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INDIA NEWSLETTER JULY - SEPTEMBER 2012 NEWSLETTER IND PANDA 2012 IND SG & CEO’S FOREWORD Dear friends, On a weekend like any other in June, I received this message that pleasantly conveyed, more than adequately, the understated excitement of its bearer - “Traced to Aligarh - nearly 400 km downstream from Hastinapur!” The message had been sent by Sanjeev Yadav, Senior Project Officer with WWF-India, who had been attempting to capture a female gharial that had swum a distance of nearly 400 km through the Ganga canal system, from Hastinapur to an area in Aligarh district. The gharial had finally been located, but after much clamour. A regular racket had been created, and yet this was a happy noise that had been raised - one that we would hope to be caused for other threatened species as well. People did not merely cooperate; they went out of their way to assist the team from WWF-India. The township of Sikandarpur extended heartwarming hospitality and both the media and the Uttar Pradesh Forest Department proved accommodating and supportive. The greatest feat however, was undertaken by the Irrigation Department that so generously offered to lower the level of water in the canal to facilitate the search. Battling the monsoon and other impediments to their pursuit, the team was able to successfully recapture and release the gharial back in Hastinapur. The cause of this transformative effect, more than the confluence of various sections of people that facilitated it, was their desire for such transformation. Nature gives us this incredible capacity - to take our weaknesses and turn them into verve, if only we so desire. This is what has allowed us to evolve from one thing to the next. It is simply amazing then to imagine what could be if only we were to channelize this desire towards conservation. The articles in this publication seek to do precisely that - to inspire a desire for conserving the gharial, a species that evolved into existence more than 120 million years ago, and others like the lesser known giant squirrel. The feature “Through a Green Lens” will also take you through the literal transformation of the Tsomgo Lake in Sikkim as vivid testimony to the possibilities that exist, if only we yearn to see them. As you explore this issue of the Panda, you will see that it too has experienced a transformation. From newsletter to popular journal, the Panda has matured and grown to support articles from scholars, photographers, students and more. We hope you enjoy this collaboration in conservation and continue to contribute articles and photos towards making the cause of conservation an integral element of our evolution as humans. Ravi Singh FROM THE DESK OF THE EDITOR Dear reader, One hundred teeth that sit atop the food chain - yet these jaws have never had a Hollywood blockbuster made about them. They should have though, I would have thought - gharial are fascinating enough. Unlike the more celebrated (but rather maligned) great white shark, in truth, the gharial has plenty to be proud of - as an indicator species, it testifies to the health of the river ecosystem it occupies, it is the only surviving descendant of the Gavialidae family of crocodilians, and finally, as a piscivore, it is harmless to humans. Why then, you may ask, does the gharial figure prominently on the IUCN Red List as a Critically Endangered (CE) species? The IUCN website lists three detailed criterion, but this only serves to illustrate that these exist because knowledge about the gharial itself and the threats it faces, do not. Maya Angelou’s oft-repeated, “When we know better, we do better”, holds as true in this scenario, as in any other. And this issue of the Panda is a step precisely in this direction - to remedy the lack of awareness and by extension, concern, about the status of such species, from the “Critically Endangered” gharial to a species of “Least Concern” (LC) like the giant squirrel (IUCN). In this attempt to make accessible (and fascinating) to all, these lesser –known conservation challenges, arresting photographs, educational info-graphics and first-person narratives from scholars and readers collide to make the publication more than reportage. For inspiration you may look to the “Through a Green Lens” section that describes graphically the transformation of an entire lake area, or for a detailed answer to a reader’s query on the species in focus, flip to our “Don’t just Google It!” section. You could also pin-up the informative insert on the gharial, as well as our calendar of “Green Days”, so your own enthusiasm transfers to those around you and that they too receive the opportunity to “do better” because they “know better”. This has been our attempt and we hope you enjoy this issue as a conversation-starter for conservation. Please do continue to send in your contributions and photographs to [email protected]. Happy reading! Fionna Braganza CONTENTS IN FOCUS 04 Gharial: Turning the scales Tracing the success of the Gharial Reintroduction Programme PHOTOWALK 09 Return to the river - by Anil Cherukupalli Trailing the gharial back home FROM THE FIELD 14 Is the giant squirrel really of least concern? - by Dr. Prachi Mehta Sizing up a species THROUGH A GREEN LENS 17 Landscaping Tsomgo Lake GREENHEARTS 18 In the Forests of the Night Filling the shoes of a forest guard SHUTTERFLY 19 OFF THE PRESS 20 Threatened Birds of India: Their Conservation Requirements YOUNG CONSERVERS CORNER 22 Ten Good Practices with Birds The White Tiger – by Tanushri Majumdar Did you know? GREEN DAYS 26 FROM THE NATURE GALLERY a ndi IN FOCUS -I / WWF Nawab The villagers stood watching in awe, while the local politician insisted, “Let me do it”. “It’s too ghar ONE HUNDRED SHARP, dangerous”, said Dr. Gautam. “There’s method to © As it - I wouldn’t want you to get hurt”. A sharp intake of breath, a gasp went up from the crowd - INTERDIGITATED the gharial had bitten Dr. Gautam. The politician hastily backed away, muttering something to the TEETH GLINTED IN effect of, “You know best…”, as the blood poured from Dr. Gautam’s hand. With bittersweet relief, Dr. Parikshit Gautam smiled at the gharial he THE MOONLIGHT. was holding. ndia -I / WWF adav Y anjeev © S WWF - INDIA NEWSLETTER JULY - SEPTEMBER 2012 PAGE 04 GHARIAL: TURNING THE SCALES n -Cano /WWF her t un G Michel It was the year 2009 and the cold of winter had set in. The name gharial comes from the Indian word, ghara, Hundreds of villagers, the entire police department, the referring to the bulbous knob at the end of the male’s forest department and anyone with a smidgen of snout, resembling a pot. The “ghara”, present in males curiosity had gathered on the banks of the Ganges at that have achieved sexual maturity, is used to “modify Hastinapur, Uttar Pradesh to witness what was to be one and amplify hisses snorted through the underlying of the key stages of the Gharial Reintroduction nostrils. The resultant sound can be heard for nearly a Programme – the release of captive-bred gharial into the kilometer on a still day. The ghara also renders Gharial Ganges. the only visibly sexually dimorphic crocodilian” (Whitaker).* Crocodilians are survivors from the great reptilian age and are recognized as keystone species in their With their strongly attenuated snouts, rows of uniform, environment due to the role they play in maintaining the sharp teeth, and relatively long, well-muscled necks, ecosystem by their activities. Gharial are “extra special”, these crocodilians may easily be mistaken as predacious. however - they are the only survivors of the Gavialidae But this exclusive fish-eating species is harmless to family, the other families being those of the Alligatoridae humans and these traits only make it a most efficient and the Crocodylidae, having eight and fourteen fish catcher. members respectively. a ndi -I / WWF Nawab ghar © As * Whitaker Romulus, ‘The Gharial: Going Extinct Again’ Iguana, Volume 14, Number 1, March 2007. WWF - INDIA NEWSLETTER JULY - SEPTEMBER 2012 PAGE 05 Their eggs are the largest of any The insignia of Kamadeva, god of love, the gharial flies high on the deity’s flag crocodilian in mythological representations, but is soon disappearing from reality. species, Historically found in wide distribution, gharial now survive only in the rivers weighing an of India and Nepal. average of 160 gm. Historical Distribution Current Status of Gharial of Gharial This map is solely a representation of real-world conditions and is made available to the Recipient for information purposes only. 1940 1999 2006 5,000 - 10,000 around 400 around 200 The gharial, endemic to the Indian subcontinent was numbers plummeted to around 200, indicating a once abundant and common, with an estimated reduction of 58% over the last 10 years. The total population of 5,000 to 10,000 in the 1940s. Since 1999, breeding population of gharial in the world is now a sharp decline in gharial population has been recorded estimated to be less than 200 individuals making it a throughout its entire range. In 1997, around 400 “Critically Endangered" species (IUCN 2007). The breeding adult gharial were recorded, by 2006 their species is listed as Schedule I under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. WWF - INDIA NEWSLETTER JULY - SEPTEMBER 2012 PAGE 06 predation to natural nest predators such as jackals and STICKS AND STONES monitor lizards. Fishing: Gill nets used for both commercial and In 1975, under the patronage of the Government of India, subsistence fishing affect all existing gharial. The gharial, the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) and Food with its long, toothy rostrum is especially vulnerable to and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Project Crocodile entanglement in nets, where it gets trapped and drowns.