Posted on 08 August
2013 | Valmiki, India: Evidence of three
more species has been found in the once-neglected
Valmiki Tiger Reserve in north east India
during the past two months.
A crab-eating mongoose
(Herpestes urva), a yellow-throated marten
(Martes flavigula) and a Himalayan serow
(Capricornis thar) were captured by camera
traps placed by the Bihar Forest Department,
WWF-India and the Wildlife Trust of India
(WTI).
These are in addition
to a hoary-bellied squirrel (Callosciurus
pygerythrus) previously photographed by
WTI.
“Over the last two months,
we have discovered three new species only
with the help of these camera traps. None
of these four, including the squirrel, were
mentioned in the latest faunal records published
by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI),
which mentions 53 species of mammals,” said
Santosh Tiwari, Field Director of the Tiger
Reserve.
“These discoveries only
go on to prove that the once neglected reserve
is on a revival path with the joint activities
by the Forest Department and NGOs in association
with the communities who have been proactively
contributing to this,” said Dr Samir Kumar
Sinha, WTI’s Regional Head for Bihar.
The camera trapping
by WWF-India was carried out as a part of
a monitoring exercise in collaboration with
Department of Environment & Forests,
Bihar and National Tiger Conservation Authority
(NTCA), Government of India.
WWF-India has been working
in partnership with the Bihar Forest Department
to monitor Valmiki’s tigers and with partners
in Nepal is implementing a transboundary
approach to conservation.
“We are excited by these
discoveries, Valmiki has excellent potential
for tiger recovery and given its contiguity
with the Chitwan National Park in Nepal
will be a critical site for undertaking
transboundary approaches for tiger conservation.
WWF will strengthen its partnership with
the management of Valmiki and intensify
conservation efforts,” said Dr. Dipankar
Ghose, Director, Species and Landscapes,
WWF-India.
The tiger monitoring
work in Valmiki is part of the larger tiger
survey being undertaken in India and Nepal
across the entire Terai Arc Landscape for
the first time, WWF-India is supporting
the government in their efforts to develop
Valmiki as a tiger recovery site.
Working with the Forest
Department since 2003, WTI’s Valmiki Conservation
Project helped establish the presence of
a viable population of tigers, bringing
focus back to this formerly neglected tiger
reserve in the mid-2000s.
The Project carries
out a comprehensive approach to conservation,
including studies on tigers and habitat
recovery activities; it is supported by
US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Nature
and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU)
and Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT).
The project also works
with the communities involving them in conservation
and reducing their dependence on forest
resources, particularly within the villages
in the Done valley that forms an incursion
into the core of the tiger reserve.
These species have been
previously recorded in the neighbouring
Chitwan National Park in Nepal, which forms
the northern boundary of Valmiki Reserve.
The ZSI has recorded 10 species of amphibians,
27 species of reptiles and 75 species of
insects in Valmiki, including the gaur (Bos
gaurus) and the Indian wild dog (Cuon alpinus),
which are not found in rest of the Terai
region in India.
