In 1970, an album titled ‘Songs of the Humpback Whale’ was released
with 35 minutes of sound recordings of these whales. The album was
nothing like anything people had heard before and it went on to sell 30
million copies worldwide. The operasque sounds created by the whales,
dolphins and most other cetaceans continue to fascinate scientists even
today with many recordings revealing the extreme frequencies these
sounds can be emitted in. Scientists have also found through several
studies that the sounds are not just for social interactions in the
underwater world. They are also fundamental cues for feeding,
navigation, and communication in the ocean.

What happens then if a mother whale is trying to teach the baby whale to
swim across a difficult waterway and suddenly the baby cannot hear the
mother’s cues because there are multiple other sounds coming its way?
What if the other distractions are so loud and unfamiliar that the baby
whale actually gets alarmed on hearing them and gets lost? Increased
noise from shipping traffic, motorized fishing vessels, underwater oil and
gas exploration, offshore construction and other human activities are
creating exactly this kind of ruckus for the whales and other marine
species that can leave them confused and disoriented. And because the
physics of sound travel underwater is so different from the way it travels
in air, there are multiple levels at which such noise pollution can interact
and affect the lives of all marine animals.

Francis Juanes, an ecologist at the University of Victoria in Canada and
Arlos Duarte, a marine ecologist at the Red Sea Research Center in Saudi
Arabia recently analysed decades of data sets and studies of the effects of
noise pollution on marine creatures. They found that human-made
sounds are impacting all marine dwellers in a negative way – so much so
that some fish larvae are unable to find their habitats or homes.
Prof. Duarte says that while the importance of sounds has been studied
in detail in humpback whales, who are able to communicate through
thousands of miles using complicated songs, there is also evidence that
miniscule fish larvae ‘hear’ the call of their habitat and follow it to find home when they are drifting on the waves. Unfortunately, he says, that
call is no longer being heard.

“Imagine having to raise your kids in a place that’s noisy all the time. It’s
no wonder many marine animals are showing elevated and detectable
levels of stress due to noise,” said Joe Roman, a University of Vermont
marine ecologist.

The scientists found that fish and some invertebrates avoid certain areas
of the Red Sea where the frequency of ships travelling is high. They also
noted that the overall number of marine animals has declined by about
half since the 1970s. “In some parts of the ocean, there were fewer
animals singing and calling than in the past – those voices are gone,”
said Duarte.

The Sound Impact

There are several reasons why sound tends to become a greater stress for
aquatic animals than those living on land. Sound travels almost five
times faster through sea water than through air, and low frequencies can
travel hundreds of kilometres with little loss in energy. In addition to
this, the hearing range of marine mammals is far greater than their
vocalisation range as they rely on sound cues much more than visual
cues to avoid predators too. Also, because the whales and dolphins utilise
a wide band of acoustic frequencies – from low-frequency sounds down
to ~15 Hz used by Blue Whales to 120–150 kHz used by several species of
porpoises – the broad range can easily intersect with almost all sounds
introduced by humans in water. All this gives rise to conditions that can
be quite complex to maneuver for all kinds of animals be it tiny shrimps
or massive whales.

According to a 2018 study by Maritime Research Centre (MRC), Pune
ship movement in the Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean led
to decibel (dB) levels increase in the seas from a maximum of 185-190dB
to 210dB over seven decades. In this period, the minimum noise levels
along major shipping routes too, had gone up to 110dB from 90-95dB.
The sources of these sounds included > 200dB: Sound from ships for
communication purposes or to detect any danger, 200-250dB: Seismic surveys airguns used to illuminate the sea bottom to understand the nature and detect presence of oil activity, and 100-150dB: Sounds of various machines that aid movement of large ships and vessels. The researcher warned that such sounds could not only lead to discomfort but also internal injuries, bleeding, haemorrhages, or even death among the marine animals.

A 2019 study noted another harsh effect of human sounds. Increased
ship traffic across the Ganga is stressing the river’s iconic dolphins –
India’s national aquatic animals – and changing the way they
communicate. For a mammal that’s almost blind, and relies heavily on
echolocation to communicate, feed and breed, this kind of stress can
easily spell the difference between life and death.

Turning the Volume Down

An interesting observation Juanes and Duarte additionally made during
their study, was the effect of the global lockdown on the reduced human-
made sound levels and thereby the activity of marine creatures. They
found that when 60% of people were under lockdown in 2020, there was
20% reduction in the human noises created underwater. Almost
immediately, large marine mammals were seen around coastlines and
areas of the seas where they had not been observed for decades. The
scientists say this showed how easy it is to set the volume right for
marine animals to live alongside all the development noises humans are
creating.

The scientists strongly feel that when it comes to the various
environmental challenges like climate change and plastic pollution that
are also impacting ocean health, noise pollution is often given less
attention whereas tackling this marine “anthrophony” was the “low-
hanging fruit” of ocean health.

“If we look at climate change and plastic
pollution, it’s a long and painful path to recovery,” Prof Duarte said. “But
the moment we turn the volume down, the response of marine life is
instantaneous and amazing.”

While the whales are fish cannot have a mute button or ear plug to
muffle the alien human noises, the responsibility to lower the marine
‘loudspeakers’ for our marine neighbours lies with us and is not difficult
to execute.

Atula Gupta

Original publication: Deccan Herald

Published on: 10 March, 2021

Link: Underwater Under Seige

Featured image courtesy Pixabay , Image 1, Image 2

When this flood blocks the road, I am worried more by my soil getting washed, than by getting late, to reach my destination,” wrote Nepalese poet Suman Pokhrel. For India, no words could be truer for the year 2015. If something has blocked the road of India’s savvy future in the last year, it has been the constant news of flood in some or other part of the country. From the flash floods of Gujarat to the annual flooding of the North East to the recent disasters in Tamil Nadu, rising waters have set the alarm bells ringing all through the year, breaking the pace of growth the nation has so enthusiastically embraced.

In retrospect, it is hard to see these calamities as individual occurrences or even natural. The extreme weather events such as the one in Chennai, Manipur, Assam or Gir National Park earlier this year are sprouting from a single event of atmosphere heating which is man-made and expanding into a bigger catastrophe each day. In 2012, it was Haiti and the Philippines that were affected, and a super-cyclone hit the Philippines again in 2013. This year, it is India’s turn.

State of the wild cats

In the July flash floods of Gujarat, 10 Asiatic lions lost their lives apart from a number of other wild animals of the Gir forests. Although the Supreme Court of India had earlier allowed the relocation of few of the Asiatic lions from Gir to another protected area in Madhya Pradesh, the plans are yet to be materialised. Till then, Gir remains the last bastion of the Asiatic lions — all of them living in one habitat, all equally vulnerable to any calamity that may arise in future.

While the lions of India have been restricted to the forests of Gujarat, it was another smart cat that surprised researchers with the ease with which it has made urban India its home. An international study of radio-collared leopards in India found that the animals were not strays that had wandered out of the forest, but residents of cities, just like a cat or a dog staying in a locality. Given their extremely flexible nature, leopards have now found it a survival necessity to shift from forests to urban places, as green covers see depletion. And they also know how to remain hidden in the human jungle, avoiding contact and the conflict that may arise due to chance encounters.

For India’s national animal, the year 2015 brought reassurance that the conservation efforts are being put in the right direction. According to the latest census, India now has 2,226 tigers in the wild, showing a sharp 30 per cent increase in population from the last census done in 2010. Despite the day-to-day challenges of habitat loss, human-animal conflict and poaching, the tiger seems to be slowly, but steadily regaining its lost status as the king of the Indian jungles. What is still sad though is the rampant killings of animals including the tiger.

Till the mid of November this year, 22 tigers were documented to have been killed by poachers. As many as 216 leopards, 40 tigers, 43 rhinos, 100 elephants and innumerable birds and reptiles have lost their lives to the poacher’s gun in the last 18 months.

Ironically, the promise of recruiting a rhino protection force in Assam that was made in January this year, still remains in papers. Another Indian star caught in the wildlife trade is the beautiful and rare star tortoise. In a study published in the journal Nature Conservation, researchers warned of a large-scale network, fuelled by growing international demand for exotic pets, which is causing extreme suffering to the animals and threatening the survival of the species. In one site alone, at least 55,000 tortoises were poached from the wild in one year.

On the positive side, India is one of the few megadiverse nations in the world, where species discoveries are still a constant delight. Adding to the growing list of species found in the rich North East, Western Ghats and the Himalayan region were a number of creatures like a newly discovered wasp, frogs, butterflies and fish. The Botanical Survey of India (BSI) and the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) released a list of 349 new species of flora and fauna in the past one year on the World Environment Day. This includes 173 species and genera of plants and 176 species of animals.

Good news also came in the form of another survey result that showed that the country’s forest cover has grown 3,775 sq km since 2013, taking the total to 7,01,673 sq km — 21.34 per cent of the country’s geographical area. Experts do worry though that the increase of cover isn’t the indicator of the protection or growth in numbers of local plant species that are more vital to the sustenance of the local habitats than afforestation alone.

Growing numbers

A survey of the Ganges river dolphins  revealed 1,263 dolphins in Uttar Pradesh against 671 in the 2012 census. The survey also counted 116 dolphins in a 215-km stretch of the river from Lakshagrah in Allahabad to Kaithi in Varanasi, a confluence of Ganga and Gomti. If these numbers are to be believed, the national aquatic animal is faring well despite the high level pollution of River Ganga.

Local community power proved its mettle once again in 2015 where aware citizens chose to conserve, protect and nurture, while they led a sustainable life and prospered too. The Nyishi tribe of Nagaland, once hunters of the famed great hornbill of the state have now become protectors of the bird and its future generations, by guarding their nests. It’s a prime example of how given the correct knowledge, locals can be the greatest asset in fighting the conservation battle.

John Muir once said, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” Let us hope in 2016, the opportunities to help the crippled planet back on its foot are much more than the deliberate attempts to hurt it further. Development without ecological stability can only make calamities such as the floods, a routine than a rarity.

Original Publication: Deccan Herald

Date: 28 December, 2015

Link: Environmental Round Up

Intelligence is not an attribute bestowed on the humans alone. Animals too have a mind of their own and use it to find food and protect themselves, writes Atula Gupta

‘Kaalia’ the crow might have outsmarted the crafty crocodile, ‘Doob-doob’ innumerable times in the comic world, but in the real world, it seems like the crocodile might easily outwit the bird. Scientists have discovered that reptiles like the Indian Magar Crocodile and the American Alligator use tools, specifically sticks to lure birds into their trap.

What this latest discovery affirms is the fact that intelligent use of tools is not restricted to humans or primates alone but it is a characteristic of all the brainy species regardless of their shape and form.

Tool use in the animal world has always garnered interest of scientists and laymen. Some look at it as an additional proof of the falsity of the claim that humans are the most intelligent living forms in the world, while others marvel at how little we still know of our planet and the species that live with us.

From chimps to dolphins, elephants to kea birds, octopuses to rodents, today there is no dearth of examples of land, water or air animals that use tools dexterously to ease their work at hand and more commonly, to obtain food.

Bottlenose dolphins in Shark Bay, Australia, carry marine sponges in their beaks to stir ocean-bottom sand and uncover prey, spending more time hunting with tools than any animal besides humans. Chimps are able to chisel spears to hunt other primates for meat.

Crows are extraordinarily adept at crafting twigs, leaves and sometimes their own feathers into tools. Anecdotes suggest elephants, the most intelligent animals in the world, can intentionally drop logs or rocks on electric fences to short them out and plug up water holes with balls of chewed bark to keep other animals from drinking them.
Octopuses can use coconut shells as armour and carry heaps of these shells upon their head for later use.

But what is the purpose of a stick balanced on a crocodile’s snout? It is this puzzle that researchers solved and were surprised to find that it was a lure of a reptile that cannot fly, to catch a prey that could.

Bird bait

Magar crocodiles (Crocodylus palustris) in India and American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) in the USA have often  been observed to have sticks or twigs on top of their snouts.

The scientists found that rather than being an accidental occurrence, this was a deliberate ploy of the crocs. They put sticks on their snouts and remained submerged in water near egret and heron colonies. When the nest building birds, spotted the sticks and approached them unaware of the dangers lurking under water, the crocodile found the chance to grab its prey.

What the researchers also observed was that the crocodiles’ behaviour was not random but coincided with the nesting and breeding season of the egrets and herons usually in the month of March and April.

It was also observed in animals that lived near rookeries.
Therefore, the reptiles displayed intelligence in specifically choosing an object that could help them achieve a goal and that too at a precise time when they knew their prey would need the sticks for creating nests.

The researchers add that the behaviour becomes all the more interesting because floating sticks are extremely rare in the pools, especially at the time of year concerned. This is because the local trees – baldcypresses and water tupelos – don’t shed twigs, and also because the nesting birds rapidly remove floating sticks for nest-building. Thus, what the crocs are displaying is a purposeful act, where they are deliberately looking for the sticks, and using them to target preys.

This kind of behaviour displayed by the reptiles is called as baiting behaviour and has also been observed in Green herons (Butorides virescens) and other species of birds and animals. The herons use feathers, twigs and even berries and bits of bread to attract fish.

The study authors are sure that because the baiting behaviour has been observed in two crocodiles species separated by continents, it can be presumed that the behaviour is probably widespread and common among the animals.

Measuring intelligence

Animal intelligence is often underrated by us, firmly adhering to the theories of evolution that regard humans as a complex living form, with a more developed brain and thus more intelligence. However, there are many scientists that are questioning this viewpoint.

According to Maciej Henneberg, a professor of anthropological and comparative anatomy, humans have misunderstood animal intelligence.”Animals offer different kinds of intelligences which have been under-rated due to humans’ fixation on language and technology. These include social and kinaesthetic intelligence.

Some mammals, like gibbons, can produce a large number of varied sounds – over 20 different sounds with clearly different meanings that allow these arboreal primates to communicate across tropical forest canopy. The fact that they do not build houses is irrelevant to the gibbons,” Henneberg added.

Even in crocodiles, apart from the recent revelation of use of tools, the sly use of neighbours to protect the young has been often observed. Nile crocodile mothers have been known to protect their eggs from numerous thieves, such as the giant Nile monitor, by enlisting the aid of nesting curlews known as thick-knees – that share the same marshy habitat.

Perfectly camouflaged nesting curlews intimidate marauding Nile monitors in turn enjoy the crocodiles’ protection from hippopotamus and other visitors.

If intelligence is not about technological wizardry but the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills, the crocodile, the octopus or the human are all definitely in the same league.

Original Publication: Deccan Herald

Date: 24 February, 2014

Link: Smart Beings

Image by Dave Boardman from Pixabay

The Asiatic Lion has doubled its territory in Gujarat with one-third of Saurashtra under its reign. While the news is promising for the future of lions, it highlights the concern that they roam outside the protected area, leading to human-animal conflict. Atula Gupta writes…

When the Asiatic Lion truly lived the life of royalty, its territory ranged from Asia minor and Arabia through Persia to India. However, before the close of the last century, the lion had become extinct from all these regions except Gir, where thanks to the efforts of a Nawab, its faltering future was stabilised and the Indian lion had a single yet safe haven to call home. 

Today, the population of India’s lions is stable, if not completely out of danger, because of consistent conservation efforts and a recent census points that the lion king is on the lookout for newer regions to conquer. With almost double the territory recorded of the wild cat within a span of four years, the species is set for a fierce expansion plan. But, while the news is promising for the future of lions, does it also bring forth a number of other concerns, especially a rise in human-animal conflict? That is the big question. 

The pride of Gujarat has doubled its territory in the span of four years from 10,500 sq km in 2010 to 20,000 sq km recorded recently. The state forest department conducted a study based on the frequent kills and compensation given to farmers and found that the presence of the predator was noted in almost one-third of the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. Of the 1,500 villages that notified the lion’s presence, most were in the Junagadh, Amreli and few in Bhavnagar district. 

The last few

When Sasan Gir forests of Gujarat became the last bastion of the Asiatic lions, the species literally had nowhere else to go. Once a symbol of regal valour and ferocity, the lion symbol had adorned the palaces of many Indian kingdoms, sultanates and empires for ages. In fact, the earliest record of lions in India, it seems, are found on the famous steatite seals of the Indus Valley Civilisation. 

But hunting during the British reign turned many living beasts to trophy heads adorning colonial walls, and by the end of the 19th century, India shockingly had merely 20-odd lions. The probable years of its extermination region-wise were Bihar – 1840, Delhi – 1834, Bhavalpur – 1842, Eastern Vindhyas and Bundelkhand – 1865, Central India & Rajasthan – 1870 and Western Aravallis – 1880. The last animal surviving in the wild outside Saurashtra was reported in 1884. Statistics

It was thus a pivotal moment when the then Nawab of Junagadh provided adequate protection to the animals and population of lion increased between the years 1904 to 1911. Lions were still being hunted though until shooting was rigidly controlled by the British Administration in 1913. Finally, in 1936, the first organised census showed there were 287 Asiatic lions left in the wild. Declaration of the Sasan Gir Sanctuary only ensured that these numbers continued to increase.

The present day status of the lions is not as turbulent. In the last decade, through active public support, conservation programmes and constant vigilance, the lions of Gir have fared well. Last census showed their population to be above 400 with a healthy number of adults as well as juveniles. 

Interestingly, even in 2010, the Asiatic lion was expanding its territory, living further away from the restricted 1,412 sq km of the defined Sasan Gir National Park boundaries. The stable population even prompted the International Union for conservation of Nature (IUCN) to de-list the threatened status of Asiatic lions from Critically Endangered to Endangered. However, bigger family means the need for a bigger home and that is what may trigger an array of other concerns.

Officials believe there are 114 lions at present, out of the 411 counted in 2010, that live outside the known lion territories. It is only the upcoming 2015 lion population census though that would ascertain the exact number and expanded habitat of the mega predator. Meanwhile, in a country of 1.2 billion humans, where is the room to grow? Rise in conflict

In mid-January this year, a goods train mowed down two lionesses 30 km from the Gir forest. Last year, a male lion cub was killed on the same route. With more than 100,000 people sharing the same resources and land with the Asiatic Lion, conflicts between the local villagers and the animal is inevitable. Although, public support has been one of the biggest advantages for the successful protection of the wild predator in the state. But, will it continue if territorial conflicts become much more frequent and livestock loss a daily routine? 

Also, unlike the Gir sanctuary, forest officers do not patrol the area outside the protected boundaries, and the present census points that it is exactly these regions where the lion is heading to, and is also the most vulnerable. “There are heavy vehicles, including loaders, moving in the area. I have personally seen lions close to such areas,” said Mangabhai Thapa — a resident of the village who was among the first to reach the lions that were killed by the goods train. 

The areas where lions are frequently seen in Saurashtra are the same where future urban development plans include more mining belts, ports, highways and industries. The need of the hour, undoubtedly, is habitat diversification and second or third population sites for the lions. The Nawab of Junagadh did give the dying lions a second chance at life, but to truly give the animal its lost regal stature, it is necessary now to allow it to peacefully expand its kingdom.

Original Publication: Deccan Herald

Date: 3 February, 2014

Link: A lion’s share

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