Introduced Herbivores and Their Management in the Andaman Islands*

NEWS MEETING REPORT Introduced herbivores and their management in the Andaman Islands* Introduced species, i.e. species trans- Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The par- of capture and relocation of chital from ported beyond their natural range by hu- ticipants comprised representatives of the the study area, as per the provisions of man modes, have been increasingly Department of Environment and Forests the Wildlife (Protection) Act, which can recognized as a major threat to biodiver- (DoEF), Zoological Survey of India yield quantifiable data on chital-free sity conservation in India. The negative (ZSI), Botanical Survey of India (BSI), area. Such experiments, of removing in- impact of non-native species, that be- Centre for Island Agricultural Research vasive herbivores from islands elsewhere come invasive by establishing and Institute (CIARI), Bombay Natural His- in the world, have been largely success- spreading over new territory, has re- tory Society (BNHS), and Jawaharlal ful and have provided information on the ceived management attention in recent Nehru Rajkeeya Mahavidyalaya (JNRM). actual impact. years. The issue of invasive species has This meeting report is based on the pro- been discussed at the national level ceedings of the conference2. alongside classical conservation chal- Presentations on invasive herbivores Elephant lenges such as human–wildlife interac- and their impact on native flora and tions1. Though faunal invasions in fauna of the Andaman Islands were Feral elephants are restricted to one particular have been understudied and made, based on which a consensus island in the archipelago – Interview unmanaged (with the exception of feral emerged that invasive species are a threat Island. The impact of this population has goats and giant African snails) in India, to the Islands’ biodiversity. It was ac- resulted in an alteration of the forest there has been widespread global success knowledged that evidence of impacts pri- structure. K.R. informed that population in managing such species, especially on marily comes from studies on introduced abundance data remains uncertain, as dif- islands. Invasive mammals, especially chital (Axis axis) and feral elephants ferent studies have provided varying re- rats, feral cats, and herbivores, have been (Elephas maximus) and that there are sults. It was mentioned that as elephants the focal target of management action gaps in research documenting impact of are confined to a particular island with- and feasibility studies. invasive species. The participants agreed out the possibility of spreading, there In India, very few studies have been upon a need to initiate action, based on a may not be impact on the Islands as a carried out on invasive mammals and feasibility study, on specific invasive whole. Cautioning that the population these have been restricted to the Anda- species in select areas in the Islands. The may be at the bottom of a cyclic fluctua- man Islands. As these studies have feasibility study was suggested to con- tion and can grow in the future, Rauf Ali focused on invasive herbivores and have sider all available options of mitigating (Foundation for Ecological Reasearch, demonstrated a degree of impact on na- the impact of invasive species and take Advocacy and Learning) stated that pos- tive biodiversity in small islands, a con- into account local and national scientific sibilities to remove the elephants may be ference was convened to discuss the knowledge, legal framework and logisti- explored. K.R. noted that translocation to collective knowledge regarding invasive cal considerations. Participants felt that mainland and subsequent domestication herbivores and their management in the there was a need to consider the problem was not feasible looking at the remoteness Andaman archipelago. The objective of of invasive species holistically, with of the island and cases of human–ele- the conference was to initiate a discus- long-term investments in capacity build- phant conflicts in the mainland. Captive sion on the state of knowledge of inva- ing and research. elephants, used for forestry purposes, sive herbivores in the Andaman Islands were not within the ambit of the discus- and to consider management strategies sion. for these species. Management authori- Chital ties, scientific and academic institutions, Goat environmental NGOs, one animal wel- Chital, introduced into the Islands around fare organization and students partici- 1914–1930s, have been studied to eluci- pated in the conference held on the 21 date their negative impact on the under- A population of feral goats is found on and 22 February 2015, in Port Blair, storey, on understorey-dwelling reptiles Barren Island, whereas its eradication on and on forest structure. N.P.M. reported Narcondam Island may have been suc- that an experiment with eight exclosures, cessful, given that no signs were obser- *The conference titled ‘Introduced herbivores across three islands, failed due to cyc- ved on the island in 2013 (S. Manch and their management in the Andaman Is- lonic damage. As it is difficult to main- Sirish, Pers. Commun.). Introduced goats lands’ was organized by one of the authors in island systems are known to affect (N.P.M.) in collaboration with CSIR-CCMB tain such chital-free fences, and the fact Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered that even a single breach of the area by biodiversity. The attendees were apprised Species, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands’ chital can undo months of monitoring, that management of feral goats on islands Environmental Team and the Department of all-weather fencing and an island re- worldwide has been highly successful. Environment and Forests, Andaman and moval experiment was suggested. It was While the impacts of goats on the two Nicobar Islands. also suggested to explore the possibility islands of the Andaman archipelago have CURRENT SCIENCE, VOL. 112, NO. 3, 10 FEBRUARY 2017 445 NEWS not been studied, the conservation divi- the Islands were mentioned. Among proposed. As the Islands are connected to dends of management are expected to be birds, attention was drawn to common the mainland by water and air ways, high, based on global knowledge. A sur- myna (Acridotheres tristis), house crow screening of imports for introduced spe- vey to verify the success of the earlier (Corvus splendens) and house sparrow cies becomes necessary. Representatives eradication programme on Narcondam (Passer domesticus), all of which have of the Central Island Agricultural Re- Island and a study to assess the status of established populations in the Islands. P. search Institute informed the gathering feral goats of Barren Island followed by T. Rajan (ZSI) informed the gathering of that a biosecurity agency was being set formulation of a strategy to remove goats the economic impacts of the introduced up by the organization to prevent and from the island were proposed. It was carnivorous tilapia fish Oreochromis sp. quarantine potential agricultural intro- anticipated that such a programme would and its rapid spread. N.P.M. cited the ex- ductions. require little effort to be legally compliant. ample of a recent invasion of the Indian Local support and awareness were bullfrog (Hoplobatrachus tigerinus) considered to be critical to invasive spe- which is spreading through human inhab- cies management. As many invasive spe- Cattle ited parts of the islands and could have a cies can have direct economic impact on highly negative economic and ecological local livelihoods, an increased level of Feral cattle are known to occur on Long impact. Pet trade was identified as the awareness on potential and existing inva- Island and parts of South and Middle source of many recent introduced species sive species would aid in prevention of Andaman Islands. K.R. reported a per- by Francis Xavier (JNRM). The giant further spread of such species. ceived high abundance of cattle in these African snail (Achatina fulica) was men- Overall, the conference recognized the areas. Though the impact of these cattle tioned as a ubiquitous invertebrate inva- impacts of introduced invasive herbi- has not been quantified in the archipe- sive species. vores and invasive species in general as a lago, large introduced herbivores could The deliberations elucidated the fact threat to the biodiversity of the Andaman cause high amount of biomass removal that many of the introduced invasive Islands. A joint management exercise and degradation of forests. Management species in the Andaman Islands were focusing on a few invasive species in se- of these populations might be difficult in protected under the Wildlife (Protection) lected areas of the Islands, in consulta- areas with settlements, but is expected to Act, 1972, which applies to the whole of tion with regional and national scientific yield positive results of recovery of India. Invasive herbivores such as chital institutions and subject experts was pro- ground vegetation. are protected under schedule III of the posed. Act while an invasive amphibian such as Barking deer and hog deer the bullfrog is under schedule IV. Al- though the Act grants powers to the 1. Kaushik, M. and Mungi, N., Curr. Sci., 2015, 108, 1039–1040. Barking deer and hog deer are among the Chief Wildlife Warden to manage sched- 2. Mohanty, N. P., Andaman and Nicobar Is- uled animal populations, it was felt that remaining introduced herbivores in the lands’ Environmental Team, Andaman & Andaman Islands. Though hog deer is the legal implications need to be thor- Nicobar Islands, 2015. rarely sighted, barking deer is perceived oughly considered prior to management decisions. to be present on North, Middle, South Andaman Islands and small offshore The participants unanimously agreed islands. In the absence of knowledge on the need to adopt a long term and ho- Nitya Prakash Mohanty*, B 42 Sahid about their distribution and impact, the listic view of managing invasive species Nagar, Bhubaneswar 751 007, India; K. management of these populations was in the Islands. To this end, constitution Ravichandran, Department of Environ- not a priority among the participants.

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