact that we saw White-

backed vultures and Cattle egrets unable to fly

easily in such weather clearly explains that even

strong fliers cannot maintain control while

flying in such conditions. Most of the bird

species which we encountered and which form-

ed a majorfty-on the casualty-list, are weak-

fliers and it is therefore understandable that

these are much more susceptible to strong

winds.

71

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

72

LOCATION 6HOW9N® THE PLACES WHIRS D6AD

&JRDS WERE POUND, C™£1 to scale.)

ULNA'S BANE.

BIRD CASUALTIES AT MALSHEJ GHAT

We feel safe to hazard a guess that most

birds did not appear to die at first impact. In-

fact, as we observed during late-evening, the

birds bang continuously, fluttering along the

windows, hitting their beak and forehead fran-

tically on the glass. Once exhausted, and

probably also badly injured, they remain

crouched within or around the building and

meet their end. During the night of 7th July,

Dr. Haribal and others saw in their torchlights,

over thirty exhausted and injured and battered

birds within the building premises.

While we did find dead birds all around the

resthouse during the day (and it is highly pro-

bable that many of these were injured during

night), eight of the birds were caught

during the night (2055-2145 hrs on 23rd June)

on the eastern face of the building (these ap-

peared to have come in from the direction

opposite to that of the wind flow). But it is

important to note here that there was hardly

any wind during this period of the evening

which however, was characterised by very

thick mist, visibility being reduced to hardly

four metres.

Very bad weather appears to be highly

damaging to birds and it seems that most

birds come towards the resthouse as a refuge

from the adverse weather. On particularly

misty nights the number of birds coming in

seems to be high, and there is no doubt that

such bad weather is one of the most impor-

tant factors in this phenomenon. But it is all

the more suprising that ‘if on thickly mist-

clogged nights the birds come into the building

and around it for refuge’, then how do they

spot the resthouse building or the lights in

the very thick mist where we checked that

visibility to normal human eye was hardly a

few metres ? On such nights, do many more

birds crash into the building walls and lights

more by accident, thereby resulting in higher

casualties on such nights? Moreover, while

birdwatching in the forest and on the plateau

we came across only three of the nineteen

species of birds that had had accidents here.

This resthouse is the only lighted spot for

a considerable distance around here. Accord-

ing to the staff, the birds are attracted by

insects which prefer to remain around the

various lights during late evening and nights.

Thus coming for the insects, the birds smash

themselves on the fixed glass windows through

which they actually see the insects flying around

the lights. But we found this a highly uncon-

vincing explanation. Most of the (almost all)

birds we found are strictly diurnal which at

this time of the evening/night should be roost-

ing. So how are these birds attracted by in-

sects at the lights? The only crepuscular bird.

Chestnut Bittern (/. cinnamomeus ) was seen

smashed to the ground in broad daylight. A

nightjar ( Caprimulgus spp?), badly exhausted

and tattered was seen on 7th July night

(MH). It was also observed that most of these

birds are not insectivorous and this further

rules out the possibility of their being attract-

ed by insects at lights.

It seems highly probable that the bad weather

conditions (heavy mist, strong winds and

cold) and the new light sources would toge-

ther be responsible for this phenomenon. If

the birds are attracted solely by the lights and

hence they bang themselves to death on the

building walls (as reported for Lunglei by

K. R. Rao and R. Zoramthanga (1976, JBNHS

75(3): 927-28), then casualties should have

been reported by the staff before the monsoon’s

outbreak. The staff of the resthouse con-

vinced us that birds came only after the SW

monsoon had set in. But most of the birds

caught on 23 rd June night were at windows

73

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

through which the lighted interior was visible

and one of the Little Brown Doves was actual-

ly caught after it had hit the ceiling light in

the porch. Also, most of the exhausted and

injured birds seen during the night of 7th July

were in the vicinity of lights (MH).

It would be interesting to ascertain if having

curtains on these windows would in any way

result in a reduction in the number of

casualties.

A majority of the birds caught during the

night (23 rd June) were on the eastern /South-

eastern side of the building. A good number of

exhausted and injured birds were seen in the

vicinity of lights on this side on 7th July night

(MH). From this one can infer that most of

these birds had come from the surrounding

forests and plateau on the east and southeast.

Birds may have also come from the area bet-

ween the resthouse building and the valley,

but it is doubtful if some had come from the

valley itself. For not only is the valley too deep

but also the wall face of the valley is very

steep and if at all birds are lifted by the

strong winds most of these would bang on the

valley walls and are unlikely to be lifted

almost a thousand feet up, to the plateau.

Moreover, the valley did not appear to have

the misty and overcast weather conditions of

the plateau. It was also observed that most

of the birds we caught or found dead prefer

a habitat typical of the plateau on the east

and some were undoubtedly from the forest

which is well represented on the southeast,

and also in the valley.

K. R. Rao and R. Zoramthanga, writing on

“The phenomenon of nocturnal flights of some

resident birds at Lunglei, Mizoram, NE India”

(1972, JBNHS 75(3): 927-28) report more or

less similar observations on bird casualties

(occurring annually) by dashing to death

against the walls of a building. They report

that,

a) Birds dash against the building in late

September and early October when the

area receives late monsoon rains,

b) the phenomenon occurs when the sky

remains overcast without clouds — i.e.,

without moonlight and with fog and mist.

A little drizzle appears favourable,

c) the birds usually fly from west to east,

during 7-10 p.m.

They further write “the building, at 1210 m

amidst rugged mountain ridges has three pro-

minent lights on the same plane in front of

the building and being of high intensity, the

lights are seen at night even from far-off dis-

tances, The birds are attracted by the lights

and dash themselves headlong against roofs

and walls and thus get killed.”

Our observations are more or less similar

to those of Rao & Zoramthanga (1976) and

Salim Ali (1962, The BNHS/WHO Bird

Migration Study Project, JBNHS 59(1): 128-

130), except that these were in late Septem-

ber-early October and Salim Ali (1962) re-

ports for Haflong that the birds came in from

the north.

Some of our observations and findings bear

striking resemblance to those of Rao & Zoram-

thanga (1976) and Salim Ali (1962).

i) Almost all species are resident birds :

Same holds true for the Malshej Ghat

phenomenon also. Almost all species that

we and the subsequent party encountered

in the accidents are resident, except per-

haps Drongo Cuckoo ( Surniculus lugu-

bris). Common Quail (C. coturnix). Rain

Quail ( C . coromandelica ) and Indian

Pitta (Pitta brachyura). These birds are

either considered migrant, passage or

breeding for Maharashtra state (Huma-

74

BIRD CASUALTIES AT MALSHEJ GHAT

yun Abdulali — Checklist of Birds of

Maharashtra, 1981).

ii) Green Pigeons (T reron spp.) attracted

to the light in considerable numbers :

We encountered T. phoenicoptera bang-

ing on the door during late evening on

23rd June. The resthouse staff informed

us that they had come across this bird

on several earlier occasions in the season,

while Dr. Haribal also came across an

exhausted and injured bird of this species

on the night of 7th July.

iii) Almost all species are diurnal (Salim

Ali, 1962)

Except for the Chestnut Bittern (crepus-

cular) and a Nightjar ( Caprimulgus spp?)

all other species encountered are strictly

diurnal.

Very few birds were observed when actually

birdwatching on the scrub-covered plateau

stretching on the east and northeast. It is

noticeable that very few of these were among

those found dead or caught during the night.

The birds we saw were:

Cattle egret ( Bubulcus ibis), in flocks

Common Bee-eaters ( Merops orientalis), in

small parties. Juveniles birds also seen.

Greyheaded Mynas ( Sturnus malabaricus) , in

small parties

Brahminy Mynas ( Sturnus pagodarum), in

small parties

Whitebreasted Waterhen ( Amaurornis phoeni-

curus)

Jungle Babbler ( Turdoides striatus somervillei) ,

two small parties, noisy

Redvented Bulbul ( Pycnonotus cafer ), only

twice seen

Pond Heron (Ardeola grayii), two birds seen

Whitenecked Stork ( Ciconia episcopus)

Little Egret ( Egretta garzetta)

Lark (spp?), Whitebacked Munia ( Lonchura

striata), a pair.

In the forested hill towards the south and

southeast we observed the following birds:

Whistling Thrush ( Myiophonus horsfieldii)

lora ( Aegithina tiphia)

Spotted Babbler (Pellorneum ruficeps)

Redwhiskered Bulbul ( Pycnonotus jocosus)

Kestrel ( Falco tinnunculus)

Red Spurfowl ( Galloper dix spadicea), heard

only

Alpine Swift ( Apus melba), Purplerumped Sun-

bird ( Nectarinia zeylonica)

Whitethroated Ground Thrush ( Zoothera

citrina), Blackwinged Kite ( Elanus caeru-

leus), Indian Robin ( Saxicoloides fulicata).

Pied Bushchat ( S . caprata burmanica)

Following are notes on birds which we found

dead or caught during the night. Also included

are Meena HaribaFs observations.

1 . YELLOWLEGGED BUTTON QUAILS

(Turitlx tanks)

Maximum number of birds found dead and /

or caught were of this species. When flushed

during the day, these birds on flying towards

east (in wind direction) crashed head-on into

resthouse wall. Females commoner than males.

Five of this species found injured on 7th July

night around the building (MH).

2. JUNGLE BUSH QUAIL

(Perdicuia aslatica)

One dead male found on 23rd June afternoon.

One dead and four exhausted birds of this

species within and around the building on 7th

July night (MH). No sighting of any during

the day.

3. COMMON QUAIL

(Coturnix coturnix)

One dead male found on 24th June morning.

This bird is considered a winter migrant to

75

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Maharashtra state (Humayun Abdulali, Check-

list of the Birds of Maharashtra, 1981) and

the present finding of a male at this time of the

year happens to be the only record of this

bird for the month of June. By about mid-

March most birds are supposed to have de-

parted.

4. RAIN Or BLACKBREASTED QUAIL

(Cotumix coromandelica)

One male was caught at 2055 hrs on 23rd June.

The next morning we found two dead females,

evidently having died sometime during the

night. The male died within an hour of being

caught. Later in the BNHS it was found to

have enlarged testis, thus indicating that it was

in breeding condition. This happens to be the

only record of a male C. coromandelica in

breeding condition found in the neighbour-

hood of Bombay. The bird is considered a

migrant by Humayun Abdulali (Checklist

1981). The two females are also in the BNHS

collection presently.

5. RUFOUS TURTLE DOVE

(Streptopelia orientalis)

One was found dead on 23rd June.

6. SPOTTED DOVE

(S. chinensis)

Five dead birds found. Several of these birds,

in a exhausted and battered condition were

seen in the resthouse premises during the night

of 7th July (MH). Not one bird was seen

while birdwatching either on the plateau or

in forest.

7. LITTLE BROWN DOVE

(S. scnegalensis)

Two found dead and two were caught on the

evening of 23rd June. None seen while bird-

watching on the plateau or in the forest, and

none were seen on 7-8 July (MH) either.

One of these birds was caught on 23rd even-

ing after it actually hit a ceiling light in the

porch. One dead seen on 9th July (UR).

8. RED-TURTLE DOVE

(S. tranquebarica)

Two seen within resthouse premises on 7th

July night (MH). One of these was badly in-

jured and was caught.

9. GREEN PIGEON

(Treron phoenicoptera)

One was caught on 23rd June. According to

resthouse staff they came across this pigeon

on several occasions during this monsoon. One

exhausted and injured bird of this species seen

during night of 7th July (MH). Green pigeons

( Treron spp.) have been reported by Rao &

Zoramthanga (1976) and Salim Ali (1962).

10. INDIAN PITTA

(Pitta brachyura)

Six dead located in immediate vicinity of

building, on 23rd and 24th June. During the

night of 7th July, five injured and exhausted

birds were seen sheltering in and around the

building (MH). P. brachyura is considered a

passage migrant.

1 1 . WHITEBREASTED WATERHEN

(Amaurornis phoenicorus)

We located four dead waterhens on 23rd and

24th June. Several seen around water-covered

localities on the plateau. One found dead near

kitchen on 7th July night (MH). Two dead

seen on 9th July (UR). Seven of these birds

were reportedly caught and taken to Pune in

the first week of July (Resthouse staff pers.

comm.).

12. SLATYLEGGED BANDED CRAKE

(Rallina eurizonoides)

On 23-24 June four dead birds were located

around the resthouse. One of these was in a

76

BIRD CASUALTIES AT MALSHEJ GHAT

cistern. A male that was taken to the BNHS

had enlarged testis. None seen or heard while

birdwatching on the plateau or in forest.

13. WATERCOCK

(Gallicrex cinerea)

One dead female located. Several severed heads

of this bird were also located.

14. KOEL

(Eudynamys scolopacea)

One dead male found near building on 23rd

June. A dead female was found on 7th July

(MH). We never saw or heard any koel.

15. DRONGO CUCKOO

(Somiculus lugubris)

One dead bird found on the morning of 24th

June. The bird had undoubtedly died the pre-

vious night and was found below a light on

the eastern side of the resthouse. None seen

or heard. Neither did we see or hear any

Drongo spp. An exhausted and injured S .

lugubris (drongo-cuckoo) was seen on the

night of 7th July (MH). This particular bird

was a juvenile according to Dr. Haribal.

16. COMMON HAWK CUCKOO

(Cuculus varies)

One actually came and hit the torch Mr.

Amonkar was holding at around 2230 hrs on

7th July, while looking out for birds that night.

According to him, the bird was sitting on the

building roof and appeared to have been at-

tracted by the sudden flash of the torchlight.

17. NIGHTJAR

(Caprimulgus spp?)

One injured and tattered bird seen within rest-

house premises late on the night of 7th July

Refei

Abdulali, Humayun (1981) : Checklist of the

Birds of Maharashtra. Bombay, pp. 10.

Ali, Salim (1962) : The BNHS/WHO Bird Migra-

tion Study Project. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 59(1) :

(MH). Though there is habitat suitable

for nightjars, we did not come across any.

18. THREETOED FOREST KINGFISHER

(Ceyx erithacus)

One bird was spotted late in the evening on

7th July sitting on the toilet window (MH).

This bird later flew into the toilet and was

caught. This species is presumed to be a

breeding migrant to this area, coming at the

onset of the monsoon and remaining here to

breed.

19. POND HERON

(Ardeola grayii)

One seen immediately outside the resthouse on

the night of 7th July (MH). Several seen

when bird watching on the plateau on 23 rd and

24th June.

20. SNIPE

(Cape! la spp?)

A snipe was seen at a puddle behind the

kitchen on the night of 7th July (MH). All

Capella species are winter migrants to penin-

sular India and as such this happens to be a

unusual sighting of a snipe.

Some of the birds that we encountered were

collected and taken to the BNHS.

We recommend that this unusual pheno-

menon be further investigated and checked

into, both during and after the monsoon.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to all the BNHS members

who participated in this camp. Thanks are also

to Dr. Meena Haribal and Mr. Bibhas Amon-

kar for making us available their observations.

ENCES

at Lunglei, Mizoram, NE-India. ibid. 75(3) : 927-928.

128-130.

Rao, K. R. & Zoramthanga, R. (1976): Pheno-

menon of nocturnal flights of some resident birds

77

TAXONOMIC REVISION OF THE GENUS GAGE A

SALISB. (LILIACEAE) IN INDIA AND ADJOINING

REGIONS1

Syamali Dasgupta and D. B. Deb2

(With four text-figures)

Taxonomic revision of the genus Gagea Salisb. (Liliaceae) in India and adjoining

regions comprising 12 species and 1 extra-typical variety including 1 new species is

presented in this paper.

5 species hitherto known as distinct have been reduced to synonymy and 1 to a

variety. 5 species are reported for the first time for this region.

Taxa are described with synonyms, original citations, and types. Key to the

species is given. Distribution and phenology

are cited.

Introduction

Salisbury (1806) separated 7 species so long

placed in the genus Ornithogalum by Linnaeus

(1753, 1754), Pallas (1773, 1776), Schmidt

(1794), Willdenow (1799), for their “distinc-

tion in habit and fructification”. He named the

new genus Gagea after Sir Thomas Gage who

was indefatigable in collecting rare European

plants and was liberal in distributing them.

This genus differs from Allium and allied

genera in the absence of involucre of bracts.

Reichenbach (1828) did not accept this

generic status but retained it as subgenus under

Ornithogalum in the tribe Scilleae. Schultes

(1829) accepted the generic distinction and

placed the genus near Ornithogalum in the

tribe Asphodelae. Link (1829) proposed the

generic name Ornithoxanthum for some of the

species placed by Salisbury in his Gagea .

Lindley (1836) merged Ornithoxanthum Link

with Gagea. Lindley (l.c.), Kunth (1843),

1 Accepted November 1983.

2 Botanical Survey of India, Howrah.

of the taxa are traced. Exsiccata studied

Bentham (1883), Boissier (1882) and Hutchin-

son (1973) placed the genus under the tribe

Tulipeae whereas Endlicher (1836) placed

it under suborder Tulipaceae near the

genera Tulipa and Lloydia for basifixed late-

rally dehiscing anthers. Baker (1874) removed

the genus from the tribe Tulipeae for the

absence of leaf on the scape and umbel inflo-

rescence but did not deal with it subsequently.

For the same reason Engler (1888), Krause

(1930) and Grossheim (1935) placed it near

Allium in the subfamily Allioideae. In the

meantime, some new genera namely Hornungia

Bernhardi (1840), Bubillaria Zuccarini (1843),

Plectostigma Turczaninow (1844), Solenarium

Dulac (1867) allied to Gagea were described

separating some species from the existing

genera or for accommodating newly described

species. These genera have later been merged

with the genus Gagea by subsequent workers

like Engler (l.c.) and Krause (l.c.).

Salisbury (1806) while publishing the genus

Gagea did not indicate the type species.

Of 7 species he considered for this genus two

78

TAXONOMIC REVISION OF THE GENUS GAGEA

were described by Linnaeus (1753) of which

G. minima (L.) Ker-Gawl. is more represen-

tative of the generic description particularly in

“Flores corymbosis. Pedunculus . . . plus minus

decompositus . . and is therefore selected

as the lectotype of the genus.

This revision is based on study of speci-

mens extant in CAL, BSIS, BSD, DD, LWG,

K, BM, L, G.

Gagea Salisb. in Konig & Sims, Ann. Bot.

2: 555. 1806; Kunth, Enum. PL 4: 233. 1843;

Benth. in Benth. & Hook. f. Gen. PI. 3: 819.

1883; Boiss. FI. Or. 5: 203. 1882; Engl, in

Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. Teil. 2. Abt.

5: 60. 1888; Hook. f. FI. Brit. Ind. 6: 355.

1892; Collett, FI. Simlens. 529. 1902; Krause

in Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam. ed. 2.

15a: 318. 1930; Grossh. in Komarov, FI.

U.S.S.R. 4: 61. 1935; Flutchins. Fam. FI. PL

754. 1973. Omit hoxant hum Link, Handb. 1:

161. 1829. Hornungia Bernh. Flora 23: 392.

1840 (Type: H. circinata Bernh.). Bubillaria

Zucc. in PI. Hort. Bot. Moench. 3: 229. t. 2.

1843 (Type: B. gageoides Zucc.). Plectostigma

Turcz. in Trautv. PI. Imag. FI. Ross. 9. t. 2.

1844 (Type: P. pauciflorum Turcz.). Boissiera

Haenseler ex Willkomm & Lange, Prodr. FI.

Hisp. 1: 218. 1861. Solenarium Dulac., FI.

Hautes Pyr. 117. 1867.

Leeto type: Gagea minima (L.) Ker.-Gawl.

{Linn 428.3 LINN).

Herbs gregarious, 5-22 mm long, bulbous;

bulbs small, ovoid, formed of single fleshy

radical leaf base and 1 or 2 concentric reduced

previous radical leaf bases, outer scales scari-

ous or fibrous; bulbels 1, 2 or numerous.

Radical leaf 1 or 2, about as long as the in-

florescence, lanceolate, linear or terete. Stem

terete, glabrous, leafy at the base of the inflo-

rescence or all over. Cauline leaves 1 to many,

lanceolate or linear, passing to bracts above.

often with 1 to many bulbils at the axils.

Inflorescence terminal, corymbose or scorpioid

cyme or umbel, sometimes flowers solitary.

Flowers 5-15 mm long, campanulate; pedicel

varies in length; bracts small, linear, at the

base of the pedicels or branching of the pedun-

cle. Perianth biseriate, yellow inside, glossy,

rarely whitish outside with a broad green band,

sometimes reddish or dark purple, persistent

to fruit, more or less indurescent and accres-

cent, lanceolate or oblanceolate, acute or

obtuse; veins parallel, diverging. Stamens 4-9

mm long; filaments linear or subulate, attach-

ed at the base of the perianth; anthers globose

or oblong, basifixed, latrorse. Pistil 4-11 mm

long; ovary sessile or stipitate, obovoid to

oblong, trilobed; style as long as or longer than

ovary, triquetrous; stigma truncate, trilobed.

Capsules 4-8 x 3-6 mm, broadly obovoid, trilo-

cular, trilobed with persistent perianth. Seeds

many, deep brown, 1.3 x 1-1.5 mm, trique-

trous or semirotund, compressed or not,

wingless.

Distribution : 70 species are distributed in

temperate Eurasia (Airy Shaw 1973). 12

species and 1 extratypical variety are distri-

Afghanistan and Pakistan in the west through

Kashmir, Nepal to Sikkim in the east (Fig. 1).

Range of Variation

1 or 2 bulbels develop at the axil of the

buted in Indian subcontinent extending from

radical leaf as in G. anisanthos, G. toppinii,

G. reticulata. In some cases large number of

bulbels are produced inside the mother bulb,

such as G. lutea, G. improvisa, G. persica.

Radical leaf is generally solitary, in some

species as in G. anisanthos , G. toppinii, there

are two radical leaves by the germination of

one bulbel. Radical leaves vary from linear to

79

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Fig. 1. Map showing distribution of Gagea Salisb. in India and adjoining region.

lanceolate or broadly lanceolate. It is linear in

G. improvisa, G. anisanthos, G. toppinii, G.

reticulata, G. seti folia, G. olgae, G. bulbifera;

lanceolate to broadly lanceolate in G. lutea,

G. kunawarensis, G. persica. In addition to

radical leaves there are cauline leaves which

can be distinguished from bracts in G. persica,

G. kunawarensis, G. anisanthos, G. improvisa,

G. toppinii and G. lutea. Lower part of the

stem is mostly naked, and cauline leaves are

formed in the upper part below the inflores-

cence. But in G. pamirica, and G. bulbifera,

stem is leafy throughout. Cauline leaves are

gradually smaller towards the inflorescence and

change to bracts. It is lanceolate or linear and

parallel-veined.

Inflorescence of Gagea varies from species

to species. In some species inflorescence is a

corymbose panicle with repeatedly branching

peduncles, distinct internodes and solitary

bract at the point of ramification, as in G.

minima, G. persica. Compound corymb is re-

duced to simple raceme in G. bulbifera where

intemodes are distinct and pedicels are long.

Next stage of reduction has taken place in the

internodes. Longer and older pedicels are close

to the younger shorter ones by reduction of

the internodes above and form a condensed

scorpioid cyme, looking like a fascicle as in

G. lutea. Further reduction in this direction

has led to formation of the umbel in G. reti-

culata. Umbel with older flowers below and

young ones above shows its affinity with

Allium.

80

TAXONOMIC REVISION OF THE GENUS GAGEA

Perianth is yellow with green outside in G.

lutea, G. reticulata , G. setifolia, G. improvisa

etc., yellow with brownish outside in G. olgae,

and green in G. bulbifera. Perianth lobes are

broadly lanceolate with obtuse apex in G. lutea

or lanceolate with acute apex in G. reticulata .

Anthers are broadly oblong in G. kunawar-

ensis or oblong in G. reticulata. Style is as

long as ovary or longer.

Capsules are generally broadly obovoid and

trilobed. In G. anisanthos capsules are deeply

triquetrous and concave at the top. Seeds are

of two types: globose and subcompressed, on

the basis of which Pascher (1905) divided the

genus into two subgenera.

Inflorescence often bears large number of

small bulbils in the axils of bracts, instead of

producing flowers or flowering branch. As such

bulbil bearing inflorescence of G. kunawarensis

is different from the flower bearing inflores-

cence when they are sometimes treated as 2

distinct species. In normal flowering, bulbels

are produced inside the bulb. It appears that

production of bulbels inside the bulb is inverse-

ly proportional to the production of bulbils in

the inflorescence. There may be one bulbil at

the axil as in G. kunawarensis. Bulbil often

produces radical leaf while still attached to

the inflorescence.

As such formation of capsule and seed set-

ting is reduced in the genus and reproduction

is chiefly carried on by vegetative means.

Chromosome number : Chromosomes of dif-

ferent species of Gagea growing in Indian

subcontinent have been studied by various

workers. Chromosome number of G. lutea (L.)

Ker-Gawl. has been reported as 2n = 72 by

Tischler (1934), Westerguad (1936), Malik

(1961), Masicek & Hronda (1974), Vachova

& Majovsky (1978), and Vachova (1980); as

2n = 36 by Leute (1974), 2n = 96 and 132

by Kaul & Gohil (1973). Chromosome num-

ber has been reported as 2n = 24 in G. reti-

culata (Pall) Schults f. by Malik & Sehgal

(1959), Heyn & Dafni (1971), Kaul & Gohil

(l.c.); as 2n = 48 in G. persica Boiss by Mehra

& Sachdeva (1971) and 2n = 72 (in G. stipi-

tata Merckl. = G. persica) by Kaul & Gohil

(l.c.) and G. persica Boiss. var. kashmiriensis

(Turrill) Dasgupta & Deb as 2n - 24 by Kaul

& Gohil (l.c.). 48 and 60 chromosome num-

bers have been reported by Kaul & Gohil

(l.c.) in G. kunawarensis (D. Don) Grenter

(=G. dshungarica Regel, G. gageoides (Zucc.)

Vved.).

This wide occurrence of polyploidy appears

to be the reason for less fruit formation and

less seed setting.

Infrageneric classification of the

genus Gagea

Salisbury (1806) while postulating the genus

was in favour of subdividing Gagea but did

not do so. C. Koch (1849) divided the genus

into 2 groups: Holobulbos and Didymobulbos

without indicating the rank, on the basis of

number of daughter bulbs present inside the

bulb and origin of scape inside. W.D.J. Koch

(1857) divided the genus into 3 sections, on

bulb characters, without giving names. Two of

these tally with the grouping of C. Koch and

third one was later named by Boissier (1882)

as sect. Tribolbos. Boissier (l.c.) divided the

genus into 4 sections on the bulb and seed

character. He validated the names of the sec-

tions given by C. Koch and W.D.J. Koch and

erected a new section Platyspermum separat-

ing some species from Holobulbos.

Pascher (1904 & 1905) divided the genus

Gagea into two subgenera Eugagea and Hor-

nungia on the basis of seed character. He

81

6

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

subdivided the subgenus Eugagea into 4 sec-

tions following 3 of W.D.J. Koch and adding

a new section Monophyllos distinguished from

Didymobulbos (Pascher 1904). He also sub-

divided the subgenus Hornungia into section

Platyspermum Boiss. (1882) and Plerostigma

(Plectostigma Turcz. 1844), and further sub-

divided the sections into subsections etc.

Pascher (l.c.) was followed by Krause (1930)

in dividing the genus into subgenera and

sections.

Terracciano (1905) followed Pascher (l.c.)

in recognizing subgenera on seed character but

named the subgenus Hornungia Pascher as

Gageastrum Terrace. He divided the subgenera

into sections, subsections and series of his own.

Subgenus Eugagea Pascher was divided into

two sections Nudiscaposae and Foliatae on

number and arrangement of leaves and inflo-

rescence characters. Subgenus Gageastrum

Terrace, was divided into sections V erticillatae

and Anthericoides on bulb and scape charac-

ters, the latter being placed under the genus

Lloydia.

Grossheim (1935) in Flora U.S.S.R. follow-

ed Terracciano (l.c.) in dividing the subgenus

Eugagea Pascher into sections, subsections,

series etc. But named the other subgenus as

Platyspermum (Boiss.) Miscz. (1913) (syn.

Hornungia Pascher, Gageastrum Terrace.) and

divided this into sections, subsections, series

etc. following Pascher (l.c.). Series, subseries,

cycles etc. divisions proposed by Pascher,

Terracciano and Grossheim were not validly

published.

Gagea is a genus reproducing mostly by

vegetative means such as bulbs, bulbels and

bulbils, and scarcely producing seeds. As such

in many cases identification on seed character

is not feasible.

Moreover, it is observed that many species

so long kept in the subgenus Platyspermum

(Boiss.) Miscz. ( Hornungia Pascher) are more

allied to the subgenus Eugagea Pascher

(= Gagea), leaving aside the type.

Gagea gageoides (Zucc.) Vved. kept in the

subgenus Platyspermum is bulbiliferous form

of G. dshungarica Regel kept in the other sub-

genus Eugagea, the details of which along with

nomenclatural aspect are discussed later.

12 species of Gagea distributed in the Indian

subcontinent are grouped in two subgenera

Gagea and Hornungia (Bernh.) Pascher.

Key to the subgenera sections and

species of Gagea

la. Flowers in loose panicle of corymb or scorpioid

cyme or raceme or solitary. Bracts scattered on

the inflorescence subgen. Gagea

2a. Inflorescence loose panicle of corymb or

racemose. Cauline leaves if more than 1,

alternate sect. Gagea

3a. Cauline leaves and bracts distinguisha-

ble. Stem naked below the inflorescence

4a . Ovary sessile

5a. Radical leaf linear to lanceo-

late. Anthers rotund or broadly

oblong. ... 1. G. kunawarensis

5b. Radical leaf linear. Anthers

oblong 2. G. improvisa

4b. Ovary stipitate 3. G. persica

3b. Cauline leaves and bracts indistinguish-

able. Stem not naked below the inflo-

rescence.

6a. Leaves without bulbiferous base.

Perianth segments obtuse

4. G. olgae

6b. Leaves with bulbiferous base.

Perianth segments acute

7a. Flowers 3-4, in raceme. Pedi-

cel long 5. G. bulbifera

7b. Flowers solitary, terminal. Pedi-

cel short 6. G. pamirica

2b. Inflorescence scorpioid cyme. Cauline leaves

2, subopposite sect. Holobulbos

8a. Cauline leaves lanceolate or broadly

lanceolate. Outer perianth glabrous in-

82

TAXONOMIC REVISION OF THE GENUS GAGEA

side. Plants bigger (12-20 cm)

9a. Ovary and capsule not depressed

above. Radical leaf 1

7. G. lutea

9b. Ovary and capsule depressed above.

Radical leaves 2 . . . 8. G. anisanthos

8b. Cauline leaves filiform. Outer perianth

villous inside. Plants smaller (6-8 cm)

... 9. G. toppinii

lb. Flowers in umbel, rarely solitary. Bracts at the

base of the inflorescence . . . subgen. Hornungia

10a. Cauline leaves straight, linear-lanceolate,

many

11a. Inflorescence terminal, longer (up to

6 cm long) ... 10. G. reticulata

lib. Inflorescence lateral, shorter (up to 2

cm long) ... 11. G. setifolia

10b. Cauline leaves curved, linear, few

... 12. G. chitralensis

Gagea Salisb. subgen. Gagea

Ornithoxanthum Link, Handb. 1: 161. 1829.

Bubillaria Zucc. in PI. Hort. Bot. Moench 3:

229. t. 2. 1843 (Type: B. gageoides Zucc.).

Gagea Salisb. sect. Platyspermum Boiss. FI. Or.

5: 203. 1882, pro parte, minore. Gagea Salisb.

subgen. Eugagea Pascher in Lotos 24: 110.

1904; Terrace, in Soc. Bot. France Mem. 2.

ser. 4, 5: 11. 1905; Krause in Engl. & Prantl,

Nat. Pflanzenfam. ed. 2. 15a: 318. 1930;

Grossh. in Komarov, FI. U.S.S.R. 4: 69. 1935.

Gagea Salisb. Subgen. Hornungia (Bernh.)

Pascher in Lotos 24: 115. 1904, pro G. bulbi -

fera and pro subsect. Stipitatae Pascher. Gagea

Salisb. sect. Nudiscaposae Terrace, in Soc. Bot.

France Mem. 2. ser. 4, 5: 11. 1905; Bull.

L’Herb. Boiss. ser. 2, 5(11): 1062. 1905;

Grossh. in Komarov, FI. U.S.S.R. 4: 69. 1935.

Lectotype: G. minima (L.) Ker-Gawl.

Flowers in loose panicle of corymb or scor-

pioid cyme or raceme or rarely solitary and

terminal. Bracts scattered in the inflorescence,

single at the base of each of the ramification

of the peduncle. Cauline leaves distinct and

bigger than the bracts or indistinct and gra-

dually decrease in size upwards; generally at

the base of the inflorescence, often all over

the stem.

Distribution : Throughout the range of the

genus.

Gagea Salisb. sect. Gagea

Gagea Salisb. sect. Didymobolbos Koch in

Linnaea 22: 226. 1849, pro parte; Boiss. FI.

Or. 5: 203. 1882; Pascher in Lotos 24: 111.

1904; Krause in Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflan-

zenfam. ed. 2. 15a: 318. 1930. Gagea Salisb.

sect. Platyspermum Boiss. FI. Or. 5: 203. 1882,

pro G. persica; Pascher in Lotos 24: 118. 1904,

pro subsect. Stipitatae. Gagea Salisb. sect.

Monophyllos Pascher in Lotos 24: 113. 1904;

Krause in Engl. & Prantl, Nat. Pflanzenfam.

ed. 2. 15a: 319. 1930. Gagea Salisb. sect.

Nudiscaposae Terrace, pro parte — Unispat ha-

ceae Terrecc. in Bull. L’Herb. Boiss. Ser. 2,

5(11): 1062. 1905.

Lectotype: Gagea minima (L.) Ker-Gawl.

Inflorescence much branched, loose, panicle

of corymb. Cauline leaf 1 or 2 when alternate,

below the inflorescence. Bracts at the base of

each of the ramification of the division of the

peduncle. Often lower flowers are replaced by

bulbils at the axils of the bract. Seeds sub-

compressed.

Distribution : Eurasia through Afghanistan,

Pakistan to N.W. Flimalayas from Kashmir to

H. P.

I. G. ktmawarensis (D. Don) Grenter in

Israel Journ. Bot. 19: 155. 1970.

Basionym: Lloydia kunawarensis D. Don in

Royle 111. 388. t. 93. f. 3. 1840 (Type:

Chango in Kunawar, Royle LIV !). Bulbillaria

gageoides Zucc. PI. Hort. Bot. Moench 3:

230. t. 2. f. 1. 1843 (Type: Lebanon, 1838,

Roth s.n. — Plate seen). Gagea persica Boiss.

83

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Diagn. Ser. 1, 7: 108. 1846, pro parte (Type:

Iran-Esfahan, Aucher 5404 BM — duplicate).

G. dshungarica Regel in Act. Hort. Petrop.

6: 513. 1879 (Type: China-Dzungarian, 3-6000

ft, A. Regel LE); Pascher in Lotos 24: 113.

1904 & in Bull. Nat. Mosc. 4: 360. 1906;

Grossh. in Komarov, FI. U.S.S.R. 4: 75. 1935;

Wendelb. in Koie & Rechinger, Symb. Afghan.

4: 159. 1958; Kachroo et al. FI. Ladak. 157.

1977, syn. nov. G. gageoides (Zucc.) Vved.

FI. Turkm. 1(2): 261. 1932; Grossh. in

Komarov. FI. U.S.S.R. 4: 110. 1935; Wendelb.

in Koie & Rechinger, Symb. Afghan. 4: 159.

1958, syn. nov. (Fig. 2).

Herbs 6-10 cm long; bulbs 0.6-1. 5 x 0.4-1

cm, profusely rooting below; outer scales

fibrous, dull brown; bulbels present or absent.

Radical leaf 1, 6-10 x 0.4-0. 8 cm, linear to

lanceolate. Stem 4-6 cm, more or less as long

as the leaf, terete, flexuous, naked below the

inflorescence. Cauline leaf 1, below the inflo-

rescence, 2-5 x 0.4-0. 7 cm, linear, lanceolate

or broadly lanceolate. Inflorescence panicle of

corymb with many flowers or with many axil-

lary bulbils and few flowers, each at the tip of

a branch. Flowers golden yellow inside, pale

green outside, campanulate, 5-6 mm long;

pedicel 0.5-1 cm long, filiform; bracts many,

2-20 x 1-5 mm, linear-lanceolate, each enclos-

ing a cluster of (10) bulbils except the top one.

Perianth segments 4-6 x 1.5-2 mm, oblanceo-

late or elliptic, obtuse; veins 3-7. Stamens

about as long as the perianth; filaments 3-5 x

0.5 mm, linear; anthers 0.7-1 x 0.7 mm,

rotund or broadly oblong. Ovary sessile, 1.5-3

x 1-2 mm, obovoid, trilobed; style 2-2.5 mm;

stigma 0.5 mm broad, truncate. Capsule obco-

nical.

Flowering: April- August.

Fruiting: June-August.

Ecology: Dry slopes, open fields, gravelly

places in foothills and in the middle mountain

zone, on edges of snow line, at an altitude of

1700-3700 m. Bulbils are developed in the

drier desert regions.

Distribution : W. Asia, C. Asia, Afghanistan

and Pakistan to N. W. Himalayas in India.

(Fig. 1).

Note: On study of the protologues, plates,

and specimens identified by Wendelbo, Stewart,

and Bornmuller, no significant distinction

could be established amongst Lloydia kuna -

warensis D. Don, G. gageoides (Zucc.) Vyed.

and G. dshungarica Regel, except the presence

of numerous axillary bulbils in G. gageoides.

G. dshungarica and L. kunawarcnsis with many

flowered panicle of corymb without floral

bulbils are conspecific.

Specimens collected by T. Thomson from

N.W. Himalayas extant in CAL, BM, L, show

both types — bulbils bearing G. gageoides and

without bulbils G. dshungarica in the same

gathering. Both of these represent the same

species, and one is the bulbuliferous form of

the other.

It is further observed that the branching

of the inflorescence is often inhibited and flower

production is reduced when numerous bulbils

are produced. It is also observed that when

axillary bulbils are developed in the inflores-

cence the underground bulbs do not develop

bulbils inside, whereas many bulbels are pre-

sent in the mother bulb when inflorescence is

devoid of bulbil. Presence of bulbel inside the

bulb is directly correlated with the absence

of axillary bulbils. Aucher 5404 — Syntype of

G. persica seen in BM is bulbuliferous — G.

kunawarensis.

Herbarium specimens examined: India:

Kashmir, Baramula, G. Watt s.n. (BSIS);

Kungwalan, T. A. Rao 9296 (BSD) & G.

Saran & party s.n. (LWG); Liddar valley.

84

TAXONOMIC REVISION OF THE GENUS GAGEA

Inayat 25765 (K); N.E. of Murgan Pass, G.

L. de La G. Fuller 15 (K); Tanmarg, P.

Timins 22 (BM); Pir Panjal, J. E. Winter-

bottom 109 (CAL); Balti, J. E. Winterbottom

(CAL), T. Thomson s.n. (CAL, BM, L).

Pakistan: Darkot, S. Bowes Lyon 8085 (K);

Chitral, J. O. A. S taint on 2338 (BM) & S. A.

Bowes Lyon 623 (BM); Kagan valley, Inayat

20214 & 20215 (CAL).

Iran: Kerman, J. Bornmuller 4740 (G); G.

Shahrud — Bustan (Turam protected area)

K. H. Rechinger 50431 (G); Monte Elwend,

Th. Pichler (G, CAL).

2 . G. improvisa Grossh. in Komarov, FI.

U.S.S.R. 4: 737. 2. 44. f. 1. a-c. 1935 (Type:

Turkey- Ordubad, April, 1933, T. Heideman

6 Prilipko s.n. BAK). (Fig. 2).

Herbs 14-25 cm long; bulbs 2-2.5 x 0.8-1. 5

cm; outer scales brown or brownish black,

coriaceous; bulbels numerous inside the outer

scales; sheath 0.5-0. 7 cm long. Radical leaves

1, 14-22 x 0.4-0. 5 cm, as long as the plant

or longer, linear. Stem 10-15 cm long, glabrous,

naked below. Cauline leaves alternate, distant,

pass to bract, lower 3-5 x 0.4-0. 5 cm, linear-

lanceolate. Inflorescence panicle of corymb of

2-10 flowers. Flowers yellow, greenish outside,

8-12 mm long; pedicels 1-2 cm long; bracts

0.5-1 cm long, linear-lanceolate. Perianth

segments 8-12 x 3-4.5 mm, elliptic, obtuse,

7 open veined. Filaments 4-5 . 5 x 1 mm, linear;

anthers =h2xl mm, oblong. Ovary sessile,

4-4 . 5 x 1 . 5-2 mm, oblong; style 4-4 . 5 mm

long; stigma 1 mm broad, trilobed.

Flowering : June.

Distribution : Turkey to Afghanistan and

Pakistan at 3830 m in altitude. (Fig. 1).

Herbarium specimens examined : Pakistan:

Chitral, S. W. Bowes Lyon 887 (BM). Afgha-

nistan: Badghis, /. E. T. Aitchison 1131

(CAL).

3. G. persica Boiss. Diagn. PI. Or. Nov. 1(7):

108. 1846, pro parte (Type: Iran — Perse-

polis, Kotschy 237 — BM! CAL! G! K —

photo!); Boiss. FI. Or. 5: 210. 1882; Collett,

FI. Simlens. 599. 1902; Pascher in Lotos 24:

118. 1904; Bamber, PI. Punj. 499. 1916. G.

stipitata Merckl. ex Bunge in Mem. Acad.

Petersb. 7: 512. 1851 (Type: Crimen-Bakali,

Lehmann 1385 S) & in Ic. Regel Izv. Obshch.

Lyubit. Estest. Antr. 1. Ethnogr. 21(2): 116.

t. 19. 5-8, 1876; Regel in Act. Hort. Petrop.

3: 291. 1875; Grossh. in Komarov, FI. U.S.S.R.

4: 109. 1935; Wendelb. in Koie & Rechinger,

Symb. Afghan. 4: 160. 1958. G. afghanica

Terrace, in Bull. Soc. Ort. Pelermo 2: 4. 1904

(Type: Turkmenistan-Krasnovodsk, P. sinten-

sis 6 (G); Turkestan, Ajak, Korolkow LE;

Afghanistan, Harirud valley, Aitchinson 1130

K); Pascher in Bull. Nat. Mosc. 14: 372. 1906;

Grossh. in Komarov, FI. U.S.S.R. 4: 107. 1935;

Wendelb. in Koie & Rechinger, Symb. Afghan.

4: 158. 1958, syn. nov.

Herbs 14-23 cm long; bulbs 0.6-1 x 0.4-0. 8

cm, profusely rooting below; outer scales dull

brown, fibrous, bulbels inside. Radical leaf 1

or 2, 10-19 cm x 1 mm, linear; as long as

inflorescence. Stem 11-23 cm long, terete,

glabrous or hairy, naked. Cauline leaves 2,

alternate, 1-5 x 0.2-0. 4 cm, lanceolate or

linear-lanceolate, glabrous or pilose. Inflores-

cence 3-14 cm long, loose panicle of corymb

3-10 flowers. Flowers yellow or white within,

greenish or pinkish outside; pedicel 1-3.5 cm

long, filiform; bracts 1-10 x 1-2 mm, linear,

often hairy; sometimes flowers are replaced

by bulbils. Perianth segments 4-11 x 1.5-3 mm,

lanceolate, glabrous, acute, membraneous at the

margin; veins 5-7, open, midvein prominent.

Stamens nearly as long as perianth; filaments

3-5 x 0.5 mm, linear; anthers 1-2 x 0.7-1. 5

mm, broadly oblong, or rotund, dorsifixed,

3T ; i

85

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Fig. 2. Gagea kunawarensis (D. Don) Grenter — a) whole plant with flowers; b)

whole plant with axillary bulbils; c) bulbils; d) flower showing different parts;

e) capsule with persistent perianth. G. improvisa Grossh. f) whole plant; g) bulb

scales removed, showing base of radical leaf and stem, outer scale and bulbels.

G. persica Boiss — h) whole plant, G. olgae Regel — i) whole plant.

TAXONOMIC REVISION OF THE GENUS GAGEA

latrorse. Ovary stipitate, 2-3 x 1.5-2 mm, obo-

void or obovoid-oblong, trilobed; style 2-3 mm

long, linear; stigma trilobed. Capsules 5-6 mm

long, obovoid, stipitate. Seeds many, subcom-

pressed.

Note : Description and plate of G. stipitata

Mercklin ex Bunge in Ic. Regel tally perfectly

with the Kotschy 237.

Other syntype of G. persica , Aucher Eley

5404 is a different plant. G. afghanica was

proposed by Terracciano as distinct from G.

stipitata for perianth purple outside. But this

is not tenable. As such, G. stipitata and G.

afghanica are reduced to synonyms of G.

persica Boiss.

Key to the varieties of G. persica

la. Stem glabrous. Radical leaf 1

... a. var. persica

lb. Stem pilose. Radical leaves 2

... b. var. kashmiriensis

a. var. persica (Fig. 2).

Bulbels many inside the outer scales of the

bulb. Radical leaf 1, linear. Stem glabrous.

Cauline leaves 2, alternate, glabrous, lower

bigger. Flowers yellow or white within and

greenish or pinkish outside, 5-8 mm long.

Capsules obovoid, stipitate. Seeds many, sub-

compressed.

Flowering: April- July.

Fruiting : Not seen.

Ecology : Damp plains sometimes on meta-

morphic rocks at an altitude of 1524-3960 m.

Distribution : S. Russia, W. Asia to India

in Kashmir and H. P. (Fig. 1).

Note : Capsule and seed characters were

taken from Grossh. (l.c.).

Herbarium specimens examined : India:

Kashmir, T. Thomson 29 (CAL, L, BM),

Jaeschke s.n. (CAL), A. Meebold 4115 (CAL),

B. O. Coventry 1319 (K) & P. N. Kohli 36

(K). Himachal Pradesh, Spiti, Stolickza s.n.

(CAL); Lahul, Stolickza s.n. (CAL), Bhatta -

charya 48602 (BSD), Capt. Hay (CAL) &

Walter Koeltz (K). Pakistan: Murdar, J. H.

Lace 3533 except one specimen (G. setifolia)

(CAL); Quetta, J. F. Duthie 8725, 8726

(CAL), and 8727 (CAL, K); Chitral, S. A.

Bowes Lyon 624 (BM). Iran: Persepolis,

Kotschy 237 (CAL, G); Kernan-Kuhi, /.

Bornmuller 4746 (G). Turkmenia: Askhabad,

P. sintensis 43 (G).

b. G. Persica Boiss. var. kashmiriensis

J (Turrill) Dasgupta et Deb comb, et stat. nov.

Basionym: Gagea kashmiriensis Turrill in

Kew Bull. 1928: 77. 1928 (Type: Kashmir,

Srinagar, 5700 ft. Canon stokoe 2 holotype K

— Photo ! ) .

Daughter bulb 1, inside the outer scales of

the bulb. Radical leaves 2, linear. Stem hairy.

Cauline leaves 2, alternate, pilose, lanceolate.

Flowers yellow, 7-11 mm long. Capsules not

seen.

Flowering : March- July .

Altitude : 1524 m.

Distribution: Kashmir (Fig. 1).

Herbarium specimens examined: India:

Kashmir, Rev. Jaeschke s.n. (CAL), Meebold

4115 (CAL), T. Thomson 29 (CAL, L), and

B. O. Coventry 1445 (L).

4. G. olgae Regel in Act. Hort. Petrop. 3:

292. 1875 (Type: Uzbekistan — Samarkand,

O. Fedchenko LE; Turkestan — Korol kow 8t

Krause LE); Merklin ex Bunge in Ic. Regel

Izv. Obsheh. Lyubit. Estest. Antr. i. Etnogr.

21(2): 116. t. 18. f. 13-17. 1876; Pascher in

Lotos 24: 117. 1904 & in Bull. Nat. Mosc.

4: 327. 1905; Grossh. in Komarov, FI. U.S.S.R.

4: 106. 1935; Wendelb. in Koie & Reching.

Symb. Afghan. 4: 159. 1958. G. jaeshkei Pas-

cher in Lotos 24: 128. 1904 (Type: India —

Himachal Pradesh, Keylang LE) & Bull. Nat.

Mosc. 4: 371. 1905, syn. nov. (Fig. 2).

Plants 5-15 cm long; bulbs 1-2 x 0.5-1. 5

87

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

cm, ovoid with a collar above and profuse

roots below; outer scales fibrous; collar up to

3 cm long. Radical leaf 1, longer than stem,

6-18 x 0.1-0.25 cm, linear, glabrous. Stem

5-15 cm long, terete, glabrous or puberulous,

leafy above. Cauline leaves alternate, linear;

gradually diminishing in size upwards, not dis-

tinct from the bracts. Inflorescence terminal,

1-3 -flowered, raceme. Flowers 8-18 mm long,

campanulate, bright yellow, often brownish

outside; pedicel 0.3-2. 5 cm; bracts leafy.

Perianth segments 8-18 x 2.5-3 mm, lanceo-

late or oblong, obtuse, scarious at margin;

veins 3-7 diverging. Filaments ± 4 x 0.5 mm,

linear; anthers =+= 2 x 0.7 mm, linear —

oblong. Ovary sessile, 3 x 1.5 mm, oblong;

style 4x0.5 mm, linear; stigma trilobed. Cap-

sules 6-8 mm long, obovoid.

Flowering : May- J une.

Ecloogy : Stony hillsides, at an altitude of

3500-4200 m.

Distribution : C. Asia to Pakistan and India

in W. Himalayas (Fig. 1).

Herbarium specimens examined : Pakistan:

Chitral, Bowes Lyon 876, 733 & 1006 (BM);

J.D.A. Stainton 2495 (BM);

5. G. foulbSfera (Pall.) Salisb. in Konig &

Sims. Ann. Bot. 2: 557. 1806; Schultes f. in

Roem. et Schultes, Syst. Veg. 7: 552. 1829;

Ledeb. Ic. PI. FI. Ross. 4: 142. 1829; Kunth,

Enum. PI. 4: 243. 1843; Boiss. FI. Or.’ 5: 210.

1882; Pascher in Lotos 24: 115. 1904 & in

Bull. Nat. Mosc. 4: 369. 1906; Miscz., FI. Cauc.

Grit. Ser. 3, 4: 174. 1913; Grossh. in Koma-

rov, FI. U.S.S.R. 4: 108. 1935.

Ornithogalum bulbiferum Pall. Reise 2(2):

736. t. Q. f. 2. 1776 (Type: U.S.S.R. —

Astrakhan, Pallas LE; CAL — isotype !

Linn. Suppl. 199. 1781; Reichenb. Icon. FI.

Germ. t. 117. 1846.

Plants small; bulbs 5-16 x 4-8 mm, outer

brownish, fibrous, profusely rooting. Radical

leaf single, 3-16 x 0.15 cm, linear. Stem 5-18

cm long, slender, glabrous. Cauline leaves

3-4, alternate, 1.5-6 cm, linear, shorter than

inflorescence, gradually diminishing in size up

the stem, bulging at base with a small bulbil

inside the swelling. Inflorescence 3-4-flowered

raceme. Flowers campanulate; pedicel 2-4 cm

long, slender, nodding; bracts leafy. Perianth

segments-outer green, inner greenish, 8-13 x

7 . 5-2 mm, lanceolate, scarious at margin, acute

at apex, veins 7, diverging, midvein distinct.

Stamens half as long as the perianth; filaments

5-7 mm, linear; anthers 1.25-2 x 0.75 mm,

oblong. Ovary sessile, 3-4x1 mm, oblong,

style 3. 5-4. 5 mm, linear; stigma trisulcate.

Capsules ovoid, rounded, trigonous, half as

long as the perianth.

Flowering : March-May.

Fruiting : Not seen.

Ecology : Gravelly slopes at an altitude of

1670 m.

Distribution : South U.S.S.R., C. Asia to

India in Himachal Pradesh (Fig. 1).

Herbarium specimens examined : India:

Himachal Pradesh, Simla, K. R. Johnson

(CAL) & J. R. Drummond 20926 (K);

u.s.s.R.: Astrakhan, Pallas s.n. (CAL). C.

Asia: Altai, Gobler s.n. (CAL).

Note : Description of fruit taken from

Grossh. in Komarov, FI. U.S.S.R. 4: 108. 1935.

6. G. pamirica Grossh. in Komarov, FI.

U.S.S.R. 4: 108 & 738. 1935 (Type: U.S.S.R.

Fergana Pamir, Northern Slope, 12000 ft,

1.7.1901, Alexeenko s.n. LE); Wendelb. in

Koie & Reiching. Symb. Afghan. 4: 160. 1958.

(Fig. 4).

Plants 4-9 cm long; bulb 1-2 x 0.7-1 cm,

profusely rooting below, bulb-scales fibrous.

Radical leaves 2, 4-10 x 0.15-0.2 cm, linear.

Cauline leaves many (15-16), 1-4 x 0.1 cm,

88

TAXONOMIC REVISION OF THE GENUS GAGEA

gradually diminishing in size upwards, sparse

below and closed above, ciliate at margin;

bulbils at the axil of leaves, 1-1.5 x 1

mm. Flowers solitary, terminal, 11-15 mm

long, campanulate; pedicel ± 2 mm long;

bracts indistinct. Perianth segments 11-15x2. 5-

4 mm, broadly oblong, acute, 5-7-veined,

scarious at margin. Filaments 2.5-6 mm,

linear, attached at the base of the perianth;

anthers 2-2.5 x 0.7 mm, linear-oblong. Ovary

4-6 x 1-1.5 mm, oblong, triquetrous; style

3-4 mm long, broader above, trigonous;

stigma 1 mm broad, trilobed.

Flowering : June-July.

Ecology : Grassy and gravelly alpine zone

at altitudes of 3695-3810 m.

Distribution : C. Asia in Pamir extending

to Pakistan in Chitral (Fig. 1).

Herbarium specimens examined : Pakistan:

Chitral, Bowes Lyon 878 (BM).

Gagea Salisb. sect. Holobulbos C. Koch in

Linnaea 22: 226. 1849, pro parte — major;

Boiss. FI. Or. 5: 203. 1882; Pascher in Lotos

24: 113. 1904; Krause in Engl. & Prantl, Nat.

Pflanzenfam. ed. 2. 15a: 318. 1930. Gagea

Salisb. sect. Didymobulbos C. Koch. in. Lin-

naea 22: 226. 1849, pro parte — major; Boiss.

FI. Or. 5: 203. 1882; Pascher in Lotos 24:

111. 1904; Krause in Engl. & Prantl. Nat. Pflan-

zenfam. ed. 2. 15a: 318. 1930. Gagea Salisb.

sect. Tribolbos W.D.J. Koch, Syn. FI. Germ.

2: 619. 1857; Boiss. FI. Or. 5: 203. 1888.

Gagea Salisb. sect. Nudiscaposae Terrace, in

Soc. Bot. France Mem. 2. ser. 4, 5: 12. 1905,

pro subsect. Dispat haceae.

Lectotype: G. lutea (L.) Ker-Gawl.

Inflorescence condensed scorpioid cyme

Cauline leaves 2, subopposite, distinct from

leaves, lower bigger, as long as the inflores-

cence. Pedicel long. Daughter bulb present or

not. Seeds not compressed.

Distribution : From Afghanistan, Pakistan

to Himalayas in the states of Kashmir, H.P.,

U.P. to Nepal, Sikkim.

7. G. lutea (L.) Ker-Gawl. in Curtis’ Bot.

Mag. 30: t. 1200. 1809; Schultes f. in Roem. &

Schultes, Syst. Veg. 7: 538. 1829; Kunth,

Enum. PI. 4: 235. 1843; Boiss. FI. Or. 5: 207.

1882; Hook. f. FI. Brit. Ind. 6: 355. 1892;

Collett, FI. Simlens. 529. 1902; Pascher in

Lotos 24: 114. 1904; Terrace, in Bull. L’Herb.

Boiss. ser. 2, 5(11): 1070. 1905; Bamber, PI.

Punj. 498. 1916; Blatter, Beaut. FI. Kashmir

2: 170. 1928; Grossh. in Komarov, FI. U.S.S.R.

4: 78. 1935. Ornithogalum luteum L. Sp. PI.

306. 1753 (Type: Upsala, Linn. 428.4 LINN).

G. fascicularis Salisb. in Kon. & Sims. Ann.

2: 555. 1806 (Type: Greta Bridge, H. John-

son s.n.; Tubingen, Fuchs s.n.; Woodstock — J.

Banks s.n. K, BM — duplicate of the Para-

type !). G. elegans Wall, ex D. Don in Royle,

Illustr. Bot. Himal. 388. t. 95. f. 1. 1840 (Type:

Kumaon, Wall. Cat. 5065, K-W Photo! BM!);

Pascher in Lotos 24: 114. 1904; Terrace,

in Bull. L’Herb. Boiss. ser. 2, 5(11): 1068.

1905; Pascher in Bull. Nat. Mosc. 14: 364. 1906.

G. indica Pascher in Fedde Repert. 2: 111.

1906 (Type: India Boreales — Himalaya LE) &

in Bull. Nat. Mosc. 19: 364. 1906, syn. nov.

G. lowariensis Pascher in Fedde Repert. 2:

111. 1906 (Type: Chitral, Lowari Pass, Harriss

16699, pro parte K Photo! CAL — duplicate

of the type!) & in Bull. Nat. Mosc. 4: 364.

1906; Wendelb. in Koie & Reching. Symb.

Afghan. 4: 159. 1958, syn. nov. G. moorcrof-

tiana Wall. Cat. 5063, nom. nud. G. pulchella

Wall. Cat. 5064, nom. nud. (Fig. 3).

Herbs small, gregarious; bulbs deep brown,

1-3 x 0.5-2 cm, ovoid or subglobose, profuse-

ly rooting below; outer scales black in colour,

bulbels many, inside. Radical leaf solitary, 6-35

x 0.2-2 cm, linear-lanceolate to broadly lan-

89

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

ceolate, acute, glossy, overtopping the inflores-

cence. Stem 5-22 cm, terete, naked. Cauline

leaves 2, enclosing the inflorescence, suboppo-

site, 3-8 x 0.3-1 cm, lanceolate or broadly

lanceolate, lanate inside. Inflorescence com-

pressed scorpioid cyme, up to 7-flowered, 0.5-

2 cm long, lowest overtop the whole in-

florescence. Flowers ascending, 9-14 mm long,

broadly campanulate; pedicel 1.5-6 cm, linear

often lanate; bracts 1. 5-3.0 x 0.3-0. 5 cm,

one at each node, linear. Perianth segments

persistent, bright yellow within, externally

green with yellow margin, 9-14 x 2-3.5 mm,

lanceolate or broadly lanceolate, obtuse,

glabrous, scarious at margin; veins 7, open,

midvein prominent. Filaments yellow, subu-

late; 3-8 mm long, unequal, anthers orange,

varying in size, 1-2.5 x 0.5-1 mm, linear-

oblong or oblong, latrorse. Ovary green, sessile,

2-4 x 1 . 5-2 mm, obovoid or obovoid-oblong,

not depressed above; style pale green, 4-7 mm

long, linear trisulcate; stigma truncate, trilobed,

obscurely papillose. Capsules 4-6 x 5-6 mm.

broadly obovoid. trilocular. Seeds 4 per locule,

2-3 x 1-1.5 mm. hemispherical or semi-

rotund, wingless.

Flowering & fruiting : April to July.

Ecology : Open grassy hillside or humus

rich plateau, in alpine forest at 2744-4270 m

in altitude.

Distribution : Pakistan to India, along Hima-

layas in Kashmir. H.P.. U.P. to Nepal and

Sikkim. (Fig. 1).

Note : Originally G. indica Pascher was dis-

tinguished for the linear, hooded radical leaf,

the ovate cauline leaf and the few-flowered

inflorescence. G. Jowariensis Pascher was dis-

tinguished for the broadly lanceolate (18-25

mm broad) radical leaf, the broadly elliptic

cauline leaf and many-flowered inflorescence.

Elliptic cauline leaves, many-flowered inflores-

cence and oblong or obovoid-oblong, acute

perianth are the distinguishing characters of

Gagea lutea (L.) Ker-Gawl. After examina-

tion of specimens it is observed that leaves

are hooded in young stage but become spread-

ing on maturity. Linear radical leaves, lan-

ceolate cauline leaves associated with many

flowers are seen in Parker 367, Mackinnon

s.n., linear radical leaves, lanceolate cauline

leaves associated with few flowers in Strachey

& W interbottom 62. Radical leaves of various

breadth intermediate between G. lutea and G.

lowariensis are seen in T. A. Rao 9308 and

duplicate of the holotype of Harriss 16699. In

view of the intergrading characters the distinc-

tion of these three species is not tenable and

are conspecific.

Particulars of some specimens are given below

Herbarium specimens examined : India:

Uttar Pradesh, Kumaon, R. Blinksworth s.n.

in Wall. Cat. 5065 (CAL), Strachey & Winter-

bottom 62 (CAL, BM); Awasthi s.n. (LWG),

90

TAXONOMIC REVISION OF THE GENUS GAGEA

and Balapmet & Pandey 93361 (LWG); Tehri-

garhwal, M. A. Rau 51651 (BSD), N. C. Nair

36787 (BSD), Y. K. Sarin & M. A. Rau 2918

(BSD), W . Gattan s.n. (CAL); Duthie 1278

(CAL) and Haines 2186 (K). Kashmir, Pir-

panjal, Winterbottom 92 (CAL); Chenab,

Baden Powell 311 (CAL), R. Ellis 1033

(CAL), Mulluk & South of Bhabeh Pass,

Stolizka s.n. (CAL); Kajnag range, Duthie

11002 (CAL); Gulmarg, A.K.K. 9 (CAL),

Thaplyal & Raizada 26447 (L); Khilenmarg,

Singh 277 (L), Jajpal, M. A. Enershed s.n.

(BM); Gilgit, G. M. Giles 128 (CAL), Kini-

monala, Inayat s.n. (K); Kungwalan, T. A.

Rao 9308 (CAL, BSD), Himachal Pradesh,

Lahul, Brandis s.n. (CAL) & M. A. Rau 5865

(BSD); Chamba, R. Ellis s.n. (CAL), J. H.

Lace 1319 (BSIS) and N. C. Nair 32444

(BSD); Narkanda, M. A. Rau 11448 (BSD);

Rohtang, Stolizka s.n. (CAL); Lectee, Vicary

s.n. (CAL); Simla hills, 7. H. Burkill 28661

(BSIS); Kunwar, Drummond 26542 (K); N.

W. Himalayas, T. Thomson 39 (CAL), A. B.

Royle s.n. (CAL); Mackinon s.n. (CAL).

Sikkim: Thangu, K. Biswas 6993 (CAL);

Lachen, L. L. Terner s.n. (BSIS); Soonder-

dunga glacier, T. Anderson s.n. (CAL). Nepal:

Padmara Lagna, Polunin , Sykes & Williams

4065 (CAL); Dozamkhola, Polunin, Sykes &

Williams 4233 (BM, CAL); Balangra Pass,

Polunin, Sykes & Williams 1013 (BM); Near

Dogadikhola, Stainton, Sykes & Williams 3179

(CAL); Tara Kot, 7. F. Dobremej 162 (BM);

Opikhola, 7. B. Tyson 19 (BM); Saurekhola,

A. R. Vickary 810 (BM). Pakistan: Chitral,

Stainton 2331 & 2759 (BM), Surg. Lt. Harriss

16697, 16698 & 16699 (CAL, BM, K); Hazara,

Kagan, Inayat 20211, 20212, 20213 & 22620

(CAL), Duthie 22620 (K), Stewart 222 (CAL);

Jaunsar, Gamble 23125, 25935 (K); A. Webb

(BSIS), W. Gottan 2089 (CAL, BM); Doab,

Wall Cat. 3065 (BM).

8. G. anisanthos C. Koch in Linnaea 22:

230. 1849 (Type: S. Russia — Lelwar, Koch

ER); Ledeb. FI. Ross. 4: 140. 1852; Terrace.

Bull. L’Herb. Boiss. Ser. 2, 5(12): 1119. 1905;

Miscz. FI. Cauc. Crit. Ser. 2, 4: 156. 1912;

Grossh. in Komarov, FI. U.S.S.R. 4: 87. 1935.

G. liottardi Boiss. FI. Or. 5: 204. 1882. G.

fistulosa Miscz. in FI. Cauc. Crit. Ser. 2, 4:

154. 1912. (Fig. 3).

Herbs 12-20 cm; bulbs brown, 6-8 x 5-6 mm;

bulbel 1 or 2. Stem 7-15 x 0.2 cm, glabrous.

Radical leaves 2, 15-20 x 0.2-0. 3 cm, ex-

ceeding the inflorescence, linear, glabrous.

Cauline leaves 2, subopposite, enclosing the

inflorescence, lower longer than the upper,

4-8 x 0.3-0. 6 cm, lanceolate, broader at the

base, sheathing, plicate, glabrous. Inflorescence

2-8-flowered, condensed scorpioid cyme.

Flowers 15-20 mm long, campanulate; pedicel

diverging, 3-9 cm long, villous; bracts 1.5-4 x

0.2-0. 3 cm, linear, glabrous. Perianth segments

yellow, 1. 5-2.0 x 0.4 cm, elliptic-lanceolate,

subacute; margin revolute; veins 7, diverging.

Stamens shorter than pistil and half the length

of perianth; filaments 5-9 x 0.5-1 mm, linear;

anthers ± 2 x 0.7-1 mm, oblong. Ovary

sessile, 5-8 x 3-4 mm, obovoid-triquetrous,

depressed above; style short, 3-4 mm, stout;

stigma 1-1.5 mm broad. Capsules 8 . 5-9 . 5 mm.

obovoid, triquetrous, depressed above. Seeds

2 x 1.25 mm, ovoid, neither compressed nor

angular, deep brown, wingless.

Flowering : April-May.

Fruiting : May.

Distribution : W. Asia, S. Russia to Kashmir

at 2438 m in altitude (Fig. 1).

Herbarium specimens examined : India:

Kashmir, Baspassi Pass, 7. E. Winterbottom

222 (CAL); Sonemarg, W. F. Saxton 1662

(CAL); Gulmarg, B. O. Coventry 1466 (K);

91

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Fig. 3. Gagea lutea (L.) Ker-Gawl — a) whole plant; b) bulbs; c) flower showing

different parts; d) capsule with persistent perianth; e&f) seed. G. anisanthos C.

Koch — g) whole plant; h) capsule, G. toppinii sp. nov. — i) whole plant;

j) dissected bulb showing radical leaf base, stem base and a bulbel.

TAXONOMIC REVISION OF THE GENUS GAGEA

Chandanweri, P. R. Dahadghao 0368 (CAL).

Jordon — Lyon s.n. (CAL).

9. G. toppinii sp. nov. Differt ab. G.

lutea (L.) Ker-Gawl. foliis caulinis linearibus,

foliis radicalibus bulbiferibusque ubi affixis in

plantis maturis, perianthiisque exteriore villosis;

ab. G. anisanthos C. Koch statura multo

minore, perianthiis exteriore villosis, ovariis

supra non depressis. Typus: Pakistan, Chitral,

Major S. N. Toppin 17 (holotypus K) (Fig. 3).

Herbs 6-8 cm long; bulb 4-5 x 3-4 mm,

ovoid; bulbel 1 or 2 often bearing leaves when

still attached to the mother plant. Radical

leaves 10-11 x 0.01 cm, linear, acute at the

apex, glabrous, overtopping the inflorescence.

Stem 1.5-2 cm terete, pubescent. Cauline

leaves subopposite, at the base of the inflo-

rescence, 1.5-5 cm long, filiform, about 1 mm

broad at the base, the lower over-topping the

inflorescence. Inflorescence 2-4-flowered con-

densed scorpioid cyme. Flowers broadly cam-

panulate; pedicel 3-6 cm long, filiform, pubes-

cent; bracts 3-5 mm long, filiform. Perianth

segments 7-8 x 1.7-2 mm, lanceolate, acute

at the apex, midvein prominent, dorsal side of

outer segments pubescent. Filaments ± 4 x 0.5

mm, linear; anthers ± 1 . 2 x 1 mm, oblong.

Ovary sessile, 3-3.5 x 1, oblong, triquetrous;

style 3-3.5 x 0.5, linear, triquetrous; stigma

trifid. Fruit not seen.

Distribution : Pakistan, Chitral (Fig 1).

Gagea Salisb. subgen. Homungia (Bernh.)

Pascher in Lotos 24: 115. 1904, pro subsect.

Reticulatae- pro parte; Krause in Engl. &

Prantl. Nat. Pflanzenfam. ed. 2. 15a: 318. 1930.

Homungia Bernh. in Flora 23: 392. 1840

(Type: H. circinata Bernh.). Gagea Salisb. sect.

Platyspermum Boiss. FI. Or. 5: 203. 1882

(Type: Gagea reticulata (Pall.) Schultes f.).

Gagea Salisb. subgen. Gageastrum Terrace, in

Soc. Bot. France Mem. 2. ser 4, t. 5. 21. 1903,

pro sect. V erticillatae Terrace. (Type: Gagea

reticulata (Pall.) Schultes f.). Gagea Salisb.

subgen. Platyspermum (Sciss.) Miscz. FI. Cauc.

Crit. ser. 2, 4: 169. 1913; Grossh. in Komarov,

FI. U.S.S.R. 4: 94. 1935.

Type: Gagea reticulata (Pall.) Schultes f.

Inflorescence umbel, rarely solitary, apical.

Bracts arising from a single node at the base

of the umbel. Cauline leaves not distinct from

the bracts. Scape naked from the bulb to the

inflorescence. Perianth acuminate. Ovary

oblong, sessile. Seeds compressed.

Distribution : Russia, C. Asian desert to

Afghanistan, Pakistan and India in W.

Himalaya.

10. G. reticulata (Pall.) Schultes f. Syst. Veg.

7: 542. 1829; Kunth, Enum. PI. 4: 238. 1843;

Regel et Bunge, FI. Turkest. Icon. 19: 1-4.

1876; Boiss. FI. Or. 5: 208. 1882; Hook. f. FI.

Brit. Ind. 4: 355. 1892; Collett, FI. Simlens,

529. 1902; Pascher in Lotos 24: 115. 1904 &

in Bull. Nat. Mosc. 4: 366. 1906; Terrace, in

Soc. Bot. France Mem. 2. ser. 4, 5: 21. 1905;

Bamber, PI. Punj. 499. 1916; Vved. in FI.

Turkm. 1(2): 268. 1932; Grossh. in Komarov,

FI. U.S.S.R. 4: 54. 1935.

Basionym Ornithogalum reticulatum Pall.

Reise 3: 727. t. d. f. 2. 1776 (Type: U.S.S.R.

— Astrakhan desert, P. S. Pallas LE, BM). O.

circinatum Linn. Suppl. 199. 1781 (Type:

U.S.S.R. -Astrakhan desert, Pallas LE, BM,

LINN). G. reticularis (Pall.) Salisb. in Kon.

& Sims. Ann. Bot. 2: 557. 1806. G. commu-

tata C. Koch in Linnaea 22: 227. 1849 (Type:

S. Russia, C. Koch B). G. triphylla C. Koch

l.c. 229 (Type: S. Russia, C. Koch B). G.

sermantosa C. Koch l.c. 230 (Type: S. Russia,

C. Koch B). G. pseudoreticulata Vved. in FI.

Turkm. 1(2): 268. 1932 (Type: U.S.S.R.-

Turkmenistan, Regel LE); Grossh. in Koma-

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JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

rov, FI. U.S.S.R. 4: 100. 1935; Wendelb. in

Koie & Reching. Symb. Afghan. 4: 160. 1958,

syn. nov. G. pedunculata Wall. Cat. 5066, nom.

nud. (Fig. 4).

Herbs 5-21 cm long; bulbs 4-12 x 2-6 mm,

ovoid or elongated ovoid, rooting below; outer

scales brown, fibrous; bulbels 1 or 2, often with

leaves. Radical leaf 1, 5-16 cm, much longer

than the stem when young, linear, terete. Stem

1-15 cm long, finely hairy, naked, linear.

Cauline leaves 4-6, at the base of the inflores-

cence, linear-lanceolate, straight, not distinct

from the bracts. Inflorescence terminal umbel,

up to 20 flowered. Flowers yellow with greenish

apex and green band outside, small, campa-

nulate; pedicel 1.5-6 cm long, linear, finely

hairy; bracts at the base of the inflorescence,

foliaceous, up to 7 x 0.2 cm, linear, plicate.

Perianth segments 9-15 x 1.5-2 mm, lanceolate,

acute, thin; pubescent outside, scarious at

margin; veins many. Filaments unequal, 4-6 x

0.5 mm, linear; anthers 1.5-2 x 0.5-0. 7 mm,

narrowly oblong. Ovary sessile, 2-3 x 1-1.5

mm, oblong, or obovate-oblong; style 4-5 mm,

trisulcate. Capsules deep brown dull, ±6x3

mm, obovoid, or oblong, trigonous; pericarp

thin, 6-ribbed. Seeds deep brown, 1 x 0.7 mm,

triangular, compressed, thickly margined.

Flowering : February- April.

Fruiting : March-July.

Ecology : In soil formed from Tertiary cal-

cium carbonate rock debris or desert silt, in

gorges or beside winter torrents with grass,

at an altitude of 400-2895 m.

Distribution : Desert region of S. Russia and

C. Asia to Afghanistan, Pakistan and India

in W. Himalaya. (Fig. 1).

Note : G. pseudoreticulata was distinguished

from G. reticulata by the absence of sheathing

bulb-scales below the stem. This character is

variable due to ecological condition, and

does not have any taxonomic significance.

Herbarium specimens examined : India:

Kashmir, Gilgit, G. M. Giles 113 (CAL).

Himachal Pradesh, Chamba, Lace 1884

(BSIS); Kangra, Drummond 1747 (K). Uttar

Pradesh, Dehradun, Gamble 22634 (K); P. W.

Mackinon s.n. (CAL); Kurz (CAL).

Pakistan: Kohat Pass, 23/HBK (CAL);

Chitral, Younghusband 1594 (CAL); Kurram,

Harol Dean (K); Peshwar, J. H. Lace 3499

(CAL); Lahore-Gujerat, Baden Powell (CAL),

Rawalpindi, R. R. Stewart 4 (K) & B. O.

Coventry 806 (K); Basal, 1945, R. S. Byles

(K); Baluchistan- Afghanistan Boundary, Sur-

geon Capt. F. P. Maynard 17e (CAL); Quetta,

J. F. Duthie 8272 (CAL, BM).

11. G. setifolia Baker in Journ. Linn. Soc.

18: 101. 1880 (Type: Afghanistan, Kurrum

valley, Alikhel, 17.4.1879, Aitchison 104 K —

Photo!); Boiss. FI. Or. 5: 211. 1882; Pascher

in Bull. Nat. Mosc. 4: 368. 1905; Wendelb.

in Koie & Rechinger, Symb. Afghan. 4: 160.

1958. (Fig. 4).

Herbs 8-16 cm long; bulbs 1.5-2 x 1-1.2

cm, profusely rooting below, outer scales

scarious. Radical leaf 1, 12-16 x 0.15 cm,

linear. Stem naked below, leafy at the base

of the inflorescence, minutely pilose below.

Cauline leaves many, crowded at the base of

the inflorescence; lowest 3-5 x 0.3-0. 4 cm,

linear-lanceolate, straight, acute, sheathing;

others 1-3 x 0. 1-0.2 cm, linear, bract-like.

Inflorescence umbel of 2-3 flowers, oldest on

one side of the stem. Flowers yellow inside,

green outside; pedicel 0.5-2 cm long, longest

near the lowest cauline leaf; bract indistinct

from cauline leaves. Perianth segments 15-16 x

2-3 mm, lanceolate, inner acute, outer plicate

at the tip. Filaments 5-6 x 0.7 mm, subulate;

anthers 2-3 x 0.7-1 mm, linear oblong. Ovary

sessile, ±4x1 mm, oblong, trilocular; ovules

94

TAXONOMIC REVISION OF THE GENUS GAGEA

Fig. 4. Gagea pamirica Grossh. — a) whole plant; b) Axillary bulbils. G. bulbifera

(Pall.) Salisb. — c) whole plant; d) bulbiferous leaf base; e) Perianth segment;

f) Stamen; g) Pistil. G. reticulata (Pall.) Schultes f. — h) whole plant; i) capsule

with persistent perianth; j) seed. G. setifolia Baker — k) whole plant; 1) Perianth

segment with a stamen. G. chitralensis Dasgupta & Deb — m) whole plant.

95

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

biseriate, 12-18 in each locule; style 5-6 mm

long, linear; stigma 0.5 mm broad, truncate.

Flowering : April- J uly.

Ecology : Amongst snow-boulders at an alti-

tude of 3960 m.

Distribution : Western Asia extending to

India in Kashmir (Fig. 1).

Herbarium specimens examined : India:

Kashmir-Gilgit, G. M. Giles (CAL). Pakistan:

Chitral, J. D. A. S taint on 2847 (BM).

12. G. chitralensis Dasgupta & Deb in Can-

dallea 38: 477. 1983. Type: Pakistan, Chitral,

Bowes Lyon 611 (BM) — Holo; Tashkhent,

Vvedensky 53 (CAL) — Para. (Fig. 4).

Herbs 2-5 cm long; bulbs 4-6 x 2-3 mm,

brown, with bulbels. Radical leaves 4-8 x =fc0.05

cm, linear, exceeding the floral shoot. Stem

small, terete, glabrous. Cauline leaves indistinct

from the bracts. Flower solitary, 7-8 mm long;

pedicel upto 2 cm long, filiform, glabrous;

bracts 4, up to 15 x 0.7 mm, foliaceous, linear.

Perianth segments 7-8 x 1.5-2 mm, lanceolate,

glabrous, acute with 3 median veins, outer

narrower, shorter. Filaments 4-4.5 x 0.5 mm,

subulate; anthers ± 1.5 x 0.7 mm, oblong.

Refer

Airy-Shaw, H. K. (1973): Dictionary of Flower-

ing Plants and Ferns by J. C. Willis. Cambridge.

Baker, J. G. (1874) : Revision of the Genera

and Species of Tulipeae. J. Linn. Soc. 14: 211-310.

Bentham, G. (1883): Liliaceae. In: G. Bentham

& J. D. Hooker Genera Plantarum 3: 748-836.

London.

Bernhardi, J. J. (1840): Flora Order Botanische

Zeirnne vol. 23. Erfurt.

Boissier, P. E. (1882) : Flora Orientalis, Sive

enumeratio Plantarum in Oriente a Greecia et

Aegypto ad Indiae fines hucusque observatarum 5 :

122-211. Basel.

Dulac, J. (1867) : Flora du department des

Hautes Pyrenees, Plantes vasculaires Spontanees,

Classification naturelle. Paris.

Ovary sessile, 3-3.5 x 0.5 -0.7 mm, narrowly

oblong; style =±=7.5 x 0.5 mm. Fruit not seen.

Flowering : March.

Distribution : S. Russia to Pakistan (Fig. 1).

Acknowledgements

We are thankful to the Directors and

Keepers, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; British

Museum (Natural History), London, Rijksher-

barium, Leiden, Conservatoire et Jardin Bota-

niques, Geneva; Forest Research Institute,

Lucknow and Deputy Director, Northern

Circle, Botanical Survey of India, Dehra Dun

for loan of specimens. Thanks are also due

to the Deputy Director, Central National

Herbarium, Howrah and Curator, Industrial

Section, Indian Museum, Calcutta for faci-

lities to consult the respective herbaria. Grate-

ful thanks are due to the Director, Botanical

Survey of India for providing facilities to

conduct the study. We also acknowledge

the help of Dr. R. S. Sunderraghavan, former-

ly Regional Botanist, at Kew for supplying

xerox copies of original references.

E N CES

Endlicher, S. (1836) : Genera Plantarum Secum-

dum Ordines naturales disposita. Wien.

Engler, A. (1888): Liliaceae. In: A. Engler &

K. Prantl — Die Naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien Teil.

2, Abt. 5: 10-91.

Grossheim, A. A. (1935): Liliaceae — gen. Gagea.

In: V. L. Komarov, Flora of the U.S.S.R. 4: 61-112.

Leningrad (English ed. Jerusalem 1968).

Heyn, C. C. & Dafni, A. (1971) : Studies in the

genus Gagea (Liliaceae) I. The Platyspermous species

in Israel and neighbouring area. Israel J. Bot. 20:

214-233.

Hutchinson, J. (1973): Liliaceae. In: Families

of Flowering Plants, 732-753. London.

*Kaul, A. K. & Gohil, R. N. (1973) : Cytotaxo-

nomical conspectus of the Flora of Kashmir (1)

96

TAXONOMIC REVISION OF THE GENUS GAGEA

Chromosome Numbers of some common plants.

Phyton 15 : 57-66.

Koch, C. (1849): Beitrage zu Ciner Flora des

Orientes. Linnaea 22: 177-336.

Koch, W. D. J. (1857): Synopsis Florae Germa-

nicae et Helveticae ed. 3. 2: 614-620. Frankfurt.

Krause, K. (1930): Liliaceae. In: A. Engler &

K. Prantl, Die Naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien, ed. 2.

15 A: 227-386.

Kunth, C. S. (1843) : Enumeratio Plantarum

Omnium hucusque cognitarum. secundum familias

naturales disposita, adjectis characteribus, differentis

et synonymis 4: 216-268 & 280-379. Stuttgart, Tubin-

gen.

Leute, G. H. (1974) : IOPB chromosome number

report. Taxon 23: 801-812.

Lindley, J. (1836) : Natural System of Botany.

351-354. London.

Link, H. F. (1829) : Handbuch zur Erkennung

der nutzbarsten vol. 1. Berlin.

Linnaeus, C. (1753) : Species Plantarum. Vol. 1.

Stockholm.

(1754) : Genera Plantarum. ed. 5.

Stockholm.

Malik, C. P. (1961): Chromosome Number in

some Indian Angiosperm : Monocotyledon. Sci. &

Cult. 27: 197-198.

Malik, C. P. & Sehgal, S. M. (1959): Chromo-

some number in Gagea reticulata Schultes. Journ.

Sci. Industr. Res. 18C: 155-156.

*Mesicek, J. & Hronda, L. (1974): Chromosome

number in Czechoslovak species of Gagea (Lilia-

ceae). Folia Geobot. Phyto. 9: 359-368.

* Not seen in original.

Pallas, P. S. (1973-76) : Reise durch verschiedene

Provinzen des rusischen Beichs. vols. 2 & 3. St.

Petersburgh.

Pascher, Adolf (1904) : Ubersicht uber die Arten

der gattung Gagea. Lotos 24: 109-131.

(1905) : Conspectus Gagearum

Asiae. Bull. nat. Mosc. 4: 353-375.

Reichenbach, H. G. L. (1828): Conspectus regni

vegetabilis. Leipzig.

Salisbury, R. A. (1806) : Characters of a distinct

genus called Gagea hitherto confounded with

Ornithogalum. KD.E. Konig & J. Sims. Ann. Bot.

2: 555-557.

Schmidt, F. W. (1794) : Flora Boemica in Cohata.

Praha.

Schultes, J. H. (1829) : In: Sy sterna Vegetabi-

lium (J. A. Schultes’ & J. H. Schultes’), vol. 7,

Part 1. Stuttgart.

Terracciano, Par M. Achille. (1905): Les

especes du genre Gagea dans la flore de 1’Afrique

boreale. Soc. bot. Franc. Mem. 2, ser. 4, 5: 1-26.

Tischler, G. (1934) : Bot. Jahrb. 67: 1-36.

Turczaninow, N. (1844): In: E. R. Trautvetter

Plantarum imagines et descriptiones florem russicam

illustrates. Munchen.

Vachova, M. & Majovsky, J. (1978) : IOPB

chromosome number report. Taxon 27: 375-392.

Vachova, M. (1980) : IOPB chromosome number

report. Taxon 29: 703-730.

*Westerguad, M. (1936): Physiol. 21: 195, 437.

Willdenow, C. L. (1799): In: C. Linnaeus

Species Plantarum, ed. 4, vol. 2. Berlin.

Zuccarini, J. G. (1843): Plantarum Novarum,

vel minus Cogniterum. Fasc. ed. PI. hort. bot.

Moench. vol. 3.

97

7

FEEDING ECOLOGY OF THE BONNET MACAQUE AT

THE MUNDANTHURAI SANCTUARY, TAMILNADU1

Rauf Ali2

(With three text-figures)

The feeding ecology of the Bonnet Macaque (Macaca radiata diluta ) is discussed.

68 plant species were observed being eaten, but this is nowhere near the maximum.

Fruits and insects constituted the bulk of the diet. Super abundant food sources like

fruiting fig trees accounted for the majority of feeding observations.

Various propositions dealing with aspects of feeding behaviour are examined.

I N TROD U CTIO N

Many potential causes affect feeding beha-

viour in primates. There is a constant

interaction between the distribution of food

resources, and the utilisation of these resources

by the primates in that area. Previous studies

have highlighted various factors that affect

feeding. Among these are the need to increase

the diversity of the food items eaten (Marsh

1978) and the need to avoid compounds in

plant material that are potentially poisonous

to the monkey, such as the various alkaloids

and tannins normally present in leaf material

(McKey 1978, Oates, pers. comm.) Some pri-

mates such as the Nilgiri Langur, have been

shown to select food material which is easily

chewed (Oates, pers. comm.). Competition

between various species in the area may be

a factor.

The bonnet macaque has been shown in

previous studies to be largely fruit-eating, with

a large component of insects in its diet (Nolte

1955, Simonds 1965, Kuruvilla 1976). How-

ever, the first two studies concentrated on

roadside troops of bonnet macaques, which

1 Accepted December 1982.

2 Auroville Centre, S. Arcot, 605 101, Tamil Nadu.

had adapted to living in man-modified areas.

Kuruvilla studied a northern population on

Elephanta island. I report below on a study

conducted at the Mundanthurai Sanctuary in

Tamil Nadu, on the southern race Macaca

radiata diluta. Observations were made inten-

sively on one group of bonnet macaques bet-

ween February 1977 and April 1978 at this

site.

DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREA

The study area was at Mundanthurai, in the

Mundanthurai Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu. The

group ranged along the banks of the Tham-

braparni and Servalar rivers, at an altitude of

180 m (c. 8°40'N,77°28'E). The vegetational

patterning of the study area is complex. Along

the river banks, the flora is typical of forest

normally found at a higher altitude, and based

on species composition could be classified as

dry evergreen (Champion and Seth 1962). The

commonly occurring large tree species in the

area are Pongamia glabra, Hopea utilis, Callo-

phyllum elatum, Mangifera indica, Syzygium

cumini, Mesua ferrea, and Hopea parviflora.

The medium and small trees include species

such as Walsura piscida, Aglaia roxburghiana,

98

FEEDING ECOLOGY OF THE BONNET MACAQUE

Diospyros peregrina, Diospyros montana,

Memecylon angustifolium, Vitex leucoxylon

and Syzygium lineare, an endemic locally very

common along the river bank. Glycosmis

pentaphylla, Tetracera laevis and Pandanus

tectorius are the commonest shrubs along the

river bank.

Away from the river, the vegetation changes,

being more characteristic of a dry mixed deci-

duous type. The most frequently occurring

trees and shrubs are Randia malabarica and

Limonia alata. Atalantia monophylla, neem

( Azadirachta indica), tamarind ( Tamarindus

indicus), Orophoea thompsonii and Alphonsea

sclerocarpa are also abundant. Chloroxylon

swietenia, Dalbergia latifolia, Terminalia, belle -

rica, and sandalwood ( Santalum album) are

also frequent. The understorey consists of

Pavetta thompsonii, Mundulea suberosa and

several herbaceous species including Crotola-

ria spp.

A portion of the study area has been plant-

ed with teak. In the last few years however,

little effort has been made to perform silvi-

cultural operations here, in line with sanctuary

management practices, and a fair amount of

natural vegetation has now regenerated in

these plantations. Finally, there are areas

which were cleared for tapioca cultivation a

few years ago, and then abandoned after be-

ing planted with economically useful species.

This common but destructive practice, known

as kurnri cultivation, has resulted in large

patches becoming grasslands. Some of these

patches, into which macaque groups enter to

forage for insects, are now maintained as grass-

land by regular burning, to improve herbivore

pasture. Other areas subject to kurnri culti-

vation are now covered with low, dense, thorny

scrub consisting largely of Dichrostachys

cinerea, Mundulea suberosa, Salmalia malaba-

rica, Ailanthus excelsa, Albizzia lebbeck and

Chloroxylon swietenia. These were still fairly

small when the study was begun.

One of the most important genera of plants

for the macaques is Ficus. Many species are

found in this area. F. bengalensis is found both

by the river, and away from it, but is not

common. F. retusa is very common by the

riverside. F. talboti is rare, but heavily used

when in fruit. A few Ficus glomerata and F.

mysorensis also occur on the river banks.

Climbers and twiners are abundant. The most

common among these is Zizyphus oenoplia,

Combretum decandrum and Ventilago mada-

raspatensis also occur. Even though herbs and

lower ground flora were not enumerated, two

deserve mention: Lantana aculeata and Eupa-

torium odoratum both occurred. Lantana was

found by the riverside, and Euptatorium had

begun invading those areas which had been

recently cleared. A species-area curve (Fig. 1)

for all vegetation over 3 m high shows the

high diversity of the flora in a very limited

area at this location.

Besides the plantations, another major

habitat modification has occured. The con-

struction of the Thambraparni Upper Dam in

1943, upstream on the Thambraparni, appears

to have caused a major change in soil hydro-

logy on the whole Mundanthurai Plateau.

Forest records indicate that the vegetation has

changed to a drier type than before, with

species like Pterocarpus marsupium, which

were once abundant, having all but disappear-

ed in the study area.

The construction of the dam has had an-

other consequence: since the waterflow in the

stream is now controlled for irrigation pur-

poses, the maximum flow in the river is at

the driest times of the year. This has resulted

in an obvious change in plant phenology. An

99

NUMBER OF SPECIES

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Fig. 1. Species area curve for vegetation over 3 m in height. (N.B. — Some quadrants

contain patches of water as well).

example is that the flowering of Glycosmis

pentaphylla along the Thambraparni and Ser-

valar rivers differs by as much as a month.

Also, since the river acts as a barrier to the

movements of certain animals, the accessibility

of certain areas to certain species of animals

is arbitrarily determined, rather than being

seasonal.

In spite of these disturbances, there is an

impressive population of mammals found in

the area. Among the predators. Leopard

{Panthera pardus) and Wild Dog ( Cuon alpi-

nus) were frequently encountered. Tiger

( Panthera tigris) was seen twice within the

area, as was the Jungle Cat ( Felis chaus).

The most common ungulates were the Chital

100

FEEDING ECOLOGY OF THE BONNET MACAQUE

( Axis axis) and the Sambar ( Cervus unicolor).

A high density of mouse deer ( Tragulus

meminna) was also found, along with wild pig

( Sus scrofa). Elephants were normally found

higher up in the hills, though in one instance

an injured tusker spent a few weeks at the

edge of the study area.

Among the arboreal mammals, the Malabar

Giant Squirrel ( Ratufa indica) was common.

Nilgiri Langur ( Presbytis johnii) was found in

the study area, though at much lower densities

than in the Shotas higher up. The population

of Nilgiri Langurs displayed several curious

characteristics, such as a sex ratio highly skew-

ed in favour of males, and female transfers [see

Ali et al., (1985) for details]. They were re-

placed by common langur ( Presbytis entellus)

about 1 km downstream from the study area.

Slender Loris ( Loris tardigradus) was also

abundant in the area.

Over a hundred species of birds were re-

corded from this area. Possible predators of

the bonnet macaque included the Crested Ser-

pent Eagle ( Spilornis cheela) and the Black

Eagle ( Ictinaetus malayensis) . The appearance

of either caused the macaques to alarm-call and

seek cover in the ground vegetation. The

Wryneck ( Jynx torquilla) and Orange-headed

Ground Thrush (Zoothera citrina cyanotus)

have also seldom been recorded from so far

south in the peninsula. Shikra ( Accipiter

hadius) regularly associated themselves with

macaque groups, and were seen feeding on in-

sects disturbed by macaque movements.

To complete the profile of the fauna in the

area the larger reptiles included the Python

(Python molurus). King Cobra (Naja hannah).

Cobra ( Naja naja), Ratsnake ( Ptyas muco-

sus) and Monitor Lizard ( Varanus bengal-

ensis). Mugger ( Crocodylus palustris) were

wiped out several years ago, but have recently

been reintroduced.

Methods

A group of bonnet macaques was followed,

from early morning till the time the

group had gone to sleep. Sampling was carried

out in a fashion similar to Oates (1978),

Kuruvilla (1976), Green and Minkowski

(1977) and Struhsaker (1975) with sampling

periods of 5 minutes, followed by a ‘rest’

interval of 10 minutes. There were 4 samples

taken each hour, and initially 5 animals were

sampled in each. Later, as the group habi-

tuated the number was increased to 8. After

an animal was sighted, five seconds were

allowed to lapse before its activity was noted.

This was to eliminate any possible bias due

to the animal being sampled performing an

activity that made it conspicuous. When an

animal was scored as feeding, the food and

item were noted, as well as the height of the

animal sampled and the height of the tree it

was on. Kani (local tribal) names were used

initially, until the plant was identified. These

names proved to be completely consistent.

Plant species eaten

A list of plant species eaten is given in

Table 1. There were 68 plant species that were

recorded as being fed upon, and the plant

part eaten is given in each case. The great

majority of these were only eaten occasionally.

A separate list gives the top 24 food species.

These accounted for over 92 per cent of all

feeding. The relative rank in the month of

maximum use is given, as well as the month

(Table 2).

The most heavily used plant was the tarn a -

101

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Table 1

List of plant species eaten by the study group (in order first seen fed upon)

The names used are from gamble & fischer (1967)

102

FEEDING ECOLOGY OF THE BONNET MACAQUE

Table 1

LG A — Leaf gall; PTH — Pith; ? — Part Unidentified.

103

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Table 2

* Max: 14 months.

rind ( Tamarindus indicus). Normally both the

ripe and unripe fruits were eaten, though

young leaves accounted for a majority of the

feeding observations made on this species in

June 1977, when it was the second most heavi-

ly used food item.

An interesting aspect about tamarind use is

that it must be a comparatively recent pheno-

menon. Tamarind was introduced from East

Africa about 500 years ago (Gamble and

Fischer 1967). It now grows wild over a con-

siderable area but is seldom found at high

densities at any given place. Its intensive use

by macaques is a pointer to their adaptability.

The presence of tannins in the unripe fruit,

which is indicated by the astringent taste,

does not seem to inhibit feeding on it even

slightly.

Of the five Ficus species in the area, three:

F. talboti, F. bengalensis and F. retusa form-

ed a major component of feeding, with the

ripe fruit being eaten. In March and April

FEEDING ECOLOGY OF THE BONNET MACAQUE

1978, two trees — one of F. retusa and one

of F. talboti — alone accounted for over 40

per cent of all feeding records. Ficus form the

major food of a number of primate species

(Hrdy 1979) and there is a suggestion that a

degree of co-evolution has occurred between

monkeys and figs (Mackinnon, pers. comm.):

a hypothesis which remains untested at the

moment. Figs provide a major source of pro-

tein because of the wasps that are resident

within them. Interestingly, one of the species

not eaten by the macaques — Ficus glomerata

— has waterborne seed dispersal. The three

that are eaten fruit in a short time span once

a year, and attract a large number of animal

and bird species at this time — including,

apart from the monkeys, giant squirrels and

palm squirrels, as well as koels, green barbets

and malkohas.

Bamboos also form a major food item of

the two species found in the study area, Bam-

busa bambos had just flowered and conse-

quently, was unavailable as a food. Several

clumps of Dendrocalamus strictus were found

in the study area, and the monkeys fed by

pulling off the young leaves from their sheaths

and nibbling off the petiole. This was the only

part of the plant that was eaten.

The ripe fruit of Zizyphus oenoplia was

available between February and April. It

ranked among the top 5 food items in these

months. In February 1979, feeding on this was

not observed and field protocols indicate that

the fruit was unripe at this time.

Among the other foods available, Sugiyama

(1971) records Syzygium cumini as being a

major food item of the bonnet macaque. How-

ever, in this area, this species was ranked only

8th overall. The maximum number of feeding

records on it did not consist of fruit, but of

leaf-galls, which are another potentially good

protein source for the macaques.

Of the Diospyros species in the area, D.

montana fruits were eaten whenever available,

even when unripe. However, D. peregrina

fruits, which were regularly eaten by groups of

liontailed macaques in the vicinity, were sel-

dom touched. Seed dispersal in this species is

by means of water, and ripe fruit were often

seen floating down the river. The mesocarp is

very resinous, and this could be one reason

why it was not eaten. The majority of feeding

observations on this were made on one old

male. He would pluck the fruit, walk down

to the river with it, and wash it in between

bites. I tried this and found that washing the

fruit reduced the amount of resin in the meso-

carp, rendering it more palatable. However,

none of the other animals in the group seemed

to have developed this habit.

Herbs and grasses also formed a substantial

part of the diet, together with certain mush-

rooms when available. Insects ranked among

the top 5 food items each month, forming

up to 30 per cent of the diet in each month.

These included various species of crickets,

cicadas and termites; caterpillars were also

eaten. Animals would stalk crickets, and there

seems to be a difference in the number of

successful captures among the animals in the

group.

On one occasion, the group was seen outside

a swarming termite mound, grabbing termites

both from the air, and picking them up from

the ground. Termites caught flying would be

held by the wings. The body would then be

bitten off and the wings discarded. A calcula-

tion based on feeding rates and the amount

of time each animal fed shows that within

150 minutes, over 22.000 termites were eaten

by the 16 animals in the group !

A breakdown of the various food items

105

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY , Vol. 83

eaten is given in Table 3. The amount of in-

sect-eating decreases when fruit-eating in-

creases. The extent to which both contain the

same constituents awaits a detailed nutritional

analysis.

A diversity index, H’ was used to test for

the variety of food items in each month. The

more items that are used, the higher the

diversity index, and the more equally they are

used, the higher the value of the index, also.

H’ is derived by using the following formula

H’ = r pilnpi

where Pi is the proportion of the i-th item in

the diet & log is the natural logarithm. This is

summed for all food items eaten: in this case,

n food items. Correlations using the diversity

of food items shows that as the proportion of

fruit in the diet increases, the diversity of

feeding: in this case the evenness — on all

other items also increases (rs = 0.7, p < 0.01).

(Fig. 2).

Variations between age-sex classes and

OVER TIME

There is significant variation in the amount

of time spent feeding, both between age-sex

classes, and between months. The maximum

any age-sex class was recorded feeding was

for subadult males, who spent 28 per cent

of their time feeding in February 1977.

Minimum feeding was also recorded for

subadult males, who fed for only 8.7 per

cent of their time feeding in February 1979.

This was after a cyclone, in November 1978,

when both adult males disappeared. The sub-

adult males had risen in the dominance hier-

archy, and group ranging patterns had changed

substantially at this time.

Tn general, feeding varied between 15-25

per cent of total activity for all animals, in

each month (Fig. 3). Adult males, on average,

spent the least amount of time feeding. Sub-

adult males spent the most, followed closely

by the subadult females, with juveniles feeding

less than both. Between months, the maximum

time spent feeding was recorded in October

1977, and the minimum in May 1977. These

differences are significant (F12,so = 3.39, p <

0.01).

Feeding patterns also vary over the day. For

analysis days were divided into 3 blocks from

6-10 a.m. (morning), 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (noon)

and 2 p.m.-6 p.m. (afternoon). Different

amounts of time are spent feeding in each

period (x2 = 43.57 with 2 d.f., p < 0.01),

with more feeding than expected in the even-

ing, and less than expected in the noon period.

More interestingly, variations in the items

eaten over the day were also noted, with signifi-

cantly more fruit being eaten in the mornings

(x2 = 25.62 with 2 d.f., p < 0.005) and more

bamboo being eaten in the afternoons (x2 =

73.43 with 2 d.f., p < 0.005). However, the

intake of insects remains fairly constant over

the day (x2 = 156, n.s.) as does the intake

of foliage.

The increased intake of bamboo in the

afternoons leads one to speculate that bamboo

leaf-petioles may be eaten as a ‘filler’ if the

group has not fed sufficiently during the day.

An alternative explanation is that bamboo

clumps coincidentally happen to be near sleep-

ing sites, resulting in their use in the evenings.

Several attempted correlations, however, failed

to distinguish between these two hypotheses.

Postscript

Approaches such as the one given above

show clearly the pitfalls in a qualitative

approach. It is useful to refer to Prasad et al.

(1978) attempts to explain the factors govern-

106

The percentage of each item in the diet during each month, and feeding diversity

FEEDING ECOLOGY OF THE BONNET MACAQUE

107

(Means)

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Fig. 2. Evenness of feeding on other food items as proportion of fruit in diet increases.

ing the distribution of mammals in Karnataka.

Reference to the relevant data for bonnet maca-

ques (p. 737, Table 2), and the foregoing

detailed figures show how inaccurate the origi-

nal figures were. Grass and tree leaves are

certainly not absent from the diet. Eating of

seeds is rare, and not common. For the rest,

it is difficult to arrive at any kind of quali-

tative distinction between ‘common’ and

‘abundant’. Does one average it over the year

or take any one month, how does differential

sampling of age-sex classes affect the results,

and how does one account for group size

affecting what is eaten — all factors that are

likely to play important roles?

Acknowledgements

The field work of which this paper forms a

108

OF TIME SPENT FEEDING

feeding ecology of the bonnet macaque

MONTH

Fig. 3. Monthly feeding by each age-sex class.

N.B. : AM — Adult male; AF — Adult female; SA — Subadult male; J — Juvenile.

JOURNAL , BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

part was funded by NIMH grant NH-24269

to Professor Steven Green. The analysis and

writing was funded in part by a research asso-

ciateship from the Friends of the National Zoo,

Washington, D.C.

I would like to thank the Chief Conservator

of Forests, Tamil Nadu for permission to do

the work, and also place on record my debt

to Mr. Mangalraj Johnson, Mr. S. Ramanathan,

Mr. R. Krishnamurthy and Mr. T. Chellappan,

without whose assistance the study would not

have been possible. The list of individuals in

the Forest Department who helped is too long

Refer

Ali, Rauf, Johnson, J. M. & Moore, Jim (1985) :

Female emigration in Presbytis johnii: a lifehistory

strategy. /. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 82(2) : 249-252.

Ali, R. & Bleisch, (in review) : Scan sampling

of primates — a bias corrected.

Champion, H & Seth, S. K. (1962): A revised

survey of the forest types of India, Delhi. Manager

of Publications, Government of India.

Gamble, J. S. & Fischer, C. E. C. (1967) : The

flora of the Presidency of Madras. 2nd Revised edi-

tion, Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta.

Green, S. M. & Minkowski, K. (1977) : The

liontailed macaque and its South Indian Rainforest

Habitat. In ‘Primate Conservation’ (G. H. Bourne

and Prince Rainier, eds.). Academic Press. N.Y.

Hrdy, S. B. (1979) : The Fig connection. Harvard

Magazine, Sept. 1979. pp. 25-30.

Kuruvilla, G. (1976) : Ecology of Bonnet Maca-

que (Macaca radiata Geoffroy) with special habits.

M.Sc. Thesis, University of Bombay.

McKey, D. (1978): Soils, vegetation and seed-

eating by the black colobus monkey. In ‘The Ecology

of arboreal folivores’. (G. G. Montgomery, ed.).

to acknowledge individually. G. Narayanaraj

helped with the field work.

The Bombay Natural History Society lent a

vehicle for this project and provided secre-

tarial assistance, and I would like to thank in

particular Mr. J. C. Daniel for coping with

the many unreasonable demands made on him.

Dr John Crook provided the inspiration and

encouragement for this study. I would also

like to thank John Eisenberg, Devra Kleiman

and Paul Harvey for their constant help and

encouragement.

ENCES

Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, D.C.

Marsh, C. W. (1978): Ph.D. Thesis, University

of Bristol.

Nolte, A. (1955): Field observations on the daily

routine and social behaviours of common South

Indian Monkeys, with special reference to the

bonnet monkey. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc. 53: 177-

184.

Oates, J. F. (1978): The Guereza and its food.

In ‘Primate Ecology’ (T. H. Cutton-Brock, ed.).

Academic Press. London.

Prasad, S. N., Gadgil, M. & Nair, P. V. K.

(1978) : On factors governing the distribution of

wild mammals in Karnataka. J. Bombay nat. Hist.

Soc. 75 : 718-742.

Simgnds, P. (1965): The Bonnet Macaque in

South India. In ‘Primate Behaviour’. (I. Devore,

ed.), Holt, Rinehart and Winston. N.Y.

Struhsaker, T. T. (1975): The Red Colobus

Monkey. University of Chicago Press. Chicago.

Sugiyama, Y. (1971) : Characteristics of the So-

cial life of bonnet macaque. Primates, 12: 247-266.

110

THE INDIAN CHAMELEON, CHAMAELEON

ZEYLANICUS (LAURENTI) IN SATKOSHIA GORGE

SANCTUARY, ORISSA:

NOTES ON AVAILABILITY, GROWTH AND BIOMETRICS1

L. A. K. Singh2

(With three text- figures )

Between September 1975 and August 1980, 113 chameleons were obtained from

local people (accidental captures) within a 5-km radius of Tikerpada in Satkoshia

Gorge Sanctuary. Marking by toe-clipping is believed to have shortened the life

span when 96 chameleons were returned back to the wild. Based on capture record

that indicated a gradual decline in the juvenile and adult population it is believed

that the adults are distributed in the study area in a very low density may be 1-2

animals per sq. km. Low density of distribution supports an observed sex ratio of

1 female: 2.46 male; since males wander more, are less territorial and a larger

number of males offers a selective advantage in producing offsprings sired by a

better male. Availability of chameleons depended on food- availability. More number

of animals were obtained after each seasonal rain in monsoon, winter and summer.

Procryptic behaviour in young ones were more pronounced. The rate of growth in

the wild is estimated to be about 11 mm (average SV) per month during the first

year. The 33 mm (SV) long hatchlings approach adult-hood at about 155 mm at

the end of the first year. The average maximum size was about 180 mm and animals

above 200 mm and beyond second year were rare. For SV lengths of 100, 150 and

200 mm respectively the TBL were 216, 324 and 432 mm, HC were 32, 46 and 60 mm,

and W 16, 53 and 125 g. The hatchlings weighed 0.9 g. Variations from a straight-

line relationship between SV and HC are suggested as variations in the size of the

casque on the head. The casque is used in female to assist in nest-digging and suspected

to be an organ of advertisement for courting males.

Introduction

The present paper reports preliminary

observations made on variable availability,

growth rate, biometrical relationships and the

probable life-span of the Indian chameleon,

Chamaeleon zeylanicus. The information record-

1 Accepted February 1984.

2 Gharial Research and Conservation Unit, Sat-

koshia Gorge Sanctuary, Tikerpada 759 122, Orissa.

Present address : Government of India, Crocodile

Research Centre, Hyderabad 500 264.

ed for the present paper were made possible

during my stay in the Satkoshia Gorge Sanc-

tuary, Orissa in connection with the Crocodilian

Conservation Programme. It is believed to form

a valuable adjunct to another paper (Singh

et al. 1984) that reported on observations on

the reproductive biology of the species as

observed in the wild and captivity, also in

Orissa. Hitherto the knowledge on C. zeylani-

cus have remained limited to range-distribution

notes by Boulenger (1890), Parshad (1914),

Smith (1935) and Deraniyagala (1953), and

111

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

preliminary observations on the reproductive

biology by Trench (1912), Biswas and Acharjyo

(1977) and Whitaker (1978). A recent com-

pilation on the species (Daniel 1983) had

evidently relied mostly on the author’s (Daniel,

J. C.) own experience and Trench (1912) and

Whitaker (1978).

Materials and Methods

The observations were recorded between

September 1975 and August 1980 at Tikerpada

in the Satkoshia Gorge Sanctuary located in

Central Orissa (84°47'E/20°35'N). Materials

for the study were obtained from two sources

— from nature and from young ones hatched

in captivity from eggs laid at the Gharial Re-

search and Conservation Unit (GRACU),

Tikerpada. During the period of five years

113 individuals from nature were mostly (acci-

dentally) caught by local people and sold to

me at a nominal rate of Rs. 2 to 3 per animal.

All animals were procured from an area

spread over a radius of 5 km on the northern

side of River Mahanadi — a hilly tract of

moist deciduous forest, hills ranging upto 700 m

in height. The chameleons were caught during

the day, except a lone nesting female, from

public or private roads and rarely from the

inside forest, and no special effort was made

to conduct a systematic capture operation.

Out of 113 wild chameleons received at

GRACU 96 were returned back to the wild

soon after marking by toe-clipping. Normally

all wild chameleons had reached GRACU on

the day of capture. The following information

on each chameleon were recorded against the

date of its arrival at GRACU: total body

length (TBL), Snout-Vent length (SV) and

the body weight (W). In some instances the

tails were missing from the live animal — a

result of the belief regarding its use in talis-

mans curing infantile convulsion (Singh 1979).

For 76 individuals the lengths of head and

casque (HC) were also recorded, and at a

later stage during the study sexes were record-

ed for 45 animals.

The information recorded for wild chame-

leons were used to determine the variation in

their availability during different years and

months, and for different size classes. The wild

growth rates were studied indirectly from the

sizes available in a calendar month taking due

consideration of the phenomenon of variable

growth rate in the same brood (Singh 1978)

as seen in other reptiles. The relationships

between TBL-SV, SV-HC and SV-W were

determined from the biometrical data. These

studies later were supported with information

on captive-hatched chameleons.

The study years were considered from Sept-

ember through August (Fig. la, c) and month-

wise availability were considered with the

hatching-month June (Singh et al. 1984) (Fig.

lb).

For analysing the number of chameleons

available according to their sizes (SV), the

animals were grouped under eleven groups,

each group considering 15 mm of SV. The

first group was 45-59 mm SV and the last

195-209 mm.

SV lengths of chameleons were plotted

against their date (fortnight) of arrival in

Fig. 2. This was used to determine the growth

rate in the wild.

Relationship of TBL, HC and W with SV

were determined by plotting the points against

SV on a graph sheet (Fig. 3 a and b). By

visual estimation mean lines representing the

relationships were plotted on the graph. From

the latter mean TBL, HC and W were deter-

mined for standard SV values.

112

THE INDIAN CHAMELEON, CHAMAELEON ZEYLANICUS ( LAVRENTI )

year

mont h

a. per year (September through August) for the 5-year study period (1 through 5).

b. per month (cumulative data for 5 years) from June (J), the month of egg-

hatching,

c. per individual month throughout the 5-year period — D, December; J, January;

1 through 5, years of study as in Fig. 1 a,

d. per 15 mm (SV) size groups (P through Z).

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

Results

I . Availability :

The number of chameleons caught during

the first year (September 1975 -August 1976)

was 47. The number decreased to 30, 20, 11

and 5 during the second through the fifth year

(Fig. la).

The highest number of chameleons were

available during May (1st year), January (2nd

year), August (3rd year) and July (4th and

5th years). The next high number of chame-

leons were obtained during September (1st

year, 3rd year and 5th year), October (1st

and 2nd year), and June (3rd and 4th year).

During the 1st year no chameleon was obtain-

ed, during January and March. In the 2nd

year there was no collection during September,

December and May, and collections during the

3rd year were only in September, December,

January, May, June and August. During the

4th year collections were in September, June

and July, and during the 5th year collections

were in September and July (Fig. 1 c).

As shown in (Fig. 1 b), the highest number

of chameleons were obtained during July and

August, 15.9% and 15.0% of the total. These

numbers were followed during the months of

June, September and October, each recording

I I . 5% of the availability. The lowest numbers

were obtained during February (5.3%) and

November (1.7%).

Out of 45 cases where sexes were definitely

known and recorded, 32 were males and 13

females. The likelihood was that some females

were confused with immatures and were not

assigned to any sex group.

With the increase in size-groups there was

a gradual increase in the number of chameleons

that were available up to 150-164 mm SV.

This was followed by a gradual decrease in the

number for the three groups that followed the

highest-represented group (Fig. 1 d).

Out of the total 96 releases after marking,

only one chameleon was recaught within six

days. There were no other recapture records.

2 . Growth :

On plotting the points for studying the

growth rate in the wild (Fig. 2) S-line indicated

the extent of fast-growth recorded for the first

year, and T-line the zone for slow-growing

2nd-year chameleons. No other space was

clearly demarcated to demonstrate the conti-

nuation of growth through a 3rd year or

beyond. The zone between P and Q (150-160

mm SV) appeared to be the transitional sizes

for averagely growing chameleons from the 1st

year to the 2nd year.

Four chameleon hatchlings were measured

soon after hatching in captivity: these were

71.7 mm (TBL), 33.5 mm (SV), 11 mm

(HC), and 0.9 g (W). After 18 days the

measurements were: 86.5 mm (TBL), 40.5

mm (SV), 12.5 mm (HC) and 1.2 g (W),

and after a month and a half these were 104 mm

(TBL), 50.5 mm (SV), 15 mm (HC) and

2.7 g (W).

For SV lengths 50 mm, 100 mm, 150 mm

and 200 mm the TBL were respectively 108,

216, 324 and 432 mm, and HC were 18, 32,

46 and 60 mm (Fig. 3 a). Body weights were

16, 53 and 125 g for SV lengths 100, 150 and

200 mm respectively (Fig. 3 b).

Discussion

1 . Availability :

Since recapture of marked and released

animals have been only 1 out of 96, it is sus-

pected that the method of toe-clipping is not

suitable with this species (C. zeylanicuc). It is

114

THE INDIAN CHAMELEON, CHAMAELEON ZEYLANICUS (LAURENT I)

moniffti

41

M

F.

Ji

D.

N

Q

S

At

J.

2

2

1

-0

p a

3"!* 'V

Fig. 2. Indirect record of growth of C. zeylanicus in the wild in Satkoshia Gorge

Sanctuary. PQ, zone of transition between 1st year and 2nd year after hatching; S,

limit of fast-growing 1st year forms; T, limit of slow-growing (in the present case)

2nd-year form. Each point corresponds to the size (SV) against date of arrival of a

chameleon.

not possible to provide the exact nature of the

effect of toe-clipping but there is indication that

the marking method might have caused the

death of younger chameleons and further cut-

short the life of adults who in any case were

in their second year of life (see below).

Honegger (1979), discussing of the marking

techniques for amphibians and reptiles, have

also stated of the probable limitations in toe-

clipping amphibians. The gradual decrease in

the number of captures of chameleons from

47 in the 1st year to 5 in the 5th year (Fig. la),

number of adults (Table 1) from 27 to 5 and

juveniles from 20 to nil are indicative of a

distributional density of the species in the wild.

If it is assumed that none of the ‘released’

chameleons returned back to the population,

the captures in the subsequent years are from

the survivors and that there is no ‘influx’ of

individuals from the adjacent areas, then C.

zeylanicus is extremely solitary (Singh et al.

1984), and the density may be 1-2 adults per

sq. km.

Low density of distribution also support

the significance of a greater proportion of

males in the population. In the recorded in-

115

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 83

, ^ v L . 1 1

Table 1

Chamaeleo zeylanicus in Satkoshia Gorge Sanc-

tuary, Tikerpada: availability of different size

groups (SV mm) through different years. Each

STUDY YEAR BEGINS WITH SEPTEMBER AND ENDS WITH

August. Observations were recorded between

1975 and 1980.

stances for the present study, the female: male

ratio was 1:2.46. Since males are less terri-

torial and wander more than the females (Bus-

tard 1965, 1966, Singh et al. 1984) more num-

ber of males favours a greater chance of their

‘meeting’ a female during the breeding season.

When more than one male is available for

courting the female, there is always a selective

advantage to produce offspring sired by a

better male.

Irrespective of the fall in yearly captures,

the number of chameleons were the maximum

during or after the rains in monsoon, winter

and summer. The least number were collected

during the driest months. Availability, depend-

ing on ground-level activity, appeared depen-

dent on food-availability. Singh et al (1984)

have also mentioned that the hatching process

is timed to food-availability with the beginning

of monsoon.

Procryptic behaviour of chameleons have

always made it difficult to study it in the wild.

This behaviour may be more evident in the

juveniles. With the approach of adult-hood

their movements and appearances become

greater, and because of their larger size these

are easily detected. The above explains the

reason for the gradual increase in number of

chameleons that were available up to the size

group 150-164 mm SV (Fig. 1 d). The size

groups 150-164 mm and 164-179 mm are

almost equally represented in the capture re-

cord — 23.8% and 22.1% respectively. The

two size groups following these are also adults

in their breeding-size but apparently such

sizes are attended to less often (see below).

2 . Growth :

The growth rates were extremely fast, for

the hatchlings in the beginning. Four captive

hatchlings measuring 33 mm (SV) had

grown to 40 mm in 18 days and 50 mm (n=2)

in 1.5 months, indicating growth of about

11 mm during the first month. At the end of

the first year the average size of C. zeylanicus

is estimated to be about 155 mm (SV) (Fig.

2) indicating a mean growth rate of 11.1 mm

a month over the 33 mm size of the hatchlings.

The estimated wild growth rate of 11.1 mm a

month during the first year includes, obviously,

a slower rate of growth during the winter

when temperature and food supply are low.

Therefore, the normal wild growth for early

hatchlings may be much higher than 11.0 or

11.1 mm as stated above. In the present study

the growh of captive hatchlings during the

116

THE INDIAN CHAMELEON, CHAMAELEON ZEYLANICUS (LAURENT I)

Fig. 3 a. Relationship between SV-TBL and SV-HC (see text) .

b. Relationship between SV and W (see text).

JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST . SOCIETY, Vol. 83

first 1.5 months might have been low due to

a restriction in food choice. Mentioning about

C. hohnelii, Bustard (1965) has also record-

ed a fast rate of growth for the species — a

specimen 48 mm long (SV) reached 53 mm in

18 days. The hatchlings are 44.0-49.7 mm in

TBL and above 20 mm in SV.

The largest male and female C. zeylanicus

recorded during the study were 201 and 195

mm (SV) respectively. The average maximum

size may be about 180 mm and sizes up to

and above 200 mm are perhaps not common,

as seen in Fig. 1 d. The predominance of the

group 150-164 mm SV is perhaps because of

the commencement of the breeding activity

(Fig. Id). This size range (150-160 mm) is

also the transition from the first to the second

year after hatching (June).

Singh et al. (1984) mentioned that the

female chameleons die within 1-42 days after

egg laying. This may be a natural phenomenon

too. From observations made in the present

study (Fig. 2), there is no indication of growth

beyond the second year. The life span of C.

zeylanicus may be rarely entered into the third

year. Shifter (1975) has also mentioned for

chameleons in general that they grow quickly

and many species “reach sexual maturity

before the end of their first year. No one

knows how old chameleons become in the

wild, in terrariums they very rarely live lon-

ger than four or five years.” Shifter’s account,

which is almost silent regarding the Indian

chameleon, was perhaps mostly based on in-

formation on species of the African countries.

The TBL-SV-TL relationship is that of a

straight line. The growth in body weight (W)

(Fig. 3) with respect to SV does not follow

a straight line and instead is proportionately

high with the advancing body size.

Singh (1978) mentioned for the gharial

( Gavialis gangeticus) that morphological fea-

tures that do not have a functional significance

at the time of hatching show a suppressed

growth during in-the-shell stage of develop-

ment. The same phenomenon is expected to

being shown by the casque in C. zeylanicus.

The casque is not developed in hatchlings

(Singh et al. 1984) and as seen in the pre-

sent study the smallest chameleon that had

possessed a casque on the head measured 58

mm (SV) at about two months old. The

function of the casque as a digging organ for

nesting female chameleon has been mentioned

in Singh et al (1984). Its presence in males is

perhaps related to the male’s extent

of dominancy and use as an ‘advertisement’

during the breeding season. Morphological

coloration seems to play a major role

in chameleon displays during the breeding sea-

son (Bustard 1965, 1967). The proportion

of head (skull) to SV is almost the same from

young to the adult stage of the chameleon.

The variations in SV-HC relationship (Fig.

3a) appear to be more due to the size of the

casque.

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the people of Tikerpada

and adjacent villages in the Satkoshia Gorge

Sanctuary who provided the chameleons for

the study, and the staff at Gharial Research

and Conservation Unit, Orissa Forest Depart-

ment who assisted in maintaining the captive

populations and other aspects of the study.

Dr. H. R. Bustard, then FAO Consultant for

Crocodilians in India gave encourage-

ments for the study.

118

THE INDIAN CHAMELEON, CHAMAELEON ZEYLANICUS (LAURENT I)

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bay nat. Hist. Soc. 75: 232.

119

SOME ASPECTS OF THE POPULATION DYNAMICS OF

THE BAT, RHINOPOMA HARDW1CKE1

IN A CAVE SYSTEM1

K. Usman2

(With three text- figures)

Data on some aspects of the population dynamics of Rhinopoma hardwickei were

obtained between August 1978 through December 1980 are given. Banding recoveries

and multiple recaptures indicate that R. hardwickei do not migrate, showing high

degree of philopatry throughout the study period. The sex-ratio was about 0.6:0. 4,

although different behaviour of the sexes may lead to biased sampling techniques.

More males than females of the species studied were captured, but this is not inter-

preted to indicate a differential mortality. That would mean that both sexes exhibit

similar survival rate. Since social behaviour in bats does not seem to limit population

size (Twente 1955) that predation on bats by hawks, owls, owlets, falcon, shrews,

snakes and other animals and possibly death from pesticide effects also may be the

primary factors controlling population density. Population showed a slow increase

during the study period. Natality and mortality curves nearly approximate exponential

functions. The natality rate has been higher than the mortality rate throughout the

study period. Probability of survival of females over the years after banding was

constant and this resulted in constant fertility rate.

Introduction

In any population of living organisms,

whether it is growing, declining or stable,

there is a continual turnover of individuals

through the process of birth, death, immigra-

tion and emigration. This process depends on

the organisms’ interactions with the environ-

ment and is affected by factors such as food

availability, predation pressure and the com-

petition between the individuals in a group

for different resources. The schedule of survi-

val and fertility constitutes the life history of

an organism. The dynamics of a population,

namely the changes in numbers and compo-

1 Accepted October 1984.

2 Professor of Zoology, Dr. Zakir Husain College,

Ilayangudi 623 702.

sition of a population, is a consequence of the

life-history of the various individuals in a

population. Such a study termed ‘population

dynamics’ is essential in understanding the

biology of bats.

The small insectivorous bat, Myotis luci-

fugus has been shown to have a rather re-

markable life span of 24 years (Griffin and

Hitchcock 1965). However such longevity

records concern only exceptional individuals

and such records are of little value in under-

standing the population dynamics of a species.

Several studies have been made on the theore-

tical age structures for bat population (Twente

1955, Davis 1966) survival rate of young M.

austroriparius (Foster et al. 1978), population

ecology of the bat, M. grisescens (Tuttle 1975)

and mortality of the bat, Eptesicus fuscus

120

POPULATION DYNAMICS OF RHINOPOMA HARDWICKEI

(Kunz 1974). These studies involve banding

of bats are mainly concerned with the homing

abilities and migratory patterns. Pearson et al.

(1952) attempted to study the reproductive

biology of Corynorhinus rafinesqui in nature

employing wing banding.

Apart from Sarkar et al. (1980) there are

no systematic field studies on population strate-

gies reported for bats of South India. It is

very difficult to estimate population parameters

of nocturnal animals such as bats within a

short span of time. The aim of this study is

to evaluate some of the results obtained from

single marking and multiple recapture methods.

Materials and Methods

The study cave lies very close to the pass

of Nagamalai ridge, 8 km from the Madurai

Kamaraj University campus (9°58'N, 78°10'E).

The pass is called ‘Kanavai Katha Bootham’

(abbreviated KKB). The cave is occupied

exclusively by a resident population of R.

hardwickei. The following criteria were taken

into consideration while selecting the banding