Tit Bits >>

• Nilgiri Langur (Presbytis johni)
  
  ”Like its primate cousin, the lion-tailed macaque, the Nilgiri langur is an endangered species. Nilgiri langurs live in environments between 3,000 and 7,000 feet, and are mostly arboreal in nature. They move in troops of 10 to 25 members, with each troop run by a single dominant male, and the rest of the troop consisting of both males and females. A Nilgiri langur’s day consists of a morning of feeding, an afternoon of rest, and feeding in the early hours of the evening.”
  

• Kerala is well known for its wildlife. The sanctuaries and national parks of Kerala are not only among the prettiest in the subcontinent, they are also home to large number of animals,birds,butterflies etc. Nilgiri Tahr - Hemitragus hylocrius is one such endangered species whose only viable population is found in the Eravikulam National Park. This species of tahr is listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Mammals; However on account of the considerable protection afforded by the Kerala Forest Department in the last few years, their number is slowly beginning to rise
  

• Recognized through out the world for its ferocity and unmistakable beauty, the tiger faces an uncertain future. Due to increase in both natural and human threats, the wild tiger population suffered major losses during the 20th century and has become one of our most endangered species. By the 1950’s tigers living around the Caspian sea were extinct ; between 1937 and 1972 the population of tigers that once inhabited the islands of Bali and Java disappeared; the South China tiger with at best 20 to 30 individuals, is nearly extinct in the wild.
  

• India today has the largest number of tigers, numbering somewhere between 3,030 and 4,735 and it is estimated that only 5,100 to 7,500 individual tigers now remain in the entire world. These remaining tigers are threatened by many factors, including growing human populations, loss of habitat, illegal hunting of tigers and the species they hunt, and expanded trade in tiger parts used for traditional medicines. Kerala Forest Department is working to combat these threats in collaboration with other agencies and conservation partners.
  

• Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is the second largest terrestrial mammal living on the earth, the first being its African cousin, Loodonta africana. Both the species, represent a group of animals once very rich and varied. The asian elephant is greatly impoverished in its domain and there exists hardly 40000 Asian elephants today in the whole world. (Hawkins 1986). The population of wild elephants in India is around 13000 according to S. M. Ali (1986) and is around 15000 according to reports of the Asian elephant specialist group. Asian elephant besides India enjoys a distribution in Bangladesh, Srilanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, South China, Malaya, Borneo and Sumatra. Within India they are seen mostly in two belts firstly in the foot hills of Himalaya including areas south of Brhmaputra and secondly in the belt extending north wards from Nagercoil to Shimoga in the Western ghats. Wild elephants are seen in all the revenue districts of Kerala, except Allepey and Kasargode. The largest population of wild elephants in Kerala is seen in the Idukki district, where Periyar Tiger Reserve alone harbours more than a thousand elephants.
  

• MUSTH IN ELEPHANTS

  Elephants become physiologically unbalanced at a stage called 'musth'. It is a strange and interesting pathological condition in male elephants, (very rarely in female also) on reaching about 20-25 years, at the very beginning of the best stage in its life. Elephants n musth show limited response to commands and are always trying to break away or showing violence to man or even destructive tendencies. They are altogether difficult to be controlled at that time. Excitement is a common feature, but some are dull and morose. Certain elephants during musth can be handled as usual but most are unmanageble, positively dangerous, jealous and quarrel some and are liable to attack any male elephant which they encounter. At the beginning of the musth the temples become puffy due to the swelling of the temporal gland. Lateron, an oily discharge locally knowns as 'Nir' exudes through the gland-duct. These sebaceous glands are situated on either side of the forehead about midway between the eye and the ear-hole. These glands are normally dormant till the time of musth. Musth may last for 15-90 days. It was a general belief that musth was a sort of sexual, excitement analogous to the rut in deer. It is a sign of some sort of superabundant physical energy and vitality. At this state certainly an elephant's desire for the company of opposite sex is only natural. Therefore the sexual excitement can be a secondary incidental feature.
  

• PROJECT ELEPHANT

      Project Elephant in line of Project Tiger is a National Programme aimed at conservation of wildlife especially elephant and habitat. The project is a 100% CSS.

      The entire forest area of Kerala comes under the Project Elephant. Four Elephant Reserves (7,8,9&10) are spreading on the various forest divisions of Kerala.

      The scheme offers protection to Elephant from people and protection to the people from elephants.

  Elephant Reserves in Kerala

  Elephant Reserve No. 7 - Wyanad WLS and adjacent forest dns.

                             No. 8 - Silent Valley and adjacent forest dns.

                             No. 9 - Parambikulam, Vazhachal, Chimmony, Chalakudy forest belt.

                             No. 10 - Idukki, Periyar, Ranni, Konni, Achencoil, Agasthyakoodam forest areas.
  

• MAKHNAS

  As the number tuskers in elephant dwindle, nature provides alternate adoption of genetical features which results in the creation of tuskless male commonly known as Makhnas. The Makhas are quiet often confused with the females by the general observes.

  The ratio between the makhna and tusker is said to be 1:1 (50%) (Gee, 1964) in India where as 1:9 (10%) in Burmas (utoke Gale, 1974) and about 90% in Sri Lanka.