Goat predation by clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) in Kakoi Reserve Forest of Assam

2 Pages·1996·1.3 MB·

by  Ashif Ahmed Hazarika

,
584 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 93 (1996)
reserve forest. While I was examining the skin, The same hunters again saw a Marbled cat on
another local Adi came to me and reported that he 13 May, 1992, in the upperreaches ofKarli Langso,
had also killed a similar cat about a year back from c 6 km south-east ofLangcholiet inside theDhansiri
the same reserve forest. RF.
The Subansiri RF is mostly hilly being at the The elevation of Dhansiri RF, where the cats
m
foot of the Eastern or Arunachal Himalaya and the have been recorded is about 200 above msl. The
habitat type is of tropical wet evergreen (now habitat type is tropical semi-evergreen with a fairly
degraded atthelowerreaches). Elevation in the forest good number of deciduous species. In comparison
ranges from 150 to above 1000 m. The cats seemed to Subansiri RF, this area is rather dry (rainfall less
mm
to have been shot at lower elevations. than 1000 a year while in Subansiri, it is around
On 10 August, 1991, 1 came across a skin in 3000 mm).
Muolzol Kuki village near Baghmari, south-west of The specimen from Subansiri RFis the largest
Diphu town in Karbi Anglong District. It was killed known in the world with a head-and-body length of
by a local Karbi (Mikir) tribalhunter fromthenearby 65 cm. The Baghmari specimen is48 cm (onlybody),
Dhansiri RF in June-July, 1991. while that ofLangcholiet specimen is 49 cm (head-
One more skin was collected from a Karbi and-body) and 49 cm (tail).
hamletnearLangcholiet on 3 May, 1992. It was also Boththeareas are new localities forthespecies.
killed in the Dhansiri RF with the help of a dao on
27 April, 1992. Two local hunters (without gun) November 27, 1995 ANWARUDDIN
CHOUDHURY
accompanied by trained dogs noticed the cat
following latter’s barking at a place c 9-10 km east Near Gate No. 1 ofNehru Stadium
ofLangcholiet. It was on a tree-branch at about 6-7 Islampur Road,
m
height. Guwahati 781 007.
GOAT PREDATION BY CLOUDED LEOPARD (NEOFELIS NEBULOSA) IN KAKOI
6.
RESERVE FOREST OF ASSAM
Kakoi Reserve Forest is about 19 km north of pugmarks on a patch of a damp anthill. These
North Lakhimpur Town of Assam. In 1989 I was pugmarkswerealittlesmaller than those ofaleopard.
surveying theKakoi and two other adjoining Reserve Since I had never seen a leopard taking its prey up
Forests, (the Ranga Reserve Forests and Dullong on a tree, and had only heard ofit, my curiosity was
Reserve Forests) which are more or less contiguous roused. I decided to enquire in the nearby hamlets,
along the foothills ofArunachal Pradesh. the residents ofwhich had some goats.
On the morning of3rdFebruary, Iwas walking An old Santhal (tribal) woman from a nearby
along a jungle track accompanied by a local wood hamlet in Johing, informed me that one ofher goats
cutter. Two km inside Kakoi R.F., our attention was had been killed theprevious evening while they were
attracted by a movement on the branches of a tree browsing on the bank ofDejoo river, on the edge of
about 30 m to the left ofthe track. We could see two the jungle, about 70 m away from her. Since it was
ravens hopping along the bough of a Hilikha tree late in the evening, the old woman could only see a
and close to them was a black object perched in a leopard - like animal attacking one of her goats.
fork ofthe main trunk. On moving closer to the tree According to her, the animal was smaller than a
we found the object to be a dead goat placed about common leopard and its skin was “patchy”.
m
4 above the ground. Next morning at about 0600 hr. accompanied
On looking around we found three small by the wood cutter, I proceeded towards the spot
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES 585
where the dead goat had been found. When wewere We had been watching it for 15-20 minutes
m
about 22 from the tree on which the dead goat when the wood cutter brushed against a sapling,
was perched, I saw a leopard like animal lying on which made the leopard look in our direction and
another horizontal bough close to the dead goat, and see us. It stood up on the bough and saw us more
licking its right fore paw. Since we were facing the clearly. The wood cutter happened to remark that
sun we could not get a clear view of the animal the leopard had seen us. On hearing the voice, the
against the sun. We moved a little till we had an leopard rushed along the horizontal bough, and
uninterrupted view ofthe animal. Itwassmallerthan jumped down and vanished among theundergrowth.
thecommon leopard, withlargedull colouredpatches
all over the body. November 27, 1995 ASMFAHMEDHAZARIKA
We observed the animal for about 15-20 C/o S.A. Hazarika,
minutes, and from its size and colour pattern District SMS (Agriculture),
concluded that it was a clouded leopard. Seujpur, Dibrugarh-786 001, Assam
.
SIGHTING OF TAKIN BUDORCAS TAXICOLOR)
7.
(.
IN THE MEHAO WILDLIFE SANCTUARY, ARUNACHAL PRADESH
During my field work to study the vegetation takin is found in the Bhutan Himalayas, the Mishmi
and bird diversity of Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary, Hills and in the mountains ofthe Salween-Irrawaddy
Dibang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh, I hadthechance divide. It was reported by Manjrekar et al. (1990)
of sighting takin (.Budorcas taxicolor). Takin is one that only indirect evidence oftakin was found in the
of the rare and endangered rupicaprid (goat- Mehao Sanctuary, during the survey ofthe species.
antelope). It combines the features of the ox, goat Later, on enquiry, I was told by the locals that
and antelope. Its most striking feature is its convex while other ungulates such as serow and sambar
m
‘face’, heavy mouth, and thick neck. I was 150 were sighted by them frequently at the salt lick,
away from the animal, which was standing alone. the takin was a rare sighting for them also. This
There is a salt lick at this spot frequented by several sighting confirms the presence of takin in the
ungulate species. The takin was grazing nearthe salt Sanctuary. The habitat in that particular area is
lick and did not move from the spot for nearly 20 still comparatively undisturbed, due to which
minutes. Later, as we moved closer, the animal was the ungulate sightings are more frequent. The hunt-
disturbed and went down the steep valley. Since the ing pressure is also comparatively low in this part of
terrain was very steep I could not get close in order the Sanctuary due to the tough, inaccessible
A
to identify its sex, age and other features. takin terrain.
wasrearedby theForest Department in an enclosure
AREENDRAN
near the Mayodia guest house, which I used to November 27, 1995 S.
observe closely whenever I was there. I was thus Wildlife Institute ofIndia,
familiar with this animal and so there was no chance Post Box 18, Chandrabani,
ofmisidentification. According to Prater (1971) the Dehradun-248001
.
References
Manjrekar, et al. (1990): A report on wildlife survey of Prater, S.H. (1971): The book of Indian animals. Bombay
Arunachal Pradesh with reference to takin. Wildlife Natural History Society. Bombay.
Institute of India.