Indian Wildlife Club Ezine (November, 2002)

News...............

Dr. Susan Sharma

This month we are flagging off two promotions. One is to promote domestic eco-tourism. Our banners are there on the Indian Railway Information pages ( FAQ, Break Journey Rules and International Tourists) announcing our customized eco-tours through our empaneled tour operators.

The second is a three month long focus on 'Conserving the Indian Elephant'. Our team has created a touching screen saver on elephant behaviour ( Photographed by Karan Bisht, Tour Guide, Corbett National Park) which tells a story. What can this story be? Are we humans sensitive enough to understand the emotions and anxieties of these gentle pachyderms? We would request all of you to participate in the online story writing contest, the details of which are being announced separately.

Our online chat sessions are picking up slowly. You can read a short transcription of this month's chat elsewhere on the homepage of Indian wildlife Club. This will now be a regular monthly feature. To give more meaning and focus to the chat sessions, we are going to center the chat on a pre- announced topic in future. The topic for next month's chat will be 'Migratory Birds of India". So please be there on 18th of December between 7.30PM and 8.30 PM (IST).

And Views………….

TheTortoise and the Geese

Remember The Most Wonderful Stories of Childhood?

..……………If you were with me, I would love to talk to you about this beautiful world of ours, about flowers, trees, birds, animals, stars, mountains , glaciers and all the other beautiful things that surround us in the world. We have all this beauty all around us and yet, we, who are grown-ups, often forget about it and lose ourselves in our arguments or in our quarrels. We sit in our offices and imagine that we are doing very important work.

I hope you will be more sensible and open your eyes and ears to this beauty and life that surrounds you. Can you recognize the flowers by their names and the birds by their singing? How easy it is to make friends with them and with everything in nature, if you go to them affectionately and with friendship. You might have read many fairy tales and stories of long ago. But the world itself is the greatest fairy tale and story of adventure that was ever written. Only we must have eyes to see and ears to hear and a mind that opens out to the life and beauty of the world. ……

Excerpts from letter written by Jawaharlal Nehru, the First Prime Minister of India on Dec 13 1949, to the children of India.

 Endangered Birds

Schedule I, Part III of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 lists rare and endangered birds which are totally protected throughout the country, live or dead or part thereof.  They include Andaman Teal, Assam Bamboo Partridge, Bazas, Bengal Florican, Blacknecked Crane, Blood Pheasants, Cheer Pheasant, Eastern White Stork, Forest spotted owlet, Great Indian Bustard, Great Pied Hornbill, Hawks, Hooded Crane, Hornbills, Houbara Bustard, Humes Bartailed Pheasant, Indian Pied Hornbill, Jerdon's Courser, , Lammergeier, Large Falcons, Large Whistling Teal, Monal pheasant, Mountain Quail, Narcondam Hornbill, Nicobar Megapode, Nicobar Pigeon, Osprey, Peacock-Pheasant, Peafowl or Indian Peafowl, Pinkheaded Duck, Scalter's Monal Pheasant, Siberian White Crane, Tibetan Snowcock, Tragopan-Pheasant, Whitebellied Sea Eagle, White-eared Pheasant, White Spoonbill, and Whitewinged Wood Duck.

Jerdon's Courser or Double Banded Courser

 is a globally threatened species listed as 'Critically Endangered' on the IUCN Red List, one of seven Critically Endangered species in India, where it is endemic.  It was thought to be extinct until rediscovered in Andhra Pradesh in 1986.  Though the bird is nocturnal, it is not very shy.  It is attracted by imitating calls.  A very small vulnerable population remains restricted to a small area of the state. 

The photograph on the right was taken by amateur photographer Mr. Vinod Goswamy, Executive at Exotic Journeys(P) Ltd, New Delhi on 9th Sep1994. 

In his "Book of Indian Birds" Salim Ali describes the bird as having the size of a partridge and lapwing like in its looks.  ( The drawing on the left is from the book).   The book describes the bird's distribution thus:

Indigenous to peninsular India though its nearest relations are African.  Only known from the Godavari Valley in Andhra.  First discovered in 1848; last authentic record in 1900.  After careful research rediscovered on 12 January, 1986 at Lankamalai Sanctuary, Cuddapah District, Andhra Pradesh.

Although Jerdon's courser is now seen relatively regularly at a few sites, little is known of its ecology, habitat use, or numbers and distribution. A research project, funded by the Darwin Initiative is being undertaken by the Bombay Natural History Society, with help from the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department. 

For attempting to see this bird, one may contact the Chief Wildlife Warden of Hyderabad.

For more information on the current status of the bird you can contact

Bird Life Society of Andhra Pradesh

P.O Box 45, Banjara Hills P.O

Hyderabad

( Contibuted by Mr. G.T Ramani )

Elephants, though very intelligent, have their moods - strong likes & dislikes - like a large number of us. They are a great hit at all ceremonial occasions & look very majestic especially when they are decked up in colorful trappings like ornate 'howdahs', richly embroidered back cover up & golden headdresses.

The Republic Day Parade is one of those occasions when elephants are taken out in parade with the children awarded for bravery,  riding these majestic animals.

For a number of years,I had the privilege of leading the elephant brigade but my function was purely that of keeping some 50 paces behind the fire brigade - these being mechanical would & could easily keep a constant speed but the elephants had a very leisurely pace & could easily fall behind the slot which was allotted to them; this was especially bad because the folk dancers (following the elephants) were again notorious for stepping  out of their slot.

I had another job to do and this was to see that the elephants were behaving properly.  If (God forbid)  any one of these animals ran amuck, they would have to be put down by the sharp shooting army escort under my command.

Well everything had gone off well & the elephants, brave children and  army escorts,  were all waiting for their turn near the parliament house. I certainly could not have led the parade in my ragged jeans & scruffy shirt so I was grandly dressed up in an ornate achkan  which once had belonged to the Diwan of a princely state in Himachal Pradesh. The Diwan's grandson was a colleague of mine & he graciously lent the dress for this occasion. I wore a pair of churidar pyjamas with a beautiful turban on my head & I also wore some ornate "joothies". 

I was standing in front of one of our   elephants "Bholi". Now, "Bholi" was a somewhat bad tempered or rather a moody animal but we (she & I) used to get along like a house on fire. What I & any one else did not realise was that I had been given a generous spray of "Attar" i.e; the strong smelling rose scent which nearly proved to be my last day on earth. "Bholi" just could not smell my body scent & she got very upset by a strangely dressed being,  enveloped by an upsetting scent, standing nonchalantly in front of her.

She made up her mind that this being would have to pay a dear price for this behaviour & slowly but surely she gathered up the backdrop of the flowing "achkan" in her trunk & was just about to yank me off the ground when I felt a gentle tug on the "achkan" &  just in time I realized that I was about to be lifted  up & smashed to the ground by an upset elephant. I could only do one thing & that was to yell "Bholi".  Hearing the familiar sound of her name she let go of the "achkan".   Though I was slightly shaking, I went up to my pachyderm friend & apologized profusely for my lack of manners. She accepted this graciously & when her turn came to join the parade, behaved really well so that I could reward her with a couple of "laddoos" when we were done & ready to go back to the zoo.

Bholi had previously belonged to a princely family & was used to being served,huge " thalifuls" of laddoos on ceremonial occasions by the princesses so this was hardly a snack but she understood the gesture & I had learnt a good lesson!