Occurrence of Indian Wolf Canis Lupus Pallipes in the Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh

2004·1 MB·

by  G Areendran

,,
Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 101 (1), Jan.-Apr. 2004 149-198
MISCELLANEOUSNOTES
SIGHTING OF CARACALINTHECHAMBALRAVINES OF BHIND DISTRICT,
1.
MADHYAPRADESH
While surveying the Bhind district of Madhya The area has diverse fauna, such as the Caracal,
Pradesh,tocapturecrop-raidingNilgai, fortranslocation Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata). Small Indian Civet
to the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary (as part ofa prey base (Viverricula indica), Indian Porcupine (Hystrix indica).
supplementation for the proposed Asiatic Lion Wolf (Canis lupus). Jackal (Canis aureus). Hedgehog,
Reintroduction Project), I saw two Caracals (Caracal Chinkara (Gazella bennetii). Nilgai (Boselaphus
caracal at an interval of about 15 days. The first tragocamelus). Hare and many species ofbirds.
)
sightingwason March 26, 2001 at 1630 hrswhile 1 was After observing many bird kills, especially dove
standing on a hillock in the ravines. The Caracal was and partridge, and also scats with bird feathers, I asked
stalkingand itstuftedearswereconspicuous.Thesecond thevillagersofBijpuriaboutthepresenceoftheCaracal,
sightingwason April 1 1, 2001 at 1930 hrs while I was locally called Seyahgosh, by showing a photograph.
comingbackfromthe ravinesand aCaracal came right Theyconfirmed itspresenceand informedthatitmostly
in front ofthe vehicle. A few faculty members ofthe stayed in porcupine burrows. Prater (1971) also
Wildlife Institute ofIndia and the DFO, Kuno Wildlife suggested thatCaracals keeptheirkittens in porcupine
Sanctuary, also saw it. burrows.Theybecomemorevisibleduringthemonsoon;
Thestudyareaincludedfivevillages,namelyBijpuri, perhaps they are not able to stay in the burrow.
Lavan,Chandupura, Karkekapuraand Gopalpura. The Caracal isanendangeredsmall cat, listed inCITES
areasurroundingthesevillages(2-4 sq. km) is privately Appendix-I (Nowell and Jackson 1996), and in
owned, i.e. revenue land, and is being used for Schedule I ofthe Wildlife(Protection) Act 1972.
agriculture. The entire area has ravines.
The major plant species are Prosopis cineraria April 4,2002 FAIYAZ A. KHUDSAR
Capparis decidua C. sepiaria, C. zeylanica Acacia A-4 (Aggarwal Sadan)
, ,
leucophloea A. nilotica Azadirachta indica OldGovindpura, KrishnaNagar,
, ,
Salvadora oleaides. Balanites aegvptiaca Zizyphus New Delhi 110 051, India.
,
mauritiana and Z. nwnmularia (Khudsar et al. 2001). Email: [email protected]
REFERENCES
Khudsar,F.A.,S.P.Goyal,N.RS.Chauhan,R.Chellam,K.Jagdish, Dehra Dun, India. 19 pp.
A.J.T. Johnsingh, J.S. Chauhan & S.K. Mittal (2001): A Nowell, K.& P. Jackson(Eds)(1996): Wildcats, statussurveyand
pilot study to standardize techniques for capturing nilgai conservation action plan. IUCN,Gland, Switzerland. 382 pp.
using drop-net and translocating them to Kuno Wildlife Prater,S.H.(1971):TheBookofIndianAnimals.3rdEdn.Bombay
Sanctuary. Technical Report. Wildlife Institute of India, Natural History Society, Bombay. Pp. 78.
2. OCCURRENCE OF INDIAN WOLF CANISLUPUS PALLIPES
INTHE PENCHTIGERRESERVE, MADHYAPRADESH
In December 1997, we were moving around the two wolves were reported seen close to Bodki village,
Pench Tiger Reserve at sunset, when a herd ofcattleto 8 km from theTigerReserve. The wolveswerestalking
therightofourvehicle panicked and ran towards us. To goats grazingclose to acrop field, aswe watched from
our surprise, we saw three wolves chasing the cattle. ourvehiclefrom adistanceofc. 100 m. Thewolvesfelt
Thewolves were startled when ourvehicle halted with our presence and ran away towards the forest. We
a screech. The first animal was a male, larger than the followed them for about 15 minutes alongthe road, as
othertwofollowingit.Theystoodforaminuteandmoved they moved ahead ofourvehicle. Wewere fortunateto
away to the nearby Cleistanthus forest. We got down get the animals on video for a few minutes. Again, on
tofollowthewolves, buttheydisappeared quickly into April 29, 1999,thevillagersofKarmajhiri reportedthat
the forest. Though we had heard about the presence of apackofwolves had liftedfivegoatsfrom theirvillage
wolves near the villages around the Pench Tiger in the morning. One goat had managed to escape and
Reserve, this was ourfirst sighting. the halfeaten carcasses ofthe otherfourwere left near
Afterthis incident,therewere no sightings bythe thevillagefield.
villagers until the afternoon ofMarch 23, 1999 when Playfair(1891) reportedthedestruction ofhuman
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
life by wolves in the Hoshangabad and Narsinghpur Indian Jackal, which are common. Yoganand and
districtsofMadhya Pradesh. Shahi (1982) reported the Johnsingh (2000) have also reported the co-existence
presence ofwolves in six districts ofMadhya Pradesh. of Dhole and Wolf in Panna, based on temporal and
After 13 years, Bharos (1996) reported their presence spatial segregation,whereintheWolfoccupiestheforest
in Rewa, while Ranjitsinh (1998) reportedthe sighting fringes and the Wild Dog the forested area.
ofa female wolf in Raisen and Sidhi districts. In the
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
same year, K. Yoganand of Wildlife Institute ofIndia
reported the presence ofwolves and sighting oftheir
scats and tracks on the fringes ofPannaNational Park, We thank Mr. K. Yoganand, Ms. Ambika,
Pannadistrict, Madhya Pradesh. This isthe first report Ms. Neha Samuel and Ms. Livleen Kahlon for critical
from Seoni district. scrutiny and comments on the draft.
In Pench Tiger Reserve, Wild Dogs or Dholes
AREENDRAN
(Cuona/pinus)areobservedtooccupythe forest,while March 27, 2002 *G.
wolvesremainonthefringes,closetohumansettlements. **M.K. PASHA
The Pench Tiger Reserve supports major Carnivora, WildlifeInstituteofIndia,
such as Tiger (Panthera tigris), Leopard (Panthera Dehra Dun 248 001, Uttaranchal, India.
pardus Indian Jackal Canis aureus), Wild Dog,
), (
Indian Wolf Canis lupus), Indian Fox Vulpes *Present Address: IGCMC, WWF-India,
( (
bengalensis) and Striped Hyena (Hyaena hyaena). 172-B, Lodhi Estate,
The Indian Wolfseemstobewidelydistributed in New Delhi 1 10 003, India.
Madhya Pradesh. The presence of wolves in Pench **PresentAddress: WildlifeTrustofIndia,
TigerReserveposesan intriguingquestionastheforest C-644,NewFriendsColony,
area isoccupied byothercanids, likethe Wild Dogand NewDelhi 1 10 001, India.
REFER ACES
Bharos, A.M.K. (1996): Occurrence ofthe wolf (Canis lupus Soc 95(2): 328.
Linnaeus) in Rewadistrict(M.R).J Bombaynat. Hist. Soc. Shahi. S.P. (1—982): Statusofthegreywolf(Canislupuspallipes)in
93(1): 81. India A Preliminary Survey. J. Bombay nat. Hist. Soc.
Playfair, H.A. (1891): The destruction of life by wolves in the 79(3):493-502.
HoshangabadandNarsingpurdistricts.J Bombaynat Hist. Yoganand, K. & A.J.T. Johnsingh (2000): Range overlap in
Soc. 6(2):265-268. dhole(Cuonalpinuspallipes) and wolf(Canislupus Linn.)
Ranjitsinh.M.K..(1998):OccurrenceofthewolfCanislupuspaUipes (Family: Canidae), in India.J. Bombaynat. Hist. Soc. 97(3):
Linn, inSidhidistrictMadhyaPradesh.J. Bombaynat. Hist. 418-419.
DEATH OFABLUEBULLBOSELAPHUSTRAGOCAMELUSDUETO SNAKEBITE
3.
Gura Bishnoi is a protected areacovering422 sq. Bull Boselaphus tragocamelus on a crippled hind leg,
km ofarea, c. 15 km southeast ofJodhpur (26° 78'N, which prevented it from walking or running properly.
73° 08' E). There are 24 villages in this protected area, After 10-12 minutes, the animal began to tremble and
ofwhich some are predominantly Bishnoi community fell to the ground. People working in the fields nearby
areas. also came to the spot. One ofthe old Bishnoi farmers
On the morning of September 9, 2001, I visited lookedatthemaleBlue Bull andsaidthatitwasanother
Khajarli,theplacewherea legendarygroupofBishnois caseofsnakebite bythe black snake usuallyseen inthe
died trying to protect the Khejri Prosopis cineraria). area. The Blue Bull’s mouth was foaming with saliva
(
On the way, we stopped at Khajarli pond to observe and its left legwasswollen, when itfinallydied an hour
Chinkara Gazel/a bennetti, Blackbuck Antilope later.
cervicapra and a variety of birds. We were standing
on the bankofthe pond and watchingwildlifewhen we January 7, 2002 ANIL KUMAR CHHANGANI
heard an unusual animal sound in the nearby Prosopis DepartmentofZoology,
juliflora plantation. We rushed in the direction ofthe JNV University,Jodhpur342 005,
sound, and saw a 1.5-1.8 m long Indian cobra Naja Rajasthan, India.
(
naja) crossingthe path. Further, there was a male Blue Email: [email protected]
150 J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 101 (1), Jan.-Apr. 2004