With an estimated 3.5 million species of fungi, only about 148,000 are known to us today. Amongst these wide varieties of fungi, there are bioluminescent fungi like this one found in the Western Ghats of Goa and other tropical rainforests. Currently, there are more than a hundred known species of these bioluminescent fungi, most of them belong to a genus called Mycena (bonnet mushroom) (inset picture).
A few weeks into the monsoon the forest floor starts glowing subtly as the … Read More
Nilgiri Pipit (Anthus nilghiriensis) is a species endemic to the high-altitude grasslands of the Western Ghats and threatened by habitat loss. They feed largely on seeds and insects. They nest in the grass and their clutch size consists of 2-3 brown speckled eggs. Recently, while walking in a patch of grasslands being revived at Anamudi Shola in Kerala, we saw the bird, a sign that the rewilding is bearing fruit!
In 2019, a forest fire destroyed the invasive … Read More
Draco or gliding lizard (Draco dussumieri) is an agamid lizard endemic to the Western Ghats and Northeast India. They are primarily arboreal and occur in rainforests and plantations like areca nut, rubber, etc. It has a membrane called a patagium around its belly which extends to create wings that help it glide across tall canopies. Interestingly, within the Western Ghats, they do not occur beyond the Goa gap, a significant biogeographic barrier between Goa and South Maharashtra, due to the … Read More
The king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the longest venomous snake in the world, growing up to 10 to 13 feet on average. The longest individual recorded was 19.1 feet in length. King cobras are sexually dimorphic, with the males being larger than the females. King cobra males captured in the Western Ghats weighed up to 10 kg while females weigh around 5 kg. The etymology of its zoological name come from “Ophiophagus” meaning “snake-eating” and hannah derived from … Read More
The painted bat (Kerivoula picta), also known as the painted wooly bat, is widely distributed in South and Southeast Asia but uncommon species to see. This image was taken on a banana plantation in Kodagu (Coorg), Karnataka.
Little is known about its ecology but has been recorded from dry deciduous and dipterocarp forests, small woodland patches, floodplains, paddy fields, sugarcane fields, orchards, and mixed plantations. Small groups of these animals (2-4) can be seen roosting inside unusual sites … Read More
The grizzled giant squirrel (Ratufa macroura) is the smallest of all giant squirrels. It is found in the riparian forests of Southern India and Sri Lanka. Unlike their cousins, grizzled giant squirrels prefer riverine or riparian forests, which grow next to rivers. They are called ‘grizzled’ due to the white flecks of hair that cover their greyish-brown body. Like all giant squirrels, they are arboreal. They are crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk) and spend most of their … Read More
Introduction
A review paper focuses on the importance of the threatened Myristica freshwater swamps, their ecology, and prior research on them. It focuses on the need for conservation initiatives to save the last few Myristica swamps in India.
What are Myristica swamps?
Myristica swamps are freshwater swamps predominated by members of the Myristicaceae family. These forests are characterized by trees with large protruding roots jutting out of waterlogged soil which remains inundated throughout the year. They have evolved over … Read More
The Nilgiri Striped Squirrel (Funambulus sublineatus) is endemic to the Southern Western Ghats. Members of this genus (family) are found in India and Sri Lanka and can be identified by their dorsal stripes. They are diurnal and are often seen foraging either on the ground or on trees during the day. Habitat loss and deforestation remain their top threats.
This individual was found in Palani Hills foraging at dusk near a small waterfall, visited by tourists. However, like most popular … Read More
Like butterflies, moths depend on specific host plants to develop, help in plant pollination, and are an important source of food for birds. They come in many colors, shapes and sizes, designed over millions of years by mechanisms of evolution. However, unlike butterflies, in India, they remain poorly documented and studied.
During the pre-monsoon months of 2021, as a hobby, I documented the moth diversity at Churicad Estate- a small coffee plantation in southern Coorg. Located in the biodiverse central … Read More
The increase in human-driven impacts on the natural world continues to threaten the survival of several species of wildlife. Many endangered species that currently survive in small populations across isolated habitats are particularly vulnerable. It is important to not only conserve these small populations but also enable movement of individuals between them. Facilitating ‘connectivity’ of populations and habitats is therefore a key conservation issue. The Asiatic wild dog (dhole) is one of many endangered species that can benefit from connectivity … Read More
India hosts a wide diversity of carnivores in a relatively small fraction of the global land area. Unfortunately, a lot of these carnivores are at risk of extinction with barely any information on their populations, nor methods available to monitor them. The Asiatic wild dog or dhole (cuon alpinus) ranks among the most threatened carnivores in the world. Till date, monitoring their populations has proven to be a challenge because dholes do not have visible distinguishing features such as stripes … Read More
On April 7 2020, the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) cleared three infrastructure projects during a standing committee meeting via video conference of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL), namely:
The tiger is one of the most visible icons of conservation in India, and massive investments have been made for its conservation for over five decades. While there have been a few, well-documented success stories at the scale of individual reserves, there have been no concerted efforts to assess the efficacy of long term conservation programs at large regional scales (> 10,000 sq km). In a recent paper titled “Tigers against the odds: Applying macro-ecology to species recovery”, published … Read More
In India, the words, Mountain ungulates- Wild sheep and goat of the subfamily Caprinae-, often invokes the images of flamboyant species like the Ibex (Capra sibirica), standing atop a crag in the snowy Himalayas. Aptly titled “Mountain Monarchs” by the legendary conservationist Dr. George Schaller, given their elaborate horns (particularly on males), mountain ungulates of High Asia are mesmerizing species. However, beyond the Himalayan heights, there is also the Nilgiri Tahr (Nilgiritragus hylocrius), a mountain monarch … Read More
A young tusker walks along Aala Halla in Lokkere reserve forest (RF), an important migratory corridor connecting two parts of Bandipur Tiger Reserve. Ecological restoration in this landscape over the last 12-years involving Junglescapes (an NGO specialising in ecological restoration) has created a very healthy habitat for elephants, with excellent grass cover and numerous browsing trees / shrub species. The area has been made almost completely free of the exotic invasive Lantana camara. Usage of the habitat by elephants … Read More
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