Vulture post from my old website (2000?) at http://www.geocities.ws/laksingh33/new.html

 

 

Years back, about 25 years past (from 2000), I took a photograph of vultures attending a cattle on the roadside while returning to home in Puri. Somehow, it had aroused my curiosity perhaps a stimulation coming from the new Minolta Camera I was handling then. At that time I was not aware that such a sight shall ever be rare in future because vultures were neither very much liked nor in any manner in demand by the people.

Thus, it used to be a common sight then to find vultures attending carcasses. That used to be nature's own way of keeping the area clean and also perhaps to compensate the 'inappropriate systems of carcass-disposal' by humans.

The last such congregations of vultures I ever saw was in the banks of river Chambal during 1983-1985. Everytime, on our return trips to Rajghat from a day-long search for radio-fitted gharial, we used to see the vultures bathing, cleaning their wings and drying these spread open in the afternoon sun. Of course, they had some specified spots where they congregated.

After coming to Similipal in 1987, sighting a congregation of over 30 vultures have never been possible. As such, Similipal Tiger Reserve doesn't have any vultures. That has made it difficult to impossible to locate any animal-kill made by the carnivores. We have been linking the situation to the thick ground vegetation through which the vultures find it impossible to locate carcass and thus have remained off the 2750 sq.km area of the sanctuary.

Surveys outside the sanctuary, in the transitional zone of the Similipal Biosphere Reserve and outside it have indicated that vulture populations are on the decline.
Three species of vultures have been on record from the periphery of Similipal. These are the Black or King Vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), Indian White backed Vulture. (Gyps bengalensis) and Indian Long-billed Vulture (Gyps i. indicus). All three have become rare. This has been our own experience, and recently confirmed by a survey conducted by the Bombay Natural History Society.

DISCUSSION

Vultures are on the decline : it is a well realised fact. When I am asked about the reason for their decline, I can see the niche having been taken over by human scavengers. Man is a competitor with wildlife everywhere for everything, even for carcass. Man has learnt to use the skin and bones of dead cattle and even dogs. That is one reason why the city-outskirts or even the streets are easily swept clean of carcasses. With human habitations growing all around, leaving little space for vultures to survey and come down to ground, scavenging humans are perhaps doing the right service. When ecosystems are turning into "human systems", vultures have no other option but to give way to human system to 'prosper'. 

Postscript (28 October 2021)

(1) I understand new vulture species have been added to Similipal (Mayurbhanj). Prominent is, the Cinereous Vulture, may be an accidental migrant.

(2) Today, attended as Chairperson a webinar session of Rewa Science  College. The topic was on Vulture conservation in India, by Dr Anil Chhangani from Bikaner, Rajasthan. It was a very good talk, educative and eye-opening. Very few opinion may have gone for reasons for vulture decline, beyond diclofenac and nimesulide. But Dr Chhagani gave photo evidences of vulture deaths due to road accident, rail accident, cutting down of nesting trees (this was known), loss of water availability, and mining(!) etc. 

(3) Medicines will not be a problem, if sufficient water is available, he said. Yes, right. In Chambal we made notes on vultures from 1983-2016 along with other large birds. Six species of vultures have been recorded. Egyptian Vulture the most abundant. The trend may get published next month in Journal of Threatened Taxa.

(4) Dr Sudhakar Kar mentioned about 1000s of vultures coming to Bhitarkanika in 1970s, and now none. I feel, the change in water characteristics (salinity), removal of carcasses (food of vulture) for man-run industries, growth of human population and village amenities and cleanliness, are some of the reasons. 

It will be an interesting research topic to trace the history, fate and future of vulture in and around Bhitarkanika.  

 

GHARIAL: MAIDEN CLUTCH AND NEST SITE STRATEGY

Background to this blog. On May 19, 2021 28 gharial hatchlings were observed with a female in Satkoshia Gorge of river Mahanadi, Odisha state. The river stretch is in Satkoshia Gorge Sanctuary (1976) that was constituted under and a part of the national crocodile conservation project of Government of India launched with support from UNDP/FAO. 

While I congratulated the officers who have ensured to regulate habitat disturbances by people, I also mentioned that 28 hatchlings mean it is not the maiden clutch, and that the reproductive effort of the female in previous year(s) had remained unnoticed. 

This prompted me to look back on my data and interpretations on two subjects: 

(A) What is the minimum clutch size?  (1.) In my PhD dissertation (Singh 1978, Table-11) I provided data on 27 nests from rivers Narayani and Kali, Nepal relating to the years 1976 and 1977. Out of these, six nests had less than twenty-five eggs. As a practice in hatchery incubation, nest-wise we examine all unhatched eggs. There were three completely infertile nests with 10, 16 and 24 eggs. Out of the remaining three nests with 12, 18 and 16 eggs, the hatching success were 75, 16.7 and 50%.

(2.) Sunil L. Rajbhandari and Paras M. Acharya (2015, Report to Rufford) have reported the smallest clutch with just 6 eggs in 2014 and 18 in 2013, both at different places in Narayani river.

(3.) Tirrtha M. Maskey (PhD thesis, 1989), studying in Nepal, reported the smallest egg clutch of 16 in 1977, 18 in 1978, 14 in 1979, 14 in 1980, 30 in 1981, 31 in 1987. So, some movement or pushing out of the main congregation may be occurring to reduce competition in resource partitioning.

(4.) Khadka et al (2020, Herpetologica) have provide data on 151 Gharial nests over 17 years in sand banks along the Narayani (n = 94 nests) and Rapti (n = 57 nests) Rivers in Chitwan. Based on the range of clutch size given, the year-wise smallest clutch was with 21 eggs (2003), 11 eggs (2004), 23 (2006), 19 eggs (2010), 23 (2011), 7 (2012), 23 (2013), 6 (2014), 12 (2015), 16 (2016), 19 (2017),

(5.) Our team in Chambal observed 17 and 24 eggs as small clutches around a communal nesting site in 1985 (Rao and Singh 1992), but had not traced the season when they might have joined the congregation.

(B) Where does the gharial lay maiden clutch of eggs?   A mother gharial with her maiden clutch is smaller in size and lower in the hierarchical order. Such mothers may not find access to better nesting locations or communal nesting stretches used by mother gharials larger in size.

Such territorial behaviour at nesting site is seen from the time the ‘trial pits’ are dug before actual nest holes and laying of eggs. At a communal nesting site, the dominant mother takes possession of all hatchlings; others remain around, and the dominant male also joins in creche guarding. Perhaps it takes a couple of nesting seasons before a maiden mother is able to join the communal site.

 A two-year study in captivity at Ramatirtha in the outskirts of Similipal Tiger Reserve started in 1989 demonstrated strong territorial resource partitioning with mugger crocodiles when they go for basking day after day, or nesting year after year.

Conclusion  The clutch size can be as small as 6. Small clutches with 75% hatching success can be 12. Such small clutches will in all probability be away from communal nesting sites, for behavioural reasons and for reproductive success by the young females in the hierarchal order among gharials.

KEY WORDS: Gharial, Gavialis gangeticus, minimum clutch size, adaptation by young breeding female, hierarchal pattern   

Pangolin number and how to protect

Media in Odisha is always very active with wildlife-related news and have often reported information regarding seizure of Pangolin or its products. 

Pangolin is included in Schedule-I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act. 

On the World Pangolin Day (15 February), when asked, I had made the following points before local electronic media, and wish keep this in record here.

1.) Odisha Pangolin distribution and status: 

Except for the coastal region and mangroves, Pangolin occurrence is known from all districts. We do not have any knowledge about the exact or range of numbers of Pangolin surviving in the wild. 

2.) People living in and around forests, on their regular walk through the forests, may accidentally locate Pangolin scale and track, and go for the animal.   I have not heard about any organised search for Pangolin products in Similipal during my 16-years stay (1987-2003) in Similipal.

3.) Seizure of live Pangolin or scales, seen in media or from some particular Forest / Wildlife Divisions have caused serious concern. However, such seizures may indicate only a fraction of the thriving source for disposing or putting the Pangolin materials into the trade-link.

4.) I can see three possible ways to curb threats to Pangolin populations and their use in trade: 

(a) At the source,  at least stop or check 'free' or 'at will' or 'unguarded' access by people through forests of notified/intended Sanctuaries and National Parks; 

(b) Continuous awareness among people about Pangolin, the existing law for protecting them and punishing the offenders, etc.

(c) Continue with rigorous checks and seizures, as is happening in Athagarh Forest Division, and 

(d) Call for ideas and launch innovative awareness among consumers to stop use of Pangolin products, live or dry.

On authoring the first popular science article

My research project during Post Graduation produced five scientific papers. I could see my name in print for the first time. Name at the top of a publication, tagged with my Professor- Basanta Kumar Behura and his Research Assistant- (Dr) Murari Mohan Dash. In those days only Professor and Head were doing almost all of research.

That didn’t make me a popular science writer. It was a long journey, a dream from school days to materialize.  

Science Magazines out of Pocket Money:

I was a regular purchaser of ‘Science Reporter’ from my school days. In many afternoons I used to go out of home for a long walk meandering through the road passing in front of railway station, then sea beach, then the Jagannath temple and finally to Banaraswallah serving south Indian dosha near Srikrishna Cinema. Outside the hotel there was a book stall from where I enquire about arrival of the issue of Science Reporter for the month. The suggestion for purchasing the magazine and developing a search instinct was given to me by my biology teacher Mr Baishnab Raul in school, while preparing a school project on water imbibation by gram seeds and possible recommendation for micro-irrigation.

My interest in the magazine was to find out if there was an article that appeared familiar or was related to my syllabus. During Graduation studies I started taking note of the names of authors and their addresses. I admired the authors who wrote in the magazine. I also had high esteem for the subject and authors in another science magazine, ‘Science Today’ which I had started purchasing. Gradually I developed a wish to see my own name as an author at least in Science Reporter, the CSIR publication.

Dream to see the Name as a Writer:

In our Zoology BSc Honours curriculum at SCS College, Puri we were required to deliver at least one talk in a year in the seminar hall. In the second year I wrote and presented a talk on ‘inheritance of acquired characters’. That was liked by everybody. Major D. K. Nanda, our Head of the Department gave a pat on my back.

I thought, the time had come to emerge as an author of Science Reporter. When I properly read the ‘Information for Contributors’, I thought becoming an author will remain unattainable for some more years.

Years kept passing. After MSc in Zoology I joined the Crocodile Conservation Project of Government of India/ State Government of Odissa as a Research Scholar to work on Gharial crocodiles with headquarters at Tikarpada on the banks of river Mahanadi.

Tikarpada was isolated in those years. No assured bus communication round-the-year, no electricity, no telephone, no drinking water. Our staffs from the Range Office often go to the nearest town Angul, some 58 km away, by cycle. Also there were officers from the raw material division of the Titaghur Paper Mills. All of them used to help me in getting the stuffs I wanted from Angul. It had to be a very modest list including names of both the science magazines.

So I continued to get both the science magazines from the nearest town, Angul—at that time under Dhenkanal district, now a fast growing district itself. Most of the copies of these two science magazines are still with me for some kind of strange attachment in spite of a clear knowledge that information search through internet were dust-proof, allergy proof, and taking over such printed information very fast. Every time I shifted my residence I used to realize that some copies were lost to termites or other problems. Now these are safe in my home but I have started feeling the space crunch.

Names in Print- the first time: An author’s Dream-come-true experience

After a few months of work at Tikarpada, Dr Bustard, the FAO Consultant for Crocodiles who also lived at Tikerpada in another FRH adjoining mine, wanted me to write a letter to the Editors, ‘Science Today’ (Bombay)¹ and ‘Tiger Paper’ (Bangkok) ² about the ongoing programme on crocodile conservation and research in India, and at Tikarpada in particular. ‘Tiger Paper’ being an FAO publication and the Crocodile Project being their project with UNDP, we were getting copies by post. Those were the first publications where I could see my name in print. But that was not the target of becoming an author. These two communications, however, gave me the needed stimulation. In two days, on both occasions, I must have turned the pages over a hundred times to see where my name was in print. That was a very different type of satisfaction.

I read an article in SR written by Professor Basanta Kumar Behura about Garpike fishes. There were certain elements about the development of long snout in aquatic animals, which I thought I could expand with the snout of Gharial crocodile. I referred the article and wrote a letter about evolution of morphological character in the fish-eating gharial. That was immediately accepted and got published by Science Reporter as a short communication³, and they wanted me to write an article on crocodile conservation. It was an honour. Immediately I wrote ‘Save the Crocodiles’⁴ and gave some cartoons that were liked by my friends and their students at Ravenshaw College, about which I learnt after many years.

Dr Bustard took note of these popular writings and he issued a letter to all researchers working with crocodile conservation programme—to make it a target to write at least 2-3 popular articles every year, apart from the scientific papers. My pocket book and pen, the binocular and camera, the measuring tape and compass gradually became permanent parts of my field dress.

The journey for writing popular articles had started for me. They trickled at different rates in different years, had to be adjusted with thesis work, technical publications and family setbacks. When I was really running low in my spirit, first the Zoos’ Print magazine from 1980s, then features in Pragativadi News paper, the request from Chandi Pustakalaya of Cuttack for Odia book for Raja Ramomohan Ray Library, and the job every year to publish books on wildlife activities in Odisha kept my flow of writing. Most recently, it is a revival with the publication of book “Gharial is a Fish-eating Crocodile: Its Ecology, Behaviour and Conservation”.   I thank my friends, well wishers and ‘task-masters’ who kept me and my passion living to this stage.

  

¹Singh, L. A. K. (1976): Crocodile Research in India. Science Today, 10(8): 6

²Singh, L. A. K. (1976): Hatching Gharials in Orissa. Tiger Paper, F.A.O., Thailand. 111(2) : 20-21.

³Singh, L. A. K. (1976): Gars and Gharials. Science Reporter, 13(8): 497- 498.

⁴Singh, L. A. K. (1976): Save the Crocodiles. Science Reporter, 13(9): 539-542.

Singh, L. A. K. (1976): What drives Turtles toward water Science Reporter, 15 (1):50-52.

⁵Singh, L. A. K. and Behura, B. K. (1977) :  Echolocation in animals.  Science Reporter, 14(10): 655-657.

⁶Singh, L. A. K. (1979): To change is chameleon.  Science Reporter, 16 (1) : 59-61.

⁷Singh, L. A. K. (1984): Male or female in reptiles--a conservation enigma. Science Reporter, 21(2) : 80-81.

There are only seven articles in Science Reporte, my magazine of dreams from school days. But these were stimulant enough to keep the flow coming. Now it is a different feeling when I see other writers mentioning my work on Tiger Colour in the pages of Science Reporter.

Book on Gharial

There were moments when I thought my thesis will remain unnoticed, but it just happened in a very short time. Got an invitation from Lambert Academic Publishing to give them my 1978-PhD thesis for publication. And, the book is out in less than 4 months. Very helpful Editor.

Singh, L. A. K. (2018). Gharial is a Fish-eating Crocodile: Its Ecology, Behaviour and Conservation. Lambert Academic Publishing, ISBN 978-613-8-38791-6, 268+pp, 29 figures, 82 images, 2 maps. Language: English; published on 19 April 2018.

It is a technical work but with a popular language, everyone can understand the science. 

Summary:

Conservation of Gharial, Gavialis gangeticus, a specialized fish-eating crocodilian, endemic to Indian subcontinent was of paramount concern for Government of India in 1974. In 1975 India launched projects for conservation of Indian crocodilians with support of FAO and UNDP. Research to develop knowledge on biology and field techniques to help ex situ and in situ management, as described in pages of this book, is a classic example where research went hand in hand for success in conservation. The book contains data on ecology, reproduction, food, feeding habits, food conversion, behavior, disease and captive management of Gharial. It describes the phenomenon of egg space economy and post-hatching growth priority that endowed Gharial the morphometrics for life attached to perennial rivers. The book is primarily based on author’s PhD dissertation “Ecological Studies on the Indian Gharial, Gavialis gangeticus (Gmelin) (Reptilia, Crocodilia)”, and Post-doc work on the species in Rivers Mahanadi and Chambal. There are nine Chapters: (1.) Introduction containing Systematic position in Animal Kingdom, Modern World Crocodilians, Key to Group Identification, Crocodiles of India; (2.) Antiquity, Distribution and Status; (3.) Habitat Features; (4.) Population Character; (5.) Growth Characters and Ecological Significance; (6.) Food, Feeding Habits and Food Conversion; (7.) Behaviour; (8.) Crocodile Management in India. Each Chapter ends in a Summary with Literature Consulted and Further Reading. Chapter-9 gives the details of citations.