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MISCELLANEOUS NOTES References Choudhury, A.U. (1994): Thedeclineofthewildwater Choudhury,A.U.(1997b):Surveyofgrasslandsinsome buffaloinnortheasternIndia. Oryx28(1):70-73. partsofcentralandsouthernAssam:toassesstheir Choudhury,A. U.(1997a):Checklistofthemammalsof biodiversityandsocio-economicproblem.Unpubl. Assam 2nd edn. Gibbon Books & ASTEC, Report. WWF-India NE Regional Office. Guwahati. Guwahati. 5. OCCURRENCE OF INDIAN PANGOLINMANISCRASSICAUDATA IN ALIGARH, UTTARPRADESH Neitherofthetwopangolinsreportedfrom Dateofcollection 15.v.1997 the Indian subcontinent are known to occur in Totallength 105cm Aligarh area. The Indian pangolin Manis Lengthofhead 10.5cm Tail 50.5cm crassicaudata isreportedfrompeninsularIndia, Forelimb 8.5 cm+5.5cm(claw) while the Chinese pangolin M. pentadactyla Hindlimb 7 cm+0.75cm(claw) Width: occurs in northeastern India. Therefore, it was Centre 48cm quite surprising that a pangolin was sighted in Shoulder 47.5cm Aligarh (27° 29’ to 28° 11’ N and 77° 29’ to 28° Lower(hind)Portion 50cm 39’ E) in May 1997. The animal was captured I thank Dr. Abdur Raheem, Lecturer, and subsequently killed by the inhabitants ofa DepartmentofMuseology, AMU, forproviding local village called Barola Jafrabad 3 km from detailed measurements. the Aligarh MuslimUniversity (AMU) campus. The pangolin was identified as Manis July 27, 2000 H.S.A.YAHYA crassicaudata from the measurements noted Department ofWildlife Sciences, AMU belowbythe MuseologyDepartmentwhere Aligarh Muslim University, it is now on display. Aligarh 202 002,Uttar Pradesh, India. STRANDED WHALES ON THE GUJARAT COAST 6. Inthisnote, wereportsix strandedwhales It seems that most ofthe stranded whales seenbetween 1983 to 1998. We had personally seen in Gujarat coast are the blue whales seenfourspecimens inKutchdistrict. There are Balaenoptera musculus sometimes sperm ; reports of cetaceans, dolphins, porpoises and whales Physetercatodon may also be observed, whales in the waters ofGujarat. Whales, when e.g. specimen No. 6 seen on Jakhau coast. seendeadindeepwaters,arebroughttothecoast The cause of death of the whales is not by inquisitive fishermen, orbythe natural force known. Interestingly, three specimens outofthe oftides. The reports ofsuch dead whales in the six were seen from February to April and the newspapers attract hundreds of people to see remaining from July to August. these gigantic marine mammals. S.no. Place Date8cyear Remarks April 8, 2000 J.K.TIWARI 1. Ashaimata April 1983 15.24m Sea WaterFarms Eritrea, 2. Sindhrodi March 1984 15.24m P.O. Box 406,Massawa, Eritrea,E. Africa 3. KalumbharIsland August1988 8.38m* VARU 4. Bhadreshwarcoast February 1977 13.72m S.N. 5. Gangacreek July 1997 6.10m Junavas, TempleStreet, Madhapur, 6. Jakhaucoast July 1998 4.27m Kutch 370 020, Gujarat, India. BlueWhale 272 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 98(2), AUG. 2001