Herpetology Notes, volume 14: 283-290 (2021) (published online on 01 February 2021)

A baseline study of herpetofauna in Surai-Khatima-Kilpura wildlife corridor and its adjoining areas, ,

Vivek Ranjan1, Gaurav Vashistha2, Vipul Maurya1,*, Mohd. Akram3, Ajay Prakash Rawat1, Jai Pratap Singh4, Parag Madhukar Dhakate5, and Nitish Mani Tripathi5

Abstract. Baseline data of herpetofauna of a wildlife corridor is significant for the holistic conservation and protection of the landscape. The understudied of and are an important indicator of ecosystem health and structure. We used multiple non-invasive methods to document and collect data from 2015 to 2019 and undertook surveys across five habitat types. We recorded 52 species belonging to 17 families and 38 genera. 23 species of were recorded, which was the most dominant taxonomic group. Five threatened species were recorded with one Critically Endangered and one Endangered species. Structural complexity, availability of multiple and microhabitats, and water are the major factors influencing herpetofaunal assemblage.

Keywords. reptiles, amphibians, terai, human-wildlife interaction

Introduction , possibly due to their cryptic nature and often smaller body size (Bhattarai et al., 2017; Vasudevan Herpetofauna is a collective term for amphibians and et al., 2001). Herpetofauna species are indicators of reptiles which are two distinct classes of , ecological health and biodiversity composition of the forming an important constituent of biodiversity. forest landscapes (Fulton, 2018). Landscape level Amphibians and reptiles are morphologically and changes in habitat and microclimate significantly affect ecologically very diverse and have a cosmopolitan the biodiversity structure and composition. Habitat loss distribution. Globally, reptiles and amphibians and fragmentation has contributed significantly to the have experienced a rapid decline in abundance and global decline of amphibians and reptiles (Schneider- distribution, with at least 43% of amphibians exhibiting Maunoury et al., 2016). population declines and 19% of all species The Terai landscape is one of the most biodiverse areas threatened with extinction (Lesbarrères et al., 2014). All of India (Wikramanayake et al., 2002). The Terai is over the world, herpetofauna species are facing threats situated at the Himalayan foothills and is characterised due to habitat loss, degradation, fragmentation and by a high water table, perennial rivers, numerous alteration, introduced species, climate change, pollution, swamps and marshes. The terrain is largely flat with chemical contamination, and diseases (Böhm et al., 2013; Lesbarrères et al., 2014). Reptile and deep alluvial soil deposited by rivers and streams south species are understudied in comparison to and of Bhabar tracts. The fertile tracts of the Terai support rich growth of forest and associated high biodiversity. The region is also dominated by agricultural fields due to the fertile soil and there is high anthropogenic pressure leading to habitat loss and fragmentation 1 Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand 248001, (Wikramanayake et al., 2010). The abundance of water India. is one of the chief influencing factors for herpetofauna 2 Department of Environmental studies, University of Delhi, distribution and assemblage (Ramesh et al., 2013). Delhi 110007, India. 3 , Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand 262405, India. In a fragmented and mosaic habitat, the significance 4 Ramnagar, , Uttarakhand 244715, India. of forested wildlife corridors is of eminence for the 5 Uttarakhand Forest Department, Dehradun, Uttarakhand persistence of many species (Bennett, 1999; Chester et 248001 India. al., 2014). Forest fragmentation has an edge effect on * Corresponding Author. E-mail: [email protected] species assemblage and habitat use leading to change © 2021 by Herpetology Notes. Open Access by CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. in abundance and distribution of herpetofauna species 284 Vivek Ranjan et al. as well as higher trophic level organisms (Schneider- landscape and Shivalik wildlife corridor. SKK corridor Maunoury et al., 2016). The status of herpetofauna connects Tiger Reserve (PTR), in the corridor will indicate its ecosystem health to Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary (NWLS), Uttarakhand and habitat status as they are better bio-indicators of in India. It is contiguous with the forest landscape of impacts of anthropogenic activities and land use change Suklaphanta Biosphere Reserve in (Anwar and than mammals; evident from the study conducted in Borah, 2019). It lies in the 2B Himalaya-West Himalaya rehabilitated mine fields of Ora Banda area in western biogeographic province of India (Rodgers et al., 2000). Australia (Thompson and Thompson, 2005). The The forest type of the study area, as per Champion and status of these significant indicator species is important Seth (1968) classification, is Tropical Moist Deciduous for conservation prioritisation. Very few studies on forest, predominantly sal forest interspersed with teak herpetofauna have been carried out in the Himalayan plantation and mixed forest. The annual mean rainfall state of Uttarakhand (Dar et al., 2008; Vasudevan and in the study area is 1000–2000 mm with an elevational Sondhi, 2010). Here, we present the baseline data on range of 100–500 m (Reddy et al., 2015). herpetofauna in the wildlife corridor delineated for Methodology. The study was conducted from 2015– large movement, to highlight the importance 2019. We categorised the study area in five habitat types: of protected forests to the Terai’s herpetofauna. Forest (F), Roadside (R), Waterbodies (W), Agricultural Study Area. The study was conducted in Surai- land (A), and Human Settlements (H). Forest habitat Khatima-Kilpura (SKK) wildlife corridor which includes grasslands, monoculture tree plantation plots extends across three forest ranges of the Terai East such as teak and eucalyptus plantations, scrubland, Forest Division, i.e. Surai, Khatima, and Kilpura in the moderately dense (tree canopy cover: 40–70%) and state of Uttarakhand, India (Fig. 1). The total area of highly dense forests (canopy cover: >70%) (Forest the three forest ranges is 673 Km2. The corridor is 22 Survey of India, 2019); roadside habitat includes the Km long encompassing an area of ca.130 Km2 (Anwar metaled roads with 10 m buffer along the road on both and Borah, 2019). The study area is part of the Terai sides; waterbodies include all natural and man-made water bodies; agricultural land includes the crop fields on the forest fringes and adjoining areas of corridor; human settlements include mud houses (Kacha house), cement and brick houses (Pakka house), gardens and forest rest houses. Systematic and opportunistic sampling was employed to survey the study area. We conducted diurnal and nocturnal Visual Encounter Surveys (VES) (Heyer et al., 2014). Surveys were conducted along the forest trails and transects in the morning (6 a.m.–9 a.m.) and evening (4 p.m. –7 p.m.) hours. Water bodies, swamps and microhabitats including fallen wood, logs, tree bark and tree holes, the underside of boulders and leaf litter were actively searched during the daytime. We surveyed water bodies and their banks at night for nocturnal species. The roads were surveyed during night and early morning to record species and road kills along the road. All the road kills were removed after sampling to prevent double counting. Agricultural fields were surveyed regularly. Due to large areas under agriculture and limited access, information was collected from local villagers such as farm owners, on species presence by personal interviews and species photo identification. The rescue and conflict data (2012–2019) from the state forest department range offices of three forest Figure 1. Study area map of three forest ranges forming SKK ranges covering SKK corridor was also considered wildlife corridor. for the record. Taxonomical nomenclature has been A baseline study of herpetofauna in Surai-Khatima-Kilpura wildlife corridor, India 285 used from the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN, 2020), the (Uetz, 2020) and the Amphibian Species of the World 6.0 (Frost, 2020). We used field guides and published literature for species identification (Daniel, 2002; Das, 2002; Whitaker and Captain, 2004).

Results A total of 52 species were documented from the study area, belonging to 17 families in five habitat types. All recorded amphibians were anurans, represented by 11 species representing four families and seven Figure 2. Distribution of herpetofauna species across surveyed genera. Forty one species of reptiles were recorded, habitat types. represented by 23 species of snakes from five families and eighteen genera; ten species of from four families and seven genera; seven species of testudines wildlife interaction (e.g. bite, Daboia russelii, belonging to three families and five genera; and one Fig. 3D). Two recorded species, i.e. species of crocodile (Table 1). Dicroglossidae (n=5) and (C. palustris) and Indian Monitor (Varanus bengalensis, (n=13) were the most dominant families of Fig. 3E) have records of negative human-wildlife amphibians and reptiles respectively. We were unable interaction (depredation of poultry, livestock and human to confirm the specific identification of two species i.e. casualty), based on our primary data and secondary data Kaloula sp. and Sitana sp. because we were not able to collected from state forest department. We encountered catch the due to inaccessibility of the locations. two independent cases of human deaths caused by Among five habitat types, the highest species richness Mugger crocodiles, where bathers were ambushed and (n=31) was observed in the forest habitat, followed by dragged into canals. the roadside habitat (n=17). Waterbodies (n=16) had slightly higher species richness than human settlements Discussion (n=15), and the lowest richness was observed in Local and regional studies are helpful for conservation agricultural (n=11) habitat (Fig.2). The highest number planning at the landscape level as well as global of snake species were found on the roadside habitat extinction risk assessments. We found that while (n=11). Amongst all species, only three anuran species 40% of the total species recorded from the study area (Hoplobatrachus tigerinus, Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis, require status update, 46% of species found are still Fejervarya limnocharis) were found across all five Not Evaluated (NE) in Red List. The presence of five different habitat types. A total of 28 (54%) of all the threatened species in a small study area is indicative of species recorded were enlisted in IUCN Red List, out of its importance as a wildlife habitat and conservation of which 75% of the species (n=21) were last assessed by this forest corridor. the IUCN more than 10 years ago and therefore require The use of multiple methods is an effective and reassessment. All species of anurans recorded from the empirical approach to document cryptic species area required IUCN Red List status update. Overall, five (Bhattarai et al., 2017). Herpetofauna surveys can be an species of IUCN threatened category were recorded, i.e. exhaustive and intensive task due to the cryptic nature, one Critically Endangered ( elongata, Fig. small body size, and habitat use patterns of these species. 3A), one Endangered ( tricarinata, Fig. Thus, long term study in case of herpetofauna increases 3B), three Vulnerable (Ophiophagus hannah, the probability of encounter as they have specialised gangetica and Crocodylus palustris, Fig. 3C) (Table microhabitat and microclimate requirements (Grant et 1). Nine species recorded from the study are protected al., 1992). Also, interviews with locals using species under Schedule I of Indian Wildlife Protection Act, photographs contribute substantially to herpetofauna 1972 (IWPA). Six species of snake from two families surveys (O’Shea and Kaiser, 2013). Locals such as ( and Viperidae) have venoms which are farmers were well aware of life history stages of several medically-significant to humans and therefore pose a species and their behaviour, such as preferred basking high risk for human fatality in case of negative human- areas. This is a comprehensive and one of the first 286 Vivek Ranjan et al.

Table 1. List of species of herpetofauna in Surai-Khatima-Kilpura corridor and its adjoining areas. Species which have not been assessed in IUCN Red list have been marked as NAs (Not assessed) and NA (Not applicable) in status revision. IUCN status revision is ‘Required’ by species with outdated assessments and ‘Not required’ by species with updated assessments. F: Forest, H: Human Settlement, R: Roadside, W: Waterbodies, A: Agricultural Land, IWPA: Indian Wildlife Protection Act, Sch: Schedule, NL: Not Listed, IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature, CR: Critically Endangered, EN: Endangered, VU: Vulnerable, LC: Least Concern Table 1.

Order Scientific Name Common Name Habitat Type IWPA Status** IUCN IUCN Status Status*** Revision Anura Bufonidae Duttaphrynus melanostictus (Schneider, 1799) Common Indian toad F / R / H / A NL LC Required Duttaphrynus himalayanus (Günther, 1864) Himalayan toad A NL LC Required Duttaphrynus stomaticus (Lütken, 1864) Marbled toad A NL LC Required Dicroglossidae Hoplobatrachus tigerinus (Daudin, 1802) Indian bullfrog F / R / H / A / W IV LC Required Hoplobatrachus crassus (Jerdon, 1853) Jerdon's bullfrog F / W / H NL LC Required Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis (Schneider, 1799) Indian skipper F / R / H / W / A NL LC Required Fejervarya limnocharis (Gravenhorst, 1829) Indian cricket frog F / R / H / W / A NL LC Required Sphaerotheca maskeyi (Schleich and Anders, Maskeyi's burrowing frog F NL LC Required 1998) maculatus (Gray, 1830) Indian Treefrog F / H NL LC Required Polypedates taeniatus (Boulenger, 1906) Terai Treefrog F/W NL LC Required Microhylidae Kaloula sp. Painted frog H -- -- NA Calotes versicolor (Daudin, 1802) Indian garden F / H NL NAs NA tuberculata (Gray, 1827) Kashmir/west Himalayan rock F NL NAs NA Sitana sp. cf. sivalensis Fan-throated lizard F -- -- NA Gekkonidae (Gray, 1845) Brook's house F / H NL LC Not required Hemidactylus flavivirdis (Rüppell, 1835) Asian house gecko F / H NL NAs NA Scincidae carinata (Schneider, 1801) Many-keeled grass F NL LC Required (Blyth, 1853) Bronze grass skink F NL NAs NA Lygosoma punctata (Gmelin, 1799) Common dotted garden skink F / H NL NAs NA Varanidae Varanus bengalensis (Daudin, 1802) Indian / F / R Sch. I Part II LC Required Varanus flavescens (Hardwicke and Gray, F / R Sch. I Part II LC Required 1827) Boidae Eryx conicus (Schneider, 1801) Common sand boa F IV NAs NA (Linnaeus, 1758) Indian rock python F / W Sch. I Part II NAs NA Colubridae Amphiesma stolatum (Linnaeus, 1758) W / A Sch. IV NAs NA trigonata (Schneider 1802) Common cat snake R Sch. IV LC Required

Coelognathus helena (Daudin, 1803) Common R Sch. IV NAs Required tristis (Daudin, 1803) Common bronzeback tree snake F Sch. IV NAs NA aulicus (Linnaeus, 1758) Common wolf snake F / H Sch. IV NAs NA (Shaw, 1802) Barred wolf snake R Sch. IV NAs NA (Shaw, 1802) Twin-spotted wolf snake R Sch. IV NAs NA enhydris (Schneider, 1799) W/R Sch. IV LC Required kheriensis (Acharji and Ray 1936) Coral-red kukri snake R Sch. IV NAs NA Oligodon arnensis (Shaw, 1802) Common kukri snake F/R Sch. IV NAs NA Orthriophis hodgsonii (Günther, 1860) Himalayan trinket snake R Sch. IV NAs NA mucosa (Linnaeus, 1758) Indian A / F Sch. II Part II NAs NA piscator (Schneider, 1799) W / A Sch. II Part II NAs NA Elapidae caerulus (Schneider, 1801) R / H Sch. IV NAs NA Naja kaouthia (Lesson, 1831) Monocled H Sch. II Part II LC Not required Ophiophagus hannah (Cantor, 1836) H Sch. II Part II VU Not required Bungarus fasciatus (Schneider, 1801) R Sch. IV LC Not required Naja naja (Linnaeus, 1758) Spectacled cobra A / F Sch. II Part II NAs NA Typhlopidae Indotyphlops braminus (Daudin, 1803) Brahminy blind snake F Sch. IV NAs NA Argyrophis diardii (Schlegel, 1839) Diard's blind snake R Sch. IV LC Required Viperidae Daboia russelii (Shaw and Nodder, 1797) Russel's viper F Sch. II Part II NAs NA Testudines Geomydidae Melanochelys tricarinata (Blyth, 1856) F / W Sch. I Part II EN Not required Melanochelys trijuga (Schweigger, 1812) F / W NL LC Not required tecta (Gray, 1830) F / W Sch. I Part II LC Required punctata (Lacépède, 1788) W Sch. I Part II LC Required Pangshura tentoria (Gray, 1834) W / A Sch. I Part II LC Required Nilssonia gangetica (Cuvier, 1825) W Sch. I Part II VU Required Testudinidae Indotestudo elongata (Blyth, 1854) F Sch. IV CR Not required Crocodylia Crocodylidae Crocodylus palustris (Lesson, 1831) Mugger crocodile W Sch. I Part II VU Required

A baseline study of herpetofauna in Surai-Khatima-Kilpura wildlife corridor, India 287

Figure 3. Some of the herpetofauna species recorded during our study: (A) Elongated tortoise (Indotestudo elongata), (B) Tricarinate hill turtle (Melanochelys tricarinata), (C) King cobra (Ophiophagus hannah), (D) Indian softshell turtle (Nilssonia gangetica), (E) Mugger crocodile (Crocodylus palustris), (F) Russel’s viper (Daboia russelii), (G) Indian monitor (Varanus bengalensis), (H) Coral-red khukri snake (Oligodon kheriensis). Image credits: Jai Pratap Singh: 3A, B, F, H; A.G. Ansari: 3C, and Vipul Maurya: 3D, E, G.

wildlife corridor focused herpetofauna studies in India, of certain plants expel venom, etc.), hence further which aims to provide a baseline status and checklist threatening the life of the victim. The depredation of of herpetofauna in a large mammal wildlife corridor. poultry by monitor lizards is also quite prevalent and often Setting of conservation priorities for any Protected leads to the retaliatory killing of the and public Areas (PAs) or landscape only on the basis of globally resentment as observed in many cases in the area during threatened, and charismatic species would undermine the period of study (Vivek Ranjan, personal observation). the importance of locally threatened species and The public awareness and sensitisation programmes resolution of broader conservation threats (Greenbaum towards snakes, snakebites and its conservation have and Komar, 2005). significantly changed the perspective and outlook of the Being a human-dominated landscape, cases of local communities, evident from increase in number of snakebite are frequent, especially in the summer and rescue calls (to forest department) for snakes, instead monsoon seasons. It leads to human fatality in majority of killing the animal on sight (Vivek Ranjan and Parag of the cases or sometimes major public health risk, Madhukar Dhakate, personal communication). The especially for communities located in remote locations study area is located on an international and inter-state or close to the forest areas. Snake-bites are often treated border and hence, is sensitive and vulnerable to issues with local medications and rituals based on myths (such of wildlife trade as well. Forest department seizure as, venom can be sucked out of bite mark, ingestion records show that the Testudines species recorded 288 Vivek Ranjan et al. from the area are illegally traded as these species are generalist and commonly found in mosaic of habitats protected under Indian Wildlife Protection Act (IWPA) conveniently adapting to habitat changes such as the and any form of trading, killing or capturing of animal three anuran species recorded across all habitat types in without permit of respective authority of government is our study. a punishable offence. However, the forest department Forest cover, habitat quality and composition, has strongly controlled the trade and its related issues diversity, and species richness across all taxonomic with strict enforcement of laws and regular monitoring groups is of critical importance for the wildlife corridor of trade routes and persons with history of involvement and landscape connectivity. This herpetofauna baseline in illicit activities. The number of seizure cases and the study provides a benchmark for further research and number of animals or amount of animal parts seized studies for cryptic species like reptiles and amphibians, have declined substantially after 2015 (Parag Madhukar in other wildlife corridors. Surai-Khatima-Kilpura Dhakate, personal communication). corridor has a diverse species assemblage across all Amphibians and reptiles are considered key indicators taxonomic groups of fauna. Thus, it needs enhanced of environmental changes (Schlaepfer and Gavin, 2001; conservation and protection efforts. The present work Blaustein and Bancroft, 2007). Fragmentation and habitat will be a substantive information update for understudied degradation affect the abundance, species richness and species of reptiles and amphibians in Uttarakhand and diversity of herpetofauna (Schneider-Maunoury et al., the Terai landscape– of the Indian Himalayan region. 2016). The species richness of different habitat types provides an understanding of the impact of landscape Acknowledgments. We are thankful to Uttarakhand Forest level changes on microhabitats and lower taxa diversity. Department for necessary permissions and logistic support during Colubridae was the most dominant family, with 25% of our fieldwork. We thank A. G. Ansari and R. K. Maurya (S.D.O) for their constant support and guidance during our field surveys. all recorded herpetofauna species from the study area being mildly or non-venomous snakes. The species of References the Colubridae family recorded from the study area are habitat specialists, yet commonly found except Anwar, M., Borah, J. (2019): Functional status of a wildlife corridor red coral kukri (Oligodon kheriensis), which was rare with reference to tiger in Terai Arc Landscape of India. Tropical to encounter (Fig. 3F). 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Accepted by Benjamin Tapley