Indian Wildlife Club Ezine (August, 2003)

'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

King Lear! Again, I looked at the book on the small table near the Tawang Gompa in the North-East Hill State of Arunachal Pradesh. The book was hardbound, tattered, and looked to be very old. It had a dark red cloth cover with a design in yellow, which reminded me of ruffed grouse feathers. The man selling the book was a trader from Tibet and wore clothing the color of the book. He had a broad glowing smile and wore his hair in an explosive tangle of dreadlocks. I asked to look at the book. No. I would have to buy it. Half an hour of bargaining later, I was the proud owner of Shakespeare’s “King Lear.” I carefully looked through my treasure, reassured all the pages were still intact. After the preface were the initials “A.A.” and the date October 1878. There was nothing noting any publisher or previous ownership, a mystery. In 1913 a surveyor named Bailey, with the British Geographic traveled through here, mapping the ancient trade route with Tibet. Had the book been for sale on this same table ever since?

It took six weeks for the permit. In the course of the long overnight ride, I developed a very numb bum, but I made it. The bus left Bomdila, a small town north of Tezpur, crossed Sela Pass in the dark, arriving at first light in Tawang. Tawang Gompa is largest Buddhist monastery in India. It is said it can house 500 monks. Though there is a road in, because of the exhaustive permit process Tawang is seldom visited. There are some very interesting places to stay and the people watching is superb. This ancient trade route brings people together to trade from the vast forests to the east, the plains to the south, and the vast mountainous plateau to the north. Hmm, didn’t King Lear have three daughters!? Bomdila and Tawang are excellent locales to base one's self and offer endless possibilities for day hikes. This adventure is an excellent opportunity to experience varied terrain, orchids to alpine, without spending weeks walking or camping. It is an exhilarating ‘soft’ adventure only requiring planning for the permit process and a stiff backside for the long bus rides.

This area of India, Arunachal Pradesh, is one of the least visited by western tourists. Translating the local dialect, the familiar local place name means ‘Land of the Dawn-Lit-Mountains.’ I spent a week there, hiking, visiting and watching the shadows move across the land. The ride out of Tawang to Bomdila began in the early morning, arriving at Sela Pass just after sunrise. We stopped briefly on the pass for everyone to stretch while the driver checked the engine and brakes. The sights and sounds were impressive and I understood and shared the meaning of the local place name. Arunachal Pradesh is the land of the dawn lit mountains! For your own sake, take the time and when you do go, take your time. Cheers!

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By Prashant Mahajan

Chameleons have a remarkable ability to change colour. A chameleon can change its colour from green and brown to different shades of yellow, white or black in the space of few minutes. Most chameleons are green and live among leaves but they do not change their colour to match their background. Their colour changes with the temperature and often becomes much brighter when chameleon meets chameleon.

During an aggressive encounter, partner chameleons in Madagascar signal their rage by flushing their bodies with violent, intimidating red and yellows. Another species advertises its sexual availability with colour. In the mating season, bright-green males seek out gray brown females. But if a female turns very dark, with black on her back and green lower parts she is not willing to mate. The male ignores this rejection at his peril, for she can deliver a powerful bite if he persists. A female who has already mated makes it clear that she is pregnant and no longer in search of a mate: about two or three days after copulation, she changes colour, developing an array of yellow stripes and black spots on a turquoise background.

The chameleon’s eyes are set in protruding turrets and can be rotated quite independently, so that the animal can see forward with one eye whilst looking sideways or backwards with other. The eyes rotate ceaselessly in all directions till the prey is sighted, and when the chameleon makes up its mind to catch the prey the eyes stop rotation and focus on the object, towards which the chameleon advances with great deliberation. About 25 cm away from its prey the chameleon stops, aims with its head, rocks sideways the better to judge the distance, and suddenly the insect vanishes, having been snatched up by a lightning lick of the tongue.

Africa is the home of these lizards. Only one species Chameleo zeylanicus, occurs in India.

Last month no one has given all right answers, but riyas4you@rediffmail.com has given 9 right answers

Please try our quiz for the current month on Deer and Antelopes

By Dr.Susan Sharma

The black buck is a true antelope, one of the most beautiful to look at. It is related to the springbok and the gerenuk in Africa, as well as the various gazelle species. The blackbuck probably evolved within the Indian subcontinent. Indian art during the Mughal period pictured this antelope along with the graceful cheetah as black buck was one of the main prey of the cheetah. Decrease in their numbers must have indirectly affected the cheetah population which is now extinct.

The antelope is regarded as a symbol of fertility and villagers around the Little and Great Ranns of Kutch will give up their lives to protect the black buck.
Adult black buck males stand 80 cm ( 32in) at the shoulder and weigh an average of 40 kg ( 90 lb). The females and juveniles are coloured yellowish brown. After the age of three or so, the coat of the males darkens. In a mature male, the neck, the back, the sides, part of the face and the outside of the legs are black. Contrasted to its white chest, abdomen, rump and tail, the pattern is striking. Like other male antelope, blackbuck carry permanent horns, which are not shed annually ( as are deer antlers).
Velavadar Blackbuck National Park in Gujarat has large congregations of blackbuck. The population in Kanha National Park has disappeared as the short grasslands preferred by blackbucks gave way to taller grass preferred by "barasingha", an endangered species of deer. Thanks to the concerted efforts of the "Bishnois" ( Read about them by clicking here) black buck are found in open agricultural habitat in the villages. The Asola Wildlife Sanctuary in Delhi has a small population of black bucks which attract the odd tourist.

( Photograph of female blackbuck at Asola by Amit Thomas)

LETS TAKE ACTION TO AVOID ANOTHER CALAMITY BEFORE IT
IS TOO LATE –

Write in your protests and send mails to the President and the Prime Minister of India and the Chief Minister
of Andhra Pradesh asking them to stop this. (Please send cc copies to all the others mentioned below).

Issued in Public Interest by:
“Movement Against Uranium Project”( MAUP ) 540, Road.
No: 12, Banjara Hills Hyderabad – 500034

Toby Ninan retired from Delhi Zoo about two years back. With his varied experiences with the wild animals in the zoo, he is the right person to direct your queries to. Hear what Ninan has to say about his life and chosen career!

It is not every one who reaches office to find that floods have stopped his work ! Even zoo folk who face all sorts of strange and funny situations would hardly expect to find flooded animal enclosures.

I however worked for Delhi zoo where we had a catchment area around the monkey enclosures where a few heavy showers were sufficient to cause the area to be flooded making the monkey houses ,barking deer and the American bison enclosures to be covered with water. These animals would have to be shifted to higher land to save them from drowning or keep them from escaping.

One day it rained continuously and the night saw it raining cats and dogs rather “tigers and hyenas in zoo language”. Morning saw the lands around the monkey enclosure really flooded as all the water had collected there- There was nothing much to think about - the head keeper and other animal staff went fully clothed into the floods to rescue the trapped animals. We were glared upon by zoo visitors. We would first wade and then swim to catch these monkeys to transport them to safety. They were all perched up on dead trees in their enclosures and since their regular doors were under water we would have to cut open the top of their pens to catch ., and bring them to safety. We approached the monkeys with some trepidation but since they had taken such a terrible soaking , they greeted us like long lost brethren and even the fiercest tamely entered their transport boxes.

The prospect of carrying heavy monkeys in shifting boxes was not very cheering so we called our elephant mahouts to come to our rescue and soon enough, we and the monkeys were swaying atop the elephant backs to safety. There was another danger which the elephants had saved us from and this was from snakes who had been driven out of their holes by the swirling waters. While in the water we could hear hissings of angry cobras, vipers and their like swimming furiously onto safety. Since we both had to face the fury of the floods they did not harm us in any way. We noticed that they reached the safety of high ground and left us in peace to rescue our animals.

Another victim of the rising water was the barking deer who had taken refuge on top of hillocks in their enclosures and though these are very excitable animals who could dash and kill themselves if disturbed- they came tamely into the transport crates. The presence of elephants did not unnerve them! They had had enough of drenchings in cold muddy waters and were ready to leave these wet surroundings as early as possible.

The toughest shiftings were those of the American bison and it was nearly impossible to get heavy crates into flooded enclosures to catch and shift these animals. A mad plan however hatched in my head and I decided to noose these huge cattle with ropes around their horns- both male and female possessed a good pair- and could be noosed and led to the safety of high ground into the nearest safe place which happened to be the Brow antlered deer enclosure.

Buffalo who would otherwise charge and grind we poor humans to pulp stood calmly on high ground to allow us to noose them around their horns and allowed us to lead them swimming through the enclosure over the overflowing moat and road finally getting on to the terra-firma of the emptied deer enclosure. It certainly was a moving experience to lead these huge bulls thundering on high ground, tethered at one end of a cotton rope being led by a puny human at the other end.

All things good and bad finally come to an end and so did this tiring day and one could retire at the end of the day exhausted but satisfied that in spite of a number of odds, coming close to being trampled, bitten or poisoned one could sleep in a dry warm bed ready to face any challenge the next day would bring.