MITRA towards green sunrise......

Issue No. 1 February 2010

TUSSAR SILK MOTHBy Omkar Dharwadkar

Enchanting Cotigao

CREATURE FEATURE

Bhagwaan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary

In This Issue

Abo

ut U

sWe all came together when we were studying in G.V.M’s Higher Secondary through the G.V.M’s Nature Study Circle (GNSC). Guided by Mr. Ajay Dongre we started our journey through jungle trails

and birdwatching.

Fascinatedby the magnificence of birds, we turned towards photography as an attempt to preserve their beauties. But soon, our photography was not

just limited to birds and we started to look out for whatever that can be termed as wildlife. We eventually built a big database of photographs and decided to share those with people.

As a result, weorganized an exhibition of Photographs at Kala Academy Goa under GNSC. Due to its great success with around 1500 people visiting it in just three days, weorganized the exhibition at different places like schools and colleges like the Chowgule College Margao.

Meanwhile, some of our members,who were interested in fauna like the snakes, took up the work of rescuing snakes. Today a lot of our members are involved in rescues of snakes and other distressed wild animals.

Recently, we have started arranging activities like jungle treks for public. Also we have done awareness campaigns in schools and higher secondaries.

A word from Mitra......

- Team Mitra Email: mitra.goa09@gmail.com Blog: mitragoa.wordpress.com

Hi everybody,

We present you the first issue of our magazine. We intend to make our readers aware of the natural wealth possessed by our state Goa and rest of the Western Ghats. This is our first attempt in doing so. Western Ghats is one of the few biodiversity hotspot regions of the world. It means that there are lots of endemic species in Western Ghats and they are threatened.Goa is endowed with pleasant environment, beautiful beaches and a small part of Western Ghats. Goa holds six Wildlife Sanctuaries which is a treat for a nature lover. We have been enjoying the beauty of goan forests for last three years.At the same time we could see how so called developmental activities are destroying our natural heritage. We felt the need to take steps to conserve what we are losing. So we founded MITRA, a NGO, to serve the cause. We started arranging treks for general public in wildlife sanctuaries to make them aware of the natural wealth we have. Some of our members took up wildlife rescues. We also started awareness campaigns in high schools and higher secondary schools. We began photodocumenting the Wildlife. And now we have taken another step by presenting this first issue of our magazine. We hope that you will like it.

Do send us your feedback and suggestions.

ContentsPage 2: About Us

Page 3: A word from Mitra......

Page 5: In News - Forensic Reports confirm’s Tiger’s remains - Bhimgad declared as Wildlife Sanctuary

Page 6: Enchanting Cotigao -By Mandar Gaude

Page 11: Bhagwaan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary -By Rohan Naik

Page 15: Creature Feature

Travel

Bhimgad declared as Wildlife SanctuaryThe two-decade-long struggle of environmentalists has finally succeeded with the Ministry of Environment and Forests according wildlife sanctuary status to Bhimgad forest area (13,167.10 hectares) recently. Due to this, most of the Mhadei forests has now come under legal protection. Forests of Mhadei are home for a vast number of different species. Newly discovered species like the Mhadei Caecilian are found only in this area. A couple of rare bats-Wroughton’s freetailed bat and Theobald’s tomb bat-rare primates like slender Loris, lesser known mammals like brown civet, have all been documented from this area during the last few years.

Did You Know?The IUCN Red List Threatened Species tells the global conservation status of plant and animal species. Species are classified in nine groups, set through criteria such as rate of decline, population size, area of geographic distribution, and degree of population and distribution fragmentation.• Extinct(EX) - No individuals remaining.• ExtinctintheWild(EW) - Known only to survive in captivity, or as a

naturalized population outside its historic range.• CriticallyEndangered(CR) - Extremely high risk of extinction in the wild.• Endangered(EN) - High risk of extinction in the wild.• Vulnerable(VU) - High risk of endangerment in the wild.• NearThreatened(NT) - Likely to become endangered in the near future.• LeastConcern(LC) - Lowest risk. Does not qualify for a more at risk category. Widespread and abundant taxa are included in this category.• DataDeficient(DD) - Not enough data to make an assessment of its risk of

extinction.• NotEvaluated(NE) - Has not yet been evaluated against the criteria.The term “threatened” is a grouping of three categories: Critically Endangered, Endangered, and Vulnerable.

In NewsForensic Reports confirm’s Tiger’s remainsThe investigations into Goa’s tiger killing case has got a boost with forensic report confirming that the remains collected from a plantation were of a striped cat. Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has confirmed that the sample matches to that of a tiger. One out of the seven samples matched which is enough to confirm. The tiger was killed in Keri village in a cashew platation, in February last year.

The 85.6 sq.mtr Cotigao wildlife sanctuary is situated in south goa and has old and dense forests. It is a delight for wildlife enthusiast.Mandar tells his experiences of his journey in this Jan....

I was down with flu for first seven days of the New Year which had ruined half of my semester vacation. For quite a few time, I was away from wildlife and now that I had recovered from the flu, I was feeling an intense urge to go for a trip to a wildlife sanctuary that morning, and then Omkar invited me to accompany him to Cotigao Wild Life Sanctuary. I agreed instantly.

We set out the same afternoon. After two and half hours’ travel by bus we reached our destination. I was steppping in this sanctuary after about half a year. Last time it was fun learning about frogs and searching for Caecilians.

Hunt for FrogmouthNight trails are always exciting and thrilling. One reason is increased possibility of mammal sighting. Another reason is many beautiful tiny spiders can be seen. Omkar had once photographed about 35 species of spiders in within two hours. Birds like Frogmouths and Nightjars are ones which are active in night. Also

Enchanting Cotigao

- by Mandar Gaude

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(c) Mandar

some mammals like flying squirrel, civet are more likely to be seen in night.That night we went out to search for the frogmouth. It is a nocturnal bird(organisms active only at the night) and its face looks like that of a frog. We started hearingFrogmouth calls. Calls became louder in time indicating they had come close to us. But still we couldn’t spot one since they had excellently managed to camouflage in the surrounding. We waited in hope that the bird will show up. But we saw just a glimpse for few seconds when it flew from one branch to another and that was the only success we got.

Visit to Olive RidleysAfter dinner we went to Galgibag Beach to witness Olive Ridley turtles hatching. We were little unlucky as

Newly born Olive Ridley Tutles waiting to be released in sea at Galgibag. Forest Department monitors nesting of Olive Ridley Turtles and protects them until they hatch. The eggs hatch in 47-50 days.

turtles had come out from nestalready. They were around twenty in number. We observed while forest guards released them in the Arabian Sea.Olive ridleys are critically endangered species. They are the smallest of the marine turtle species in the world. They are highly migratory, covering thousands of kilometers between foraging and nesting grounds. They choose narrow beaches near estuaries and bays to lay eggs. Each adult female lays approximately 100-140 eggs at a time. It is believed that they nest in an interval of one-four years. The nesting season is between November to March. Morjim and Galgibag beaches are two nesting sites in Goa. For the conservation, forest department guard the nests against humans and stray dogs.

Red Pierro

The Eco-tourism Complex

The eco-tourism complex of cotigao is well developed. It has spacious cottages for accommodation. It also has a small amphitheatre, children’s park, a cycling trail, a small arboretum, rescue enclosures, nature interpretation centre. It is also home for a large number of lesser known fauna. Draco, the gliding Lizard can be seen while having a cup of tea. Many butterflies keep hovering in air. We saw almost complete life cycle of red pierrot on a plant. One can see a number of beautiful tiny spiders in night. Spotted deers come in night just outside the complex.

Signature spider

Stage I:Egg of Red pierro

Stage II:Caterpillar of Red Pierro

Caterpillar of a Moth

(c) Mandar(c) Mandar

(c) Mandar(C

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Utk

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Yellow Pansy

(c) Mandar

An Unexpected Encounter

We enjoyed another night trail other night. This time we went deeper in sanctuary with DCF Dr. Debendra Dalai and DRO Vilas Gawas. We headed towards Bela Lake. Bela Lake is one of the fruitful sites for mammal sighting in this Wildlife Sanctuary. Last year, my first encounter with a leopard in the wild was here.We were welcomed by a black naped hare. Then we saw an adult female Sambhar, Small Indian Civet, Grey Nightjar, Jerdon’s Nightjar and a Bedome Cat snake.And then a rare mammal showed up. We were moving slowly and quietly.

Something shined at road side. Aftersometime we realized that it was a black panther, sitting at the roadside. We all were awestruck. After looking at us for few seconds, it stood up and walked slowly inside the deeper jungle. It was a superb sighting. We came out of the vehicle and tried to trace the panther, but it had vanished into the thick forest. A black panther is nothing but an offspring of a normal leopard i.e. one with spots. There is just some difference in pigmentation of skin as there is in humans. It is a very rare animal and we were lucky to see one. Only bad news was no one could get a picture of it. But the night out had paid off.

Grey Nightjar

(c) Mandar

Kuskem Waterfall

Kuskem Waterfall is another attraction of Cotigao. A forest guard took us there on his bike. The main waterfall revives only in monsoons. We saw how it looks when it is dry. It was a large steep rock structure. We decided to visit another waterfall inside forest. We were going along the river path. It is always a pleasant experience to walk through the rivers in Western Ghats. It is one wonderful experience provided by Mother Nature for which we should be very much grateful to her. It is a treat for butterfly lovers. Many beautiful butterfly species like Tamil yeoman, Angled

Sunbeam, Cruiser, Blue Mormon andmany more can be seen easily. Also some rare species like Black Rajah, Red-Spot Duke, Fluufy Tit, Paris Peacock, Common Nawab can be seen. Along with butterflies, one can also see beautiful birds. Some of the endemic birds like Malabar Trogon, White-bellied Blue Flycatcher, Malabar Pied Hornbill, Malabar Parakeet can be found. The chilled water and dark green canopy keeps you fresh. The waterfall was smaller than the previous one. But it looked beautiful with milk white water flowing through it. There was a lot of butterfly activity near waterfall. We saw Black Rajah, Common Leopard, Commander, Angled Sunbeam, Lesser gull, Cruiser and Common Albatross.

(C) Mandar

Kuskem Waterfall

Before returning home I thanked Mother Nature for giving those wonderful experiences. I was returning with full satisfaction.

Bhagwaan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary and Mollem National Park (Now clubbed together) is one of the finest habitats for willdlife in Goa. It is a part of the Western Ghats-one of the top biodiversity hotspots in the world. With its variety of habitats from dense forest to open grasslands, rocky streams etc, it houses a variety of wildlife.From small insects-butterflies, dragonflies-damselflies; amphibians, reptiles, birds to huge mammals, different sorts of animals and also plants are found here. Also one can see variety of beautiful mushrooms during rainy season.

Bhagwaan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary

Beddome’s Frog Centamoud Moth

Stream ruby trio

Common JezebelA lovely Flower

(C) Rohan (C) Rohan

(C) Rohan

(C) Rohan

- by Rohan Naik

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Ro

han

(C) Rohan

(C) Rohan

(C) Rohan

Unidentified Insect - Its antannae are remarkably longer than its

body

Green Vine Snake

(C)

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(C) Rohan

Stream Ruby Damselfly

Caterpillar of a moth

Angled Sunbeam

It stretches over a large area and includes many different villages. Spots like the sunset point, the Vasant Bandhara are a must visit. The sunset point is at the peak of one of the highest hills of the sanctuary from where you can get the view of the entire ghat section and of course the sunset in the evening. It also holds the famous Dudhsagar waterfall and the Devils Canyon. The famous temple of Tambdi Surla and the waterfall adjacent to it also fall under the same sanctuary.

(C) Rohan

(C) Rohan

(C) Rohan

Stream Ruby male guarding the egg laying female

Tambdi Surla Temple

Tamil Lacewing Common Indian Toad

In all, if you are a wildlife enthusiast, nature lover or even interested in the ancient culture or architecture, Mollem sanctuary is the place which will never disappoint you.

Did You Know?The Dragonfly (Bhirmoot) is one of the two living member of order Odonata. Other member is Damselfly. Many people misunderstand damselfly as dragonfly. One can differ easily between two by looking at its resting position. Dragonflies sit with wings held open, horizontally or downwards whereas damselflies sit with wings held closed, usually over abdomen. Also damselflies are slender.

(C) Rohan

(C) Rohan

(C) Rohan

CREATURE FEATURECommon Banded KukriOligodon arnensis

Class:- ReptiliaType:- Non VenomousLength:-Average: 35cm At Birth: 8cmDescription:- They are reddish or greyish-brown with 10-12 black or dark brown bands. The top of the head has a distinct arrowhead design. Underneath they are white in appearance. Their thickness is less. Distribution:- Throughout India.Habitat:- Banded Kukris are mainly cave, crevice and tree-hole dwellers. Sometimes they are found in termite mounds.Habits:- This specie doesn’t bite often and its main defence is to stiffen and jerk when provoked. They lay 3-6 eggs.Food:- They feed on Geckos, skinks, small mice and eggs of reptiles and birds. The tiny young ones feed on insects, their larvae and spiders.Miscellaeous:-These snakes get their name from their sharp, curved teeth, perfect for holding strong prey such as geckos. Normally not found in urban areas.

Malabar Giant Squirrel Ratufa Indica

(C) Rohan

(C) Utkarsh Class:- Mammalia Description:-Body length varies from 254 to 457 mm and tail length is almost the same as body length. They weigh aproximately 1.5 to 2 kg. Colour of back or upper part varies from deep red to brown and that of front part is white. Distribution:-It is found in western ghats and endemic to the

same. They are found in all wildlife sanctuaries of Goa. Habitat and habits:- It is arboreal and spends most of its time on trees. It makes its shelter within holes in trees. Moving from tree to tree, it can leap 6 meters or more. It rarely leaves the trees, usually only to chase other squirrels during the breeding season. It builds eagle-sized nests in the branches of trees and raise the young there until they begin to emerge from the nest and gain independence. It is typically solitary. Active during day. Food:-Fruits, flowers, nuts, bark, bird eggs and insects. They disperse the seeds on ground and thus help in propagation of trees.Status:- Near ThreatenedMiscellaneous:- It is state animal of Maharashtra. Called shekro in Goa. Poached for its meat and also because it sometimes damages arecanut crop for its food.

CREDITS People Behind this issue

WRITERS: Mandar Gaude Rohan Naik

PHOTOGRAPHS: Rohan Naik Utkarsh Tilve Omkar Dharwadkar Mandar Gaude

DESIGN AND LAYOUT: Mandar Gaude

EDITED BY: Omkar Dharwadkar Kaustubh Naik

(c) Mitra This issue is for online viewing only. No part of this issue may be printed or sold by any means. This issue is for free viewing.

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