Thursday, May 26, 2011

KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD…………..


I am on my way to Vasco after successfully conducting a camp for students at Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary. 85 students have participated in the camp with 10 volunteers imparting knowledge on various aspects of wildlife. As I drive and ponder over the last four days, there are many moments to choose from, but the most vivid of them all is the pair of mating Tamil Tree-Brown (Lethe dryperis) butterflies crushed under the wheels of a vehicle while still attached to each other. That it happened in the middle of a wildlife sanctuary, a place where the right of way belongs to the denizens of the forest, is further disturbing.

Female Jackal on the Airport road
I cross the BITS Goa campus along the airport road and see another road kill further ahead, this time, what looks like a dog. That is common I say to myself as I pass the dead dog by the road side with a pool of dried blood by its head and some coagulated around the nostril. After going beyond, I wonder if I actually saw a dog or was it something else. Parking ahead I walk back only see my worst fears becoming true, it’s a female Jackal (Canis aureus indicus) hit by, I am sure, an over-speeding vehicle. That the individual is a suckling female, evident from her enlarged tits, adds to my disgust. This one accidental death, means slow but sure death to the pups housed somewhere in a den of hunger or predation.

Road kills of wildlife are a common sight on Goan roads, especially snakes in the monsoons, birds which fly low, civet cats and the occasional leopard. Frogs and snakes get “butchered” in the rains. I use the word butchered with deliberate emphasis since they actually die in hundreds. Low flying birds like the Greater Crow-pheasant or Coucal (Centropus sinensis), the Bulbuls also meet this fate. I & Pankaj Lad reported the Slaty-legged Banded Crake (Rallina eurizonoides) as a new record for the State of Goa to a Journal and the paper is under review. That the proof of its presence is in the form of a dead specimen found on the road is not a very pleasing fact. I shudder at the thought of the fate of these animals after the proposed road widening in the State.

The image speaks for itself
That the larger mammals and birds might suddenly get on to the road and get hit before the vehicle can be controlled is understandable and can be excused but not over-speeding. Over-speeding is what kills. An animal colliding with a slow moving vehicle can get hurt but need not get killed. I do drive fast at times but have on many occasions sighted animals further on the road giving me enough time to slow down or stop. I have lost count of the number of occasions when I have alighted from the vehicle to pick up a snake and release it safely by the road side. Also animal behavior gives away its intents. One needs to be careful when a dog is behaving fidgety…..It is sure to cross the road. A Palm Civet (Paradoxurus hermaphrodites) can be very unpredictable. But being nocturnal it is easily sighted at a distance by glowing eyes and one get enough time to slow down to avoid it. And finally do not forget the horn. It works wonders on animals. Also keeping your eyes on the road at all times will go a long way in reducing animal kills.

I personally feel it is a matter of being sensitive towards these creatures which will automatically put brakes on our wheels

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

WAX DART (Cupitha purreea) - A New record for Goa

One December 24, 2010 enroute to the Sonal Waterfall near Toduo Village in Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary, I, Sangam Patil and Omkar Dharwadkar documented the Wax Dart (Cupitha purreea), a skipper butterfly belonging to the Hesperidae Family which was earlier known only from the Southern Western Ghats. Found commonly in North-East India, the butterfly is rare in the South. The underside of this species is unmarked and sulphur yellow in colour. The documentation of this species from the Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary from where 3 species of butterflies were recently reported for the first time, highlights the biological diversity and conservation importance of this area. 

Thursday, May 19, 2011

LOST IN THE WOODS!!


This poem is inspired & dedicated to the jungles of the Western Ghats, where more than often I wish to get lost in the woods. That someone like me could pen a poem, that too a long one, as I sat watching the Savri Waterfall cascade in Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary is a testimony to the stimulating effect of the jungle. During my recent visit to Namdapha National Park in Arunachal Pradesh similar feelings clouded my mind and hence this post. 

LOST IN THE WOODS!!

The monsoon was fast approaching
Dark clouds gathered over the skies
The mystic woods beckoned me
To come to their abode and fly

Out I set with my camera
To capture a winged beauty
What I did not foresee
Was the magic of the woods and it’s majesty

I followed the birds and the butterflies
Unmindful of the jungle moods
Within no time I found myself
Lost in the woods!!

I was scared and I panicked
Knowing not what to do
Mother Nature told me not be scared and be true
She said she would guide me and
tell me what to do

The dark woods and the beasts
I found to be friends
How unlike humans
Who turn foes and rarely friends!

I had water to drink and fruits to eat
Leafy cushion to sleep and rocks to sit
My friends in the woods allowed me to be the first
To enter the river and quench my thirst

How happy was I to experience this mood
I hope all of you one day get lost in the woods!!