Five striped Palm Squirrel (Funnambulus Pennantii) in Rishi Valley, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh

2007·1.1 MB·

by  V Santharam

MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
REFERENCES
Johnsingh,AJ.T.(1985):DistributionandstatusofdholeCuonalpinus Tshering, K. & S. Wangchuk (2003): Vision and Strategy for
Pallas, 1811 in South Asia. Mammalia 49: 203-208. the Nature Conservation Division. Department of Forestry
Johnsingh, A.J.T., S. Wangchuk & D. Yonten (2004): Evaluation of Services. MinistryofAgriculture. Royal Govt, ofBhutan, 88 pp.
livestockdepredationbydhole(Cuonalpinus)intheKingdomof Wangchuk, Tashi (2004): Predator-Prey Dynamics - The Role of
Bhutan. Report submitted to Nature Conservation Division, Predators in the Control ofProblem Species. Journal ofBhutan
MinistryofAgriculture,RoyalGovt,ofBhutan,Thimphu,20pp. Studies 10: 68-89.
4. FIVE-STRIPED PALM SQUIRREL (FUNNAMBULUS PENNANTIf)
IN RISHI VALLEY, CHITTOOR DISTRICT, ANDHRA PRADESH'
V.Santharam2
'Accepted May 13, 2006
institute of Bird Studies & Natural History, Rishi Valley Education Centre. Rishi Valley 517 352, Chittoor district,
Andhra Pradesh. India. Email: [email protected]
According to some recent publications on Indian apart fromthe habitatsegregation are: theircallsthatappear
mammals, the Five-striped Palm Squirrel (Funnambulus sharper than the Three-striped species, which are abundant
pennantii) is a species of northern India, found south of c. in the cultivated areas and habitations inside the school
16°N,i.e.aroundDharwarinthewest(Nameer2000;Menon campus. The presence of a dark stripe (eye-band) that
2003),andontheeastandincentralIndiathelimitisindicated contrasts with the white cheeks; an indistinct supercilium is
as around 20° N (Corbet and Hill 1992). It is replaced in also seen above this dark stripe. The Five-striped appears
southern India by the closely related and similar looking slimmer and the dark stripes on the back appear to contrast
Three-stripedPalmSquirrel(Funnambuluspalmarum).Earlier more withthebodycoloration.Theadditionalpalestripeson
writers like Stemdale (1884) treatedboth species as one till the flanks are clearly noticeable in some individuals, even
around the beginning ofthe twentieth century (Sathasivam without binoculars. The tail appears less bushy.
1999).Prater(1980)ontheotherhandsays: "TheFive-striped I am not sure ifthese featuresare uniformlypresent in
SquirreliscommoninnorthernIndia,particularlyinthedrier all individuals across the country or are peculiar to the
andmore aridportions,andextendsintothedryplainsofthe populationinRishiValley. Evenheretheyappearindistinctin
south. The Three-striped species predominates in the south, some individuals. Only some of the photographs on the
and in the moister parts of western and eastern India. Both internetandpublicationsconfirmthis.AccordingtoKumaran
species may,however,befoundlivinginthe samearea.” Sathasivam (in litt.), "I have found these stripes to be not
IhavebeenobservingtheFive-stripedPalmsquirrelin conspicuous in the field in Delhi. I had to look carefully to
the RishiValley area (near Madanapalle, Chittoordistrict of discern the five stripes. The books too say the outer stripes
Andhra Pradesh), which is 13° N, for the past several years are obscure in skins.”
andhave,inthelastfewmonths,madecloseobservationson Enquirieswithlocalvillagersrevealedthattheydoknow
them. These squirrels are not shy and if one remains quiet the existence oftwo species that co-exist in their environs,
they are seen at aclose range. andtheyareawareofthehabitatpreferenceofthetwospecies.
These squirrels are found in arid, scrub and boulder They distinguish them based on their habitat preferences,
covered parts of the valley, away from cultivation and coloration andtail.Theydonotseemtohaveadistinctname
habitations, though they could be seen close to agricultural though(SureshJonespers.comm,in2005).
lands occasionally. I have been seeing at least four animals In view of the above observations, I feel we need to
ontheroadsidehedges(agave)nearRishiValley,andsuspect re-examinetheskinsofallPalmsquirrelsinIndianmuseums
there may be more animals. I have also often seen them at from various localities, and also conduct field research to
anotherlocation in similardry habitat about two kilometres rework the field marks, exact distribution, and taxonomy of
awayfromthelocation.Itappearsunlikelythatthepopulation thesecommonmammals.
inRishiValleyisintroducedasthe squirrels are alsonoticed
inappropriatehabitats,even20-25kmawayfromRishiValley ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
(SureshJonespers.comm.).
It is unfortunate that all books distinguish these two 1thankKumaranSathasivamforcommentsonanearlier
species only on the basis of the number of stripes. Some draft of this note and Suresh Jones for sharing his
featuresthatIhavenoticedoftheseanimalsthataredistinct. observations.
202 J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 104 (2), May-Aug 2007
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
REFERENCES
Corbet, G. & J. Hill (1992): The Mammals of the Indo-Malayan Prater, S.H. (1980): The BookofIndian Mammals. Bombay Natural
Region: ASystematic Review. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press, History Society and Oxford University Press, Bombay,
496 pp. 324 pp.
Menon,V.(2003):AFieldGuidetoIndianMammals.DorlingKindersley Sathasivam,K. (1999): Thestripedsquirrelsofsouth India.Blackbuck
(India)-Penguin BooksIndia,New Delhi, 201 pp. 15(1): 7-12.
Nameer, P.O. (2000): Checklist of Indian Mammals. Kerala Forest Sterndale,R.A. (1884): MammaliaofIndia[1982reprint] Himalayan
Department (Wildlife Wing) Thrissur, 90+ xxv pp. Books,New Delhi, 540pp.
5. THE GAUR BOS FRONTALIS LAMBERT IN MANIPUR1
Anwaruddin Choudhury2
'Accepted May 16, 2006
2The Rhino Foundation for Nature in North-east India, Bamunimaidam, Guwahati 781 021. Assam. India.
Email: [email protected]
The Gaur Bos frontalis Lambert is distributed in range and Shiroi; (2) Bunning area; (3) Jiri-Makru forests;
north-easternIndiaindiscretepopulations(Choudhury2002). (4)Chandeldistrict;(5)Tolbungforestsandstrayindividuals
The Gaur population in Manipur is poorly known and is elsewhere.Inthemeantime,thehumanpopulationofManipur
believedtobeverysmall(Choudhury 1992). Fieldtripswere grewfrom 1.07millionin 1971 to2.29millionsin 2001 (Gol
madeinApril 1988,January 1996,JanuaryandOctober2001, 2001), i.e. more than double in two decades indicating
andFebruary 2002toassessthecurrent statusoftheGaurin phenomenalincreaseinjhumcultivation.
Manipur.ThestateofManipur(23°49'-25°42’N,93°00'-94° The main Gaur populations are now confined to the
45'E; 22,327 sq. kminarea), (Fig. 1 )hastwophysiographic five areas where they were in the 1990s, but in a reduced
units - Manipur or Imphal Valley and Manipur Hills. The
highest ranges are towards north with Mt. Tenipu or Iso
m
(2,900 abovemsl asthehighestpeak.Thelowestelevation
)
isintheriverbedsneartheAssam-Manipurborder(lessthan
m
50 abovemsl).
Tillabout 1950s,theGaurwaswidespreadalloverthe
hillsinthestate,especiallyinthedistrictsofUkhrul,Senapati,
Tamenglong, Churachandpur, Chandel and Jiribarn
subdivision ofImphal district. Stray animals were reported
from the hilly areas ofThoubal and Bishnupur (Bishenpur)
districts. By then, however, the Gaur has vanished from the
Valley. Infact,evenattheturnofthe20thcentury,thespecies
was scarce near the Valley. The Gaur was nevercommon in
recent memory as its meat was considered amajordelicacy
by all the tribes (Zeliangrong. Mao and Tangkhul Nagas,
Kukis, Hmars, Biates, Paites andMizos), and hunting was a
regular feature. In the 1960s, when the insurgency started,
modern firearms became handy resulting in phenomenal
increase in poaching. With the gradual increase in human
population,thedestructionofforestthroughfellingandjhum
cultivation has also increased. By 1970s, the main Gaur
strongholds remained only in the western and eastern hills
with small populations elsewhere. By 1980s, they vanished
fromthe northern hills except forstray individuals from the
Dzuko valley and adjacent hilltops. In the 1990s, the Gaur
survivedonly in afew areas, namely (1)Anko/AngoChing
J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 104 (2), May-Aug 2007 203