Jayant  This Diwali I rescued two snakes! 

jyotsna  2 snakes?   where? 

Jayant  One was a Trinket while other was a Vine snake 

Mahendra Vyas  Hi. Jayant. Hi Jyotsna!

jyotsna  jayant- how did u do that? 

Jayant  If I had not someone would have killed them as soon as they left my garden 

Susan  Are there any endangered snakes in India? 

Mahendra Vyas  Most of the snakes are quite common. Except the distribution of reticulated python is restricted to the North Eastern States.

Jayant  There is very little data on the banded Krait as well 

Jayant  Probably it is endangered as well

Mahendra Vyas  Similarly, distribution of King Cobras is also some what restricted. They are found in thick moist forests. And Yes Jayant where do you live - I presume some where South of Narmada. 

Jayant  Yes in Pune 

Jayant  These snakes came in my garden hence I had to catch them and leave them in a proper eco system

jyotsna  how come they entered u'r garden?

Jayant  Thats a mystry 'cause the Vine snake is a resident of evergreen forests

Jayant  is there a law which prohibits snake catching Mr. Vyas 

Mahendra Vyas  Yes the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 prohibits catching, killing , snakes which are listed in the Schedules of the Act. 

 jyotsna  Mr Vyas...i wanted 2 ask u where in India we can find Genets?

Mahendra Vyas  I don't think we have any genets in India. 

Jayant  Can I be updated What are genets? 

jyotsna  i saw it on the web 

jyotsna  umm..they r small cat like animals w/t spots..uh..kinda hard to explain - maybe mr vyas can give u a better explaination 

Mahendra Vyas  Yes I will update you on genets in a little while. 

jyotsna  shall i send u a pic of a genet,jayant? 

Jayant  thanks jyotsna 

Mahendra Vyas  One genet belongs to the cat family and the other 'Gannet' is bird which nests on steep cliffs near seas. 

jyotsna  never heard of a Gannet. 

Susan  Is this genet a genetically modified cat?

Mahendra Vyas  I am afraid I am not able to remember any cat by the name of genet! 

jyotsna  hey - i've sent di pic 2 u both. lmk if u got it & how u like it,ok? :) 

jyotsna  so...Mr Vyas isn't it found in India? i saw on many sites but it wasn't written WHERE in India

Mahendra Vyas  Jyotsna- if my memory serves me right it is not found in India- But I have a faint memory about a small slender cat by this name found somewhere in Africa. I was at one time quite good with African wildlife - but lately my attention has been diverted to legal problems plaguing forests and wildlife in India.

Mahendra Vyas  Jyotsna- I will find out more info about genets and send it to you thru e-mail. 

Rajyashree  whenever time permits, would like answer to one question: where does one plant trees to encourage afforestation in a place like Delhi... 

Jayant  There may be some NGOs who are running some afforestation programmes in Delhi. There are many in Pune 

Susan  Around monsoon time (June) there are afforestation programs by Delhi Govt and WWF. 

Rajyashree  Thanks for the information Susan.

Mahendra Vyas  I am not sure whether WWF undertakes any afforestation work in Delhi. The problem is of finding places where saplings which are planted can be protected.

Mahendra Vyas  May I suggest. Plant trees where they can be protected other wise the entire effort will be wasted. 

Rajyashree  actually I think one should always address the root cause of problems.... 

Jayant  Like what? 

Rajyashree  if there is enough vegetation there will be sufficient wildlife too... 

Rajyashree  once we all start appreciating nature we will also not need to have such chat sessions 

Rajyashree  just to satisfy 2 inch of our palate we kill so many animals.... 

Rajyashree  all that we need to do is internalize that the problem is us humans... and that is it 

Rajyashree  then we will not need to have laws...enforcers ...defaulters etc 

Mahendra Vyas  The law is as good as the person who implements it.

Jayant  Agreed, at least we have a law. 

Mahendra Vyas  The other day I was on Okhla Barrage. Saw lots of migratory birds there. Would like to go there on bird watching trip? 

Jayant  Yes Mr. Vyas I envy you people cause you are in the north where now it is the migratory season! 

Jayant  looking forward to hear from you (Mr. Vyas) on your Bird watching trip 

Susan  If you can fix the date, we can ask all Delhi members to join in the bird trip.

Jayant  it will be a good idea to arrange such small outings in Delhi

Jayant  Mr Vyas - what was the outcome of Clean the Ganga project ? 

Mahendra Vyas  Clean Ganga campaign - has filled the pockets of many people- the river is as polluted as ever- No need to clean rivers- all that is required is to prevent inflow of pollutants and affluents - the river need not be cleaned if it is not dirtied. 

Jayant  Very true, but it is not only the industry who is responsible for the pollution It is also the big cities who leave untreated sewage into the river 

Jayant  Our Municpal Councils are as callous as ever to this fact 

Mahendra Vyas  The industry is the culprit but there is no proper system of affluent treatment being insisted upon by the authorities. 

Jayant  I am seeing this happen in Pune. 

Jayant  It was the mandate of the Regional Pollution Control boeards is'nt it? 

Mahendra Vyas  Why should sewage not be treated before it is allowed to flow into the river. All this can be done but there is no political will and the  Babus only talk and prepare reports - no action is taken. 

Jayant  In the process the river dies? 

Mahendra Vyas  The performance of the State Pollution Control Boards - is pathetic. 

Susan  We are the govt, we are the babus, we are the polluters. What can we do to make us act? 

Jayant  The bird count down stream Pune is dwindling - that  is my observation for the past 12 years

Mahendra Vyas  I fondly recall when Yamuna had lot more clean water some time in early eighties and the rievr and its banks were full of migratory birds and we went on a boat upstream from Okhla Barrage upto old Yamuna bridge - it was truly a memorable trip. Want to repeat it again- alas the river will full of filth. But the birds are still there in large noes. The diversity of species may not be as much as it used to be. 

Jayant  I believe wild life conservation is nothing but managing the Man-animal conflict 

Jayant  The problem is not simple as man is Greedy 

Rajyashree  exactly Jayant 

Mahendra Vyas  Rajyashree- managing wildlife in India is basically managing people- w'life can look after itself as it has done for millions of years. Keep the two apart and avoid man-animal conflict- you have rightly said what we all feel about the issue. 

Jayant  Very true Mr. Vyas, Clean Rivers with good fish and birds are a thing of the past 

Rajyashree  sometimes may be we should just pause and think 

Jayant  I agree with Mr. Vyas 

Rajyashree  exactly Mr Vyas... it is managing us becoz otherwise dont u think it is rather strange that we chat abt animals .... without any animal participating 

Mahendra Vyas  We are animals but we consider ourselves to be more superior- in fact our thoughts and actions are worse than animals found in the wild- may sound strange but true. 

Jayant  I feel we should have a subject every week 

jyotsna  that wud be nice. bye. 

Susan  That is a good suggestion 

Jayant  That would make it interesting to MV as well

Susan  We can suggest the topic a week in advance thro, mail/banner.

Jayant  Yes then everyone will be better prepared  

Jayant  what is the objective of these chats? 

Susan  To generate ideas, get answers. 

Susan  The idea was to have an expert answer queries. 

Jayant  I am planning to conduct a two day workshop on " Ehtical Nature Photography" 

Susan  That sounds interesting.

Jayant  I want your sincere suggestions on the workshop 

Susan  Where is the workshop target group? 

Jayant  all amateur photographers 

Susan  My first feeling is India has too few people in serious nature photography- 

Susan  All the best for the workshop 

Jayant  bye it was nice talking to you.

Mahendra Vyas  I am afraid I will have to leave now. Enjoyed chatting with you

all. And about genets - I promise I will  send all the info I have. 

Susan  When is the bird trip? 

jyotsna  count me in on the bird trip :) 

Jayant  Thanks Mr. Vyas looking forward to meet you at the next session 

jyotsna  thx mr vyas - catch u in di next chat :) 

Susan  Thanks Mr. Vyas and all the chatters.

PS. M.V.           I found out- genet is a species of African civets- mongoose like.