Indian Wildlife Club Ezine (March, 2004)

'I believe any trip in search of wildlife can be coupled with physical activity and elements of cultural diversity to form a thrilling opportunity '
John H.Eickert

I’ve sat here for hours going over old tattered notebooks trying to remember where I first read the statement. It seems it was twice long ago, when much of the world existed in my dreams and imagination. I wish I could remember because I have always been compelled towards accuracy, but here goes. “When moisture falls in the Himalayas, it eventually flows into one of two of the worlds oceans. From there, that one-drop of moisture moves about our planet in those broad ocean currents, eventually and on average, seventeen years later it could fall again on that same spot.” Hopefully I haven’t gotten this too far wrong; the statement creates a rich image. Many years ago northern India was the setting for my first overseas rafting adventure. That river is spat from the Garhwal Himal and its name is the Tons.

We stood beside the river, shaken from bouts of dysentery and drinking, but willing and eager. The raft before us had seen better days. It wasn’t a good raft to begin with and was now a patchwork. I wondered if it would hold air. One of the others in the crew questioned if it would even float. It did not matter, we were young, we were eager. We would foolishly try anything, consumed by youth and invincibility. Still, there was the raft and the beckoning roar from the river. The guide for our descent was a small dark glistening man with sparkling eyes and overly large mustache. His name was Kumar. He said he had rafted every river in India and the Tons, his favorite. He told us it was the most difficult river in the world to run. We appraised this small man. We, the young American rafting demigods with inflated egos and bulging biceps, just wanted Kumar to get us on the river. Our guide was older and certainly more experienced than any of us, yet we offered no favor, no respect.

Kumar explained how many days and how many rapids. He explained what he expected from us and how he hoped we would perform. He was kind and full of compliments. He also explained how dangerous the Class V rapids would be and how much fun the lesser rapids would be. He described how he would flip the raft in the smaller rapids. “Flip the raft intentionally!” We almost mutinied. Kumar explained how this was always done for the clients. It added more thrills and adventure. This disturbed our group, we had all been taught to keep the boat open side up and everyone in. I wondered how many had drowned in this river. I wondered if we were doing the right thing. I looked to my companions, but no one was willing to question or back away. With great trepidation, we loaded the raft and pushed off, our descent began.
Next month, the descent of the Tons, one of the wildest rides of my life, until then, take care. Cheers.

Visit http://www.numbum.net or call NumBum Adventurers at 406-777-2228

Last month no one have given all right answers. merv@rediffmail.com , echveeiyer@hotmail.com and sharmasusan@hotmail.com have give 8 right answers

compiled by Dr. Susan Sharma

The pangolin is a slow, shy animal. The word "pangolin" itself has a French origin and refers to the animal's ability to curl up into a ball.

Distribution
The pangolin contains one genus and seven species. Among them Indian pangolin (Manis carssicaudata) inhabits the foothills and plains of India and SriLanka. A Chinese pangolin (M. pentadactyla) ranges westward through Nepal, Assam and eastern Himalaya, Myanmar, and China. The Malayan pangolin (M. javania) occurs in Malaya, Java, and Indochina. The Chines pangolin has been reported from different areas of Nepal.

Characteristics
The pangolin measures 58 cm head and body and 45 cm tail. It has 18 rows of overlapping scales around the body. Females as a rule are smaller than males. The pangolin possesses hair and scales, an unusual combination for mammals. It has a small pointed head and narrow mouth with a fine set muzzle. It also has a fleshy nose bearing nostrils. The eyes and ears are small and the head integrates smoothly into a short neck and later merges directly into the roundish body. The short legs come down the body and are tipped with sharp claws. The forefeet are longer and stronger than the hind feet. The pangolin is a burrowing nocturnal mammal. Mostly pangolins burrow into the ground by means of their heavily clawed fore-foot and make a chamber about eight feet deep. They do so within three to five minutes. After the burrow is made, the entrance is blocked. They are also known to occupy the burrows of other animals.
Generally a single young is born measuring 18 inches (45 cm) and weighing about 1 lb. At the time of birth, scales are soft and flexible but they harden in two days. The young pangolin is able to walk soon after birth. The young are carried on the mother's tail or back where they hang limply on the root. A threatened mother folds her tail and keeps her young under her body. Male pangolins also exhibit a remarkable parental instinct and share a burrow with females and young ones.

They are nocturnal, coming out during the night for feeding on eggs and adult termites and ants. It is reported from Kannyakumari district in Tamil Nadu that they also feed on the soft shelled land mollusks found in gardens and cultivated lands. It is not known how they feed on mollusks - they possibly break the shells with their strong nails as evident in the crumbled shells in their hide outs.

Pangolins Under Threat

Known by various names such as Bajrakit (Sanskrit), Banrui (Bengal), Sallu Samp (Hindi) and Enampeechi (Malayalam), habitat loss and hunting for meat and scales are the major threats to the species. Pangolin's meat is eaten as great delicacy by hill tribes and their scales are made into a ring as a charm against rheumatic fever. And some hill tribes believe that its flesh has aphrodisiac values. As a result of these values, pangolins are easily hunted and trapped.

Pangolin scales are extracted after killing and skinning the animal. Scales from one adult animal weigh an average of 1kg. Oil is extracted from the fat of the animal (amounting to 250 grammes per animal) for medicinal purposes. The brain of the animal is used by local medicine men.

Trade
The trade pattern is such that it mostly goes undetected and therefore unrecorded. The reported international trade in its products generally involves two commodities - scales and skin. It is recorded that about 700 skins of Indian Pangolin were exported to the USA in 1983 compared to 5,023 skins between 1980-1982. The price of one pangolin in the USA was about $US6 and 1kg of scales is valued $US18. The prices of scales vary from INR 250-500 per kg at the collection points; INR 500 - 1000 per kg at the main trading centers; and INR 900 - 1500 per kg at the border trading centres. The international market prices are reported to be INR 7000 - 8000 per kg. The traders in all the states are mainly the tribal charmers. Generally they are the direct primary level sellers, though there is sometimes involvement of middlemen or agents. The tribal communities in the rural areas are directly involved in hunting while the middlemen or the agents usually buy the products from them. However, some agents were found to be hunters themselves.( TRAFFIC Report)

A recent study by Indian Society for Wildlife Research pointed out that Bhubaneswar and Cuttack in Orissa are two main corridors of illegal trading of pangolins. On an average about 22 shops in Badambadi area ( Bhubaneswar) trade in flesh and rings from scales. Hawkers for these are even found in West Bengal.

Status
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Animals (1996 ) lists as internationally threatened or near-threatened . one species of pangolin (Manidae). At the 11th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES in April 2000, a proposal to transfer Asian Pangolins Manis crassicaudata, M. pentadactyla and M. javanica from Appendix II to Appendix I was put forward by India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the USA. This proposal was rejected despite the fact that the Parties acknowledged that Asian Pangolin populations are increasingly under threat due to domestic and international demand as well as habitat destruction.

From Priya l: priya@cmsindia.org

Dear All

This is to inform you that there are exciting career opportunities at the Centre for Media Studies. Pls. find below a copy of the advertisement released in the latest EPW. Click here for the advertisment
Kindly circulate this advertisement among your friends and colleagues.

Thanking you

With warm regards

Priya Verma

Administration Executive

From Anil K Bheemaiah (bheemaiaha2003@yahoo.com)

FOWL is offering four fellow positions, The positions involve holding workshops to replace animal experimentation in schools. I have attached the recommendation forms and the fellow

Thanks
Anil K bheemaiah

Click here for the advertisment

Dr. Ravi Chellam, whose research on the Asiatic Lion is internationally acclaimed, answered queries from members who logged on to our chat session on 18th March 2004. Read a transcript of the chat session by clicking HERE.

Centre for Media Studies are looking for filling some positions. Read their call for applications.
Our NGO section has a recent addition. Pampa River protection Society.   The addition of an NGO focusing on water, we thought, is appropriate as the world "celebrates" world water day on March 22nd.. You can also read the synopsis of some short films made on India's water scarcity by going to our video library by cliking HERE.

…and Views

'If the wars of this century were fought over oil, the wars of the next century will be fought over water."
-Ismail Serageldin, Vice President, World Bank, in 1995