Zoo's Print May 2011 by ZOO-WILD

Magazine of Zoo Outreach Organisation Vol. XXVI No. 5, May 2011

ISSN 0971-6378 (Print); 0973-2543 (Online)

The ZOO Crew celebrates 20th Year Anniversary of Latha Ravikumar, Pp.3-8

Date of Publication: 21 May 2011

Magazine of Zoo Outreach Organisation Vol. XXVI No. 5, May 2011

ISSN 0971-6378 (Print); 0973-2543 (Online)

Contents Report on Global Conference on Entomology, Thailand: Aspects of insect conservation, B.A. Daniel, Pp 1-2 Testimonial to Latha Ravikumar, Conservation Administrator, 20 Years Anniversary, Pp. 3-8 Volunteer Vet at Uttarayan 2011 Ahmedabad, Minla Z. Lachungpa, Pp. 9-10 Long Distance Road Transportation of Hippopotamus, K. Praveen Rao and Dr. U.C. Srivastav, Pp. 11-13 The Breeding of Emerald Dove: a first at Dhaka Zoo, MD Shakif-Ul-Azam, P. 14 Rescue and Rehabilitation of a Black Vulture (Aegypius monachus) in Orissa, Indramani Nath, Subharaj Samantara and Subhrajit Das, P. 15

Kites in the ICU post operation - casualties caused during Uttarayan festival

Elephants love liquor, cry when sad, says new book, Sanu George, P. 16 The Story of Rescue and Rehabilitation of an Injured Elephant Calf, A.T. Mishra, P. 17 Earth Day 2011 : A brief Report, Surajit Baruah, P. 18 Education Reports, Pp. 19-24 Technical articles, Pp. 25-34 Checklist of birds of the North Orissa University campus, Baripada, Orissa, Dipankar Lahkar, S.D. Rout, H.K. Sahu, A. Sinha and S.K. Dutta, Pp. 25-28 Surgical Management of irreparable tail injury in a Lioness, R.V. Suresh kumar, P. Veena, N. Dhanalakshmi, P. Sankar, S. Kolkila and Thoiba singh, P. 29 Checklist of mammals in Taranga Hill Forest, Gujarat, C.D. Patel and M.I. Patel, Pp. 30-32 Verminous penumonia in a Hog Deer (Axis porcinus) caused by Dictyocaulus eckerti Skrajabin, 1931 with remarks on the present status of this species, G.B. Puttanaiah, S.J. Seshadri, K. Muraleedharan and R.N. Srinivas Gowda, P. 33-34 Parasitic infections in wild animals of Kerala, Reghu Ravindran, K.G. Ajith Kumar and V.M. Abdul Gafoor, P. 34 4th International Zoo and Aquarium Symposium â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Global Freshwater Fish Conservation: linking in situ and ex situ actions, Rajeev Raghavan, Pp. 35-36

Global Conference on Entomology 2011 held in Thailand

Earth Day 2011 celebrated at Assam State Zoo

Report on Global Conference on Entomology, Thailand: Aspects of insect conservation B.A. Daniel* A Global Conference on Entomology was organized by Century Foundation, Bangalore, India in collaboration with Chiang Mai University at Chiang Mai, Thailand from 5-9 March 2011. The objective was exchange information on recent advances in entomological research and development, and to bring together the international scientific community involved in the study of insects. During the conference which was attended by researchers and scientists from 34 countries, 17 topics were covered. The topics were: systematics, Insect ecology, nature protection, landscape management, insect conservation - in a changing environment, agricultural entomology, genetically modified organisms, forest entomology, taxonomy and zoo-geography, medical and veterinary entomology, insect genetics, neurobiology and toxicology, physiology, behaviour, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), parasitic mites, regional and international issues, advances in apiculture, cultural entomology and soil entomology. The author represented the IUCN SSC South Asian Invertebrate Specialist Group and Zoo Outreach Organsation, India and presented the activities of Invertebrate Conservation SubCommittee ICSC and activities of South Asian Invertebrate SG. Prof. Michael Samways, Chair, Invertebrate Conservation SubCommittee IUCN SSC, gave the keynote address entitled “Designing future landscapes for conservation”. He highlighted that insects invariably feature strongly in many aspects of functional biodiversity as evidenced by its high connectivity in many food webs and its biomass. Insects and other invertebrates should be considered if we are serious about conserving biodiversity. These animals would span the spectrum from rare and threatened ecological specialists through to widespread and common generalists. Inclusion of all these ecotypes, from specialist pollinators to soil generating detritivores, means that insects must be mainstreamed into all aspects of conservation of functional biodiversity and ecosystem. During the conference ten plenary lectures were delivered as follows: Dr. M. Eric Benbow, University of Dayton, USA on forensic entomology, Prof. Siriwat Wongsiri, Maejo University, Thailand about beekeeping and climate change and Prof. Boris R. Krasnov, Ben-Gurion University of Negev, Israel

Common Picture Wing (Rhyothemis variegata). Photo credit Francy Kakkassery

on ecology of haematophagous arthropods, Dr. V.S. Chauhan, Director ICGB, New Delhi on vaccines against malarial parasites, Prof Michael Samways, Stellenbosch University, South Africa on model organisms for insect conservation research, Dr. Rajinider Kumar Saini, ICIPE, Kenya on integrated control of arthropod vectors, Dr. E.I. Jonathan, Director, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, India on Classical biocontrol for pest management, Prof. You-Chan Bae, Korea on classification of culicoides biting midges, and Dr. H.B. Singh, Bharath Hindu University on biological control of plant hoppers. GCE 2011 received 603 abstracts including invited talks of which 334 were oral papers and the remaining 269 as posters. There were concurrent session in which the author chaired a technical session on the first day on systematics, taxonomy and zoo geography. This report focuses mainly on nature protection, landscape management and insect conservation for which the GCE 2011 received 27 oral papers and 3 posters. As part of this a plenary lecture was given by Prof. Michael Samways entitled ‘Dragonflies: model organisms for insect conservation research’. Dragonflies have a high profile as they are large and charismatic, familiar to most people, and indeed are significant organisms culturally in East Asia. The threats facing them are as great as any other insect group. Being freshwater dependent, they have been used for assessing freshwater catchment quality. Detailed studies have emphasized the importance of identifying key threats to dragonflies and directly addressing them. Where

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this has been done, for example, by removal of invasive alien trees along river banks, the recovery of the dragonfly assemblage can be quite remarkable, even of narrow range endemic species. Furthermore, as with other insect groups, threats can be multiple, with adverse synergism between the impacts of habitat loss with that of climate change, for example. Dragonflies are highly sensitive to climate change, with major geographical range shifts having taken place in Europe. Such range shifts are more difficult to detect in geographical areas subject to the effects of shorterterm climatic cycles, where adaptation by movement to optimal conditions takes place. Dragonflies are now being mainstreamed into freshwater quality assessments across the world, as they are relatively easy to identify, and these assessments can be done by relative amateurs at the sensitive species level rather than at higher taxonomic levels. GCE 2011 received abstracts on a range of topics viz., spiders as biocontrol agents and their diversity, bioacoustic monitoring of orthoptera, conservation of entomophage biodiversity, ecotourism and giant crickets, monitoring the dynamics of carabid beetles, design and management of ecological networks, agroforestry and pest management, insect interactions, predictive modeling and habitat suitability analysis, survey of insects, conservation of butterflies, radio-tracking of dragonflies, biodiversity of cicadidae, impact of land

*Scientist, ZOO / Chair, South Asian Invertebrate Specialist Group IUCN SSC. Email:badaniel@zooreach.org

use changes on dung beetle diversity, use of weaver ants in tropical agriculture, integrating nature conservation, landscape management and biological control, insect fossils, insects as pollinators, butterflies as ecological indicators, effects of forest conversion on species richness, management of invasive ants, effects of forest fragmentation on pollination, and tree hole-a bonsai ecosystem. The author gave a presentation on the activities of ICSC and its network. Invertebrates are the most important component of compositional biodiversity essential to the functioning of the planet. It has been projected that, due to various ongoing threats and particularly climate change, a quarter of all invertebrate species may become extinct in the next few decades. To address the enormous shortcomings in invertebrate conservation, Invertebrate Conservation Sub-committee ICSC was tasked with charting a way forward to bring cohesiveness to the invertebrate conservation community. The Invertebrate Conservation SubCommittee (ICSC), one of the sub committees of Species Survival Commission, was established by IUCN/ SSC in 2005 under the leadership of Prof. Michael Samways being the Chair of ICSC (also member of the Steering committee) to tackle the enormous challenges of how to manage conservation action for numerically dominating taxonomic grouping on Earth. The function of the ICSC is to provide a structure and guidance for a pool of expert knowledge and practical expertise on invertebrate biology, threat assessments and conservation management, with special reference to the SSC Strategic Plan. At present the ICSC has the following composition: Terrestrial Invertebrate RLA (Coordinator) Justin Gerlach Red List Committee (Representative) Viola Clausnitzer Red List Technical Working Group (Representative) Mary Seddon Butterfly Specialist Group (Chair) Scott Black Dragonfly Specialist Group (Chair) Viola Clausnitzer Freshwater Crab and Crayfish (CoChairs) Neil Cumberlidge, Keith Crandall Grasshopper Specialist Group (Chair) Axel Hochkirch Mollusc Specialist Group (Chair) Mary Seddon

South Asian Invertebrate Specialist Group (Co-Chairs) B.A. Daniel, Ather Rafi Coral Specialist Group (Chair) David Obura (of MIRLA/MCSC) Bumble Bee Red List Group (SA – Specialist Advisor): Ed Spevak (shortly to replaced by a full SG) European Saproxylic Beetle Red List Group (SA): Keith Alexander Ants (SA): CarstenBrühl Tiger beetles (SA): Dave Pearson Scarab beetles (SA): SachaSpector Invertebrate Pollinators (SA) Peter Kevan Invertebrate ecological Function Soil and Litter Invertebrate (SA) Justin Gerlach Terrestrial Invertebrate Exploitation (SA) Tim New Captive Breeding of Invertebrates (SA) Paul Pearce-Kelly Cave Invertebrate (SA) Island Invertebrate (SA) Australasian Invertebrates (SA) Tim New European Invertebrates (SA): JürgenOtt North American Invertebrates (SA) Jay Cordero Southern African Invertebrates (SA) Michael Samways Western Indian Ocean Invertebrates (SA) Justin Gerlach The structure of the ICSC addresses the following arenas: • Networking • Rapid invertebrate species assessment approaches • Assessments and indicators • Addressing key threats • Raising awareness on the role of invertebrates in providing ecosystem services

South Asian Invertebrate Specialist Group (SAISG): This SG is hosted by Zoo Outreach Organisation, Coimbatore, India and the SG covers eight South Asian countries namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Objectives of SAISG are to assist individuals, institutions and agencies in South Asia to promote scientific study and conservation of invertebrates; to extend support for other SGs and SAs and to accomplish ICSC’s objectives. The SAISG has subnetworks to cover a wide range of invertebrates of pollinators, aquatic invertebrates, agro-biodiversity, terrestrial, and under-soil invertebrates. The SAISG Assisted Species programme biodiversity unit to carry out the Eastern Himalayas Freshwater Biodiversity Assessment project and assessed 126 molluscs and 150 odonates. At present it is involved in assessing odonates and mollusc species of Western Ghats. For more information about SSC and Invertebrate conservation please log on to http://www.iucn.org/about/work/ programmes/species/about_ssc/ governance/. The author is thankful to Chester Zoo, UK for financial support to attend the Global Conference on Entomology held at Thailand.

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Testimonial to Latha Ravikumar, Conservation Administrator, 20 Years Anniversary

Young ZOO...young everybody .... early 1996

Testimonial from Sally Walker When Zoo Outreach Organisation was still a very young operation, we decided we needed an accountant, and one of our colleagues from Pricol, Raveendran, in Coimbatore brought a very young and shy lady to us, accompanied by her mother. Latha was very lately out of college, having studied BSc. (Maths) and Diploma course in Computer Science and graduated from CBM College in 1990. I hardly remember what I thought about Latha at the time but I must have thought she was ok because I hired her. She had problem with my accent in the starting but she improved soon with the help of Sanjay and other staff.

with the owners for lower rent and tell them probably exaggerated stories about her boss’s achievements and sacrifices and our organizations noble purpose. She would manage shifting seamlessly without affecting daily routine work.

As time went on, Latha was not only doing accounts, but had taken on a number of additional responsibilities. She was a very good typist and organizer. She was (and is) a good manager and began taking on more and more of the tasks around the office. She takes care of administration and organisation legalities very well. Whenever there was something that needed doing in our locality, she was on it, and could convince people to do whatever was in our interests. Noting this quality, I often sent Latha with Sanjay, who is also very good with people to make up a team to speak on ZOO’s behalf.

I was in Vietnam attending a conference when my mother took a bad turn. I had planned to attend and return to my home very shortly but I got the news from my father that she was very bad off and he requested me to come immediately. I called Latha and she immediately changed my flights to the earliest possible. On the way I got an email on my Blackberry that my Mother had passed away. When I reached India to get my flight for USA, Latha and her husband Ravi had driven all the way from Coimbatore to Chennai, over 12 hours, to comfort me. They also brought some things I needed to take to USA and take extraneous thing back to Coimbatore. I was distraught and crying, and Latha got upset just being with me and seeing my miserable condition. She and her family were so kind and loving. They would not even stay in Chennai but drove back the same night.

Latha came to us when we were in our 2nd office in Bharathi Colony. We’ve had to move a lot, either because rent became too high or because our house owner wanted to use the space for some other purpose. Latha would take someone from the office and scout the places, a job I could never do, and also find a broker to help. She would bargain

Latha has been helpful to me personally in many ways over the years and particularly when I began staying in USA longer and longer to give more time to my parents who were aged and mostly bedridden. For that matter, Sanjay and my whole office took on greater burdens during that time and were very kind cooperative.

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I wish that Latha always finds her job at ZOO meaningful and rewarding. She could get a better job any time and if she went out on her own she could make a fortune, as she is a very talented businesswoman. Happy Anniversary Latha and thank you for your two decades at ZOO. Love Sally Walker Founder/Director, Zoo Outreach Organisation

Most recent group photo at 9A Lal Bahadur Colony on Dec’10

A few months later, I asked Latha if it was possible to arrange a Hindu ceremony for my mother at a nearby temple with a river and she made all arrangements … it was as traditional as we could make it. My whole office staff accompanied me and stayed through the whole service. Then my father was alone; no relatives live nearby or could spare themselves for taking care of him. He was distraught with the loss of my mother. He developed pneumonia and had to go to a rehabilitation hospital to recuperate. I used that opportunity to go to India and organize myself to stay longer periods in USA. During that time Sanjay was doing his field research for Ph.D. and I would tell my staff to fill in for him and for me in any way possible. Latha took on a lot for us both and encouraged our staff.

Testimonial from Sanjay Molur When I first contacted Sally regarding the possibilities of working at ZOO, I was called for an interview and to see the ZOO office. That was when I met Latha. She was very calm, quiet and demure looking in the early part of the day. I continued to stay on that day and had officially joined ZOO and by evening, I realized that Latha was not as she had appeared on first acquaintance. The real Latha she talkative, a busy bee and matronly amidst all her various duties of typing (my, what speed!), phoning, faxing and photocopying. Within the day I realized that the office would not be a silent place to work in. She was Acting Manager in her additional capacity, as the Office Manager was away on a field trip . She amazed both Sally and me then with her ability to juggle all these things and ensure their completion. Even in those days when the workload was not as high as it is today, Latha was the only other person in the office with Sally and me working late in

Latha is much more than an employee. She is a close personal friend and I confide a lot in her. I am confident that she will never break my confidence. She has enhanced my ability to work by taking on jobs I should do but don’t have to because of her. I’d like to honour Latha’s family also. Although Sanjay and I both chide her for working late every night, somehow she is always the last to leave. If we need something very badly, she stays to get it done, or to get a jump on the next day. We have no heart to ask her for most of these things. We are afraid (rightfully) that she is neglecting her family. Somehow her family has understood the meaning and purpose she has acquired by being such an important part of Zoo Outreach Organisation, and they take on much of her domestic work. Her father and husband tease her unmercifully about her dedication to me and to ZOO, often commenting when she reaches home at 8pm or later, “oh, you must have got sacked! You are home early!”

Latha & staff at Vada party on 18 Mar 2010

Bat CAMP in Madurai on 23 January 2002

the evening. She had standing instructions for her brothers to pick her up after 6PM, which slowly got extended to 6.30 and 7. There were evenings when one of her brothers would go back home without her after making two or three trips. Hats off to their patience. And as we were preparing for the different PHVAs, I used to drop her home on the nearbroken office TVS50 moped around 9 or 10PM. Although this did not become the norm then, she did start leaving later in the evening and coming early in the mornings. Her perseverance, interest, dedication and inquisitive nature played a huge role in her rise in the office from a typist to assuming larger responsibilities such as a manager and eventually become the Finance Director of ZOO. Amongst her abilities are accounting, typesetting, data storing, web building, internet querying, supervising and managing. She has learned on the job and has mastered scientific names from different groups, interprets scientific data with confidence, creates educational packets, mixes and matches in-house productions to suit different purposes, needs and moods, mastered Photoshop, CorelDraw, PageMaker, InDesign, Microsoft Office suite, web building tools, Windows OS and now Mac OS. She is an expert on FCRA regulations in India. And, is generally a pain-in-the-butt for

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incompetent service people, bad service providers, and the occasional erring or demanding government servant. Latha and I have had a near 18-year working relationship and have been through bouts of good, bad and occasionally very bad interactions. Every one of them has been memorable and have all resulted in a special bond between us. ZOO and WILD, SAZARC and the many networks would not be what they are without Latha. She is rising steadily to become the office ‘amma’ and I look forward to a continued interaction with her in ZOO. Sanjay Molur Executive Director, ZOO Testimonial from Manoj Mishra It is easy to build a team. But to keep it together and bind it like a 'family' needs some one like Latha. ZOO and Sally has been 'damn' lucky to have their Latha and the great results are there to see. Many congratulations to Latha on completing 20 glorious years at the ZOO and helping it become one of the finest NGOs in the land. Best wishes, Manoj Misra Executive Director PEACE Institute, New Delhi

Latha & family on 11 August 2008

Testimonial from Ravi Chandran Latha is a good friend of mine, is a very smart and is very competitive in nature. She is a good well wisher, advisor, teacher and very down to earth. She really likes the work that is the reason that she is still working in ZOO!. She proves herself up to be strong and rise up to the situation that is presented to her. Strong willed, helpful and determined that's the 3 adjectives that I remember her by the most. She always give a try when others lose their hopes and succeeded most of the time. She has helped me in lots of work and taught me many programs in computer. A financial help during my wedding and advises whenever needs are much appreciated. I take this opportunity to give my heartfelt thanks and express good wishes and congratulations to her. Best regards, Ravi Chandran Editorial Assistant, ZOO

Latha & Sarita at SAZARC dinner in Ahmedabad 2 Feb 2008

would have fetched forming those infrastructure? Amazing! She is such a powerful administrator who turns everything possible. Her strictness had always trained us to develop our skills and gain knowledge. Zoo has always been her first family and she loves everyone here as her relation. Timeless hard work and her commitment had been proved her as a master. The pressure she takes to maintain every work in order is great and her expectation of perfection in every deal has doubtlessly brought boons to zoo. Worried where she gets time to look into her family, but also does that without any problem and she’s gifted with such a family who had clearly understood her. No one could deny her support officially and personally which had helped them to happily work with our concern Her portion of work in forming societies, carrying government oriented duties, IT regulations could never be substituted by any others. Her keenness in looking and training other in all fields seeing zoo should work hassle free missing anyone shows her selflessness. She had been madam’s strength all these years and will always be. We wish and prey these golden period we had all these days will last life through and latha have all success and celebrate many more such anniversaries with Zoo. Happy being one amongst the crew. Love Radhika Suresh Accounts cum Admin Executive, ZOO Testimonial from Daniel A smiling face, dealing difficult situations with a high level of confidence and happiness are the trademarks of Latha. I have never hesitated to get Latha’s assistance at any time, either official or personal, whenever needed. She acts

Testimonial from Radhika Hearty congratulations for Latha on her 20th anniversary with zoo crew. She had been and worked every minute for zoo these days whether she is in or out of office with full energy. The backbone she had formed before above fifteen years is what helping us to work ease. What hard work she

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Serious party time - 1998 New Year's party

swiftly when she realizes that someone needs help. I remember an incident that occurred some years ago when I reached Kolkatta after an international flight. My plan was to go to Guwahati to meet a government official to discuss about a series of workshop that we were planning in Assam. After landing Kolkatta I realized that the connecting domestic flight had been cancelled and I was really concerned that I might miss the appointment. I called Latha immediately and she managed to get an alternate flight within 10 minutes. I have so many similar experiences with Latha. Latha coordinates most of the travel during workshops or conferences. Many a times the delegates are amazed about the way they get their problems solved. They never forget to enquire about Latha or thank her for making the job easy for them. She is dependable and trust worthy. She is gifted with amazing recall memory. Regards B.A. Daniel, Scientist, ZOO Testimonial from Raveendran Latha Madam has been working last twenty years at the ZOO. Even though I personally knew her for two and half decades, but I didn't know about ZOO. In an unexpected situation I joined ZOO, after that I understood more about the office and staff. Maintaining an office is a difficult task. But Latha Madam has been maintaining the office administration and doing her duty very well. I hope the organization further leads with Latha Madam’s service. Sincerely, K. Raveendran, Front Office Assistant, ZOO Testimonial from Sarojamma Latha has worked 20 years in the ZOO office. Over the years he has been looking after me and caring for me very well. She is very kind. She always speaks to me very respectful. I am replicating the same to her. Wherever she goes for outing she will take me like her mother to all the places. I am also treating her as one of my daughters all the times. Mrs. Sarojamma Office Mom, ZOO

Latha and Saroja at 9A Lal Bahadur Colony on Dec’10

Testimonial from Manju This is a great opportunity to write about my best pal in the office. I know Latha from last nine years and we have shared many ups and down of our lives together. There are many good qualities in her and its difficult to state each and everything in a small note and I believe that certain things needs to be left unsaid as words won’t be enough to express my gratitude and love for her… Work: She is very much dedicated, efficient and multitasker. There is no doubt that she is the most workaholic person in

Latha with ZOO Crew at 29, Bharathi Colony on 15 May 2007

our office, probably in sleep also she dreams about work. When it comes to work, she will forget everything including eating, family, social events, etc. In last nine years, I have not seen any change in her working style, she will be always last to leave the office. Many times she worked alone till 11:00pm in the office. Even when she takes leave for some personal work, any spare time she gets at home, she will be back to work. At times, I have seen that she is exhausted with long day work but when asked her to go home, every time, I use to get same reply “I will finish this and go”. In fact, she enjoys her work, probably it will be right to say that she is addicted to work. She is greatest asset for the office. Everyone in the office is dependent on her for some or other thing. She has done so many of my work including few of my personal stuff. She is very sportive. When she is with Sanjay and me, we always pull her leg or joke about her but she never gets offended and is always cheerful and smiling. Even in her worst mood, if an outsider visits her, she will welcome with a smiling face. I am sure, many people would have told her that she has a beautiful smile and that’s true. Family/Personal: She is sole bonding source of her family. She is blessed with a very supportive family. She is very fortunate to have Ravi as her husband, without his support she would have not been able to work peacefully without worrying about the home front. Friendship: Everyone thinks that she can not think beyond work but that’s not true, she is very emotional and nice human being, she fits in category of a true friend, she might not take part in your happy moments especially going out to celebrate something but I can always count her when I am in a problem. She always patiently listened to my grievance and I have always got an unbiased suggestions from her. I can never forget the support she gave to me and my family when I was hospitalized. I was surprised to see her leaving work (which is the priority of her life) and spending days in hospital with me (though she would have compensated it by working till late in night). She was there for all medical tests I underwent, and she was also there by my side when I broke down emotionally. I am indebted to her unselfish love, affection and support. I wish, I can reciprocate some day for everything she has done for me. I very happy that we share a special bond. Thanks Latha for being such a lovely human being and my best friend. Love Manju Siliwal, Research Associate Wildlife Information Liaison Development Society

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met before. I told her we are four people (my husband, my daughter, my elder brother and I). She said there would be no problem. So I said ok and asked her for her address. She in turn asked me to give her the train details and said she would send her husband and son to the station to receive us. She then gave me a general description of her husband so that we could identify him.

Quitting time at ZOO sometime in Oct 1996. Latha pregnant with Rajesh about to mount her husband Ravi’s bike

Testimonial from Pravin I have pleasure working with Latha for over 9 years at ZOO. I am impressed with her quality, hard work and ability to face and prevail over challenging tasks. Over these 20 years with ZOO she plays a valuable role in accounts, office administration as well as designing. She puts more time at the office in innovating new techniques and shortcuts to do things better and get the best from each one of us. Her dedication and experience is a great asset to ZOO. Hope she gets greater responsibilities and will continue to achieve even greater success with the ZOO Crew. Best wishes, Pravin Kumar Database Manager, ZOO Testimonial from Payal It's very hard to put into a few words just how much Latha has helped me over the past 7 years, when there is so much to say. Apart from always helping me figure out things for work - everything from computer applications to making Tshirt designs and helping me pay my bills - she has also played a huge role in making me feel at home in Coimbatore and the ZOO office. I congratulate her on completing 20 years at ZOO and wish her the very best for the years to come. She is an amazing woman and I thank her for being a part of my life. Best Regards, Payal Molur, Conservation Educator F5-Go Wild Workshops, Coimbatore Testimonial from Arul Latha is a very hard worker and very talented. She has been working here for the past 20 years due to her excellent skills. She likes her job very much. Like a teacher she will teach everything and I have learned many things from her. I have improved and developed so much, only because of her advice and guidance. I convey my best wishes and congratulations to her. Regards, G. Arul Sr. Office Assistant, ZOO

We were there for 3 days, during our first visit. It was so enjoyable that we always recall those sweet memories. She was really lucky for my daughter as she got her engineering seat without any problem. During our stay, she spoke more about Sally and her colleagues and the organization than about her own family. She is a very dedicated, sincere and hard working person. Her every breath and every thought is about Sally and Z.O.O. She loves and respects Sally just like her own mother. Latha is a gem of a person. I admire and respect Latha very much. She is a precious asset that Sally ma’am has in her organization. I wish her all the love, luck and success in her life. God Bless! Sudha Mohan Program Manager, PEACE Institute Testimonial from R. Marimuthu Latha’s 20th Anniversary…stupendous two decades service..a lesson to be learnt. It is more apt for me to write a testimonial to my beloved colleague Latha, who worked with me since she joined in Zoo Outreach Organization. I was off for some time from the organization but she continued and completed her 20 years service to ZOO. . . .a great achievement! “Laaaa…..tha is a Mantra revolving around Zoo Outreach Organisation for the past two decades. Still I have the lovely memories of the date and year she had joined in ZOO, it was one fine morning of May 3, 1991 she came for the interview. She joined with ZOO team on the same day itself. ZOO had limited staff and infrastructure in those days. Most of the works were done manually. After joining, though this current job was fairly new to her and involved manual and petty kind of things, she learned all kinds of work with utmost interest, and picked up routine office work very quickly and efficiently with Madam Sally Walker’s guidance. That is one of her great talents… learning new things very swiftly. I never heard from her saying that this could not be done. She always look things positively and try it right way which is good enough to Madam. She has been very dynamic for all these 20 years. She has never lost that spirit even today and it is very obvious to long-time colleagues like me. Practice makes perfect. . . . a dynamic lady!

Testimonial from Sudha Latha means ‘creeper’ (plant) in Sanskrit. I know her for the last 10 years. First it started with official communications, as Ms. Sally Walker is a friend and colleague of Mr. Manoj Misra, my boss. She is a very polite person with a wonderfully sweet voice; hence I always enjoyed talking with her. In 2007, I told Latha that I have to visit Coimbatore for my daughter’s college admission and requested her to book a hotel for us. She was so happy to hear that and said, “You can stay with us and no need to book a hotel”. I was slightly hesitant because we had not

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Latha and ZOO crew in 5th ZOO office at 29 Bharathi Colony in 2001

goal and the boat is captained by Madam Sally for the good cause that is voiceless creatures’ welfare. We all work together all the times to achieve our goal. Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success. Best of luck for the coming years with the word “A good manager is a woman who isn't worried about her own career but rather the careers of those who work for her”. regards R. Marimuthu Education Officer, ZOO

Latha working hard collating information from Taxon Data Sheets during the Indian Reptile CAMP at the State Forest Service College in 22 May 1997

Whatever the new innovative things she learned after taking some risks, it may be a small printing work or big software related problem solved, she never keep it for herself but always shared it with others to learn, keeping in mind with the institution’s development. That is a good practice of good managers. Somehow it lessens their work and at the same time reduces dependence on one staff for all works will go away. She followed this when Geetha joined after that. Still she is practicing this and teaches others as much as she can. Many hands make light work. Here I like to indicate her tireless hard works which have carried her to her present position. It is not routine promotion happening in the Government service. Here her promotion is measured by her inimitable hard work. She never counts up working hours. If there is a work and she is needed for that work, until the work is get finished, she doesn’t want to leave the office. Her work ethics is more than admirable? Even I couldn’t follow this sometimes. Really I am jealous of this quality. Experience is the best teacher. . . . a good teacher & dedicated worker! When talking about administering works in the office, she is very jovial person sometimes and enormously serious person sometimes like different sides of the same coin because both is very important to run an organization. This is not only with the staff and also other service providers to the ZOO. She uses both qualities for organization’s development…if the works have to be get it done she uses charm and firmness as weapon. In the end she is successful and achieves what we need for the organisation all the time. . . . a good administrator! Her acquaintance with her colleagues is always good. She is maintaining everlasting friendship with all of them. She is caring for others and sharing whatever she hears from them to convey to Madam Sally Walker and helps them in appropriate way. A friend in need is a friend indeed. So, ZOO became an alternative home to all of us. … a caring custodian! Latha’s hospitality is superb. In 1991-1994, I used to visit her old home near Ramakrishna Hospital whenever I go to Gandhipuram. Really I was enthralled by her family’s hospitality, including each and every one at that time. This testimonial is an opportunity for me to thank her Father and Mother and husband and kids and pay back my gratitude by words. They are wonderful role model parents who stand behind Latha all the times for her Himalayan achievement at the ZOO for last 20 years. Without their unstinted support it would not have been possible for Latha to get this greater extent in her life. Honor thy Mother and Father. Latha, let continue your service with the same spirit & zeal to attain Silver, Golden and Platinum Jubilee of your career in the ZOO. We are all sailing on the same boat with similar

Testimonial from Geetha I congratulate and appreciate Latha for her 20th Anniversary in ZOO. She is know to me since 1993. She is a dedicated person who gives importance to our ZOO family. She willingly do all kinds of work in ZOO even though it's not hers. She is very punctual and expect us to be the same. She is very much straight forward but kind to us. She is very strict in her work. If we find any difficulties in completing our work, she helps us to complete it. She has much of talent in all aspect. I wonder about her working style, her remembrance of things, managing projects, travel arrangements, accounts, etc. She has good knowledge in computer and networking. I have learnt a lot from her in accounts, administration, and all official works. Her administrating capacity is awesome that am surprised about. She does not only help us work wise, but also give hands in our family worries. She is very much updated about all new rules regarding tax, society, accounts, etc. and also gives information to us about those. I am very happy and grateful to work with such a person who leads me to improve my career". Love Geetha Accounts cum Admin Executive, ZOO Testimonial from Raveendran Latha's family were friends of mine and when her parents and she approached me to recommend a ‘decent’ employment, I immediately referred ZOO. Her parents were apprehensive as they didn’t know about ZOO. I convinced them about the environment etc and gave suitable assurance. Latha used to call me as ‘Anna’ (brother). I am very happy because I had recommended a good employment/ environment for my sister and she truly honors me by fulfilling all expectations of ZOO . Her continuous service for two decades with growth at ZOO makes me very proud. Thanks & regards, N. Raveendran General Manager Sakthi Finance Ltd., Coimbatore.

Rodent CAMP in Coimbatore on 10 February 2004

ZOO’s PRINT, Volume XXVI, Number 5, May 2011

Volunteer Vet at Uttarayan 2011 – Ahmedabad Minla Z. Lachungpa* Uttarayan is the annual kite flying festival held 13-15 January in Gujarat. It is one of the spectacular sights of “Vibrant Gujarat” and also spectacularly deadly to birds, and occasionally human beings. The festival involves families that gather on their terraces and fanatically fly kites, the thrill being able to cut a rival kite flyer’s kite-string and to keep a score on how many kite strings are cut by a single person in a day. However, this competitive spirit has been a source of tragedy to birds and the occasional bat, as the thin kite string cut through their tender skin and flesh as the innocently fly into it, and at times even cuts through bone. The string that cuts through bone is “manja” or glass powder coated kite-string which is as efficient in cutting competitive kites as it is cutting through the wings of a large number of birds.

irony!

In order to bring down the number of casualties caused during this festival, the Jivdaya Charitable Trust organizes the “Save the Birds Campaign” every year at the local animal shelter or Panjrapol, where veterinarians volunteer to treat these injured birds. This year, I had the privilege of participating in this event alongside veterinarians from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Assam, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Belgium. The casualties numbered over 1400 on the 20th of January, largely comprising of Pigeons, Pariah Kites, Common Crows, Cattle Egrets and Ring-necked doves. Other birds included a few Crow pheasants, Barn Owls, Glossy Ibises, Black Ibises, Comb Ducks, Painted Storks, a White-necked Stork, a Pelican, six Oriental White Backed Vultures and two Egyptian Vultures. Operating theaters were divided into major and minor ones for Kites and Pigeons, and a major operating theater for endangered species of birds. Major operating theaters were managed by Mrs. Usha Nath who made sure every operation procedure ran smoothly. The veterinarians assigned to these theaters were Dr. Melissa Nollet, Dr. Tarun Sutaria, Dr. Prajwalita Sutaria, Dr. A.D. Chaudhary, Dr. Shashi Kiran, Dr. Dishle, Dr. Manjula, and myself. As a junior vet, I was allowed to assist during operating procedures for the larger endangered birds, all of which proved to be most valuable, experience-wise. Major procedures largely involved suturing of the propatagium or wing web so that the bird will still be able to fly, as well as bone-pinning in broken wings and legs. Such operations were always carried out under gas anesthesia that made operating on these birds much safer. All operated birds were then taken into the intensive care unit where they were monitored until they were alert and active, after which they were then transferred to recovery wards at the second shelter where they could be provided with food that suited them better.

Kites in the ICU post operation

All birds and bats were brought to the clinic in various stages of stress often resulting in mortality. All efforts were made to save as many animals as we could. The experience proved very valuable, in that not only did I get to see how operations could be conducted on a mass scale with limited resources, I was also able to learn techniques that require a lot of practice and hard work. These birds are extremely prone to stress and thus require careful handling. I am most thankful for being able to be a part of this noble cause.

Bone pinning of wing in a Kite

* Veterinarian, Gangtok, Sikkim. Email: minlaz1806@gmail.com

ZOO’s PRINT, Volume XXVI, Number 5, May 2011

List of the patients treated are listed as follows: 1 Sarus crane

2 Spotted owlet

1 Rosy pelican

1 Scops owl

6 Painted storks

1 Barbet

1 Wooly/ white necked stork 1 Purple moorhen

1 Bee eater

1 White Ibis

4 Rose ringed parakeet 1 Mouse bat 2 Flying foxes

2 Godwit 4 Comb ducks 1 Red Wattled Lapwing 4 Peafowl 1 Booted eagle 1 Peregrine falcon 1 Shikra 6 Oriental white backed vultures 2 Egyptian vulture

Unk # Kites Unk # Pigeons Unk # Crows Unk # Crow pheasant Unk # Mynas Unk # Rosy pastors Unk # Egret Unk # Black ibises Unk # Glossy ibises

4 Barn owl This trip proved to be a great eye opener. Not only did I gain much work-wise, and was able to make many useful contacts, but I also learned the pros and cons of tradition and how people are eager to make amends for what tradition does to these birds. I thank everyone at the JCT for having made this a most memorable experience for me. I am also very grateful to Dr. Vibhu Prakash of BNHS who sent me to become a part of something so big and important. Also the vets at the programme allowed me to “hang around” to help during major surgeries and taught me plenty in the process.

Tending to the injured Pelican

Egyptian Vulture at recovery

Coating of kite strings with glass

ZOO’s PRINT, Volume XXVI, Number 5, May 2011

Long Distance Road Transportation of Hippopotamus K. Praveen Rao* and Dr. U.C. Srivastav** Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) is a river-living mammalian species from tropical Africa. The Hippos and whales have a common ancestor. Hippos spend most of their time standing or swimming underwater, where they feed on aquatic plants; it is herbivorous in nature. The animal is known to spend about 16 hours a day in water. The Greeks named them “river horse.” It has short-legs and broad body with a tough greyish-brown coloured skin. The animal mostly defecates in water. It is the third largest land animal after elephant and white rhinoceros. The male is about 160 cm tall at the shoulder and weighs about 5 tons where as the female is slightly smaller. The body is nearly hairless. The mouth is wide, and the incisors and lower canines are large ivory tusks which grow throughout life. The eyes and nostrils are near the top of the head, thus the animal can see and breathe when submerged in water. It breaths every 4-5 minutes. Hippopotami usually live in herds; groups of animals feed on the shore. They also bask on the shoreline and secrete a red oily substance, which is a skin moisturiser and sunblock which also protects the animals against germs. When alarmed, hippo rushes to the water. Each breeding female can give birth to one calf every two years. It is hunted for meat, tusks. Africans use the hide for shields and whips. Once widespread in Africa, hippopotamus is now rare and currently restricted to eastern central and southern sub-Saharan Africa. Hippopotamus in the Zoo environment Hippos were exhibited in zoos and were popular among the visitors for many years. The first Hippo was displayed in London Zoo way back in the year 1850. The first Hippo in India was in Kanpur Zoological park in the year 1977 and was named “Dhiraj”. Since then they have adapted to the climatic conditions of the zoo. The animals have been provided with an enclosure of the size 1130 sq.mts., in which the water pool occupies half the area with a concave bottom. The open space has feeding platforms and mangers. The entire pool is divided into two halves with one breeding pair kept on one side and two males a female and a calf on the other side to check territorial fights. The numbers have increased to six. The animal is a voracious feeder and consumes more than 80 kg of fodder every day. It is costly to maintain a big herd in captive conditions. The habit of the animal is to defecate in the pool of water, hence

Hippopottamus acquainted with transport cage

cleaning of the moat and change of water is needed at regular intervals. As the numbers increase the rate of cleaning cycle also should be increased to maintain hygienic conditions. To keep a balance on the above factors and to have a diversity of animals in the zoo, animal exchanges were proposed. Animal exchange was planned between Kanpur Zoological park, U.P. and Sakkarbaug Zoo, Junagadh, Gujarat. According to the exchange programme a pair of hippopotamus, a pair of hog deer and some birds were to be transferred to Junagadh in exchange of a pair of tigers along with some birds. The proposal was approved by the Central Zoo authority Vide its letter no CZA F no.23-1/2009-CZA (M), dated 23-11-2009. By mutual agreement between both the zoos, the male hippo was to be transported by Kanpur zoo to Junagadh by Kanpur zoo authorities and the female hippo would be transported later by Junagadh authorities. As a matter of routine, only younger and smaller individuals are preferred for exchange for ease of transportation. In this case, however, the existing pair was selected for exchange, thus the larger male of about 20 years was to be transported. Thus the male hippopotamus, named Neeraj aged 20 years was transported under approved exchange programme from Kanpur zoological Park, Kanpur to Sakkarbaug zoological Park, Junagadh. Preparations for Transport The method of transportation and the modalities were discussed at length

ZOO’s PRINT, Volume XXVI, Number 5, May 2011

and many rounds of discussion were held between Director, Veterinarian, Forest Range Officers, Keeper and other field staff who participated in earlier exchange programmes. After the discussions the following activities were planned. 1. Construction of cage of suitable size. 2. Acquaintance of the animal to the cage 3. Selection of route for transportation 4. Handpicked personnel for transporting 5. Selection of season for transportation 6. Loading of the animal in the truck 7. Food reserve, medical kit and other equipments 8. Frequency of water bath 9. Precautions adopted during transportation Construction of cage of suitable size The male hippo was fairly a large animal and required a cage of suitable size and strength. The total transporting distance from Kanpur to Junagadh was about 1400 kms. Thus the cage should also be in a position to cope with the bumps and jerks on the road along with a heavy animal inside. Thus the cage of 3.60mts (length) X 1.50 mts (width) X 1.80 mts (height) angle iron with 60mm X 60mm X 6 mm dimensions was chosen for construction of the cage. At one end a slide up door was fixed with iron bars of 25 mm thickness. The top of the cage was also constructed with iron * Director, Kanpur Zoological Park, Kanpur, U.P. ** Veterinary Officer, Kanpur Zoological Park, Kanpur, U.P. Email: kanpurzoo@gmail.com

Hippo loaded onto a truck by crane

bars of 16 mm and were fixed at a spacing of 8.0 cms to allow proper ventilation to the animals and to allow drenching of the animal to keep it cool and moist. The front end, sides bottom and the head portion of the roof were covered with wooden planks of the size.0.3 mt width X 0.025 mts thickness and appropriate length. The wooden planks placed at the bottom and front end were joined closely but the side planks were spaced to allow free flow of air. Additional reinforcement was placed on the front end and back end to sustain impact of the animal when it is loaded and tries to escape the cage. Thus a cage of suitable size and strength was constructed. Acquaintance of the animal to the cage To make the animal acquainted with the cage, the cage was placed in the enclosure two months before the expected date of transportation. The entry door (sliding up door) was pulled up and was tied with a thick plastic rope and the other end of the rope was fixed to the ground with suitable designed nails. The sliding arrangement is shown in the photograph presented with the article. So that on the day of transportation the animal could be locked instantly. Feed was served inside the cage. Initially the animal showed reluctance, but later the animal was used to the cage and was moving in and out of the cage freely. Selection of route for transportation It is a great challenge to transport a fully grown amphibious animal longer distance. Thus comfortable route with minimum jerks and bumps and with facility for water and feed all along the

way is of utmost importance. Two probable routes chosen for transport are as followsRoute I- Kanpur »Jhansi » Shivpuri » Guna » Ujjain » Ahmedabad » Junagadh. Route II- Kanpur » Etawah » Firozabad » Agra » Bharatpur » Mahuwa » Balaji Crossing » Dausa » Jaipur » Ajmer » Nathdwara » Udaipur » Gandhinagar » Rajkot » Junagarh The total distance covered by route I was 1393kms and that of route II was 1500kms. Though the second route was longer by 107kms, route I has many state highways, few national highways and some least- populated areas. Thus the expected jerks and bumps on these roads are more and at the same time in the case of emergency immediate assistance was a remote possibility due to least populated areas along the road. Most of the way on route II was national highway and also Golden quadrilateral the national highway no 2. Thus route II was chosen for transport because of less jerks and bumps on national highways and the facility for watering and feed availability along the way. Handpicked personnel for transporting The arrangements for transportation of the hippo were satisfactory. But the real challenge is to transport the animal safely to its final destination. The guidelines issued by the Central Zoo Authority for transportation of the animals clearly state that a veterinarian should accompany the animal under transport. Thus the first person in the team was a veterinarian. Later a team of staff for assisting the doctor during transportation was carefully selected. Any small mistake would prove detrimental. It could

result in the loss of life of a precious animal and at the same time bring a bad name to our organisation. Hence a careful selection of personnel for transportation of the animal is essential. The people should be wellacquainted with the habits of the animal under consideration and also be capable to confront difficult situations successfully. The group should be cohesive, share responsibilities, accepting of the duties assigned and willing to take up the challenges involved. Keeping in view the experience and past history of transporting animals, Mr. J. P. Awasthi, forester was chosen. Keeper Ramesh Chandra as tiger keeper, had long experience of handling animals. Hence he was chosen as third member of the team. Mr. Vinod Kumar, sweeper is an active member of the zoo. Many times he was assigned the duty of handrearing orphan animals. He has a technical bent of mind to overcome the difficult situations. He is also responsible for maintenance of hygiene of the animal. Thus he was chosen as the fourth member of the team. Thus we build the team. Selection of season for transportation After the initial approval of CZA was given, it was decided not to transport the animal during summer as the animal was amphibious in nature. It restricts itself to water for about 16 hours a day. Thus transporting such an animal during summer was not advisable and it was decided to postpone it till early winter. During end of September and first half of October it was still hot, however, and not conducive for transporting an animal like hippopotamus. Thus an extension was sought for transporting the animals. The proposal was accepted by CZA and period was extended. The time of transportation was decided around third week of December. Because the nights will be cooler and the animal is to be transported longer distance during nights and during day the animal will be transported during early hours and late evenings. During the day it should be rested in shady places. Loading of the animal in the truck Finally the day of transportation arrived, 23 December, 2009. In order to get the hippo into its travel cage it was not given food at the usual time but in the afternoon around 4:30pm when it was very hungry. The animal readily entered the cage for its feed and at the right moment the shutter was dropped and the animal was trapped. As and when the shutter was closed the animal became a little upset

ZOO’s PRINT, Volume XXVI, Number 5, May 2011

and pushed its heavy body against the walls and shutters. As the cage was designed for all these eventualities no damage occurred to the cage, but the animal received some bruises for which it was given first aid. All the persons involved in the operation were asked to leave the place for a while so that the hippo could recover from trauma. The hippo got used to the situation and calmed down after some time. Then the crane could complete loading the animal on the truck. The transition from enclosure to truck was done in a slow and steady pace, so the animal was least disturbed. Once loaded into the truck the hippo became restless once again, but calmed after a while. The truck left at 11.30 pm. Food reserve, Medical kit and other equipment Animal feed. It was essential to carry green fodder and other feed: chopped and whole jowar strands, green fodder, vegetables and fruits were carried as reserve. The animal feed with the following composition was also kept as reserve: Wheat

30%

Maize

20%

Treacle/molasses

10%

Small fragments of corn or small ruby with gram, lentil, horsebean, kidney bean, legume, fragmented legume, grain dust, oil cake, gram husk, pea husk

40%

Medical kit: During transportation the animal may be subjected to a different environment unusual to its daily routine. This will result in stress, and loss of appetite. The fluctuations in the temperature regime might result in dehydration, temperature rise, stomach disorders etc., the animal may have to be tranquilized for further treatment. The following important medicines were carried. Antibiotics

Ceftrioxone + Tazobactum injection (For Parenteral use) Sulfadiazine+ Trimethoprim Bolus (For oral use)

Corticosteroids

Prednisilone/Triamcinolone Acetonide & Dexamethasone (Injectable)

Behaviour modifier & Anti-emetics

Triflupromazine

Antipyretics / analgesic & antiinflammatory agents

Paracetamol/Nemisulide & Meloxicam

Antiseptics

Lorexene Cream/Negasunt Dusting Powder / Topicure Spray /Himax Lotion & Betadine lotion.

Miscellaneous

Disposable syringes (50ml/20ml/ 10ml /5ml & 3ml. Cotton and Bandage, Methylated Sprit and Dettol.

Tranquillizing kit

Disinject Dart Gun, Blow Pipe, Xylazine/ Ketamin & Yohimbine Injections.

Therefore following schedule was adopted:S.No

Date

Place

Time of bath

Distance covered (Km.) 0 Km

23-12-09

Kanpur Zoo, U.P.

09.00 PM

24-12-09

Sikandara, U.P.

02.45 AM 90 Km.

24-12-09

Etawah, U.P.

06.00 AM 85 Km.

24-12-09

Agra, U.P.

10.40 AM 140 Km

24-12-09

Bharatpur, Rajasthan 12.35 PM

60 km.

24-12-09

Mahuwa, Rajasthan

03.00 PM

60 km

24-12-09

Jaipur, Rajasthan

06.40 PM

100 km.

24-12-09

Ajmer, Rajasthan

11.30 PM

142 km.

25-12-09

Ajmer, Rajasthan

07.30 AM Night halt

25-12-09

Highway No NH79 , Rajasthan

11.00 AM 80 km.

25-12-09

Highway No NH79 , Rajasthan

01.30 PM

80 km.

25-12-09

Highway No NH79 , Rajasthan

04.15 PM

90 km

25-12-09

Highway No NH79, Rajasthan

06.45 PM

70 km.

25-12-09

Highway No 8, Rajasthan

09.00PM

70 km.

25-12-09

Highway No 8, Rajasthan

11.00 PM. 95 km.

26-12-09

Gandhinagar, Gujarat 03.00 AM 135 km.

26-12-09

Gandhinagar, Gujarat 07.20 AM Night halt

26-12-09

High wayNo NH8B , Gujarat

09.45 AM 87 km.

26-12-09

High wayNo NH 8B, Gujarat

01.00 PM

99 km

26-12-09

Rajkot, Gujarat

02.15 PM

Lunch break

26 -12-09

Rajkot, Gujarat

04.00 PM

140 km.

26-12-09

Sakkarbaug Zoo, Gujarat

07.00 PM

127 km

Precautions adopted during transportation 1) Driver had to be careful about movements of the hippo so that the vehicle would be stable. 2) While applying brakes, the speed of the vehicle was reduced well in advance. 3) Speed of the vehicle was maintained at an optimum speed. 4) Animal was given sufficient break to rest 5) Strict monitoring of the animal behaviour and condition was done on every stop. 6) Not much emphasis was given to feed the animal during journey but chopped and raw Chari was given daily. Cleaning of the cage was done with D-125 solution. Occasionally potato, cauliflower, carrot, guava and banana were given. The banana was relished by the hippo along with the animal feed.

Other equipment: The animal has to be kept as distant as possible. For drenching the animal two cans, rope and watering trough rubber tube were kept for pouring water on the animal at regular intervals.

A total distance of 1740 km. was altogether covered to reach the destination, because of some diversions on the road. Thus the total road distance was more than the expected distance.

Frequency of water baths Hippopotamus being an amphibious animal, a prime consideration was laid towards the maintenance of humidity to avoid drying of the external body surface. Throughout the journey continuous baths were given. The major considerations for giving baths were temperature and availability of water.

Finally the animal was landed safely into the hippopotamus enclosure of Sakkarbaug Zoo, Junagadh at 9pm on 26 Dec 09. The marathonic mission was accomplished successfully. The hippo was transported 1740 km from Kanpur Zoo to Sakkarbaug Zoo.

ZOOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s PRINT, Volume XXVI, Number 5, May 2011

The Breeding of Emerald Dove : a first at Dhaka Zoo Md. Shakif-Ul-Azam The Emerald Dove (Chalcophaps indica) is a pigeon which is a widespread resident breeding bird in tropical southern Asia from Pakistan to Sri Lanka and east to Indonesia and northern and eastern Australia. The dove is also known by the names of Green Dove and Green-winged pigeon.1 Among a total of four doves (3.1) in captivity at Dhaka Zoo, the lone female dove laid two eggs on 19 March, 2011. One of the eggs hatched on 2 April 2011. It was the first birth of Emerald Dove at Dhaka Zoo. After birth the chick drank pigeon milk, a special feature of pigeons and doves. During breeding season, male and female crops enlarge and secrete a thick milky substance. The chicks drink this milk by poking their bills into the parent's throat. According to Brown (2010) 2 nesting material needs to be provided only in the breeding season, which is usually spring. The provision of nesting materials and the correct food trigger make it possible for them to breed all year round. During the rest of the year the bird will happily roost on any tree or perch provided in the aviary. Captive Emerald Dove lives on a pigeons diet which is easy to maintain. A common diet consist of commercial grade pigeon seed, with mixed greens and seasonal commercially produced fruit such as apples, bananas, mangoes, watermelon given daily with occasional invertebrates such as mealworms and cockroaches. At Dhaka Zoo, the enclosure of Emerald Dove has no special features. We provided some vase or basket fixed on different parts of enclosure for laying eggs and planted a bamboo tree inside the enclosure. We provided 2gm millet, 3gm mustard oil seed and 3gm paddy for each Emerald Dove per day. As a supplement to this food, 0.2gm mixture of multivitamines and toxin binder with the above feed was provide per day for each Emerald Dove once a day. The family Columbidae has 289 species worldwide, with 30 in Indian sub-continent. This species is listed as ‘Least Concern’ under the IUCN Red List (IUCN, 2010) due to its wide distribution. Although it is thought that its population is decreasing (IUCN, 2010) it has yet to meet the criteria that will move it to the next category of Near Threatened’. This species is not listed with CITES. In Bangladesh there are 17 species of Columbidae, of which 2 are migratory. Emerald Dove (Chalcophaps indica) is one of the resident species among them4. According to Bangladesh Red List the status of marine and migratory vertebrates1 in Bangladesh is: 240 species, 2 - EN, 04 - VU, 6 - LR, 4 are DD and 224 are not threatened3. A study by Anisuzzaman, 2000 indicated that Emerald Doves are not threatened in Bangladesh at present.

New born Emerald Dove at Dhaka Zoo. Photo by Dhaka Zoo

In the latest assessment in 2010 by Birdlife International, 1,240 species are considered threatened with extinction in the categories of Critically Endangered, Endangered and Vulnerable. This represents 12.5% of the total of 9,895 extant bird species in the world. An additional 838 species are considered Near Threatened and four are Extinct in the Wild, giving a total of 2,082 species that are priorities for conservation action. Of the threatened species, 190 species are considered Critically Endangered and are therefore at extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. Studies on the global population of Emerald Dove by Gibbs et al.5 identified that the population size yet not been quantified, but the species is described as usually common, although scarce on Java and Bali and uncommon on the Ryukyu islands. Some environmentalists remarked that like many other species of birds Emerald Dove may start to decline soon. The most important threats to the world’s birds are the spread of agriculture (significantly affecting 73% of Threatened bird species) and human use of biological resources, either through direct exploitation of bird populations or from the indirect impacts on bird populations of forest logging (which combined affect 71% of birds). These threats are the main drivers behind habitat degradation and conversion which are influencing 95% of Globally Threatened Bird populations. According to Ali Reza Khan6 in Bangladesh the main reason for destroying the Emerald Dove is capture by human beings. In addition to that human beings destroy the bamboo trees and bushes where Emerald dove lays eggs. It is very important to take necessary conservation action to save this species from extinction. References: 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclopedia: Emerald Dove. 2. Jennifer Brown, 2010: Husbandry Guidelines For the Emerald Dove, p. 20. 3. M. Anisuzzaman, 2000: Red book of Threatened Birds of Bangladesh, p. 61. 4. Md Khalilur Rahman: Pigeon and Dove of Bangladesh, Banglapeidia, National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh. 5. Gibbs, D., Barnes, E. & Cox, J. 2001. Pigeons and doves. A guide to the pigeons and doves of the world. Yale Univ. Press. 6. Dr. Ali Reza Khan, 1987: Bangladesher Bannoprani, 2nd Part, p. 101.

Records of Birds are threatened with extinction in the world

Research & Education Officer, Dhaka Zoo, Bangladesh Email: shakif78@gmail.com

ZOO’s PRINT, Volume XXVI, Number 5, May 2011

Rescue and Rehabilitation of a Black Vulture (Aegypius monachus) in Orissa Indramani Nath1, Subharaj Samantara2* and Subhrajit Das2 Black vulture is one of the near threatened species of the world. So, various conservation activities have been taken up to prevent them from becoming threatened species. However, their population is decreasing rapidly day-by-day. The main threats to black vulture are direct mortality caused by humans (either accidentally or deliberately), decreased availability of food and destruction of habitat. The present paper describes the rescue and rehabilitation of an unknown bird which was later on identified as black vulture and its typical feeding habit. A black-coloured bird unable to fly was rescued from Bhalupani village area by forest officials of Bonai Forest Division, Orissa and was brought to Nandankanan Zoological Park for necessary treatment and rehabilitation. As the bird was dull and depressed, immediately antistress drug Restobal and Zetress were provided with drinking water. The bird was identified to be Black vulture (Aegypius monachus). It was a very large blackish to blackish brown coloured bird with a light pinkish naked neck and black ruff. Mostly they can be observed alone perched on the ground and rarely in a group of 15 to 20. It usually prefers habitats of open savannah and semi-desert habitat. In India, this type of vulture is usually found in Himalayas, migrating down to south and west (lower latitudes) in winter, occasionally vagrant to peninsular regions of Maharastra (Satara) and Kerala. This is the first sighting record in the State of Orissa. The fecal sample examination was negative for any parasitic ova. On the

Rehabilitated Black Vulture at Nandankanan Zoological Park

first day it was given a dressed chicken and on the next day a live chicken which was refused by the bird. Antistress drug Restobal and Zetress were continued. A trial was made to provide the chicken at a height in a pole so that it will better simulate natural conditions (Houston and Piper, 2006). To our surprise, immediately the bird tore the chicken apart and ate it. However, the birds generally feed on carrion and also on tortoises on the ground. This is the typical habit of eating that we observed in this black kite and we succeeded at our task of feeding the vulture. Since then, the bird has been kept in Nandankanan Zoological Park as an exhibit, has been provided food in this

manner and is in good condition at the time of writing this report. Reference Houston, D.C. & S.E. Piper (eds). 2006. Proceedings of the International Conference on Conservation and Management of Vulture Populations. 14-16 November 2005, Thessaloniki, Greece. Natural History Museum of Crete & WWF Greece. 176 pages.

1 Professor, 2 M.V.Sc. Scholar Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, O.U.A.T., Bhubaneswar – 751 003, Orissa, India. Correspondence author Email: subharaj36ovc@gmail.com

THIRD INTERNATIONAL BIOPESTICIDE CONFERENCE (BIOCICON 2011) BIOCICON 2011 is being organized from 28 to 30 November 2011 by Crop Protection Research Centre, Department of Advanced Zoology and Biotechnology, St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Palayamkottai, Tamil Nadu, India in col15laboration with Centre for Plant Protection Studies, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. This conference is in continuation of BIOCICON 2009 held previously in the same Institution assisted by Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, Ministry of Earth Sciences, New Delhi and Tamil Nadu State Council for Science and Technology (TNSCST), Chennai. BIOCICON 2011 is aimed to promote basic and applied research and development for ecofriendly pest disease and nematode management in agriculture, horticulture and forestry.

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Elephants love liquor, cry when sad, says new book Sanu George* Cheeran also said jumbos are killed not only for their ivory tusks but also meat, which is consumed in parts of Africa and even northeastern India. "In Africa, a single tusk fetches around Rs. 7,200 while the elephant meat (bush meat) of a tusker weighing around 3,000 kg fetches a handsome amount up to Rs. 3 lakh. "After the animal is killed and the tusks are removed, the meat is cut and wrapped with herbs. The meat is then dried and taken to the cities to be sold," said Cheeran. "Aana" is Cheeran's fifth book. His earlier works include "Captive Elephants in Range Countries for Doctors and Veterinarians" and "Zoo and Wildlife Management", used as a textbook by veterinary science students across the country. Cheeran says there are around 21,300 elephants in 11 elephant ranges in India, according to the last census in 2005. The country also has 4,000 captive elephants, 800 of which are in Kerala. The data for 2011's elephant census has been collected and the figures will be out by the yearend. The book also contains other information about the animal, including details like its pulse rate, which is around 25-30 per minute when the tusker is standing, and around 98 when it lies down.The trunk of an elephant can hold 8.5 litres of water.

Thrissur (Kerala): Did you know the elephant loves the sweet and sour taste of country liquor and is perhaps the only animal that sheds tears when sad? These and many more interesting nuggets about the pachyderm form the subject of a new book by Asia's foremost elephant expert Jacob Cheeran. Written in Malayalam, the book is titled "Aana" (elephant) and runs into 155 pages. It has been published by Kerala-based H&C Publishers and is priced at Rs.80.

On an average, it urinates up to 10 times a day, and each time it urinates more than 10 litres. Each elephant dung weighs up to 2.5 kg on an average. A jumbo poops close to 20 times in a day.

Cheeran, 70, retired in 2000 as Head of the Department of Pharmacology and Chairman of the Elephant Study Centre attached to the Kerala Agricultural University. He is also a member of the Asian Elephants Specialist Group of the World Organisation for Animal Health. Speaking to IANS, Cheeran said the sole objective of his latest book is to educate the common man about elephants. "Hence, I went for a low cost publisher and through this, my objective of making elephants more popular has been satisfied. By now, I have got many offers for translations in other languages," he said. The book contains interesting anecdotes which the author came across in his nearly five-decade-long career of studying jumbos. He said elephants like liquor, and have many opportunities of indulging in this hobby in the jungles of Kerala, where illicit liquor is brewed by gangs. "Most of the elephants like to consume sweet and sour foodstuff, and the illicit brew tastes just like that," said Cheeran. "Deep in the forests, elephants often come across illicit brew and they drink it. When it comes to captive elephants, many mahouts even give hard liquor to these elephants and just like humans, the elephants also get intoxicated." He also writes in the book that elephant is perhaps the only animal which cries when it is sad. But the animal is not crying every time it is teary-eyed. "The moisture and the wetness one sees around the eyes of an elephant should not be mistaken for tears every time. Unlike in human beings, elephants do not have the duct that connects the eyes and nose, and the wetness one sees around the eyes is caused by lubrication of the eyes," he said.

* Veteran Journalist, Indo-Asian News Service IANS, Thrissur, Kerala. Email: sanu.g@ians.in

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The story of rescue and rehabilitation of an injured elephant calf A.T. Mishra* ‘Rajani’, a wild elephant calf who got separated from the herd met with an accident when she fell down into a well near the village Berdih of Seraikela district, Jharkhand. The villagers tried to remove the calf from the well with their local technique and left it in the forest. The next morning the calf was found struggling for life in the river bank of Subarnrekha near the same village. The news came to the forest office. A team led by the Conservator of Forests, Jamshedpur, S.B. Gaikwad and Conservator of Forests, Wildlife, Ranchi S.E.H. Kazmi rushed to the spot. The forest team along with the villagers of that area tried to catch the elephant to transport where the calf can be treated. It was decided that the calf would be transferred to the veterinary hospital in the Tata Zoo. With the local methods using trap and rope the calf was taken in a mini truck and transported to Jamshedpur. The calf was taken to the hospital campus of the Tata Zoo hospital and a thorough enquiry of the calf was done by a team comprising of the Director of the Zoo, Bipul Chakravarthy, the Veterinary Doctor, Dr. Manit Palit and the local Divisional forest Officer, Dhalbhum Forest Division, Jamshedpur. After a thorough check of the external part of the animal it was found that the calf was having multiple injuries and critical. The injuries were on the forehead, on the back and on the right thigh. Maggots had already formed. The injuries were so deep that a hand could go inside the injury. One of the forelegs had swelled and the calf was unable to walk. The maggots were removed from the wound and the wound was dressed. The calf was given plenty of succulent food. She was also given glucose water, antibiotics and pain killers. The injured areas were cleaned and dressed every day. Antibiotic creams were applied in the injured areas. Slowly the injuries started curing. The calf also started taking more food. Seeing the symptom of improvement I was very much encouraged. I used to visit the calf every day. It was a new experience to us. When the calf showed sufficient improvement, we decided to take her for a walk. The walking brought quick recovery to the injured leg. During the course of treatment the calf was named Rajani. When Rajani became almost normal, the Zoo authorities started writing to the forest department to take away the calf. It was really disturbing to us to lose the calf from the zoo but there was no facility for us to keep the elephant. The zoo authorities were quite emotional about the calf, but it was not

Rescued calf (above); with foster parents at Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary camp (below)

permitted be kept in a zoo. Finally after a lot of discussion it was decided that the calf will be taken to the proposed rehabilitation center in the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary at Makulakocha. In the Dalma wildlife Sanctuary already there were 3 domesticated elephants which had been brought from Jamtara Forest division. They had been confiscated for illegal possession. We were advised to take Rajani to Maklakocha but strictly advised to keep her separately, because the interaction between the wild calf and the domesticated elephants may lead to fatal consequences. Rajani was kept for two days in Maklakocha in isolation but I noticed that the calf was uncomfortable in isolation. I thought she could stay with the three elephants. There were uncertainties but still I decided to go for a trial with precaution. One of the legs was tied with rope and slowly the calf was brought near the 3 elephants. To our great surprise the 3 elephants reacted normally and the baby elephant rushed in to them. As soon as the baby elephant joined them, the three cordoned the calf as a motherly elephant herd in the wild will guides and protect the young ones. It was a new experience to

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see the domesticated elephant accepting the wild one at once. Now the elderly three look after the feeding and care of Rajani. Rajni is no more tied with a rope when taken to forest for bathing with the elder ones. The elder ones are ensuring the safety of Rajani when they are moving together. Now they are behaving as if Rajani is their lost child and Rajani is also happy with them. It taught me a lesson that the motherly instinct never dies whether taught or not. It made me believe that elephants are more humane than humans!

* IFS, DFO (Wildlife), Ranchi. Email: arta_ifs@yahoo.com

Earth Day 2011 : A brief Report Surajit Baruah* World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWFIndia) in collaboration with Assam Forest Department has organized the 41st Earth Day in the Assam State Zoo premises with a day-long programme. WWF-India had been organizing such conservation events from last few decades in order to build green capacity particularly among the students, youth and communities residing in the rich eco-region of NE India. The Assam State Zoo Cum Botanical Garden is situated in the natural landscape comprising of natural vegetation in undulating small hills and slopes with rich vegetation. The international theme for this year’s Earth Day was ‘One billion Acts of Green’. It itself speaks for larger actions from all the stakeholders, communities living in both in urban and rural areas of the continents across the globe towards greening our mother earth and reduce the stress of carbon foot print. Considering the importance of trees in maintaining the fabric of the natural ecosystem a tree plantation programme with some native medicinal and forest species was undertaken within the Zoo campus. The campaign was inagurated by Mr. V K .Vishnoi IFS Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Assam and Mr. S. Chand IFS Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), Assam followed by number of people, students, NGOs and workers gathered for the event. These trees will augment the otherwise green campus of Guwahati Zoo and provide habitats for free arboreal & other species.

Tree plantation drive at the Assam State Zoo

PCCF Assam inaugurating the drive by planting a tree

Dr. Surajit Baruah, State Coordinator of WWF-India, Assam & AP while speaking to the young students explained the importance of cultivating the love & spirit of nature conservation in our day-to-day life which can be done only by practically exploring the elements of nature in wild and outside the man-made environment. It is very crucial at present time, as the urban society in cities and towns are deprived of living with nature unlike the rural areas. Mr. Utpal Bora IFS DFO, Assam State Zoo Division in his presentation spoke about the significance of Earth Day specially in a biodiversity rich region like NE region and urged for sustainable action from all sections in view of the rapid degradation of our environment and forests. Kids draw elements of nature by their creative thinking

A painting competition on the theme ‘Our Mother Earth’ was also organized on the occasion among school children of the city to increase their knowledge on nature environmental sensibility. About 200 children from various schools from class I to V standards actively participated in the competition and drawn beautiful posters on the different elements of Nature and environment from their own creative

thinking and imagination. The children were also asked to have a nature trail in the natural landscape of Zoo to have a practical exposure to beautiful world of animal and plant life. They asked many questions on the animals and plants which shows the inquisitiveness and

curiosity of the young minds. Most of their questions were answered with explanation.

* State Coordinator, World Wide Fund for Nature-India, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh State Office, Assam. Email: sbaruah@wwfindia.net

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Education reports from Indian Wildlife Week 2010 Editor’s Note: We apologise for delaying these education reports. We had full issues of other important articles and somehow postponed these. Perhaps readers can benefit by getting ideas for upcoming education events, such as World Environment Day June 5.

Teacher’s group explaining illustration on Climate Change mitigation

Another group works on illustration depicting biodiversity loss

Introduction of Live More Simply packet

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WLW 2010, Save Biodiversity and Beat the Heat – LMS Report During WLW2010 a one day programme was conducted for 30 National Green Corps teachers of Madurai at Capron Hall Girl’s High School on 06 October 2010. The programme was enhanced with complimentary educational packets entitled Save Biodiversity and Beat the Heat – Live More Simply supplied by Zoo Outreach Organisation, India. The importance of biodiversity and its kingdoms were explained which was followed by a game about the five kingdoms with instructional cards. The participants were taught that the invertebrates are the indicators of healthy environment. Descriptions of vertebrates were clear and could be understood; the students enjoyed knowing more about the variety of species. E.O. Wilson’s Circle of Life helped understand the sheer immensity of life forms. Participants were divided into groups relating to Biodiversity Loss and Climate Change. After going through Gandhi’s concepts from the booklet they drafted points about how to “beat the heat” by greening the mind, avoiding plastics and saving paper and water. The Climate Change group planned for the next 5 years by drawing 2 charts pertaining to 2010 and 2015 describing the implementation of the new technology. The Biodiversity loss group studied about the richness of biodiversity in a pond and its present condition. They enacted role-play on the theme by wearing masks of different characters in the lives as well as the greenhouse guardian and greenhouse ghost, the sun, rain, animal etc. Finally, environmental games were conducted. They left the campus with a future plan to spread the message to the students and the fellow teachers throughout the academic year. Submitted by Jessie Jeyakaran, Chennai. E-mail: jessiejey@rediffmail.com Wildlife Week 2010 – Exhibition OCPM Girls Hr. Sec. School, Madurai An exhibition was arranged in OCPM Girls HSS on 07 October 2010. The Junior Red Cross, National Green Corps, the NSS, and the Guide students explained about various endangered animals. Nearly 10 representatives of each group along with the incharge teachers have taken the initiations. Co-ordinator explained

concept of Save Biodiversity and Beat the Heat, of LMS as well as biodiversity loss and climate change. Gandhiji, the father of our Nation is the role model to show how to lead life in a simple way. On other topics, JRC students explained elephant etiquette. The NGC students focused on endangered species of monkeys specially the hoolock gibbon. The NSS discussed bats and frogs. The guide students explained monkey manners to avoid injury from free ranging monkeys. The onlookers were thrilled to know more about the wildlife and especially about Live More Simply. Submitted by Jessie Jeyakaran, Chennai. E-mail: jessiejey@rediffmail.com Celebration of World Animal Day, 2010 at Lahore Zoo, Pakistan Lahore Zoo is one of the oldest zoos of Asia and first zoo of Pakistan, working for animal welfare and public awareness since its inception. Zoo Management has always been arranging different animal based activities through its zoo education & awareness programme to develop a close link among the visitors. The Zoo Management arranged campaign to raise awareness in masses “SAY NO TO PLASTIC BAGS” at Lahore Zoo on World Animal Day, so that we can provide better living environment to our inhabitants. Plastic shopping bag is an environmental plaque, its average use is 5 minutes but it takes 1000 years for recycling. World Animal Day is celebrated all over the World for animal love and welfare. On this day Lahore Zoo Management decided to make Lahore zoo plastic free environment friendly zoo. Zoo management took many steps for its practical implementation i.e. affixing of informational boards on Deer’s Cages, announcement through public address system, exchange of visitors’ plastic bag with paper bag and arrangement of daily student talks regarding the lethal effect of its use by Zoo Education Officers. The main theme of this campaign was to say no to the plastic bags in the territory of Lahore Zoo, to ensure the pollution free environment for the betterment of the animals. The use of plastic bags in Lahore zoo is completely banned. In the end, participants committed not to use plastic bags in future at Lahore zoo for saving the lives of endangered animals at Lahore zoo. Submitted by: Bushra Nisar Khan, Education Officer, Lahore Zoo, Pakistan. Email: bushrank@yahoo.com

Chief guest exchanges paper bags for plastic bags

Animal enclosure decorated with children’s drawings

Students say no to plastic bags

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was held on 7-10-10 at the same school and 32 students participated. Bicycle race for boys and girls and Tug of war was organized on 1-11-10. Procession was held on 3-11-10 and 8 Eco Development Committees participated.

Explaining and demonstrating ZOO educational materials

Hon'ble Forest Minister releasing Hoolock Gibbon posters

Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary & Zoological Park celebrates Wildlife Week Wildlife Week 2010 was celebrated unlike previous year at Sepahijala involving the school students/public, panchayats, eco-development committees with following events and activities: Pravat Feri processions were held on 4 October 2010 in 6 panchatyats. About 3000 students took part in this procession. A talk on wildlife conservation was organized at Baidhyardighi High School on 5-10-10 for 500 students and teachers. And there was great impact and awareness. Division level debate competition was held in the same school on the subjectIs wildlife conservation compatible to development? Division level quiz competition was held on 6-10-10 at Charilam HS School and 40 students participated. Sit and Draw competition

Concluding ceremony of Wildlife Week 2010 celebration at the State level was held on 3-11-10 at Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary in which Honâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ble Minister for Forests etc was the Chief Guests and PCCF (T) and Chief Wildlife Warden, Tripura along with other dignitaries were present. Above all, celebration of wildlife week 2010 at Sepahijala generated huge awareness to motivate the local people for conservation of forest & wildlife. Submitted by: Ajit Kumar Bhowmik, Director, Sepahijala Zoo, Tripura. Email: bhowmik_ak@yahoo.com Celebration of Wildlife Week in PCMC Zoo, Pune, Maharashtra A series of different workshops and lectures were held at Nisargakanya Bahinabai Choudhary Pranisangrahalaya, (PCMC Zoo), Pune on the occasion of Wildlife Week 2010. On 5 October, a workshop was held for snake-friends and wildlife enthusiasts in the city. Nearly 40 snake-friends participated in this programme. Dr. Satish Gore, Veterinary Officer, PCPC, Dr. Pawan Salve, Medical Officer, PCMC and Mr. Pravin Ladkat, Executive Engineer inaugurated this workshop. The program was convened by Surendra Shelake. Dr. Mayri Panse, renowned wildlife filmmaker gave plenary talk on Effects of climate change on biodiversity. Dr. Pawan Salve discussed the sustainable lifestyle for conservation of biodiversity. Mr. Anil Khaire, Zoo Director spoke on Snake diversity and effect of habitat loss on snakes.

Snake Friends with Climate Change masks

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He also guided on safe measures of rescuing snakes. Dipak Sawant did the compeering. Mr. Dilip Kamat gave vote of thanks. On 7 October, 50 students from Kamalnayan Bajaj High School participated in a workshop on Climate change and Biodiversity. All the participants visited the zoo under guidance of Dipak Sawant and Priti Bangal followed by a talk on Climate change and biodiversity by Dipak. Children were stunned to understand that their existence is dependent on biodiversity, and if they do not act today; their own children will have to see these animals in pictures only. At the end of the session, the students were asked to prepare a drama, based on their learning of the day. Students performed this drama using materials provided by the Zoo Outreach Organization. Mr. Anil Khaire concluded the programme. Submitted by Dipak Sawant and Priti Bangal for Anil Khaire, PCMC. Email: pcmzoo2004@yahoo.com Wildlife Week Celebration by CEE, Madhya Pradesh CEE, Madhya Pradesh observed wildlife week with Van Vihar National Park where it was held and WWF India with education materials support from ZOO Outreach organization. The theme was “Environment and Wildlife Conservation”. The workshop was inaugurated by Mr. Ramesh K. Dave, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Madhya Pradesh. Different presentations on wildlife and

Guiding participants on Bird watching

environment were delivered by the resource persons. Mr.Dharmaraj Patil, CEE delivered the presentation of Biodiversity. As it is known that the year 2010 is celebrated as International Year of Biodiversity, so it is quite important to understand the biodiversity of India and the role in the ecosystem and importance to conserve them. On 4 October, a workshop for teachers was organized. The chief guest of the workshop was Dr. H.S. Pabla PCCF Wildlife, MP. The theme of the workshop was same as for the Press and Media. The additional presentation was given on Bear Rescue

Centre at Van Vihar by Dr. S.S. Rajpoot CF, Bhopal Circle. Presentation on biodiversity by Mr. Dharmaraj Patil was very informative and attractive. The teachers were very attentive to hear and jot down all the information. Mr. Joseph Kujur, Programme Officer, CEE participated as a resource person in Satpura Tiger Reserve’s wildlife week programme on 06 October. He delivered a talk on wildlife conservation to over 150 students. The resource material received from ZOO Outreach Organisation, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu on Biodiversity and Wildlife as Save Biodiversity! & Beat the heat, Diversity of Primates! Amphibian- An Art Aark, etc. were explained and distributed to the participants during the wildlife week. Submitted by: Dilip Chakravarthy, CEE, Madhya Pradesh. Email: dilip.chakravarty@ceeindia.org Wildlife Week at Jodhpur, Rajasthan To learn about wildlife and to instill awareness on wildlife & nature conservation, Wildlife Week is celebrated from 1-7 October every year. Environmental education, awareness and training plays a significant role in encouraging and enhancing people's participation in activities aimed at conservation, protection and management of the environment. To achieve above goal and make awareness on wild life conservation, we conducted several activities and programmes during Wildlife Week which includes debate competition, essay competition, quiz competition, street plays, and creativity workshop for specially challenged children and for children from slum area & bird watching camp, etc. On 2nd Oct 2010 a quiz competition was conducted for Graduate and Post Graduate students at Jodhpur (Jai Narain Vyas University) on forest, wildlife & nature. The main objective of the programme was to motivate youngsters with respect to biodiversity conservation. Next programme was a discussion on ‘Conservation of Wild life in Thar Desert’ in which 17 research scholars of Zoology Department participated. On 4th Oct. 2010, a debate was organized with Samvedana Seva Sansthan (NGO- Save Wildlife) between five schools in Jodhpur. On 5

October 2010, debate was held for college students on the topic ‘Role of National parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries in Wildlife Conservation’. Dr. L.S. Rajpurohit (Assoc. prof.) gave a lecture on non-human primates. On 6-7 October children play was conducted in the public park and students from colleges/schools, their parents and public watched this play. Submitted by: Goutam Sharma, JNV University, Jodhpur , Rajasthan. Email: gautam_234746@yahoo.co.in ‘Live more simply’ to Save biodiversity and beat the heat programme at Assam Training on Habitat Management and Wildlife Conservation was conducted by the Wildlife Areas Development and Welfare Trust in association with Assam Forest School, Jalukbari, Guwahati from 28-30 October, 2010. First two days were invested on habitat management principles for wildlife conservation and the last day was dedicated to climate change and its ramifications. A number of 57 foresters were the trainees from different forest divisions of Assam. The training was conducted at Assam Forest School and

Foresters playing Climate Change games with spectacle mask

Assam State Zoo. Dr. Surajit Baruah, State Coordinator of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh of WWF- India presented global scenario of climate change and Dr. Jihosuo Biswas of Primate Research Center gave emphasis on the local climate change scenario. After regular lecture several activities related to climate change were carried out with the materials developed by Zoo Outreach Organization. In this programme two volunteers from CEE- Northeast also

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took active part. We thank Zoo Outreach Organization for providing the educational kits. Submitted by: Jayanta Das, WADWT, Guwahati. Email: gibbonconservation@yahoo.com Zoo Education Programme at Bhilai Zoo, Chhattisgarh Zoo education programme was conducted on 8 October at the zoo for 300 students of Angel Valley School, Bhilai. The main objective of the zoo education programme was to create awareness among the students and public about the conservation of wildlife and environment. First the students were taken around the zoo and provided much information about the captive population, feeding, breeding habits, habitat and their future conservation. They also learnt about the environmental protection of the species and disruption of the human being for their habitat. The students learnt about the wildlife with entertainment. The zoo is the place where public, children can enjoy with learning. The more information and feeding aspects and role of the animals are given by N.K. Jain, Chief Veterinary Officer. Valuable information about the general conservation of wildlife, zoo animals and environment were given by T.S. Chhatri, AGM-Horticulture. Bear conservation, distribution, number of species available in the world was given by T. Kalaichelvan. The main reasons for declining bear species were also discussed. The students were taken oath by tying rakhi by each other to take care of wildlife and environment conservation in their lifetime, which conducted by the G.K. Dubey, Chief Veterinary Officer. This program was appeared in the local printed media both in Hindi and English. Submitted by: TS Chhattri AGM (Hort.) & Dr. T. Kalaichelvan Zoo Supervisor, Maitri Baag Zoo, Bhilai Email: tkchelvan@rediffmail.com Wildlife Week 2010 Celebration at BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad, AP The wildlife Week 2010 was celebrated at Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS-Pilani) Hyderabad Campus in conjunction with Gandhi Jayanthi celebrations on 2 October

Kids rejoicing with different animal mask

Pledging to stop bears on the road

2010. In order to educate the students from engineering, technology, science and management streams, ZOO Outreach Organisation was earlier contacted for the wildlife week education materials. The organizers have promptly sent the “Biodiversity Loss & Climate change” education

packets. The celebrations started with the students, faculty and staff offering floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhiji, which was followed by the recitation of “Raghupathi Raghava Rajaram” song by the students. Later sweets were distributed to all. Kannan Ramasamy, Faculty-in-charge, Community Welfare Division hosted the event. This was followed by the Wildlife Week celebrations. P. Sankar Ganesh, gave a talk on Biodiversity and Climate change with the presentation sent by ZOO Outreach. P.K. Thiruvikraman, Associate Professor, Department of Physics, gave a brief talk about climate change, particularly focusing on the

Participants of various streams with the ZOO education kits

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book titled “An Inconvenient Truth” authored by Al Gore. This was followed by distribution of resource materials sent by ZOO Outreach to all participants and explained about the packet materials. After the Wildlife Week 2010 celebrations, a proposal was submitted to the Director, BITSPilani, Hyderabad Campus, to start an “EcoClub” in the campus. The students, faculty and staff thank ZOO Outreach for sending educational materials. Sincere gratitude to all sponsors of the education packet, including 2010 International Year of Biodiversity, Chester Zoological Gardens, Conservation Breeding-Specialist Group, Conservation International and UFAW. Submitted by: Dr. P. Sankar Ganesh, BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad. AP. Email: bitsangan@gmail.com Ecofest 2010, Wildlife week celebrations at Kozhikode, Kerala Narendran Trust for Animal Taxonomy, Dept. of Zoology, Zamorin’s College jointly organized a quiz competition and an elocution competition for students at the college, Kozhikode 28-30 September in connection with the wildlife week, Ecofest 2010. Competitions on Biodiversity, Conservation, Climate change and Biodiversity loss were held. Educational materials were distributed and explained. Fifteen teams (3 members in a team) participated in the quiz competition and 8 students in the elocution competition on the topic “Climate change and Biodiversity loss”. An Intercollegiate essay writing competition was also organized with students from Kozhikode. A one-day seminar was held at Seminar Hall 1

Students familiarizing with marine organisms at Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve- holothurian and starfish

Participants who performed the drama

Talk on biodiversity values

October, with a talk by a noted expert in the field of Primate Ecology, Biodiversity, and Conservation, Sri. Abdul Riyas. He delivered a lecture on the values of biodiversity and conservation aspects, with emphasis on climate change and life of mammals. Prof. A. C. Pushpalatha, Head, Department of Zoology welcomed the gathering. The Principal, A. Sreedevi presided over the function. Students actively participated in the discussion with Sri. Riyas and also took an Oath to protect wildlife and nature. Prizes and certificates were distributed to the winning teams/individuals of the various competitions. We thankfully acknowledge Zoo Outreach Organization, Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, Conservation International, UFAW, and Chester Zoological Gardens for sponsoring the

education packets and for joining us in making the programme a grand success. A study trip, to Anamalai Tiger Reservere, Parambikulam Tiger Reserve and the Gulf of Mannar Biosphere Reserve, for the students of final year zoology was organised from 4-8th October 2010. Submitted by: Sudheer Kalathil, Zamorin's Guruvayurappan College, Kozhikode, Kerala. Email: sudheerkalathil@gmail.com

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Checklist of birds of the North Orissa University campus, Baripada, Orissa Dipankar Lahkar*1, S.D. Rout1, H.K. Sahu2, A. Sinha1 and S.K. Dutta2 India harbours 1200 species of birds among 13% of the 9600 birdâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s species of the world (Ali and Ripley, 1987). However, with the new classification coming in to force, the number of species may well be 1300 (Javed and Kaul 2000). Urban biodiversity has received very little attention from conservation biologist as compared to natural and protected ecosystem (Jules 1997, Vandermeer 1997). Patvarthan et al. (2000) have identified educational and defense premises that occupy less than 5% of the total urban area and are the hotspot for the urban biodiversity. Study of the avifauna in the educational premises of the country (Trirumurthi and Balaji, 1997, Palot and Pramod 2000, Ramitha and Vijayalaxmi 2001, Nazneen et al. 2001, Nayan et al. 2005) have been completed. The main aim of this paper is to make comprehensive based line information of the bird species for the future as well as to create awareness for their conservation. Study Area North Orissa University (N.O.U) (21055/56.5//N and 86044/47.3//E) is located 5 Km. from south of the District Headquarters, Baripada in Mayurbhanj District at the foothill of the Similipal Tiger Reserve, Orissa. It is the representative ecosystem under Mahanadian Biogeographic Region. Remarkably its flora and fauna composition have some similarities with elements from the Western Ghat and Northeatern India. The University campus encompasses an area of 110 acre land with varied habitat. The area under study is referred as to North Orissa University, which encompasses the main University campus, hostels as well as other associated educational institutes (M.P.C College, Mayurbhanj Law College, etc), tree patches planted by the Royal family, tanks and reed lands, residential plots and paddy fields and scattered with very small numbers of water bodies. The vegetation is dominated by large trees like Mangifera indica, Shorea robusta, Azadiracta indica, Ficus benghalensis, F. religiosa, the flowering plants including Radhachura, Krishanachura, Albizzia spp., Caesalpinia spp. , etc. However, the campus is mainly dominated by the mango plants which are mainly planted by the erstwhile Royal family. The temperature ranges from maximum of 460 C in summer to a minimum of 140C in the winter. The summer is hot and dry which is subsequently followed by a humid rainy season. Methodology Observation of the birds in the N.O.U campus and its adjoining areas were made by direct visual count. The observations were made in the morning hours between 6:30 to 8 am and again 4.30 to 6.30 pm during the survey period. However observations were also made during other period according to convenience from July 2007 to May 2008. All the places were visited at least once in a month. Birds were sighted using Binocular (8x40) and on the spot identification using the field guide Grimmett et al., 1999. For nomenclature and classification was followed according to Manakadan and Pittie (2004). Breeding birds nest were also observed in this study area and subsequently this information was used to assess the status of bird species that are resident to the area. The following formula was used for determining percentage of occurrence of Families (Basavarajappa, 2006)

Percentage Occurrence = No. of species of each Family x100 Total no. of different species seen Based on the frequency of sighting in the field visits, the birds species are categorized as: Abundant (A): Birds sighted more than 80%; Common (C): Sighted between 20%-80%; Rare (R): Frequency of sighting <20%. Observations A total number of 88 species of birds belonging to 42 families (Table-1) were recorded during the survey period. However the low diversity may be due to the human disturbance around the study area. Most of the family contained 2-3 species. Maximum percent occurrence was found in the Families: Ardeidae (10.23), than Accipitridae (5.68), Motacillidae (5.68) and Sturnidae (5.68), respectively (Table-2). Based on the feeding behaviour from the present data it is apparent that the avifauna of the campus is dominated by insectivore (47.19%) followed by piscivorous (12.36%), carnivorous (8.99%), omnivorous, graminivorous, frugivorous 7.86%, respectively while 5.61% both piscivorous and insectivorous and 2.24% include nectarivorous and insectivorous. Among the total bird species observed in N.O.U, eighty (90.96%) were resident, seven (7.95%) were winter migrant and one (1.13%) was local migrant. Sixty-two species (70.45%) were abundant, 20 (22.72%) were common, four (4.54) were rare and two (2.27) were sighted only once. During the study period we intensively surveyed around 5 km radius of the neighbouring areas to find out the nests. Eighteen species of birds were recorded as resident breeders. A heronry was located around 5 km from the campus. No detail breeding data was collected. Our study reveals the fact that in and around N.O.U campus has a good avifaunal diversity. Great bittern (Botaurus stellaris), a rare bird was not observed from this region earlier. According to Ali and Ripley (1983) the bird is winter visitor to India but most interestingly we had sighted it in the monsoon period. This may be an extra-limital occurrence. The major influencing factor on the composition and distribution of bird species is the direct human intervention. Diverse tree species should be planted near the campus and creation of awareness among the students, teachers and public is very important for the importance and conservation of birds within and around the University campus. Detailed systematic study has to establish any relation for the present findings. Acknowledgements Authors are thankful to Prof. S.P. Rath, Vice Chancellor of the North Orissa University for his valuable inspiration. The authors are grateful to Dr. H.J. Singha, Ornithologist, Aaranyak for his valuable suggestion. Thanks are due to the students of Wildlife Department of North Orissa University for their help and co-operation.

P.G. Departmet of Wildlife and Conservation Biology, P.G.Department of Zoology, North Orissa University, Baribada, Mayurbhanj 757003, Orissa Email: *dipankar.lahkar@gmail.com (corresponding author) 2

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Table-1 Checklist of the birds of North Orissa University Campus Sl. No

Family

Common Name

Scientific name

Frequency

Feeding Habit

Breeding Status

Status

Podicipedidae

Little Grebe

Tachybaptus ruficollis

Phalacrocoracidae

Little Cormorant

Phalacrocorax niger

Ardeidae

Little Egret

Egretta garzetta

P,I

Large Egret

Casmerodius albus

Median Egret

Mesophoyx intermedia

Cattle Egret

Bubulcus ibis

P,I

Indian Pond-Heron

Ardeola grayii

I,P

Yellow Bittern

Ixobrychus sinensis

I,P

Chestnut Bittern

Ixobrychus cinnamomeus

Great Bittern

Botaurus stellaris

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Nycticorax nycticorax

Ciconiidae

Asian Openbill-Stork

Anastomus oscitans

Anatidae

Lesser Whistling-Duck

Dendrocygna javanica

Cotton Teal

Nettapus coromandelianus

14 15

Black-shouldered Kite

Elanus caeruleus

Accipitridae

Black Kite

Milvus migrans

Crested Serpent-Eagle

Spilornis cheela

Pied Harrier

Circus melanoleucos

Shikra

Accipiter badius

White-breasted Waterhen

Amaurornis phoenicurus

I,P

Common Moorhen

Gallinula chloropus

Pheasant-tailed Jacana

Hydrophasianus chirurgus

19 20

Rallidae

21 22

Jacanidae

Bronze-winged Jacana

Metopidius indicus

Charadriidae

Red-wattled Lapwing

Vanellus indicus

Recurvirostridae

Black-winged Stilt

Himantopus himantopus

Columbidae

Blue Rock Pigeon

Columba livia

Spotted Dove

Streptopelia chinensis

Eurasian Collared-Dove

Streptopelia decaocto

Yellow-legged Green-Pigeon

Treron phoenicoptera

Rose-ringed Parakeet

Psittacula krameri

Alexandrine Parakeet

Psittacula eupatria

Brainfever Bird

Hierococcyx varius

Indian Cuckoo

Cuculus micropterus

Asian Koel

Eudynamys scolopacea

Psittacidae

31 32

Cuculidae

Greater Coucal

Centropus sinensis

Strigidae Sub-family:Tytoninae

Barn Owl

Tyto alba

Sub-Family:Striginae

Spotted Owlet

Athene brama

Apodidae

Asian Palm-Swift

Cypsiurus balasiensis

House Swift

Apus affinis

Small Blue Kingfisher

Alcedo atthis

White-breasted Kingfisher

Halcyon smyrnensis

39 40

Alcedinidae

R -

Meropidae

Small Bee-eater

Merops orientalis

Coraciidae

Indian Roller

Coracias benghalensis

Upupidae

Common Hoopoe

Upupa epops

Capitonidae

Blue-throated Barbet

Megalaima asiatica

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Sl. No

Family

Common Name

Scientific name

Frequency

Feeding Habit

Breeding Status

Status

Coppersmith Barbet

Megalaima haemacephala

Alaudidae

Ashy-crowned Sparrow-Lark

Eremopterix grisea

Hirundinidae

Common Swallow

Hirundo rustica

Red-rumped Swallow

Hirundo daurica

49 50

Forest Wagtail

Dendronanthus indicus

Motacillidae

White Wagtail

Motacilla alba

Yellow Wagtail

Motacilla flava

Grey Wagtail

Motacilla cinerea

Paddy field Pipit

Anthus rufulus

Campephagidae

Large Cuckoo-Shrike

Coracina macei

Pycnonotidae

Red-whiskered Bulbul

Pycnonotus jocosus

Red-vented Bulbul

Pycnonotus cafer

Common Iora

Aegithina tiphia

Jerdonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chloropsis

Chloropsis cochinchinensis

57 58

Irenidae

59 60

Laniidae

Brown Shrike

Lanius cristatus

Turdidae

Oriental Magpie-Robin

Copsychus saularis

Indian Robin

Saxicoloides fulicata

Black Redstart

Phoenicurus ochruros

Indian Chat

Cercomela fusca

Sub-Family:Timaliinae

Jungle Babbler

Turdoides striatus

Sub-Family:Sylviinae

Common Tailor bird

Orthotomus sutorius

R B

Dusky Warbler

Phylloscopus fuscatus

Paridae

Great Tit

Parus major

Sittidae

Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch

Sitta castanea

Nectariniidae

Purple-rumped Sun bird

Nectarinia zeylonica

N,I

Purple Sun bird

Nectarinia asiatica

N,I

Zosteropidae

Oriental White-eye

Zosterops palpebrosus

Estrildidae

Spotted Munia

Lonchura punctulata

Black-headed Munia

Lonchura malacca

Sub-Family:Passerinae House Sparrow

Passer domesticus

Sturnidae

Brahminy Starling

Sturnus pagodarum

Asian Pied Starling

Sturnus contra

Common Myna

Acridotheres tristis

Bank Myna

Acridotheres ginginianus

Jungle Myna

Acridotheres fuscus

Eurasian Golden Oriole

Oriolus oriolus

Black-headed Oriole

Oriolus xanthornus

Black Drongo

Dicrurus macrocercus

Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo

Dicrurus remifer

Oriolidae

82 83

Dicruridae

84 85

Artamidae

Ashy Woodswallow

Artamus fuscus

Corvidae

Indian Treepie

Dendrocitta vagabunda

House Crow

Corvus splendens

Jungle Crow

Corvus macrorhynchos

r- Resident, LM-Local Migrant, WM- Winter Migrant, Ca-carnivores, F-Forgivers, G-Granivores, I-Insectivores, NNectarivores, O-Omnivores, P-Piscivores, # -Recorded only once, A-Abundant, C-Common, R-Rare, B- Breed in and around the campus with in a radius of 5 Km

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Table-2 Avifauna represented in Families SL.No.

Families

Percent Occurrence

Podicipedidae

1.14

Phalacrocoracidae

1.14

Ardeidae

Ciconiidae

1.14

Anatidae

2.27

Accipitridae

5.68

Rallidae

2.27

Jacanidae

2.27

Charadriidae

1.14

Recurvirostridae

1.14

Columbidae

4.55

Psittacidae

2.27

Cuculidae

4.55

Family: Strigidae Sub-Family:Tytoninae

1.14

Strigidae

1.14

Apodidae

2.27

Alcedinidae

2.27

Meropidae

1.14

Coraciidae

1.14

Upupidae

1.14

Capitonidae

2.27

Alaudidae

1.14

Hirundinidae

2.27

Motacillidae

5.68

Campephagidae

1.14

Pycnonotidae

2.27

Irenidae

2.27

Laniidae

2.27

Family: Artamidae Sub family: Turdinae

4.55

Family: Artamidae Sub family: Timaliinae

1.14

Sylviinae

2.27

Paridae

1.14

Sittidae

1.14

Nectariniidae

2.27

Zosteropidae

1.14

Family: Ploceidae Sub family: Estrildinac

2.27

Family: Ploceidae Sub family: Passerinae

1.14

Sturnidae

5.68

Oriolidae

2.27

Dicruridae

2.27

Artamidae

1.14

Corvidae

3.40

10.23

References Ali, S. and S.D. Ripley (1987). Handbook of The Birds of India and Pakistan. Oxford Press. New Delhi, 289pp. Basavarajappa, S. (2006). Avifauna of Agro-Ecosystem of Maidan area of Karnataka. Zoo’s Print 21(4): 2217-2219. Grimmett, R., C. Inskipp and T. Inskipp (1999). A Pocket Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent. Oxford University Press. Delhi, 28-360pp. Jules, E.S. (1997). Danger in dividing conservation Biology and Agro Ecology. Conservation Biology 11:1272-1273. Javed, S. and R. Kaul (2000). Field Methods for Birds Survey. Department of Wildlife Sciences, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh and World Pheasant Association, South Asia Regional Office (SARO), Delhi. Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai, India. Manakadan, R., and A. Pittie (2004). Standardized English and scientific name of the birds of the Indian subcontinent. Buceros 6(1): i-ix, 1-38. Nazneen. K., K.V. Gururaja, A.H.M. Reddy and S.V. Krishnamurthy (2001). Birds of Kuvempu University Campus, Shimoga District, Karnataka. Zoos’ Print Journal 16 (8): 557-560. Nayan, J.K., S.N. Patel and M.V. Patel (2005). Birds of Gujarat University Campus, Ahmedabad. Zoos’ Print Journal 20(12): 2111-2113. Palot, J.M. and P. Pramod (2000). A Checklist of birds in Calicut University Campus, Kerala. Zoos’ Print Journal 1592): 214-216. Patvarthan, A., S. Nalavade, Saharsabuddhe and G. Utkarsh (2000). Urban wildlife from Neros fiddle to Noahs arch-A report published by RANWA, Pune. Ramitha, M. and K. Vijayalaxmi (2001). A Checklist of birds in and around Mangalore University Campus, Karnataka. Zoos’ Print Journal 16(5): 489-492. Trirumurthi, S. and S. Balaji (1997). Avifauna of the Forest College and Research Institute Campus, Mettupalayam, Tamil Nadu. Zoos’ Print Journal 12: 24-26. Vandermeer, J. (1997). Avifauna of Agro-Ecosystem of maidan area of Karnataka. Zoos’ Print Journal 21(4): 2217-2219.

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Surgical Management of irreparable tail injury in a Lioness R.V. Suresh kumar1, P. Veena2, N. Dhanalakshmi3, P. Sankar4, S. Kolkila5 and Thoiba singh6 Tail injuries are most commonly observed in wild animals due to biting by the fellow mates (Sarma et al., 1992). Many a times these may go unnoticed or not properly attended. In unattended cases gangrene may set in and it may lead to septicemia and death. Examination, diagnosis, treatment and follow-up especially in wild animals requires immobilization. An irreparable injury of tail in a lioness and its surgical management is discussed in this paper. Case Report A lioness with an irreparable injury of tail was brought to the Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, College of Veterinary Science, Tirupati by the zoo authorities from Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park, Tirupati. She was bitten by her fellow mates and there was continuous bleeding with visible fracture of coccygeal vertebrae (Fig.1) which needed immediate surgical intervention. Treatment The animal was premedicated with xylazine hydrochloride @ 1.0 mg/kg bwt and dissociation was induced with ketamine hydrochloride @10.0 mg/kg bwt intramuscularly. The tail above the affected part was prepared for aseptic surgery and tourniquet was applied near the base of tail. Two ‘U’ shaped incisions (Oehme and Prier, 1976 and Slatter, 1993) were placed one on the dorsal aspect and other on the ventral aspect of the tail. Inter vertebral space was palpated proximal to the skin incision. Skin and muscles were reflected up to this part and was disarticulated. The tourniquet was relaxed momentarily and bleeding vessels were identified and ligated with catgut no.1, followed by suturing of muscles with skin with simple interrupted suture. A Tincture benzoin seal was applied to the suture end and the wound was bandaged with gauze. After completion of the procedure anaesthesia was reversed with yohimbine hydrochloride @ 0.1 mg/kg bwt intravenously. Yohimbine hydrochloride antagonized the xylazine portion of ketamine–xylazine anaesthesia thereby hastened recovery within 10 minutes without any complications. Course of antibiotics (Inj.Ceftriaxone sodium @ 20.0 mg/kg bwt) and NSAIDs (Inj. Meloxicam @ 0.50 mg/kg bwt) were given intramuscularly for seven days. The wound was dressed with povidone iodine solution on alternate days. On 10th day post surgery the skin sutures were removed and animal was recovered uneventfully (Fig.2).

Figure 1. Irreparable injury tail-Lioness

Conclusion Surgical intervention and the course of broad spectrum antibiotics could be suggested for the management of irreparable tail injuries to prevent gangrene formation and septicemia. References Oehme, F.W. & J.E. Prier (1976). Amputation of the tail Text Book of Large Animal Surgery. The Williams and Wilkins Co., Baltimore, 141-142pp. Sarma, B., D. Kalita, B. Dutta and S.C. Pathak (1992). Tail docking in three lions. Zoos’ Prints 7(12): 41. Slatter, D. (1993). Tail Surgery in Text Book of Small Animal Surgery- 2nd Edition. W.B.Saunders Co., Philadelphia, 344pp.

Figure 2. Lioness - after surgery

Associate Professor and Head, 2Assistant Professor (SS), Associate Professor, 4Ph.D Scholar, 5M.V.Sc Scholar, 6 Veterinary Assistant Surgeon (Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park), Department of Veterinary Surgery and Radiology, College of Veterinary Science, Tirupati, Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University, Tirupati-517 502 (AP), India. Email: 4 sansurvet@gmail.com (corresponding author) 3

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Checklist of mammals in Taranga Hill Forest, Gujarat, India C.D. Patel1 and M.I. Patel2 Abstract Taranga is one of the famous pilgrim places of North Gujarat. It is located (24o 00’ N and 72o 46’ E; and 365.76 m above msl) at starting point of the Aravalli ranges in North Gujarat region, India. The Taranga Hill-forest is one of the unclassified reserve forests (under section-IV of Indian Forest Act 1927). Climate of this area is semi-arid with irregular rainfall. Some direct methods like line transect method, roadside surveys, point transects method, water hole technique and indirect methods were used for mammalian survey. The mammalian diversity of Taranga Hill-forest was represented by 25 species of mammals belonging to 16 families and 22 genera. It possess good mammalian diversity due to frequently available diversified habitat and shelter such as hillocks for den, farmlands for feeding, sandy tracts for burrows, riverbed and rocky thornscrub forest for foraging and different purposes. This area covers 24.27% mammalian diversity of Gujarat and 6.41% of India. Pesticides used in agricultural fields, local people who are partially dependent on the forest and forest product, mining and allied activities, transportation, illegal cutting of trees and its branches, grazing, grass cutting, tourism and pilgrimage were found causing highest impact to the forest ecosystem and mammalian fauna as well. Introduction Diversity is extensively used for environmental monitoring and testing of any region, and its conservation. As the objective of world conservation strategy is to maximise diversity of habitats, these diversity is extensively used to monitor and evaluate habitats. According to Usher (1986), diversity is the most frequently adopted criterion for evaluation of conservation schemes. Gujarat has a very rich and varied biological diversity. The state is also the only home for the Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica) and Asian Wild Ass (Equus hemionus khur) in the subcontinent. Systematic, scientific and reflective information on bird community was published by Patel and Patel (2010) but no such information is available on mammalian fauna at Taranga Hill-forest. Singh (2001) and Dharaiya (2008, 2009) have made some effort in it. Singh (2001) published a book on Natural Heritage of Gujarat and listed 103 species of mammals. Dharaiya (2008) published report on small mammals in North Gujarat region, has recorded total 27 species large to small sized mammals including 23 genera and 17 families. Further, he also published a report on human-bear conflicts in same region in 2009. Dharaiya (2008) reported the small mammals in general with the distribution showing by forest types and not the region specific for the entire North Gujarat region. But a region and fauna specific study in Taranga Hill-fauna is lacking. In an attempt to fill this lacuna, present study was conducted to prepare a database of common mammalian fauna in and around Taranga Hill-forest. The present study provides an overview of the mammalian diversity in a small unprotected forest patch, based on ecological status of the various species. The study has been carried out during (year to year) with regular field surveys. Study Area Gujarat state is characterised by a varied topography. One can divide the state based on its geography in the mainland Gujarat and the peninsular Gujarat. These can be again divided into the North, Central and the South Gujarat (Vyas, 2010). Tropic of Cancer passes through northern part of the state where. Taranga is one of the famous pilgrim places of the North Gujarat region. The Taranga Hill-forest (THf) is

located at starting point of the Aravalli ranges and situated at 24o 00’ N and 72o 00’ E (365.76m above msl). The forest is unclassified reserve forest (under section-IV of Indian Forest Act 1927) with total area of 18.12 km2. According to Champion and Seth (1968), the Taranga Hill-forest falls in to forest type 5/E2 (Boswellia type of forest) of North Gujarat. North Gujarat falls in semi-arid zone, is strongly periodic and seasonal. There are three main seasons. Winter starts from November and continues to February. Summer season lasts from March to June. As its peak the temperature touches 45oC. Late summer (May and June) is the period of worm dry weather. The south-west monsoon lashes the state from mid June and continues till September. The monsoon is very irregular and erratic. Heavy rain occurs during July and August but usually remains light during June and September. Post monsoon is a transitional period between the monsoon and winter. Average annual rainfall remains 663.60 mm with about 40 rainy days in the study area. The THf experiences a prolonged dry season. Average temperature remains 19.80oC to 30.73oC. The Taranga Hill-forest covers mainly tropical thorn-scrub type vegetation. It is characterized by low altitude hill vegetation. Shrub species are mainly mixed thorny type, which is dominantly present in all parts of the forest. Xerophytic vegetation is dominant. Grassland occasionally present on small part of plain areas. Anogeissus latifolia, Acacia chundra, Bauhinia recemosa, Butea monosperma, Sterculia urens, Achyranthus aspera, Adhatoda vasica, Calotropis gigantea, Maytenus emarginata, Zizyphus mauritiana, Asparagus racemosus, Cuscuta reflexa, Andrographis paniculata, Bergia capensis, Cassia auriculata and Enicostemma hyssopifolium are common vegetation of THf. Agro-ecosystems exist at the skirt areas of the forest. Crop calendar is fixed as an agro-practice for local farmers. Patel and Patel (2010) recorded total 90 species of birds belonging to 11 orders, 33 families and 68 genera. According to them, Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer) and Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) were most abundant while Asian Paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradise), Crested Bunting (Melophus lathami) and European Roller (Coracias garrulus) were rare. White-naped Tit (Parus nuchalis) a globally threatened and endemic resident has been found as local migrant, scarce in number, common in occurrence and breeder in the tropical thorn-scrub habitat of Taranga Hillforest. Methodology The study was conducted from early December 2006 to late November 2008. The study area was divided into four zones based on its ecological identity i.e. I. Agricultural and riverbed area, II. Rocky thorn-scrub forest area, III. Hillocks and foothill site, and IV. Traffic zone (Road site). Each study zone was visited once per month to record the mammals and their related parameters. Total 24 visits were done in each site (i.e. total 96 visits were done during study period). Some direct and indirect methods were used for mammalian survey. They were as follows: Line transects method: In this method, observer walks along a predetermined route by foot at a fixed speed. The different mammalian species encountered were recorded. 1 Scientific Assistant, Regional Forensic Science Laboratory, Vadodara 390001, Gujarat 2 Retired Principal, M.N. College, Visnagar, North Gujarat. Email: 1 chirag_naja@gmail.com, 2 dr_mipatel@yahoo.co.in

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These lines transects were used in different locations to determine the presence or absence of different species in the particular habitats. Roadside surveys: These surveys were made both on foot and by vehicle. These were successful particularly in case of monkeys, which can tolerate the presence of humans and allow the observations to be made from close quarters. Two Wheeler was used, and the speed was maintained moderately between 8-10 km/hr. Water hole technique: This method was also applied more efficiently during peak water crisis periods, when water acts as limiting factor. All the methods were applied during early morning hours and late evening hours, except the water hole technique, which was applied during the noon and sometime at night hours in the summer. Indirect methods: Animal signs such as burrows, quills, bones, scats, pellets, signs of feeding, kill, etc. were carefully observed and recorded during the transect walk. These evidence indicate the presence of an animal in the area. The spot where such evidences were found is then marked and later surveyed intensively for other signs of the animal. Villagers and nomads were also contacted and interviewed over wide areas regarding the presence or absence of mammals by providing them with the pictorial guides and photographs for identification that are likely to be found in the area. To record the observations without any disturb the animal from the distance, binoculars (8X40 Olympus) was used. For identification and classification purposes, colourful plates by Prater (1971) proved helpful. The survey methods were adopted as per the zone identified. The zone I, II and III were scanned with the line transects on foot and sign survey simultaneously. While for the zone IV (Road site) was applied for vehicular survey. All the systematic survey methods were supported with the water hole technique and considered opportunistic sightings too. Results and Discussion Species Richness and Diversity: Most of fauna were observed in relation to thorn-scrub forest, semi-arid area where constant vehicular disturbance on road site. The present mammalian fauna of the THf consists of 25 species of mammals to 16 families and 22 genera, which shows the mammalian richness and diversity of the area (Table 1). Of the total 25 species, four species were large mammals: Leopard, Sloth Bear, Nilgai and Indian Wild Boar; eight species were medium mammals i.e. Common Langur, Jackal, Indian Fox, Striped Hyena, Indian Pangolin and Indian Porcupine; and remaining 13 species were small mammals. The present study shows that Taranga Hill-forest has good mammalian diversity due to frequently available diversified habitat and shelter such as hillocks for den, farmlands for feeding, sandy tracts for burrows, riverbed and rocky thornscrub forest for other purposes. A literature survey shows that Gujarat has 103 mammalian species out of total 390 mammalian species available in India. With respect to this THf harbours 24.27% mammalian diversity of Gujarat and 6.41% of India. Small mammals such as rodents are considered to be especially important components of the ecosystem as they serve as prey for small and medium sized carnivores (Shanker, 2003). The large sized carnivore mammalian species are essential for regulation of herbivores population in forest ecosystem. It is vital for stability of any ecosystem but such healthy condition is not observed in the study area due to lack of thick vegetation canopy in the forest and other factors as given below.

North Gujarat region had very rich forests with high density of wildlife including Tiger (Panthera tigris), Sambar (Rusa unicolor), Chital (Axis axis), etc. in the past but were killed or exterminated due to very high anthropogenic pressure, habitat and forage loss (Dharaiya 2008). Since farmers dominate the region, the agricultural activity has reached up to its peak, which may lead to deforestation of some important forest patches of the region. Although the area still can sustains a good population of Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus), Leopard (Panthera pardus) and many other wild animals in their natural habitat, if rich in the vegetation diversity. Threats: There are several potential threats identified to mammalian diversity at Taranga Hill-forest listed below: • The Taranga Hill-forest is covered with farmlands and is dominated by agricultural practice. Farmers use pesticides in agricultural fields which may have direct impact on herbivores and finally on carnivores. • There are 14 villages around forest area. The local people are partially dependent on the forest and forest products, which may be responsible for habitat loss. Their frequent movement might be disturb the mammals particularly carnivores in this forest. • The forest area is also facing a severe problem of mining in the vicinity; these mining and allied activities are one of the most dangerous threats to the wildlife in the area. • Transportation in and around the forest was also considered as one of the major threats; during the present study we recorded total 18 cases of road accident of wild mammals. In these road accidents, Small Indian Mongoose, Common Mongoose, Indian Fox, Pale Hedgehog and Fivestriped Palm Squirrel were recorded as victims. The maximum accidents were recorded during post monsoon. • Illegal cutting of trees and its branches are the major threats. • Apart from these, grazing, grass cutting, tourism and pilgrimage were reported with highest impact to the forest ecosystem. All above facts reflect that forest habitats of the study area should be protected. To protect mammalian fauna, the forest conservation and management programmed should base on the following principles. • Maintenance of long-term ecological balance through protection and restoration, conservation of forest cover, and control of illicit cutting of trees and its branches. • Modern methods of forest management should be adopted. These include: Breeding of elite trees, control of weeds, pest management, traffic control, awareness to local people and application of laws or to improve the laws related to recent scenario. Acknowledgements We are thankful to Devarshi Bhavsar who helped us regularly throughout our field work without any selfinterest. During the field study, we got support from many villagers, forest personnel and wildlife enthusiasts, and we thank them all collectively. We are grateful to Dr. N. A. Dharaiya for constant moral support and inspiration during the field work. References Champion, H.G. & S.K. Seth (1968). A Revised Survey of the Forest Types of India. Government of India Press, New Delhi. Dharaiya, N.A. (2008). Report of the Occurrence, distribution and status of small and certain rare species of mammals in the North Gujarat region. Gujarat Forest Research Institute, Gandhinagar, India, 72pp.

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Dharaiya, N.A. (2009). Report of the Evaluating habitat and human-bear conflicts in North Gujarat, India, to seek solutions for human-bear coexistence. Rufford Small Grants Foundation, London, U.K., 44pp. Patel, C.D. & M.I. Patel (2010). Status of avifauna at Taranga Hill-forest, Gujarat, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 2(2): 695-699. Prater, S.H. (1971). The Book of Indian Animals. 12th Edition. Bombay Natural History Society, Oxford University Press, New York, xxii+324. Shanker, K. (2003). Small mammals in montane ecosystem of the Nilgiris, southern India: their ecology and natural History. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 100(1): 46-57.

Singh, H.S. (2001). Natural Heritage of Gujarat. Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation, Gandhinagar, 262pp. Usher, M.B. (1986). Wildlife conservation evaluation: Attributes, criteria and values, pp. 3-44. In: Wildlife Conservation Evaluation. Chapman and Hall, London. Vyas, A. (2010). Gujarat Darshan. Kantalaxmi Publications, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, 9pp.

Table 1: Mammalian diversity of Taranga Hill-forest with their status recorded during study period Family/Common name Cercopithecidae 1. Common Langur Felidae 2. Leopard* Canidae 3. Jackal 4. Indian fox Hyaenidae 5. Striped Hyena* Herpestidae 6. Common Mongoose 7. Ruddy Mongoose 8. Small Indian Mongoose Ursidae 9. Sloth Bear* Bovidae 10. Nilgai or Blue bull Suidae 11. Indian Wild Boar Manidae 12. Indian Pangolin* Erinaceidae 13. Longeared Hedgehog 14. Pale Hedgehog Soricidae 15. Grey Musk Shrew Leporidae 16. Indian Hare 17. Desert Hare Hystricidae 18. Indian Porcupine* Sciuridae 19. Fivestriped Palm Squirrel Muridae 20. Indian Desert Gerbille 21. Longtailed Tree Mouse 22. Bandicoot Rat Pteropodidae 23. Indian Flying Fox 24. Fulvous Fruit Bat 25. Shortnosed Fruit Bat

Scientific name

Status

Semnopithecus entellus

A, VC

Panthera pardus

S, r

Canis aureus Vulpes bengalensis

Lf, VC S, C

Hyaena hyaena

S, r

Herpestes edwardsi Herpestes smithi Herpestes auropunctatus

Lf, VC Lf, VC Lf, VC

Melursus ursinus

S, r

Boselaphus tragocamelus

A, VC

Sus scrofa

A, VC

Manis crassicaudata

S, r

Hemiechinus auritus collaris Paraechinus micropus micropus

Lf, VC S, VC

Suncus murinus

S, O

Lepus nigricollis ruficaudatus Lepus nigricollis dayanus

A, VC S, C

Hystrix indica

S, r

Funambulus pennanti

A, VC

Meriones hurrianae Vandeleuria oleracea Bandicota indica

A, VC Lf, VC S, r

Pteropus giganteus Rousettus leschenaultii Cynopterus sphinx

Lf, VC F, VC F, VC

Status: Abundance Status: A = Abundant (More than 100 AMP), F = Frequent (AMP between 50 to 100), LF = Less frequent (between 20 to 50), S = Scarce (AMP less than 20); Occurrence status: VC =Very common (Recorded during 22 to 24 visits out of 24 visits), C = Common (Recorded during 14 to 21 visits out of 24 visits), O = Occasional (Recorded during 5 to 13 visits out of 24 visits) and r = Rare (Recorded during less than 5 visits out of 24 visits). “ * ” = Sign recorded.

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Verminous pneumonia in a Hog Deer (Axis porcinus) caused by Dictyocaulus eckerti Skrajabin, 1931 with remarks on the present status of this species G.B. Puttanaiah, S. J. Seshadri, K. Muraleedharan* and R. N. Srinivasa Gowda Diseases of wildlife received very little attention until 1932 (Seshadri, 1985). Studies on parasitism of wildlife are scanty and some parasites have been reported from captive wildlife and zoo animals (Jithendran and Bhat, 2001). Seshadri (1985) reviewed the diseases of wildlife in Mysore Zoo, Mini Zoo in Hassan and National Park / Sanctuary at Bannerghatta, Bandipur and Ranganthittu of Karnataka State, India confirmed by experts of the Veterinary College, Bangalore and Institute of Animal Health and Veterinary Biologicals, Bangalore. A case of verminous pneumonia in a hog deer was then documented. The present communication describes lungworms recorded from hog deer from Karnataka and the histo-pathological lesions in the lungs. Latest information on the identity of species encountered in deer and cattle is also discussed. A hog deer (Axis porcinus) from the Mini Zoo, Hassan, Karnataka State died suddenly after showing signs of distressed breathing. Detailed post-mortem examination revealed the presence of about 500 ml sero-sanguineous fluid in the thoracic cavity. Numerous short thread-like nematodes were found in the lumen of trachea, bronchi and bronchioles causing blockage. The worms were collected, washed in normal saline and preserved in 70% alcohol. The lung parenchyma showed areas of emphysema, congestion and consolidation. lung tissue preserved in. The lung tissues were collected in 10% buffered formalin and processed by paraffin technique. The sections of 5 to 8 micron thickness were cut, stained by haematoxylin and eosin and examined. Histologically the changes observed comprised of areas of congestion, collapse and emphysema in addition to features of eosinophilic, hyperplastic bronchitis and bronchiolitis, lymphoid hyperplasia and granulomas around eggs and cut sections of parasites. Many of the alveoli showed their lumina filled with eosin stained sero-proteinaceous material as well as cellular exudate that included eosinophils. The histo-pathological details observed in this case matched with the histopathology of verminous pneumonia in cattle caused by Dictyocaulus sp. (Thomson, 1989). Nashiruddullah, et al. (2007) described histopathological lesions in natural infection of D. viviparus in Kashmiri stag or hangul (Cervus elaphus hangalu). They observed vascular changes in lungs as well as patchy pneumonia and inflammatory exudates in the aleveoli and squamous metaplastic changes in the bronchial epithelium. The epithelial cells showed typical rounding with large nuclei. The severely affected airways revealed atelectatic patches and interalveolar congestion and oedema along with emphysema. The lungs showed occasional epithelization and variable cellular reaction comprising of scattered lymphocytes and scanty eosinophils around the parasites more or less similar to the present findings. The worms were identified at the CAB International Institute of Parasitology, St Alberts, Herts, U.K. by Gibbons and Khalil and assigned to the species Dictyocaulus eckerti Skrajabin, 1931 ( CIP No. 5038). D. eckerti has been reported from the bronchi of deer in Europe, Asia and North America and considered a synonym of D. viviparus. Gibbons and Khalil (1988) on the basis of detailed study on the morphology of the various species of the genus by light and scanning electron microscopy considered D. eckerti as a separate and valid species. Differences in the shape of mouth opening between D. viviparus, D. eckerti and D. cameli was the main basis. In the case of D.eckerti a well developed cephalic vesicle has been described. According to

Divina, et al. (2008), the shape of buccal capsule has been considered as the most reliable morphological character for the diffrentiation of D. viviparus and D. eckerti. There are physiological barriers to the three species freely infecting the natural hosts of each species along with small morphological differences and they have been retained as a separate species by Gibbon and Khalil (1988). Some researchers have succeeded in infecting cattle with larvae of D. eckerti from deer but could not infect deer with larvae of D. viviparus from cattle. Johnson et al. (2003) demonstrated cross-species transmission of Dicytocaulus spp. between red deer and cattle using species specific strains of D. viviparus (cattle) and D. eckerti (deer). A recent development of speciesâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for differentiation of D. viviparus and D. eckerti larvae provided further evidence of difference between these two species (von Samson- Himmelstjena et al., 1997). Divina, et al. (2008) demonstrated the usefulness of PCR-linked hybridization assay as the epidemiological tool for the specific identification of lungworm of cattle and wild cervids. Therefore, D. eckerti has been considered a valid species and it is a rare record of this species in hog deer (A. porcinus) in India. The species of lungworms reported from India in domestic and wild herbivores were mostly confined to cooler hilly tracts of North India, but they were rarely recorded from warmer southern plains. In Karnataka state there are few isolated reports of lungworm infections including Metastrongylus salmi from pigs and D. viviparus from cattle (Krishna Rao and Jagannath, 1969; Muraleedharan et al., 1991). A species of Dictyocaulus sp. recovered during postmortem of a gravid female Kashmir red deer was the first report of this infection in deer species (Nashiruddullah, et al., 2005). Sharma et. al. (1996) described verminous pneumonia due to Muellerius capillaries (minutissmus) in a barking deer. Al though this condition was detected in the early eighties no specific description of Dictyocaulus pneumonia in hog deer and histopathological details were available. Therefore this case is placed on record. References Divina, B., P.E. Wilhelmsson, J. G. Mattson, P. Walker, and J. Hoglund (2008). Identification of Dictyocaulus spp. in ruminants by morphological and molecular analysis. Parasitology 121: 193-01. Gibbons, L.M. and L.F. Khalil (1988). A revision of the genus Dictyocaulus Railliet & Henry, 1907 (Nematode: Trichostongyloidea) with the description of D. africanus n.sp. from African artiodactylids. Revue De Zoologie Africaine-Journal African Zoology 102: 151-75. Jithendran, K.P. and T.K. Bhat (2001). Epidemiology and control of Parasitism in nomadic situations in Himachal Pradesh, ENVIS Bulletin Himalayan Ecology and Development 9(1): 5-13. Johnson, M., C.G. MacKintosh, R.E. Labes, M.J. Taylor and D.A.Wharton (2003). Dictyocaulus species: Cross infection between cattle and red deer. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 51: 93-98. To be continued on P. 34....

Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (UAS-KDDC), Mysore * Address for correspondence: T.C. No. 37/282, Thrikkumaramkudam, Thrissur, Kerala. E. mail: kandayath@rediffmail.com

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Parasitic infections in wild animals of Kerala Reghu Ravindran1, K.G. Ajith Kumar2 and V.M. Abdul Gafoor3 A wild animal is typically host to a whole community of parasites of different species. Wild animals harbour numerous parasites in their free living stage, but seldom lead to harmful infection unless stressed (Gaur et al., 1979). Arora (1994) described a detailed account of infections and parasitic diseases of mammals, reptiles and amphibians in India. The present communication reports the parasitic infections in various wild animals of forests of Kerala. Faecal samples of Sloth bear (5 nos), Gaur (12 nos), Nilgiri Thar (5 nos), Porcupine (2 nos) Sambar deer (15 nos) and Wild boar (8 nos) were collected from Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary. Faecal sample from one leopard was collected from Muthanga forest of Wayanad district. All samples were collected from rectum during post mortem examination of dead animals and were preserved in 10 percent formalin until processed. They were processed for concentration of ova by centrifugation and sedimentation technique. A drop of sediment was examined under low power objective of light microscope. The ova were identified based on Soulsby (1982). Results of faecal sample examination were shown in the Table 1. Out of 48 samples examined, 16 showed parasitic ova. Most of them had mixed infection. Strongyle ova were the most common ova detected. Strongyle ova seen in wild boars were presumed due to Stephanurus dentatus, since many worm specimen of this species was also frequently observed in internal organs of the same animals. Similarly, the strongyle ova detected in leopard could be due to the hook worm Galocnchus perniciossus.

Table. 1. Parasitic ova detected in various wild animals

Animal

Number of samples examine d

Number of sample positive

Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus)

Strongyloid

Gaur (Bos gaurus)

Strongyle

Nilgiri tahr (Nilgiritragus hylocrius)

Strongyloid

Porcupine (Hystrix indica)

Trichuris

Eimeria oocyst Fasciola (?), Trichuris, Strongyle

Ascaris suum, Strongyle, Strongyloides, Spirurid, Coccidian oocysts, cyst of Balantidium coli

Isospora, Ancylostoma sp.

Sambar deer (Rusa 15 unicolor)

Wild Boar (Sus scrofa)

In sambar deer, an ovum similar to Fasciola was observed. But the occurrence of Fasciola, in domestic ruminants is still equivocal in the state. Eventhough, the death in many cases could not directly attributed to parasitism, the parasites definitely predisposes many other diseases. The parasitic burden and its relationship with the host have been successfully used by modern scientists in the control of wildlife pests and predators in our forests and agricultural system. Most of the parasites are reputed for their abundance and have great impact in maintaining the stability of various ecosystems (Sharma, 2003).

... Continued from P. 33 Krishna Rao, N.S. and M.S. Jagannath (1969). Metastongylus salmi Gedoelst 1923-the pig parasite. Current Science 38:117. Muraleedharan, K., K. Syed Ziauddin and S.J. Seshadri (1991). A fatal case of parasitic bronchitis in a cow of Karnataka State. Cheiron 20: 136-7. Nashiruddullah, N., M.M. Darzi, M.S. Mir, S.A. Kamil and R. A. Shahardar (2005). Recovery of Dictyocaulus species from the lungs of a Kashmir red deer (Cervus elaphus hangalu). Veterinary Record 157: 591. Nashiruddullah, N., M.M. Darzi, R. A. Shahardar, S.A. Kamil, M.S. Mir and M. Mir (2007). Pathology of spontaneous Dictyocaulus sp. infection in Hangul (Cervus elaphus hangalu). Journal of Veterinary Parasitology 21: 37-40. Seshadri, S. J. (1985). Diseases of free living and captive wild life. Veterinarian 9(3): 7-10. Sharma, A.K., V.B. Joshi, M. Sharma, V. Katoch, S.P. Singh, R.C. Katoch, K. Batta and R.K. Asrani (1996).

REFERENCES Gaur, S.N.S., M.S. Sethi, A.C. Thiwari and O. Prakash (1979). Prevalence of helminthic parasites in wild and zoo animals in Uttar Pradesh. Indian Journal of Animal Sciences 49: 159-161 Arora, B.M.C. (1994). Wildlife Diseases in India. Periodical Expert Book Agency. New Delhi, 183pp. Soulsby, E.J.L. (1982). Helminths, Arthropods and Protozoa of Domesticated animals. Bailliere and Tindall, London, 767-772pp. Sharma, B.D. (2003). “Wild life disease relationship”, pp. 76-77. In: Wildlife and Disease in India. Asiatic Publishing House, Delhi.

Leopard (Panthera pardus)

Ova detected

1,2 College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Pookot, Wayanad 673576, Kerala. 3 Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kiltan Island, Lakshadweep (Previously, Forest Veterinary Surgeon, Thekkady) Email: 1drreghuravi@yahoo.com (corresponding author)

Concurrent chlamydial and verminous pneumonia in a barking deer (Muntiacus muntjak). Indian Veterinary Journal 73: 876-78. Thomson, R.G. (1989). Special Veterinary Pathology, CBS Publishers & Distributors, New Delhi. von Samson-Himmelstjerna, G., S. Woidtke, C. Epe and T. Schnieder (1997). Species-specific polymerase chain reaction for the differentiation of larvae of Dictyocaulus viviparus and Dictyocaulus eckerti. Veterinary Parasitology 68: 119-26. Acknowledgement We are grateful to Dr. Lynda M. Gibbons and Dr. L. F Khalil of CAB International Institute of Parasitology, 395A Hatfield Road, St Albans, Herts, AL4 OXU, U.K. for specific identification of lungworms collected from hog deer. Our thanks are due to the authorities of Mini Zoo, Hassan then and to Mr. Narayana Gowda, Laboratory Technician, Department of Pathology, Veterinary College, Bangalore-560 024 for the help rendered in the histo-pathological works.

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4th International Zoo and Aquarium Symposium ‘Global Freshwater Fish Conservation: linking in situ and ex situ actions Rajeev Raghavan* Over 40 freshwater fish experts from 21 countries converged in Chester, United Kingdom for the 4th International Zoo and Aquarium Symposium ‘Global Freshwater Fish Conservation: linking in situ and ex situ actions’ which was held from the 3rd until the 7th of November 2010, in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the IUCN SSC Freshwater Fish Specialist Group (FFSG). The conference was jointly organized by the IUCN, Species Survival Commission (SSC), Wetlands International (WI), Freshwater Fish Specialist Group of IUCN (IUCN-FFSG), Chester Zoo, Zoological Society of London (ZSL), European Union of Aquarium Curators and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). The meeting was held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in the heart of Chester – a historic city founded by the Romans in the year AD79. The meeting began on the 4th of November with a welcome address by the Lord Mayor of Chester followed by an introductory message by Prof. Gordon McGregor Reid, the Chair of the IUCN Freshwater Fish Specialist Group. The opening day had 12 presentations focusing on two major themes – 1) the status of freshwater fishes in various regions of the world and 2) priorities for freshwater fishes in the aquariums of various regions. Status reports of freshwater fishes in areas including Europe (Jorg Freyhof from Leibinz Institute of Freshwater Ecology, Germany), North America (Michele Thieme from WWF-USA), Mesoamerica (Topiltzin Contreras-MacBeath from Mexico), South America (Roberto Reis, PUC-RS, Brazil), Southern Africa (Paul Skelton from SAIAB, South Africa), Australia (Mark Lintermans from University of Canberra, Australia), Pacific Islands (Nicolas Tubbs from Wetland International) and Southern Asia (Remadevi from ZSI, India) provided insights into the issues and challenges facing conservation of endemic and threatened freshwater fishes in the respective regions. Presentations on the priorities for freshwater fish in aquariums saw experts from ZSL (Heather Koldewey), Toronto Zoo (Cynthia Lee), Fundacion Temaiken Buenos Aires (Mauro Tambella) and Mahurangi Institute, Auckland (David Cooper) discussed about the various captive breeding programs for threatened freshwater fishes being conducted at their organizations. These include programs

for European and Middle East Killi Fishes, Australian short fin eel, Lake Victoria cichlids and various Amazonian ornamental fishes. The first day ended with a discussion on the possibility of a new book to be published by Wiley-Blackwell on freshwater fish conservation. There were 11 presentations on day 2 under the theme ‘tools and methods for conservation priority setting’. These included a talk by Will Darwall of the IUCN Freshwater Biodiversity Program, Cambridge on the IUCN Red List and the progress achieved in freshwater biodiversity assessments globally; Helen Meredith on the Edge of Existence (EDGE) program of the Zoological Society of London and its relevance to freshwater fishes; Gene Helfman of University of Georgia on the working of the IUCN Red List committee on freshwater fishes; Michelle Lindley on the ARKIVE initiative; Michelle Thieme of WWF-USA on free flowing rivers and their role in priority setting for freshwater fish; Ian Harrison of Conservation International on the freshwater fish conservation initiatives of his organization; Zeb Hogan of University of Nevada on large migratory fishes and the role of FFSG in the United Nations Convention on Migratory species; Richard Gibson of Chester Zoo on the Amphibian Ark project and its potential relevance to freshwater fish conservation; Brian Zimmerman of ZSL on regional collection planning for aquariums and its role in freshwater fish conservation; William Van Lint of EAZA on the managed breeding programs for aquarium fish within their organization; Alex Cliffe of ZSL on management

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techniques for freshwater fish at the London Zoo; Andrew Routh of ZSL on the implications of Mycobacteriosis in captive fish and their management; David Rawson of LIRANS Institute, University of Bedfordshire on the use of cryobanks for freshwater fish conservation and Simon Stuart, the Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) on the highlights of the Nagoya summit of the CBD. The presentations on day 2 were followed by a workshop on planning and implementation of ex-situ programs for freshwater fish led by Brian Zimmerman of ZSL and a focus group discussion on freshwater fishes for the global aquarium trade led by Scott Dowd of the New England Aquarium, Boston and Rajeev Raghavan of Conservation Research Group, St. Albert’s College, Kochi. The workshop on planning and implementation of captive breeding and reintroduction programs for threatened freshwater fishes provided an opportunity for the participants to break up into regional groups and prepare a list of species that they thought would be probable candidates from their regions for such ex-situ programs. The focus group discussion on fish for the aquarium pet trade deliberated on several issues such as certification for ornamental fish and the possible role of IUCN FFSG, the possibility of a working group on ornamental fishes within the FFSG and the role of public aquariums in sustainable trade in ornamentals.

* Conservation Research Group (CRG), St. Albert's College, Banerji Road, Kochi, Kerala. Email: rajeevraq@hotmail.com

The first half of Day 3 comprised of two workshops on the importance of biosecurity in live collections which was led by Andrew Routh of ZSL and how to avoid domestication in management of live collections led by Richard Gibson of Chester Zoo. The second half of day 3 had presentations from diverse fields such as ex-situ conservation strategies for threatened European freshwater fishes by Jorg Freyhof of Leibinz Institute of Freshwater Ecology, Berlin; Lake Victoria species survival plan which detailed the partnership of North American Zoos and Aquariums with the East African partners by Cynthia Lee of Toronto Zoo; the popular ‘buy a fish- save a tree’ campaign and the ornamental fisheries of the Rio Negro basin of Amazonia by Scott Dowd of the New England Aquarium, Boston; issues of freshwater fish conservation in Australia’s Murray Darling river basin by Arkellah Hall; management of the endangered Macquaire Perch in upland reservoirs of south eastern Australia by Mark Lintermans of University of Canberra; challenges and opportunities for freshwater fish conservation in the Pacific Islands by Nicolas Tubbs of WI; captive breeding and re introduction programs for the Devario pathirana in Sri Lanka by Renuka Bandaranayake from Colombo Zoo and Aquarium; opportunities for public participation for freshwater fish conservation in the Western Ghats by Rema Devi of ZSI, Chennai, India; vulnerability of threatened freshwater fishes to the aquarium pet trade by Rajeev Raghavan of Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent, UK and finally the management of

Mekong giant catfish populations by Chavalith Vidthayanon from Nakhon Ratchasima University, Thailand. Day 4 began with a workshop on collection and storage of specimens for cryopreservation by David Rawson of the LIRANS Institute, University of Bedfordshire. This was followed by a comprehensive presentation on the current options and challenges for genetic management of ex-situ populations of freshwater fish for conservation by Kristin Leus of Copenhagen Zoo and the CBSG/EAZA and by Scott Dowd of the New England Aquarium, Boston on Home fish keeping and public aquaria and the ex-situ-in-situ opportunities for the aquarium industry. The afternoon session comprised of a workshop on population management relevant for live collection and re introduction of freshwater fishes which was coordinated by Heather Koldewey of ZSL and Kristin Leus of CBSG/EAZA. The plenary session was led by Ian Harrison of CI, Heather Koldwey of ZSL and Richard Gibson of Chester Zoo. Some of the important outcomes of the conference were the formation of a working group within the FFSG on sustainable ornamental fisheries, plan for a freshwater biodiversity census on the lines of the census of marine life, programs for in-situ and ex-situ conservation of the most important species at risks in the various regions of the world, and a book on global freshwater fish conservation among others.

World Environment Day 5 June 2011 2011 has been declared by the United Nations as the International Year of Forests. World Environment Day this year will reinforce this global concern with the official tagline - Forests: Nature at Your Service which underscores the many essential life-sustaining values that forests provide and the intrinsic link between our quality of life and the health of forest ecosystems. For all seven billion of us, our present and our future depend on conserving and restoring the world’s forests. On WED, let us resolve to do much more to ensure that we continue to enjoy the important services that forests provide, in our generation and the next. We are working on some materials for World Environment Day, featuring on saving Biodiversity. We will have special materials for WED but will also use some previously published materials which focus on species. This year India is HOST for UNDP World Environment Day so it is all the more important you celebrate. We need to ascertain the interest you might have in conducting a programme on World Environment day with our materials. These will consist of an A3 poster with the colourful WED logo on it and some information on the back, a folder about forests and other WED facts, and a decoration with WED theme that you can wear by folding it and putting one half in your shirt pocket. Please send us an email at once informing if you would like our WED materials and the size of your group. We can send up to 50 copies for a programme. To get an idea of the kind of material we will make see the UNEP Website : http-//www.unep.org/wed/.docx. You can get fresh ideas for your programmes also at the site. Sally Walker and R. Marimuthu Zoo Outreach Organisation

ZOO’s PRINT, Volume XXVI, Number 5, May 2011

Announcement

Making animal welfare improvements: Economic and other incentives and constraints Editors’ note UFAW has been a staunch supporter of Zoo Outreach Organisation and ZOOS’ PRINT/ZOO ZEN for over two decades. I am also a supporter of UFAW for many years. I like two things in particular about this animal welfare organisation: 1. Their work is 100% based in science and scientific research on ways to improve animal welfare is practical and applicable. 2. They do not carp and criticize anyone or any organisation or make extreme statements … they put their energy into practical scientific research and in creating public awareness. They mind their own business with great discipline and good sense. I am not a fan of many animal welfare organizations because they do the opposite of what UFAW does. I think the conference described below will be very useful but please understand: We (ZOO) are not able to fund anyone for this conference and may not even be able to go ourselves. Please do not take this announcement as a funding offer from either ZOO or UFAW, but try and raise funds to go if you have any way to do so. We often get a raft of funding request just because we made an announcement on behalf of an organisation we think is doing a good job. Thanks. Sally Walker UFAW International Animal Welfare Symposium During recent years the husbandry of many kept animals (farmed, companion, research, zoo and others) and the effects of harvesting and control methods used for free-living wild animals, have been reviewed in the light of modern understanding of animal welfare. In many cases (perhaps almost all), it is concluded that welfare is not as good as society would wish and, often, that there is a need for considerable improvement. However, having established through such reviews of various species that there are problems, progress in tackling them is not always as prompt or certain as might be hoped. The aim of this conference is to consider economic aspects of animal welfare - economic incentives and constraints - and the societal attitudes of which these are a reflection. How much an individual, or society as a whole, is prepared to pay for animal welfare improvements appears to vary greatly depending on the species and circumstances of the animal. To what extent is this subject to change? Finding ways to develop economic drivers and incentives has proved to be a successful approach to animal welfare improvements in some cases. What potential is there for widely developing this approach? We wish to address both general issues and species- specific aspects of this field including: • Research into the value placed on animal welfare (of various species under various circumstances). • Has the global economic crisis affected consumer attitudes and behaviour? • Factors underlying variation in willingness to pay, and payment, for animal welfare benefits. • Deciding priorities – apportioning scarce funds: (a) between animal welfare and other societal concerns and (b) between various animal welfare issues. • How do we ask animals what are their priorities for welfare expenditure? • Consumer demand studies in humans and other animals. • How much is enough? Deciding how much progress along the positive/negative welfare continuum can be afforded. • Could labeling systems be used more widely, in farm and other sectors, to allow consumers to exercise choice? • The role and power of corporate responsibility initiatives. • Apportioning expenditure between welfare and conservation in captive and field conservation programmes. • The role of animal welfare science in influencing public attitudes and economic policy. • What are the main constraints to, and what economic incentives could be developed to help make progress with, species/industry specific issues such as: Tackling lameness in dairy cattle, Humane rodent control, Humane harvesting of marine fish, Each of the Three Rs, & Genetic welfare problems in companion animals. Registration Details Places will be limited so please contact Dr. Stephen Wickens at UFAW as soon as possible to register your attendance. An electronic Registration form can be downloaded at http://www.ufaw.org.uk/documents/ UFAWREGISTRATIONFORM.doc or you can complete a PDF version here http://www.ufaw.org.uk/documents/ UFAWREGISTRATIONFORM.pdf. Delegates are responsible for booking their own accommodation. Download details of local hotels with special discount rates for this Symposium at http://www.ufaw.org.uk/documents/UFAW_001.pdf or click the following link to go direct to the site http://tiny.cc/UFAW11 Stephen Wickens, PhD Development Officer UFAW, The Old School, Brewhouse Hill, Wheathampstead, Herts AL4 8AN, UK Email: wickens@ufaw.org.uk

Magazine of Zoo Outreach Organisation ZOO’s PRINT Publication Guidelines

Publication Information

We welcome articles from the conservation community of all SAARC countries, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and other tropical countries if relevant to SAARC countries’ problems and potential.

ZOO’s PRINT, ISSN 0973-2543 Published at: Coimbatore Owner: Zoo Outreach Organisation, 9A Lal Bahadur Colony, Peelamedu, CBE 4

Type — Articles of semi-scientific or technical nature. News, notes, announcements of interest to conservation community and personal opinion pieces.

Editor: Sally R. Walker Associate Editor: R.V. Sanjay Molur and Daniel B. Ayyachamy Managing Editor: Latha G. Ravikumar Editorial Assistant: R. Marimuthu

Feature articles — articles of a conjectural nature — opinions, theoretical, subjective. Case reports: case studies or notes, short factual reports and descriptions. News and announcements — short items of news or announcements of interest to zoo and wildlife community Cartoons, puzzles, crossword and stories Subject matter : captive breeding, (wild) animal husbandry and management, wildlife management, field notes, conservation biology, population dynamics, population genetics, conservation education and interpretation, wild animal welfare, conservation of flora, natural history and history of zoos. Articles on rare breeds of domestic animals are also considered. Source : zoos, breeding facilities, holding facilities, rescue centres, research institutes, wildlife departments, wildlife protected areas, bioparks, conservation centres, botanic gardens, museums, universities, etc. Individuals interested in conservation with information and opinions to share can submit articles ZOOS’ PRINT magazine. Manuscript requirements: Articles should by typed into a Word format and emailed to zooreach@zooreach.org. Avoid indents, all caps or any other fancy typesetting. You may send photos, illustrations, tables. Articles which should contain citations should follow this guideline: a bibliography organized alphabetically and contain ing all details referred in the following style : surname, initial(s), year, title of the article, name of journal, volume, number, pages. Editorial details : Articles will be edited without consultation unless previously requested by the authors in writing. Authors should inform editors if the article has been published or submitted elsewhere for publication.

Zoo Outreach Organisation Trust Committee and Sr. Staff Managing Trustee: Sally R. Walker Chairman Trustee: R. Nandini Executive Director Trustee: R.V. Sanjay Molur Finance Director Trustee: Latha G. Ravikumar Scientist: B.A. Daniel Researcher: R. Marimuthu Other staff: B. Ravichandran, R. Pravin Kumar, K. Geetha, S. Radhika, Arul Jagadish, K. Raveendran, S. Sarojamma ZOOs’ PRINT magazine is informal and newsy as opposed to a scientific publication. ZOOS’ PRINT magazine sometimes includes semi-scientific and technical articles which are reviewed only for factual errors, not peer-reviewed. Address: Zoo Outreach Organisation Post Box 1683, Peelamedu Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641 004, India Phone: +91 422 256108 Fax: +91 422 2563269 E-mail: zooreach@zooreach.org Website: www.zooreach.org, www.zoosprint.org