Going by the size of Sunderban tigers, it was believed that they were a different subspecies, but it has now been established that they share their lineage with Central Indian tigers, writes Atula Gupta.

When mud and water is the land you tread on and the forest is nothing but a floating mass, even a mega predator like the tiger has to adapt, shrink in size and mould its behaviour, according to the habitat’s demand, in order to survive. It is for this reason that the Royal Bengal Tigers living in the Sunderban mangrove forests have become smaller in size, morphologically different from their counterparts living in mainlands.

It is also partly this that led many scientists to contemplate if Sunderban tigers were in fact a different subspecies and not just an isolated population of tigers of India. While few studies prove this theory to be wrong, a new study shows a remarkable new line of thought.

Scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) have found that despite the outer differences, at the genetic level, tigers prowling in reserves like Bandhavgarh of Madhya Pradesh and the Sunderban mangroves are exactly the same. It is like the real life version of the brothers shown on celluloid who separate at birth and adapt to their circumstances to survive.

The national animal of India might be facing dire conditions thanks to greedy human demands, urban development and habitat destruction, but it is still the regal creature that roams many varied habitats of the country. From the cool forests of Corbett in the foothills of the Himalayas to the rich and dense forests of the Western Ghats, the tiger’s home today is small fragmented pockets that each has distinct characters and climatic conditions.

The big debate

But nowhere is life more challenging than the biggest mangrove forests in the world — the Sunderbans, where land and water constantly change the dynamics of the environment. Yet, the apex predator survives. The leaner frame and lesser body mass of the Sunderban tigers makes them much more adept at moving around in the muddy terrain. It also makes them survive on lesser food, given the added difficulty to catch prey and the reduced size of the prey itself. In 2009, when US scientist Adam Barlow made a comprehensive study of the skull and body size of Sunderban tigers and compared it with other mainland tigers, he found the size difference interesting and presumed the tiger could be from a different line altogether, changing the known evolution history of tigers.

What triggered the curiosity of naturalists further was when in 2010, a Sunderban tiger that had accidently roamed out of the mangroves was captured and weighed, before being released back into the jungles. This male weighed a mere 98 kg — more than half of the average weight of 221 kg recorded of other adult tigers.

But one study by eminent scientists John Seidensticker, Sandeep Sharma and Hemendra Panwar negated this theory. It said while tigers populated Central India about 10,000 years ago, their population subdivision began only about 1,000 years ago and accelerated only 200 years ago owing to habitat fragmentation.

Sunderban tigers could not be a subspecies because for any animal population to be called a subspecies, it has to be genetically isolated from the rest of the population for at least 20,000-50,000 years, for example, the Sumatran and the Siberian tiger — two distinct subspecies of the tiger. Also, for an animal population to be declared a separate species, it has to remain isolated for a period of one million years or more.

But if the separation did take place, where did the common ancestors live? Now, through DNA analysis, scientist S P Goyal and researchers Sujeet Kumar Singh and Sudhanshu Mishra from WII have given the answer — Sunderban tigers share common ancestors with Central Indian tigers. The separation occurred between 300 and 1,000 years ago due to historical events, human pressure and land-use patterns.

“Our study has found that the gene pattern of the Sunderban tigers is identical to the big cat population of the Central India landscape, including states like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and parts of Andhra Pradesh,” said Goyal.

For the WII report titled ‘Tigers of Sunderbans Tiger Reserve: Is This Population a Separate Evolutionary Significant Unit’, the scientists used a method called DNA haplotyping and fragment analysis to study the genetic pattern of the tigers. Haplotypes are a set of closely linked genetic markers present on one chromosome which tend to be inherited together.

When the DNA Haplotypes of the Sunderban tigers were compared with that of tigers of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, the pattern was found to be identical. This included tigers of MP parks, including Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Pench, and reserves like Tadoba and Nagzira in Maharashtra. Interestingly, they also found no genetic similarities between Sunderban tigers and tigers of Northern India like those roaming in Corbett reserve.

Human interference

The scientific findings open new avenues of research for biologists to further investigate the evolution and population separation of tigers. But what it also portrays is how human influence has drastically changed the habitat, homes and lives of even ferocious creatures like the tigers.

In historian Rajat Roy’s words, in 1756, when Siraj-Ud-Daulah recaptured the city of Kolkata from the British, today’s Salt Lake area used to be the main city and the Lower South Circular Road that’s now known as Chowringhee used to be the city’s southern border. “Beyond that were the forests of Sunderbans and there are beliefs that tigers were often sighted in those forests which now house busy localities like Tollygunge and Behala,” said Roy.

In the 2 million years that tigers have existed in this world, 300 to 1,000 years is a miniscule time frame. But in this short span, from a vast single homeland panning present day Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal, the tiger is now left with pockets of land in different states. And it is all man’s doing. Even as it is established that Eastern and Central Indian tigers have the same lineage, it is further proof of the way human hands have divided wildlife families and homes for their own selfish needs.

Original Publication: Deccan Herald

Date: 9 December, 2013

Link: Disconnected Ties

The rising water levels in the mangroves of Sunderbans has created an imbalance in the area which is otherwise blessed with a unique species diversity. The reason for this is unplanned aquaculture which needs to be immediately checked, writes Atula Gupta.

The impermeable floating jungles on the seashores of India and Bangladesh, Sunderbans, are both a blessing and a challenge for life to exist in the region. With an intricate network of interconnecting waterways criss-crossing the area, land has been moulded into patches of innumerable big and small islands. 

But it is also the richness of the soil and the sustainability of the ecosystem that has blessed the area with species diversity second to no other mangrove habitat in the world. The eternal battle of the sea and rivers, however, that plays out in this mangrove forest shaping its character, is lately tilting in the sea’s favour. So much is the imbalance that scientists fear the rising sea level could soon gobble up the entire eastern end of the Sunderbans.

Sunderbans, the world’s largest estuarine forest and delta covered by mangrove forests and vast saline mudflats, is situated on the lower end of Gangetic West Bengal. A land of 54 tiny islands, Sunderbans is bound on the west by river Muriganga and on the east by rivers Haribhanga and Raimangal. Other major rivers flowing through this ecosystem are Saptamukhi, Thakurain Matla and Gosaba.

A recent study by the World Bank and the Institute of Environmental Studies and Wetland Management (IESWM) has revealed that sea level rise in these areas is 3 mm annually and the sedimentation is not keeping pace with this rise.

It may look like a small number but if the deposition of sediments does not happen at the same pace as the rising sea level, the sea water may soon spread to parts of former land.

The upper Bidya and Raimangal regions in the Sunderbans are important tiger habitat, home to local villagers as well as popular tourist destinations. The upper Bidya region is hardly a 15-minute cruise from Godkhali and known for the fishing communities of Gosaba village. 

The Raimangal region — a seven-hour boat ride from Sonakhali — is one of the favourite tourist haunts for spotting a tiger. Therefore, it is easy to infer the mammoth loss of life and local economy the catastrophic sea-level rise can bring. As a precaution, scientists have suggested de-populating parts of some islands along the fringe areas. 

This will allow the existing embankments to be moved back and allow a wider tidal channel to develop. When this happens, gradually, the deposit of sediments will increase and the land rise will be at the same pace as the sea-level rise.

Threat from the sea

The physiography of the Sunderbans is distinctive and ever-changing because of the land and water interaction. Rivers here tend to be long and straight, a consequence of the strong tidal forces, and the clay and silt deposits which resist erosion. Easily eroded sand collects at the river mouths, and form banks and chars. Finer silts are washed out into the Bay of Bengal, but, where they are protected from wave action, mudflats form in the lee of the dunes.

These become overlain with sand from the dunes, and develop into grassy midden. This process of island building continues for as long as the area on the windward side is exposed to wave action.

But it is not just the water-land interaction, but the types of water that is a major influence in defining the shape and life forms of Sunderbans. The most biologically-rich areas are in the east where, because of the numerous rivers, freshwater influences are greater.

The confluence of saline and freshwater is a harbinger of life, breeding point of many marine species including fishes, and the rare Olive Ridley turtles.

However, the bad news is, with the sea level rising and the river banks not wide enough to accommodate the rising water, the land that is moulded wave after wave will soon be underwater completely.

The rivers on upper Bidya and Raimangal — Pathankhali and Jhila — need to be at least 340 and 420 metres wider respectively to withstand the impact of sea level rise, warn researchers. 

As that is not the case presently, life and homes of the villagers and the 57 Royal Bengal tigers living in the forested areas of eastern Sunderbans, namely the jungles of Jhila, Arbesi and Khatuajhuri, are both endangered.

Unplanned development

According to IESWM scientist Somenath Bhattacharya, who conducted the research between 2009 and 2012 with geologist Kakoli Sen Sharma and World Bank consultant John Pethick, the reason for this growing threat from the sea is unplanned aquaculture.

He says aquaculture has gobbled up more than 550 sq km area on the Sunderbans in the last 30 years. Also, because these involve low-intensity management techniques, more sea water has entered the creeks than was required, causing them to erode much faster.

 “We need to widen these rivers by at least 300 metres on both sides to accommodate this huge flow of sea water. And for this, there will be loss of both agricultural land and settlements,” warned Bhattacharya. Conversely, the western end of the Sunderbans portray a different picture. The western parts comprise forests of Chulkathi and Dhulibhashani, according to Sharma, and rivers like Banstala and Ghughudanga on the Saptamukhi estuarine system here are not only developing extensive mangroves, but are also capable of accommodating a future sea-level rise of over one metre without any impact on the embankment integrity.

She adds that like the popular dyke model of the Netherlands, here too, dykes or flap sluices have been made by the inhabitants to regulate the water levels. Also, the populated areas of Patharpratima and Bakkhali are almost free of aquaculture, giving them much more chances of surviving well even if the sea levels rise.

At present, 3.5 million people live within 20 km of the mangroves’ northern and eastern boundaries. This includes farmers, fishermen, and wood and honey collectors whose daily sustenance is entirely dependent on the forest. If they do want to stop their precious little land from being snatched away by the sea gods, re-embankments, dyke building, planned aquaculture and recalibrating nature’s balance in these parts are the only solutions.

Original Publication: Deccan Herald

Date: 25 November, 2013

Link: Drowning forest

As cities expand and humans encroach upon animal habitats, the creatures have no other option but to adapt to the changing environment in order to survive. We may be fuelling the evolution of bigger brains in city-dwelling animals, writes Atula Gupta.

Away from the open pastures, green valleys and forested pathways, a village simpleton new to the city soon realises the first bitter lesson of survival. Become a little selfish, a little sly if you want to live and earn your daily bread. But does the same lesson apply for animals too? Interestingly, scientists from University of Minnesota have found it does.

Animals living in the city, from pigeons to crows and from badgers to jackals, are adapting to these changes and the ones that are successfully surviving in the concrete jungle are brainier than their naïve rural counterparts.

Researchers believe humans are creating all these totally new environments compared to what the animals have seen in evolutionary history. These urban jungles filled with highways, vehicles, soot, dust and a multitude of concrete buildings are not variations of an old habitat but a new habitat, where Darwin’s lesson of survival of the fittest still holds true.

Therefore, besides crows that have highly adapted to living in different habitats and have for long made cities their home, there are also racoons, rats, jackals, sparrows, hornbills and even leopards that have slowly begun to realise that the old world has changed forever and it is the new age concrete jungle where they need to learn to live if they want a future for their species.

In the study conducted, researchers compared the brain size of museum specimens gathered across the 20th Century in Minnesota, USA, with that of rural mammals and found a jump in brain size of the city dwellers. This was observed in shrews, voles, bats, squirrels, mice and gophers. They believe it is because of the cognitive demands of adjusting to changing food sources, threats and landscapes. Therefore, just like humans who live in cities rather than in rural areas tend to be more street-smart, city dwelling animals too become cleverer than their rural counterparts.

Although brain size does not relate to the intelligence of a human or any animal, the pattern of increase in brain size in all the mammals observed by the team, does show there is some relation to their living in an urban environment and thus needing more grey matter to survive.

But is becoming smarter the only adaptation that animals have to make in cities? No, find many previous researches. When Catarina Miranda of Germany’s Max Planck Institute compared rural and urban blackbirds, she found avoiding danger a useful trait for some animals living in urban environments. Urban birds, she observed, never approach new objects or enter new environments easily. She explains that in cities, birds know there are many dangers like a vehicle running over them, a kid jumping at them and catching them, therefore they learn to avoid these dangers by becoming less curious of new settings.

Jason Munshi-South, an evolutionary biologist at the City University of New York studied city salamanders with those living in the wild and found that, “[They] tend to be languid.”
“If you try to pick them up, they don’t try to escape as vigorously as they do outside the city. I wonder if there’s been natural selection for that,” said Munshi-South.

Therefore, city species are smarter, but are more careful too and less aggressive than their wild cousins. Observe a monkey used to living in a human settlement and one in a forest. You will easily find how the city macaque is attuned to all the chaos surrounding him, while its wild cousin will grit its teeth in anger or shy away if you try to approach it. Muted stress response is a sensible-seeming adaptation. A rat that gets anxious every time a subway train rolls past won’t be very successful.

The question arises though whether these changes occurring in city animals are a permanent biological modification passed from one generation to the next or an adaptation to circumstances that can be forgotten once they are back in the wilderness.

Experts believe that while some adaptations are passed on from one generation to another, others can be modified. Biologist Atwell found that urban birds sing at a higher frequency than rural birds. But when he raised a few of the chicks in a quieter place without the loud noise of a city life, their singing frequency dropped too. What is interesting is that even if these are just adaptations, sometimes what one individual learns, is quickly copied by others of its clan. Urban squirrels, for example, seem to have adjusted to vocalisation-drowning ambient noise by making tail-waving a routine part of communications. Perhaps this was instinctive in a few animals, then picked up by others. So, there is also a culture evolution observed in city-bred animals besides changes at the individual level.

There are many questions that in turn surface from these studies. Does the change in character or brain functioning of an animal eventually give rise to a different subspecies that is more adept to city living? Can the Asian macaques that now live so well amongst us in cities survive now if they are given the freedom to live in a wild environment again? And the big question – is this evolution beneficial or harmful for the species and the natural life in general?

Evolution is a change over time and the answer to all these questions lies in the future when multiple generations have been observed and seen to survive the man-made changes brought into this world. While conservationists might disagree and  even repent the forced modifications in an animal’s natural lifestyle, if the adaptations are necessary for the sheer existence of these species, it might as well be a good change that is happening.

Original Publication: Deccan Herald

Date: 23 September, 2013

Link: Urban adpatation

Camouflage has not helped the cause of the elusive snow leopards in this day and age as rampant cashmere goat rearing has left no food for their prey — the local wildlife. The ‘Ghost of the Himalayas’ will soon disappear if we don’t mend our ways, reckons Atula Gupta

They are rare, beautiful and so hard to spot that the local name for these elusive leopards is ‘Ghost of the Himalayas.’ Indeed ghostlike for their disappearance act thanks to the perfect camouflage their white fur provides in the snow-capped surroundings, the elusive snow leopards are nature’s best examples of adaptation and the bond of a habitat and its inhabitants. Sadly, it is not nature but fashion that is controlling the fate of the beast and its natural environment now. With the globally renowned pashmina or cashmere products creating an imbalance in the prey-predator ratio in the Greater Himalayan Region, snow leopards have truly become the latest victims of fashion.

Snow leopards, wild yaks, camels and other native species found in the Greater Himalayan region are seemingly being edged out by the cashmere industry, as livestock farmers set loose their expanding herds of domesticated ‘cashmere goats’, says a new research.

Grassroot problem

According to the Snow Leopard Trust and the Wildlife Conservation Society that conducted the research, the cashmere trade has grown into a multi-billion dollar industry in the last few decades.

To support global demand for the luxurious lightweight goat hair, local herders across Mongolia, India and China’s Tibetan Plateau have significantly increased livestock production. In Mongolia alone, numbers of domestic goats have grown consistently, from five million heads in 1990 to close to 14 million in 2010.

What this has brought is a sea of change in the natural ecosystem and food web of the region. With the reared goats competing for the same food source as the wild ungulates, the prey population is having a hard time finding good grass to eat. In turn, with the prey numbers decreasing, snow leopards are dying too. The survey revealed that 95 per cent of all the forage across the Tibetan plateau, Mongolia and northern India was consumed by goats, sheep and other livestock, leaving just five per cent for wild animals.

According to Charudutt Mishra, one of the researchers, “Cashmere production is a complicated human issue. Understandably, indigenous herders are trying to improve their livelihoods, but the short-term economic gain is harming the local ecosystem.”Additionally, the wild mammals are also suffering from a reduction in their range and displacement to marginal habitats. Because the goat herders need to keep their goats safe, the feral and domestic dogs accompanying them add an increased risk of the wild deers, sheeps etc. being chased away or killed by them. The rise in snow leopard-human conflict is also a concern.

With prey population diminishing, the predator does not have any choice but to try and attack the livestock and the pashmina goats for food. A retaliatory killing by the herders then becomes an inevitable reality.

Significant habitat

Snow leopards are one of the most beautiful of all cat species. With thick white hair for insulation, wide, fur-covered feet acting as natural snowshoes and their long tails adapted for balance and as blankets to cover sensitive body parts against the severe mountain chill, these leopards show every trait required to survive the mountain life.

Their prey base consists of the blue sheep (bharal) of Tibet and the Himalayas, as well as the mountain ibex found over most of the rest of their range. With less than 4,000 left in the wild, these precious cats therefore need a constant supply of food to survive, which tragically is what the commercial cashmere trade is snatching away from them.

But, international experts feel solutions are readily available if only the dialogue between the garment industry, cashmere herders and conservationists begins in a proactive way. Few solutions are already being acted upon in the region. The communities that produce cashmere products without killing leopards or harming other wildlife are being recognised and a small bonus has already been given to such herders.

To reduce man-animal conflict and the incidence of leopards attacking reared goats, improved corrals are being introduced where the goats are kept safely.
To avoid the passing on of certain diseases from the goats to wild animals such as yak and blue sheep, the conservationists also plan to introduce vaccinations of the reared animals as a possible solution.

“By improving our understanding of the relationship between indigenous herders, local ecology and global markets, we can implement policies at the national and international level which are better designed to protect biodiversity while supporting the livelihoods of local communities,” Charu Mishra explains.

There is the greater concern about the grass cover too, which is finally the root cause for the malnourished wild animals. To make greener pastures available for native grazers like the Saiga tatarica, an antelope, the Tibetan chiru, Bactrian camels, wild yaks, and the Himalayan bharal, sustainable grazing programmes need to be devised.
Again, this needs immediate attention and the collaboration of policy makers, herders, traders, conservationists and even the end users of the popular cashmere products.

The snow leopard is an endangered animal today thanks to a multitude of modern day challenges. Global warming is melting the ice covers of its mountain home. Chinese medicine trade is leading to a rise in poaching incidents and untimely death of many of these rare animals. The lure of its soft, fuzzy fur is driving men to butcher them and gnaw their skin out. Added to these is the present problem of a visibly harmless herbivore like the pashmina goat, snatching food away from a tough predator’s mouth.
If the essence of the mountains, its people, its habitat and its creatures has to be saved, it is important that each of the gears of this fine machinery is well oiled, checked and protected to keep the bigger system running smoothly and perfectly.

If the human-made hurdles continue to interfere with the ecological machines, animals like the shy and elusive snow leopard will surely become ghosts in the future, haunting and reminding us of our follies forever.

Original Publication: Deccan Herald

Date: 19 August, 2013

Link: Victims of fashion

Poaching, grasslands getting converted to farmlands, feral dogs chasing the bird away and dwindling genetic diversity have all contributed to the near-extinction of a bird that was once tipped to be India’s national bird, says Atula Gupta.

Five of them live in Madhya Pradesh; thirty in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh and the remaining 50 per cent of the population, numbered between 175 and 200, now survives in Rajasthan. Meet the Great Indian Bustard, a bird that was once touted to represent India as its national bird, but became a victim instead, of a society busy saving celebrity species like the tiger or busier shaping a new wildlife-free India. With each approaching day bringing the bustard closer to a fate the nation might regret forever, have the government and the people finally woken up to the great peril this species faces at present?

Great Indian Bustards are a grassland species and truly a great specimen of the bustard family. Heavily built, an adult stands tall at about one metre with long legs and an equally long white neck adding to its majestic demeanour. Days are spent on the ground feeding on locusts, beetles, butterflies, snakes, scorpions, lizards, mustard and pulses like Bengal gram and groundnut seeds.

Even their nests are on the ground with breeding season between August and December and the female laying one to two eggs. Flying only to migrate to other open areas, the grasslands are thus their lifeline. What is heartbreaking, therefore, is how a bird so majestic that it cannot be forgotten even on a fleeting glimpse is leading the life of an obscure, forgotten star owing to years of neglect.

Most conservationists agree that the best hope of the bustard’s survival is in Rajasthan where the state bird has the maximum population in the world. Preferring the tall grassland areas near Jaisalmer and Barmer, the bird is frequently sighted at the Desert National Park where its population is believed to be 100. However, owing to its high density in the region and its magnanimous appearance, the poor bird has also become an easy target for poachers – some even within the elite circle of protectors.

On May 13, 2013 the son of a forest officer was reportedly caught by local villagers at the Desert National Park’s Sudasari range in Jaisalmer district hunting for the regal bird. According to the village head, the forest officers, however, ignored the incident and even refused to arrest the said poacher. The post mortem report had clearly mentioned the use of a sharp weapon and villagers have previously noted similar poaching incidents in December 2012 and March 2013.

Poaching is only one of the many perils threatening the bustard in the state. Other problems are feral dogs chasing the bird away, grasslands getting converted to farmlands, and dwindling genetic diversity.

As a recent boost to the conservation efforts, the Rajasthan government has approved of a Bustard recovery programme with a budget of Rs 12 crore allotted exclusively for it. This state government initiative is clearly a generous move, but its success will only be visible when the bird’s population recovery is visible.

Rarer than the tiger

The bustards are a species more threatened than the tiger and, unlike these wild cats, they do not even have the ability to survive in varied ecosystems and habitats. While tigers can live from marshy areas of Sundarbans to dry, hot and arid forests of Ranthambore, the bustards only survive in grasslands. And it is this specific habitat that it misses the most in India today.

Farmers in Rollapadu in Andhra Pradesh recall how even a decade back they could see at least 40-50 bustards in and around the district. But as farming land need grew, the bustards vanished. Even though the Rollapadu Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary was set up in 1987, locals say that the Alaganur Balancing Reservoir close to the sanctuary converted much of the grassland to wetland, degrading the habitat. Other problems included the growing blackbuck and wolf population.

The Rollapadu Great Indian Bustard Sanctuary has now been selected as the site where revival of the dying bird species will be attempted with help from the Bombay Natural History Society, World Wide Fund for Nature and state forest departments. The project will continue for the coming ten years, studying the birds, their habitats and ensuring minimal obstruction to their existence. It is again a measure whose success can be ascertained gradually, when the bustard population recovers.

The Wildlife Institute of India has also come up with plans to track the birds through satellites in order to gather more information about them.

The Indian cheetah became extinct in the year 1952. It was the last mega species to have been completely eradicated from this nation thanks mainly due to conversion of grasslands to farmlands in the rapidly developing India post Independence. Sixty years later, another species stands on the extinction path today, getting ready to be sacrificed in the name of more development needs that are shamelessly unaccommodating to the vast wildlife of the land.

Conservation strategies that look good on paper have many hurdles to cross before the bustard is saved, including dealing with land mafia, lax public servants and a public that is vastly ignorant of the threatened life of the bird. Three hundred and counting, it is a conservation race that is still on.

Original Publication: Deccan Herald

Date: 22 July, 2013

Link: On Its Last Leg

Forty years after the Chipko Movement became symbolic of several conservation struggles, the message sent out by the women to fellow human beings have been conveniently forgotten by future generations, feels Atula Gupta.

It was on March 26, 1974, when a group of peasant women in Reni village of Chamoli district of Uttarakhand stood surrounding their beloved trees. They were trying to save them from being chopped down by contractors deployed by the forest department. Their message was simple, cut us, before you cut the trees. Known to the world as the Chipko Movement it is tragic today to learn that the same place that gave birth to one of the first known conservation battles in the history of the world, is facing one of the biggest natural disasters of modern times. What is even more tragic is the revelation that this present day destruction was exactly the outcome of not heeding to the lessons those women had tried to teach years ago.

On June 16 and 17, 2013 Uttarakhand was pounded by landslides and torrential rains. What followed is a gory story of wreckage that took with itself thousands of lives, and left many more with a future without a home, livelihood, savings or even an identity. In the aftermath of this tragic Himalayan tsunami as people stagger to build their dilapidated lives once again, all experts are of the same opinion – the nightmare did begin with a cloudburst but the damage it unleashed was not entirely nature-made. Chopped trees, rampant construction, deliberate attempt to change the course of the mountain rivers so that roads, power plants and dams could be built, escalated the vulnerability of the state to such an extent that its fall like a pack of cards was predestined.

Ecological sins

Forty years ago when the Chipko Movement gathered momentum in Uttarakhand and later became symbolic of many conservation movements, the women who stood for the forests had one message to send across to every individual. They said that the real gifts of the forests were soil, water and pure air, not timbre, resin and revenue. Sadly though, the tree huggers’ message was forgotten by their very future generations, more so when Uttarakhand became an official Indian state in November of 2000.

In the decade that followed, Uttarakhand’s development priorities have changed. The fact is visible in the hundreds of data available related to the state’s diminishing natural resources and untamed urban growth. Between 2001 and 2011 Uttarakhand lost 4,856 square kilometres of its forest cover as per the national census.

Interestingly, the habituated areas have increased by 30 square kilometres. The state has seen a 1,000 per cent increase in vehicular traffic in the last eight years with expansion of roads leading to the inevitable everyday – more chances of landslides.
Around 70 hydel projects are proposed on the two main tributaries of the Ganga – Alaknanda and Mandakini – that meet at Rudraprayag, the epicentre of the devastation. Two 20-kilometre tunnels are being built to divert these rivers for hydel projects and constant blasting of the river banks has affected the local ecology.

The biggest stressor of all is the infrastructure and real estate development, triggered by the cash flow from tourism. The number of tourists visiting Uttarakhand since 2000 has increased by 155 per cent, according to data with the Uttarakhand tourism department. The annual number of tourists visiting the state now is 28 million; the state’s population is half this number.

In 2012 the Centre declared the 100-kilometre stretch along the Bhagirathi river from Gangotri to Uttarkashi an “Eco Sensitive Zone” which meant no development was permitted there. But this eco-zone was strongly opposed by the government in the name of development and providing infrastructure to the people living in the area.
Needless to say, the shortage of dwelling for the tourists was fulfilled by building illegal structures too near to the river. The floods came and turnedthem into rubble in a matter of minutes.

Studies by the Pune-based Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology have shown that the fury of flash floods over the north-west Himalayan region in the last 20 years has increased and a probable reason is global warming. Vinod Tare, senior faculty at IIT, Kanpur and an expert on the Himalayan ecosystem, says when trees are removed, rocks blasted and unscientific anthropogenic pressure is exerted nature plays havoc.
Terence Mckenna once said, nature is not mute- it is man who is deaf. The Uttarakhand tragedy has proven that in this “State of the Gods”, the one who needs to worshipped the most is Mother Nature.

to know the ecological impact of mining in the Doon Valley showed that the limestone left in the mountains contributed more to the economy than its extraction through mining, because limestone is an aquifer and holds water in its cavities and caves.
She says logging was strictly banned in the 80s after it was seen that the Ganga catchment area could never survive floods without the strong root system holding the steep mountains together.

Terence Mckenna once said, nature is not mute- it is man who is deaf. The Uttarakhand tragedy has proven that in this “State of the Gods” as it is known, the one who needs to worshipped the most is Mother Nature.

Original Publication: Deccan Herald

Date: 8 July, 2013

Link: Unnatural Progress

Burnt old plants generate a chemical message for the next generation, telling dormant seeds it’s time to sprout. Scientists explain that controlling a forest fire can actually be harmful in the long run because the soil then loses the important minerals and chemicals needed to nudge the new generation into wakefulness, writes Atula Gupta.

There is something that is whispered in the ears of a dormant seed. An urgent message prompted by a forest fire to germinate, propagate and spread out.
Scientists have finally found the answer to why seeds lying dormant for years and years on the forest floor suddenly wake from their slumber and literally rise from the ashes after a forest fire. It is thanks to a chemical communication between one that is burning away and the one that is eager to embrace the world with its new shoots and leaves.

Forest fires are in most cases a natural phenomenon, a cleansing ritual where the old dies and the new sprouts forth. But, for centuries, it has been a mystery how seeds seemingly dead, sprawled on the forest floor, can energetically take the place of their charred brethren once the fire has subsided and new green cover is urgently required. Scientists at the Salk Institute and the University of California, San Diego, now say that they have found the molecular trigger that pushes this rapid regeneration.

The researchers explain what happens is nothing less than a magical passing of information. Burnt old plants generate a chemical message for the next generation, telling dormant seeds it’s time to sprout! They also add that controlling a forest fire can actually be harmful in the long run as the soil then lacks the important minerals and chemicals needed to nudge the new generation into wakefulness.

Explains James J La Clair, one of the researchers, “When Yellowstone National Park was allowed to burn in 1988, many people felt that it would never be restored to its former beauty. But by the following spring, when the rains arrived, there was a burst of flowering plants amid the nutrient-rich ash and charred ground.”

Life-triggering chemical

Previous studies in the same area have noted that special chemicals known as karrikins are created as trees and shrubs burn during a forest fire. This time, the scientists found a plant protein called KAI2, which binds to the chemical karrikin on the dormant seed.  

The dormant seeds might be living with the protein for years, but it is only when it is bound to karrikin, that the seeds perceive its presence.

Role of karrikin

Binding changes the shape of the protein and this changed shape signal other proteins to begin working too. “These other protein players,” plant geneticist Zuyu Zheng says, “together with karrikin and KAI2, generate the signal causing seed germination at the right place and time after a wildfire.”

While the new findings were made in arabidopsis, a model organism that many plant researchers study, the scientists say the same karrikin-KAI2 regeneration strategy is undoubtedly found in many plant species.

“In plants, one member of this family of enzymes has been recruited somehow through natural selection to bind to this molecule in smoke and ash and generate this signal,” they say. “KAI2 likely evolved when plant ecosystems started to flourish on the terrestrial earth and fire became a very important part of ecosystems to free up nutrients locked up in dying and dead plants.”

Understanding the chemistry behind the bountiful growth and forest regeneration post a wild fire is a significant discovery. Not only does it give a more positive view of the devastation that seems to eradicate an entire living, breathing, thriving ecosystem, it also might give scientists the choice to build their own forests.

Afforestation in the future might not be about planting tree saplings, but simply triggering the natural molecular process of growth in seeds by providing them the right signals. Rapidly vanishing natural habitats can be re-generated by prompting grasslands, tropical forests, rainforests to grow again where human negligence and interference has created mass forest vacuums. It is still a niche study area, but the possibilities are immense if the science is used in the right direction.

Situation in India

In India, statistical data on fire loss are weak but it is estimated that the proportion of forest areas prone to forest fires annually ranges from 33 per cent in some states to over 90 per cent in other. Sadly, most of forest fires in India are man-made. Burning of forest understorey at the peak of the dry season helps to stimulate grass growth before the monsoon rains break and this is a major grazing source for cattle. Collecting non-wood forest products in the dry deciduous is often associated with burning — the fire removes the leaf litter layer, and freshly fallen fruits become visible and easier to collect.

Although the present research highlights that rapid re-generation is a certainty, deliberate fires can, time and again, lead to other problems such as soil erosion and loss of wildlife.

By using the same chemistry to trigger seed sprouting, perhaps the need to burn an entire forest down for human and cattle needs can be avoided.

As scientists try to unravel little by little the infinite mystical ways Mother Nature ensures sustenance of life, it becomes clearer that humans have a long way to go before they achieve nature’s perfection — where even in death, it is assured that millions of new lives spring forth precisely when they are needed the most.

Original Publication: Deccan Herald

Date: 18 June, 2013

Link: Rising from the ashes

Recent research points out that as tiger numbers have dropped over the years, the number of mating partners available has come down too, leading to poor genetic diversity of the royal animal, writes Atula Gupta.

Mysterious, powerful, majestic — the tiger stands tall in our imagination. But, in reality, tigers are disappearing in the wild and are not that powerful either. With the clock ticking against the survival of tigers, it is not merely their numbers that is of concern now but the genes of the future generations of tigers, for they are likely to become a weaker reflection of their earlier generations. As fresh research sheds light on how compared to past tigers, the modern beasts have very poor genetic diversity, it throws yet another challenge in the way of the conservationists.

How to save an animal whose own genes have begun to surrender to the theory of the survival of the fittest? Just a century ago, an estimated 1,00,000 tigers inhabited the forests of Asia. Now, the number stands at about 3,200 in the wild. Yet, with every news of a birth in one of the protected reserves of the country, the faint glimmer of hope still flickers in tiger lovers’ hearts, hoping that their children will not be left looking at the pictures of this majestic animal that once existed.

What has shaken many out of this dream is a new research by scientists at the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore and Cardiff University who took DNA samples of tiger skin and bones from the collection at the Natural History Museum and National Museum of Scotland and compared it with the DNA of modern tigers.

The team found that as the tiger numbers have dropped over the years, the number of mating partners available has reduced too and this has led to poor genetic diversity of the royal animal. The scientists warn that even if the present efforts are helping increase the number of the animals, these new age tigers are not as strong, resilient or fit as their ancestors. Professor Michael W Bruford of Cardiff University says, “The results were staggering. We found 93 per cent of the DNA genetic variants we measured in the historical tigers are not found in modern tigers. This is a much bigger fall than we expected.”

Failing genes

The genetic diversity of wild tigers has deteriorated to such an extent that it can lead to many worrisome problems in the future. All living organisms carry a genetic blueprint. This is so regardless of whether they are humans, plants, animals, or fungi, whether they are short- or long-lived, and whether they reproduce sexually or clonally. It is the genes that decide our physical traits, mental abilities, how tough or weak we are in face of crisis, our reaction to pathogens and many other attributes. With limited mating partners, the genes that pass on from one generation to another begin to weaken. They are less resistant to diseases, more vulnerable to environment variability around them like temperature, weather changes, mass epidemic or natural disasters. They also struggle surviving with and against competition, and in a jungle this can make the difference between life and death.

With restricted choices of mating partners, a faulty gene in one parent can easily pass on to the offspring and the entire population in an area may become vulnerable to a single health issue or a disease. Imagine, for example an outbreak of malaria wiping out the entire population of tigers!

Most species with a population of 1,000 or more have a good chance of survival and with that reasoning, the tigers should survive too. But, the present researchers disagree. They found that there are two broad genotypes of tigers today, like two families with distinct genes – one that live in the uplands of Nepal, Tibet and northern India, and those that live in the lush lowlands of the South.

What shocked the researchers was finding that these two genotypes are not really very different.

It is just that the intermediate families having different variations in their genes have vanished, leaving two very vulnerable and weak generations partitioned in such a way that there is no chance of one mating with the other.

Ironically, the DNA of the tiger skins that have helped scientists arrive at the shocking results also offer clues to why the modern tiger is dying from within. It is because the best, biggest, fiercest were already killed during the British Raj and by erstwhile maharajas.

The genes that have tumbled down to the present generation belong to the tigers that were spared from becoming a rug in the royal palaces, probably because the challenge to kill them was not as great as their more ferocious counterparts. The numerous photographs of British and royals posing with a dead tiger under their feet, holds today the clue to why the strongest genes of the animal got eradicated so rapidly and the weaker genes survived.

In the light of the present research, the shaky future of the wild cat seems inevitable. But then again, genes have the magical quality to adapt and change to the present environment and are not just photocopied blueprints.

With a little help, like giving the wild tigers more space, expanding their corridors, it might be possible to create once again the much needed resilience. It is not a day’s work, but every moment put to save the national animal, will be worth the effort.

Original Publication: Deccan Herald

Date: 27 May 2013

Link: The Fading Roar

Recent research has found that if nothing is done to counter the effects of global warming, by the year 2080, half of the common plants on earth and one third of animals will lose their climate range. This means that the ecosystem, or the habitat of the animal or plant, will be lost and will automatically lead to species becoming endangered, writes Atula Gupta

It is the year 2080 and the world is a place you hardly recognise. Planet earth has become a lot hotter and a lot less greener. Plants that were sprouting all around your neighbourhood are hardly visible. Common birds such as crows and cackles have faded away and can be barely heard or recognised. This grim picture of the future world is not just a fantastic projection of our planet, which is rapidly heating up, but the result of a recent research that suggests that half of common plants and one third of the animals that we easily spot today may become rare and endangered due to the effects of climate change.

Climate change or global warming is rapidly altering the world we live in. Recently it was found out that for the first time in human history, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide has reached 400 parts per million. Manmade emissions of carbon dioxide have increased the atmospheric concentration of CO2 from around 270 to 280 ppm in the late 1700s to today’s record high level — a 43 per cent increase.

But while news of the earth’s rapidly rising temperature is not a new development, what a recent research conducted by scientists from the University of East Anglia has found is the way this rise can alter the climate range of about 50,000 species of plants and animals all over the world.

Global biodiversity loss

Researchers found that if nothing is done to counter the effects of global warming being felt at present, by the year 2080, half of the common plants on earth and one third of animals will lose their climate range. This means the ecosystem or the habitat of the animal or plant will be lost and this will automatically lead to species becoming endangered. They say the biggest threat will be to plant life, reptiles and amphibians.
The regions of the world which will lose most of their plants and animals are Sub-Saharan Africa, Central America, Amazonia and Australia. On the other hand, North Africa, Central Asia and South-eastern Europe will be the regions that will face a catastrophic loss of only plant life.

The study was led by Rachel Warren from UEA’s School of Environmental Sciences. She says that while many experts today are concerned about rare and threatened species, this is the first time that a study shows the impact of climate change on life forms that we commonly see around us.

“This broader issue of potential range loss in widespread species is a serious concern as even small declines in these species can significantly disrupt ecosystems. Our research predicts that climate change will greatly reduce the diversity of even very common species found in most parts of the world. This loss of global-scale biodiversity would significantly impoverish the biosphere and the ecosystem services it provides,” says the researcher.
Thus, the scientist predicts a future where sighting of the common myna or plants like the bougainvillea or jasmine too might become rare.

From one to hundreds

It is not just the direct impact of climate change that is disconcerting. With rise in temperature, there are drastic weather changes, increase in the number of pests, and increase in diseases. It is these reasons too that may kill a number of plants and animals.
Because of the natural interdependence of all species, the loss of one can become life threatening for other beings as well. If half of the commonly known plant species are gone, that may lead to mass extinction of numerous insects, herbivores and carnivores.
The greatest impact will surely be on humans. “There will be a knock-on effect for humans because these species are important for factors such as water and air purification, flood control, nutrient cycling, and eco-tourism,” the researcher says.

No time to lose

Scientists, however, also found that if actions to mitigate the problems arising from climate change are taken now, plants and animals can get an extra lease of life. It has been predicted that compared to pre-industrial era, global temperatures could rise by four degrees celsius by 2100. The mitigation would first slow and then stop global
temperatures from rising by more than two degrees celsius which will give at least 60 per cent of these species time to adapt to changes and up their survival skills, with 40 years of added life.

As far as India is concerned, the effects of global warming are already apparent. In the east, Olive ridley turtles have a tougher task finding idle nesting sites for their eggs as beaches begin to shrink with rising sea level.

In the high-altitude regions of the Himalayas, flowers that bloom in spring are budding in winter, confusing the bees and the insects that depend on the nectar and the shelter of these plants. In the Western Ghats, tree frogs have begun to predict monsoons at unusual times of the year.

Climate change is every nation’s problem today, and every individual’s. To cool the anger of this global monster created by us, it is pertinent that efforts too are put in by one and all. Only then can the vast majority of life forms on earth be saved.

Original Publication: Deccan Herald

Date: 20 May, 2013

Link: Species on the brink of fading away

Guards in Assam’s protected  forests have to face poachers armed with sophisticated guns day in and day out. Waking up to the serious lacuna in the system, conservation authorities in Assam and local NGOs have recently introduced technology such as conservation drones in Kaziranga. It’s time the protectors of wildlife are well equipped to save the endangered one-horned rhino from poachers, writes Atula Gupta.

There is little remorse on the face of the poacher when he pulls the trigger to kill a rhino. The beast is more useful to him dead than alive — what is the cost of a life really when the poacher can spend almost an entire year without working, in exchange for a single pretty looking horn.

It is this extravagant price offered for the body part of the rhinoceros that is turning men into monsters in Assam today. And they are not anymore a small group of bow and arrow hunters. They are the lords of the jungle handling the latest HK MP5 submachine guns that can fire 100 shots in seconds.

These are gifts from their illicit backers in the wildlife trade. Faced with such ruthless modern-day hunters, can the forest guards really protect the wild using their hand-me-down World War II weapons? The rusted ends of their gun barrel tell another story.

On any typical day in the jungles of Assam, the enormous and endangered one-horned rhinoceros spends hours grazing in the serene forest land, sometimes submerged in the cool, gurgling waters of the Brahmaputra.

But lately, this peaceful scenario has been disturbed because death is always lurking in some nook and corner of the protected forests. Be it in the Kaziranga National Park, Manas or other protected reserves, poachers are everywhere.

Jungle wars

The trouble is local. Like the residents of a village called Dobahati Beloguri that sits on the eastern edge of the Kaziranga. The village is inhabited by the Mishing community, a plains tribe living along the banks of the Brahmaputra. But more than its scenery, Dobahati Beloguri is known as a den of rhino poachers. Most men here proudly and dispassionately speak of their profession as rhino-killers. The Russian AK series rifles, American M16s, and German HK MP5s and HK 33s are in plenty — in their homes and arms.

Forest rangers, on the other hand, are faltering to keep up with the title of guardians of wildlife. It is not valour they lack, but the weapons that weaken their might. Most rangers in the forests of India are battling poachers with guns such as the .315 bore and 12 bore guns and 7.62mm 2A1 bolt-action rifles.

A senior officer point outs that these guns are excellent to scare wild animals but resemble toy guns when confronted with poachers armed with sophisticated semi-automated machines.

While a World War II bolt-action rifle may cost around 550 dollars in the market today, a modern HK MP 5 is a whopping 17.5 thousand dollars. This simple price difference shows the amount poachers are easily spending to create havoc in the jungles. It is after all a minor investment when the illegal animal parts trade is earning them millions of dollars each day.

A senior Assam Police officer involved in counter-insurgency operations reveals, “These weapons are either originals or knockoffs of Russian AK series rifles, American M16s, and German HK MP5s and HK 33s. The superior rate of fire of these weapons gives the user a huge advantage.

Poachers have been using Kalashnikovs extensively, and the HKs in a few cases.” Assam is not the only state that is fighting this mis-matched weapons war, though.
In Gujarat’s Sasan Gir, home of the last Asiatic lions, guards have been forced to fight poachers with 12 bore double barrel shotguns and .32 revolvers. “We have been purchasing only these revolvers lately.

But wherever the threat of poaching is high, units are given other guns. We have no semi-automatic or automatic rifles,” says Sandeep Kumar, the deputy conservator of forests, Gir.

Technology matters

Waking up to the serious lacuna in the system, conservation authorities in Assam and local NGOs have recently introduced technology such as conservation drones in Kaziranga. The introductory test flight of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was held in the park on April 8 this year and officials are confident their use will aid in guarding the 480-sq-km park in a better way. The State government has also asked India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate three cases of one-horned rhino poaching.

These are for the poaching cases that occurred between July and September last year at Golaghat, Karbi Anglong and Nagaon districts. The results of these recent initiations are yet to be seen.

Men in the frontline are well aware of the occupational hazards that come with the job, be it army officers, policemen or commandos. But they do not endanger their lives without ample preparation. They are all trained and equipped mentally, physically and through the armoury they are provided with for years, to defend their country against any act of vandalism or terrorism.

Forest officers are uniformed soldiers too with a much wider area of combat today and defending what World Bank reports as 23 per cent or almost one fourth of land in India that comes under forested area. In the darkest, deepest jungles where the deadliest monsters lurk with state-of-the-art weapons, isn’t it time that these defenders too come equally prepared? If not, the fate of Indian wildlife will be forever sealed to turn into medicine and souvenir shop curios.

Original Publication: Deccan Herald

Date: 29 April, 2013

Link: In the line of fire