11 Oct

Reptiles

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• Winged Wood Duck (called “Deo Hansh” in Assam)

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1. REPTILES: CRITICALLY ENDANGERED

1) GHARIAL (GAVIALIS GANGETICUS)

• One of the longest of all living crocodilians, uniquely evolved as specialized, river dwelling, fish eater. With 110 sharp interdigitated teeth in its long thin snout, it is well adapted to catching fish, its main diet.
• Habitat: They inhabit foremost flowing rivers with high sand bank which they use for basking and building nests.
• Distribution
  • Past: Once inhabited all the major river system from the Irrawaddy River in the east to the Indus river in the west.
  • Now
    • Only viable population in National Chambal Sanctuary (also known as National Chambal Gharial Wildlife Sanctuary) , spread across three states of UP, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
    • Recent Conservation efforts have led to breeding of gharial after 45 years in Odisha in 2021 in Mahanadi River near Satkosia range.
      • With the introduction of Gharial in 1975, Odisha has become the only state with all the three species – Freshwater Gharials, Muggers, and Saltwater Crocodile.
    • Small non-breeding population: Exist in son, Gandak, Hoogly and Ghagra rivers.
    • Extinct in Myanmar, Pakistan, Bhutan and Bangladesh.
• Threats
  • The combined effects of dams, barrages, artificial embankments, change in river course, pollution, sand mining, riparian agriculture and ingress of domestic and feral livestock.

A) ODISHA GETS ITS FIRST GHARIAL HATCHLING IN 45 YEARS (JUNE 2021)

• For the first time since they were introduced in the rivers back in 1975, Odisha have seen natural nesting of Gharials.
  • The journey for conservation of Indian Gharials (Gavialis gangeticus) started in 1975 at Gharial Research and Conservation Unit (GRACU), Tikarpada, and adjoining Satkosia Gorge Sanctuary along the Mahanadi river in Odisha.
  • All the original Gharials introduced in Odisha over the years are dead now. In the past three years, Odisha had introduced 13 more gharials in the Mahanadi. Only eight survived.
• As many as 28 hatchlings were spotted towards the end of May in Mahanadi river, in the Baladamara area near Satkosia range.
• Note:
  • With the introduction of Gharial in 1975, Odisha has become the only state with all the three species – Freshwater Gharials, Muggers, and Saltwater Crocodile.
  • Gharials are different from Muggers and don’t harm humans. But, many people mistake them for crocodiles and consider them harmful.

A) REINTRODUCED GHARIALS THRIVING IN BEAS RIVER (DEC 2021)

• Since 2017, 94 gharials have been released in the Beas Conservation Reserve and there have been only two casualties.
• These Gharials are healthy and have adapted to the Beas Conservation Reserve as their home. They have dispersed both upstream and downstream of the release site and can be spotted any time depending on the water levels and season, indicating that the first step of their rehabilitation has been successful.
• Experts believe that they may start breeding in the next few years as the released gharials are healthy and have adapted to the Beas Conservation Reserve as their home.
  • Natural breeding would be the real success. The eldest of the reintroduced gharials is 7 years old now and experts are hopeful that breeding would start in next three years (Gharial start breeding at the age of 10).
• Background:
  • Gharials were commonly seen in Beas River till the 1960s after which it became extinct. ú Why? Change in hydrology due to dam construction, rapid-land use change of flood plains and rampant overfishing led slowly into the extinction of the gharial from the Beas

2) OTHER CROCODILE SPECIES OF INDIA (NON-CRITICALLY ENDANGERED)

A) MUGGER CROCODILE: (CROCODYLUS PALUSTRIS) (VU)

• Mugger Crocodile, also called marsh crocodile, broad-snouted crocodile is a crocodilian native to freshwater habitat from Southern Iran, Pakistan, India and Srilanka. It is already extinct in Bhutan and Myanmar.
• Sex of the hatchlings depends on the temperature during incubation.
• In India it is distributed throughout the country From Rajasthan to Odisha and from Punjab to Tamil Nadu.
• Protection Status
  • IUCN: VU
  • WPA: Schedule 1

B) SALTWATER CROCODILE (CROCODYLUS POROSUS) (IUCN: LC)

• Details
  • It is a saltwater crocodile native to Saltwater habitats and brackish wetlands from India’s East Coast across South East Asia and the Sundaic region to northern Australia and Micronesia.
  • These are the largest living reptiles and thus also the largest crocodilian species known.
    • Males can grow upto 6 meters with more than 1,000 kg of weight.
    • Femalesaremuchsmallerandrarely surpass 3 m.
  • It is an opportunistic hypercarnivores apex predator. It’s also very dangerous for humans if they venture into its occupied areas.
    • Their population has been growing a lot in A&N islands and therefore the UT administration has been requesting Central government to delist it from WPA-Schedule-1
  • Distribution in India:
    • The saltwater crocodile is found in eastern states of WB, Odisha, AP and TN. It is also found in A&N Islands.
• Protection:
  • IUNC: LC
  • WPA: Schedule-1

3) TURTLES OF INDIA

• India has 29 species of turtles
  • Freshwater Turtles (25)
  • Tortoises (5)
• The main difference between turtles and tortoises is that turtles are primarily aquatic whereas tortoise are terrestrial and spend more time on land.
• More than half of the turtle species in India are threatened and half of them are protected under WPA-Schedule-1.

4) CR REPTILES

A) BLACK SOFTSHELL TURTLE (NILSSONIA NIGRICANS)

 About Black Soft Shell Turtle

• It is rarest of India’s turtle species.

 Recent efforts for preservation

• Hayagriva Madhab Temple at Hajo (30 km from Guwahati) released 16 black soft shell turtle, in the Haduk Beel (wetland) of Pobitaro WLS. These turtles were bred in the temple’s pond.
• Other softshell turtles species moved from the temple pond to the wild was Indian Softshell Turtle and peacock softshell Hatchlings

B) ASIAN FOREST TORTOISE (MANURIA EMYS)

• Why in news?
  • Ten captive bred Asian Giant Tortoise (Manouria emys) juveniles were released into a protected area of Nagaland (Dec 2022)

Asian Forest Tortoise (commonly known as the Mountain Tortoise) is the largest tortoise species in the mainland Asia. It is endemic to North-eastern India, Bangladesh and Southeast Asia. Habitation: Hilly wet forests. IUCN: CR Other interesting features: » These are the only Tortoise which lay eggs above ground in a nest, which is constructed out of leaf litter by females. Threats: Over-exploitation and unsustainable use for consumption by local communities resulted in species being pushed to the brink of extinction. Soft Release in Nagaland Protected areas: » The Nagaland Forest Department and non-profits Turtle Survival Alliance and Wildlife Conservation Society,India conducted a soft release of juvenile tortoise with an objective to rewild the species and population recovery. » The animals were conserved and bred for five years at the Nagaland Zoological Park, Dimapur before their release. » Soft Release is a process of gradually releasing captively bred species into the wild. This allows the species to develop comfort with the surrounding and other released individuals

Distribution: India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore etc.