5. Incidence of An Elephant Calf Elephas Maximus Trapped Between Two Tree Trunks

3 Pages·2001·1.9 MB·

by  Niren Jain

MISCELLANEOUSNOTES
information atthe local Wildlife Department, to better established population has its nucleus in
determine the current distribution and status of ‘La Corona’ and ‘La Guarida del Zorro’ game
Antilope cervicapra in Buenos Aires province. ranches, an area ofapproximately 12,000 ha, in
There are 11 game ranches (50% of the General Belgrano near the Chascomus district
totallegallyestablishedranches)withblackbuck boundary. In 1996,frompreliminarylinetransect
populations. The sport hunting season censuses, we estimated a population of above
traditionally opens from March 15 and extends 6,000 animals, with a density of0.56 individual
to December 31, based on the notionthat fawns per hectare. However, in 1997, the population
are born in summer (January and February). wascommerciallyharvestedforthemeatmarket,
Despite this, there are records from captive and showing a marked decline since this event. We
wild populations about females giving birth suggestfurtherstudies onthe species’ impacton
throughoutthe year. 53 male trophieshavebeen local biota, to stop uncontrolled translocations,
legally taken from game ranches in 1995, 44 in andaclosermonitoringoftheeffectofsportand
1996 and 103 in 1997, most ofthemby foreign commercial harvesting on the blackbuck.
hunters. In 1997, there was at least one permit We thank Claudio and Sergio Quagliata
issued for commercial harvesting. fortheirhelpinthe fieldcensusesandforaccess
The previous record of distribution to their captive population.
(Galliari et al. 1991) has now been expanded.
Weconfirmedtheoccurrenceofblackbuckatthe March 2, 2000 BRUNO CARPINETTI
Chascomus, General Belgrano, Castelli, Bahia Direccion de Administracion
Blanca and Guamini departments. Additionally, de Recursos Naturales,
new records were made for the species at Pila, Ministerio de Asuntos Agrarios
Dolores, Adolfo Alsina, Coronel Suarez and de la Prov. de Bs. Aires,
N
Coronel Dorrego departments. The biggest and Calle 71 488, La Plata (1900), Argentina.
Refer nces
:
Chebez,J.C. (1994):Losquesevan,especiesargentines naturalesenlaevaluacionambiental.
enpeligro. EditorialAlbatrossSACI,BuenosAires. Lever,C.H. (1985): Naturalisedmammalsoftheworld.
Galliari, C.A., W.D. Berman & F.J. Goin (1991): LongmansInc.,NewYork,USA.
Mamiferos.Comisiondeinvestigacionescientificas Navas,J.R.(1987):Losvertebradosexoticosintroducidos
delaProvinciadeBuenosAires.SituacionAmbiental en laArgentina. Rev. Mus. Arg. Cs. Nat., Zoologia
delaProvinciadeBuenosAires.A-Recursosyrasgos 14:7-38.
INCIDENCE OF AN ELEPHANT CALF ELEPHASMAXIMUS
5.
TRAPPED BETWEEN TWO TREE TRUNKS
The first year is consideredto be the most rateinIndianelephantcalves(Elephasmaximus
,
vulnerable stage in an elephant’s life, when age<5years),inBiligiriRanganTempleWildlife
mortalityraterangesfrom 10%to30%(Douglas Sanctuary, SouthIndia, wasreportedtobe4-5%
1972, Barnett 1991). Annual mortality rate of infemale and 8-9% inmale elephants (Sukumar
elephant calves aged less than one year is 1989). Elephant calves are known to die of
reported to be 36% in Tsavo National Park, diseases,intra-specificfights,drowninginfloods,
Kenya(Laws 1969). Studiesonannualmortality landslides, tigerpredation, snakebitepoisoning,
JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 98(1),APR. 2001 99
MISCELLANEOUSNOTES
accidents (including falling off cliffs, bridges, Two similar incidents are worth adding to
intotrenches,drains)inthewild(AsianElephant this note. Mr. Kullayya, Mahout, Karnataka
Research and Conservation Centre (AERCC), ForestDepartment,recollectedasimilarincident
unpublished data; Daniel 1998). About 9.5% of (pers. comm.) which had occurred a decade
the 208 records, scanned from 1975-1994, of ago. The foreleg ofan elephant calf(c. 5 years
elephant calf deaths were accidental (AERCC, old) was trapped between the roots (diameter
unpublished data). c. 30 cm) of a tree abutting a stream near
Amongtheknowncausesofdeath,ornear Sunkadakatte Forest Rest House, Nagarhole
deathsituationsduetoaccidents,gettingtrapped National Park, the calfhada slip inthe shoulder
between tree trunks is very rare. We observed joint and its legs were swollen. The entangling
onesuchincidentonthemorningofMay4, 1999, treerootwascutto free the calf, whichwas later
during fieldwork under the Karnataka Tiger treated atthe camp. Nevertheless, the calfcould
Conservation Project at Kaimara, Nagarhole not recover and died after a month.
National Park, South India: An elephant calf, In 1997, according to Dr. Nanjappa {pers.
estimatedtobetenmonthsold,wasfoundtrapped comm.). Veterinary Officer, Karnataka Forest
between two tree trunks (c. 30 cm diameter at Department,the legofanelephantcalf(c. 2years
breastheight),whichwerelessthan30cmapart. old) was trapped between boulders in the steep
Thecalfprobablygottrappedthepreviousnight, terrainofMaddurRange,BandipurNationalPark.
since we heard elephants trumpeting in the area The incidentwas reported to the veterinariantwo
throughout the night and till the following days later. The Forest Department personnel had
forenoon. tobreaktheboulders to free the calf, whichhad a
The calf was exhausted and had blood concussionanditslegswereswollen.Thecalfwas
trickling down its forehead. Amongst the many givenfluidtherapy,butitdidnotrecoverevenafter
whohadgatheredthere,fourofustriedtorelease medical treatmentanddiedthe following day.
it by lifting and pushing it across the fork. We Though it is difficult to imagine that such
failedto liftthe calfhighenoughto release it. In incidents occur in the wild, we suggest that this
the process, the calfjerked itself free from us couldbe consideredas one ofthe causes ofinfant
and relapsed into its original trapped position. mortality among wild elephants.
Astheelephantherdwasmovingcloser,we fled
the spot. Two kurubas (local tribesmen) bravely ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
wentback aftersome time andreleasedthe calf.
It rested for about ten minutes after its release We are grateful to Dr. Nanjappa and
and then moved dizzily down to the nearby Mr. Kullayya of the Karnataka Forest Depart-
stream. After a couple ofhours, the calfwas no ment, for sharing their experiences with us. We
longerfoundinthevicinityanditwaspresumed thanktheKarnatakaStateForestDepartmentand
to have rejoined its herd. Had the calfnot been theAERCC,Bangalore,fordataonelephantcalf
rescued, it is possible that it would have died of mortality and Ms. Cheryl Nath for references.
starvation, dehydration, predation, or injuries
caused by the herd trying to extricate it. The April 14, 2000 NIREN JAIN
tribesmenmentionedthatitwasthesecondsuch R. SAANDEEP
incident that they had witnessed, the first one P. BoxNo. 4, ‘Vijayavana
being a fewyears ago inthe forestadjoining the Mukrampady, Darbe, Puttur,
Park. Karnataka 574 202, India.
100 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 98(1), APR. 2001
.
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
References
Barnett, J. (1991): Disease and Mortality. In: The BehaviouroftheAfricanelephant.UnpublishedD.
IllustratedEncyclopediaofElephants(Eltringham, Philthesis.UniversityofOxford,England.
S.K.,Consultant),SalamanderBooksLtd.London, Laws,R.M.(1969):TheTsavoResearchProject.Journal
pp. 102-115 ofReproductionandFertility(Suppl.)6:495-531
Daniel, J.C. (1998): The Asian Elephant: A Natural Sukumar, R. (1989): The Asian Elephant, Ecology and
History,NatrajPublishers,DehraDun. Management. Cambridge University Press,
Douglas, Hamilton I. (1972): On the Ecology and Cambridge.Pp.xvii+255.
ANOTE ON SOME FOOD PLANTS OF THE MALAYAN GIANT SQUIRREL
6.
RATUFA BICOLORINGIBBONWILDLIFE SANCTUARY, JORHAT, ASSAM
The Malayan giant squirrel (Ratufa From our observations, Ratufa bicolor is
bicolor) is arboreal (Prater 1980). During our certainly frugivorous. Morton (1973) has noted
studies on plant-animal interaction with special that among frugivorous birds there may be
reference to primates of Gibbon Wildlife intense selection pressure, favouring the ability
Sanctuary(WLS),Assam,wenotedsomeinteres- to exploit a wider variety of food in periods
tingdietaryhabits oftheMalayangiantsquirrel. of fruit scarcity. The Malayan giant squirrel,
Gibbon WLS is a newly constituted sanctuary which feeds mainly on fruits, probably
situatedabout20kmsoutheastofJorhattownin experiencesthesameselectionpressure,andmay
upperAssamandliesbetween 26°40'-26°45'N take to a broad array offoods during periods of
and 94° 20'-94° 25' E. Prior to its declaration as fruit shortage.
a sanctuary it was a reserve forest under the
eastern Assam forest circle. The sanctuary is Acknowledgements
famousforitsdiversityinprimatespecies,7non-
human primate species being found within WethankDrS.M.Mohnot,Director,Indo-
19.5 sq.kmfragmentedforesthabitat(Bujarbarua US Primate Project for financial assistance,
and Chetry 1999). All the records were made Dr A. Srivastava, Scientist, Indo-US Primate
betweenOctober 1998-September 1999. Project and Dr G.C. Sharma of Botany Dept,
Ratufa bicolor fed on parts of 37 plant GauhatiUniversityforvaluablesuggestions and
species inGibbonWLS. Mostofthe foodplants the Department ofForests, Govt of Assam for
were identified on the spot, the unidentified permission to work in Gibbon WLS.
specimens were collected and later identified in
the herbarium of the Botany Department, April 6, 2000 *P.BUJARBARUA,
Gauhati University, with the help of flora of **D.CHETRY,
assam (Kanjilal 1940). All the food plants are **J. DAS,
trees and are listed in Appendix I, with parts *S.K. SARMA,
eaten by the squirrel. **P.C.BHATTACHARJEE
The squirrelprimarily fedonpericarp and *Department ofBotany,
sometimes on fruit pulp. In some cases, it Gauhati University,
consumed the seeds. The squirrel gnaws at the Guwahati 14, Assam, India.
pericarp of the fruits and eats the cotyledons. **Department ofZoology,
Insect larvae (mainly those of ants) and small Gauhati University,
spiders are also eaten. Guwahati 14, Assam, India.
JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 98(1),APR. 2001 101