PRAKRITI, 24th May 2021, Vol. III, Issue 16

Weekly magazine

P R A K R I T I Quest For Nature

Flora of the week Fauna of the week Bird of the week

Phyllostachys aurea Elephas maximum Edible-nest swiftlet or or or Golden Elephant Aerodramus fuciphagus

Officers’ Club Central Academy for State Forest Service, Dehradun P R A K R I T I, 24th May 2 0 2 1, V O L. III, I S S U E 16 FLORA OF THE WEEK

Phyllostachys aurea

Golden Bamboo

Golden Bamboo is native to Southeast China and is a member of the Grass Family. In

1882, it was introduced to United State. It is fast growing Evergreen and can colonize quickly. It is perennial, long lived and attractive ‘Running Bamboo’ type

which have straight and hard pole. It’s golden yellow colored pole with green lining show the beauty of nature and create unique sound when wind blow. The branches and stems are green but turn Golden Yellow with age.

Ecological Importance and Uses

Aesthetic value, Impact on native vegetation, used as noise and visual

barriers, rapid growth, food and shelter

for birds and small mammals. Young shoots utilized as food, used to make

canes, fishing poles, fishing nets, ski poles, javelins, irrigation pipes, musical

instruments, furniture, umbrella and fan

handles. Kingdom Plantae Phyllostachys aurea is a popular garden

ornamental, where it is also used as a Phylum Angiosperma

hedge. This is a good companion species Class Monocots

to grow in a woodland because the Order Distribution have shallow root systems that do not

compete with deep tree roots. Family China, Australia, United States

Genus Phyllostachys

Taxonomic Description

Species aurea Clumps : Single Branching stems, Golden yellow color.

Stems: 2 -12 m tall, 9-15 cm diameter, Swollen Nodes which generate two branches.

Sheath: over stem, having two wings like structure on the either side of blade.

Leaves: leaf blades are narrow, grass like, 5-15 cm long, up to 2cm wide, arranged in fan

like clusters, branches produce up to 6 leaves.

Flowers and Seeds: Rarely produced, spikelet type, 2.5cm long and 8-12 numbers.

Rhizomes: long, slender, hollow and branched rhizomes, with nodes & internodes.

Regeneration: Rarely by seeds, generally new shoots are dark green coloured and arise by

bud of nodes of rhizome.

Guided by: Central Academy for State Forest Service Shri Kunal Satyarthi, IFS, President, Officers’ Club Photography & Compiled by: P.O. New Forest, Dehradun- 248006, Uttarakhand Shri Pradeep Wahule, IFS, Vice President, Officers’ Club Vivek Yadav and Satyapal Prasad P1 Ph: 0135-2754575/ Fax: 0135-2756168; E-mail: [email protected] V V a V a n a P R A K R I T I, 24th May 2 0 2 1, V O L. III I S S U E 16 FAUNA OF THE WEEK

Elephas maximum

Elephant

Elephant is largest land animal. There are two species one is Asian elephant and another

one is African. Proboscideans or ‘trunked creatures’ are large land mammals with naked wrinkled grey skin, enlarged incisors that form tusks, an elongated snout that forms a

trunk, extra -large ears that aid cooling of the body, columnar les that support their

massive weight and a medium sized tail with stiff bristles forming a tuft at the end. They

are intelligent animals with a complex social structure and have a long lifespan

averaging 60 years or more family groups that consist of female of all age group and

young one is led by a matriarch. All male group and loner condition also exist. There are

three type of communication viz. infrasonic communication, chemical communication IUCN Status: Vulnerable and gesture communication for coordination and other activity.

It has a convex or humped back with a ridge Kingdom Animalia along the spine, a double-domed forehead (sometimes highly pronounced), wedge- shaped ears and a smooth trunk ending in one Phylum Chordata tip or ‘finger’. Only male Asian Elephants have large tusks, while females have very Class Mammalia small dental protuberances called tushes. Some males, called makhnas, are tuskless and Order Proboscidea can be distinguished in the field from adult females by the penis bulge below the tail. Family Elephantidae Elephants are polygynous sexually dimorphic animal. Generally male has to be double the Genus size of female to fertilize. Musth is a Elephas

condition known in male of increased Species maximus aggressiveness to other males.

Distribution: In the plains of north, south, east–central and north–east India in four clusters. In the south, they are found in the Western Ghats and some adjoining hill ranges of the Eastern Ghats in the states of Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and (more

recently) Andhra Pradesh. In east–central or south–east India, elephants are found primarily in the states of Odisha and Jharkhand, with seasonal movement into southern West Bengal and Chhattisgarh. The elephants in northern India are found in a

wide belt along the Himalayan foothills (the Terai–Bhabar region) in the states of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand Further west, it extends up to the Garo Hills of Meghalaya through the Khasi Hills, parts of the Brahmaputra plains and the Karbi hills.

Fun Fact : Threats and Conservation: -

Elephant is a mega-herbivore and, due to Corridor Destruction restricts movement of the elephant. On its size, requires a huge amount of forage an average they move 300- 1000 sq km annually to meet the

every day. Because of this it is also c/d as heavy food demand (mega herbivore). Engineer of the forest. Habitat destruction Elephant headed god named Ganesha is Poaching for ivory revered for intelligence and wealth. Their Retaliatory killing for crop raiding. society is fission-fusion form society.

Guided by: Central Academy for State Forest Service Shri Kunal Satyarthi, IFS, President, Officers’ Club Photography & Compiled by: P.O. New Forest, Dehradun- 248006, Uttarakhand Shri Pradeep Wahule, IFS, Vice President, Officers’ Club Shweta Kumari | SFS2019 – 21| P2 Ph: 0135-2754575/ Fax: 0135-2756168; E-mail: [email protected] V V V

THE MIZORAM (FOREST) ACT, 19551 ( Act No.IV of 1955 ) An Act to provide for the management of any forest not being a reserved forest

Preamble : Whereas it is expedient to provide for the management of forests in the State of Mizoram2, which are not reserved forests ;

It is hereby enacted by the Mizo District Council in the Sixth Year of the Republic of India as follows :-

1. Short title, extent and commencement :- (1) This Act may be called the Mizoram (Forest) Act,19553. (2) It extends to the State of Mizoram4 except the areas under the jurisdiction of the Chakma, Lai and Mara District Councils5. (3) It shall come into force on such date6 as may be notified by the District Council in the Assam Gazette herein after referred to as the ‘appointed day.’

2. Definitions :- In this Act, except where it is otherwise expressly provided or the context otherwise requires :- (1) “cattle” includes also buffaloes, horses, mares, geldings, ponies, colts, fillies, mules, asses, pigs, rams, ewes, sheep, lambs, goats and kids; (2) “GovernmentForest”7 means the forest in the State8 other than the “ReservedForest”;

P R A K R I T I, 24thMAY 2021, V O L. III, ISSUE 16 1. Received the assent of the Governor of Assam on the 22nd August, 1955. 1&3.Substituted vide the MizoramForest (Amendment) Act, 1990. BIRD OF THE WEEK 2. Substituted vide the State of Mizoram Adaptation of Laws Order (No.2), 1987

No.LJD 10, the 20th March, 1 9 8E7. dible-nest swiftlet 4&5. Substituted vide the MizoramForest (Amendment) Act, 1990. 6. The A c t c a m e i n t o Aerodramusforce on 1st January fuciphagus 1956 vide Notific ation No.E.7411/F-1 dt.14.12.1955.

The edible-nest swiftlet7&8 .( AerodramusSubstituted fuciphagusvide the St),at e also of M knownizoram as A d theap whitetation- of Laws Order (No.2) nest swiftlet , is a small198 7bird, No of.L JtheD 1swift0, th familye 20th Mwhicharch ,is 1 9found87 in South-East Asia. Its opaque and whitish nest is made exclusively of solidified saliva and is

the main ingredient of bird's nest soup, a delicacy of Chinese cuisine. The edible-nest swiftlet, generally with a body length of 14cm (5.5. in), is a

medium -sized representative of the salangans. The upper part of the slender body is blackish-brown; the under part of the body ranges in colour1 from white

to black ish-brown. The tail is short and has a slight notch. The bill and feet are black. Legs are very short and tarsi are usually unfeathered or lightly feathered.

It weighs 15 to 18 grams and the wings are long and narrow. In flight the swept-back wings resemble a crescent.

Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Chordata

Class Aves

Order Apodiformes

Family Apodidae Distribution: This species is present in the Andaman’s, in the coasts of South-East Asia and in the Indonesian Archipelago. The range is quite extensive, but highly Genus Aerodramus

fragmented. The edible-nest swiftlet may occur in elevations of 0 to 2800 meters. Species fuciphagus

Ecology and Behaviour:

The edible -nest swiftlet feeds over a range of habitats from coastal areas to the mountains, occurring up to 2,800 metres above sea-level on Sumatra and Borneo. These birds generally occur above forests, the forest edge, but also in open country. These

birds spend most of their lives in the air. Its diet consists of flying insects which are caught on the wing. They also drink on the wing. They often feed in large flocks with other species of swiftlet and swallow. It breeds in colonies in coastal area, in limestone caves, in rock crevices, in a cleft in a cliff or sometimes on a building. The bracket-shaped nest is built on a vertical surface and

the long legs are used for clinging. These swifts never settle voluntarily on the ground. The nest is white and translucent and is made of layers of hardened saliva attached to the rock. It measures about 6 cm across with a depth of 1.5 cm and a weight of about 14 grams. Two white, oval, non-glossy eggs are laid. At breeding colonies, the bird emits high-pitched and burbling calls.

They also emit a rattling call used for echolocation, which enables them to look for their nesting sites in the darkness of caves.

Reproduction and breeding habits: Fun Facts:

The Swiftlet builds a nest that is The breeding season of the swiftlet species is mainly in March and April in not only edible for humans but Andaman and Nicobar Islands. They breed in colonies in caves. Considering the is considered a rare delicacy and commercial aspect of the edible nest and also with consideration for conservation, it is built out of the bird’s saliva bird houses are being built to entice the swiftlets to roost and build edible nests. The solidifier. nest of edible-nest swiftlet is constructed by the male exclusively with its gummy When exposed to sunlight, the saliva. No plant material is incorporated and the 'home' building may take nearly white nest gets a golden hue. one month to complete. The shiny, translucent half-cup edible nest is stuck to the Because of this, the nest is often vertical cave walls. Usually, the clutch has two eggs. The breeding pair may raise a referred to as white gold. second brood, if not disturbed.

Central Academy For State Forest Service Guided by: P.O. New Forest, Dehradun- 248006, Uttarakhand Shri Kunal Satyarthi, IFS, President, Officers’ Club Photography &Compiled by: Vimal Kumar Singh Ph : 0135-2754575/ Fax: 0135-2756168; E-mail : [email protected] Shri Pradeep Wahule, IFS, Vice President, Officers’ Club SFS 2019 – 21| P3 V V V a