20-May-2019: Vice President calls for protecting Ongole Cattle breed
The Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has lamented the neglect of the indigenous Ongole cattle breed and called for protecting and promoting the animal, which has become popular all over the world.
Releasing a Compendium on Ongole breed of cattle at the Swarna Bharat Trust in Vijayawada, the Vice President asserted that cattle wealth was national wealth and pointed out that Brazil which has imported these cattle and produced hybrid Ongole was earning huge revenue through export. Unfortunately, India is not focusing enough attention on our own breed.
Shri Naidu said the time has come for promoting Ongole cattle breed in a big way and also take up research on the animal, which is known for its toughness, high milk yield, tolerance to tropical heat and disease resistance.
The 1200-page Compendium traces the history of the animal from 1885 to 2016 by providing information from 13 books and 80 research findings on Ongole Cattle.
Lauding the efforts of Agricultural scientist, Mullapudi Narendranath and former Joint Director, of Animal Husbandry Department, Adusumilli Madhusudan Rao for compilation of the Compendium, he felicitated them.
The Vice President also wanted the officials to expedite the works at National Kamadhenu Breeding Centre, Chintaladevi in Nellore District, which was set up when Shri Naidu was the Union Minister.
Observing that agriculture was facing many challenges, the Vice President stressed the need for multi-pronged efforts from all stakeholders to double the income of farmers by making agriculture sustainable and profitable. He urged farmers to take up backyard poultry and in house dairy for fetching additional income.
18-Mar-2019: Fishing and coral reef degradation threaten parrotfish in Andaman
Coral cover protection along the existing protected marine areas in Andaman and Nicobar islands is necessary for conservation of the endangered Bumphead parrotfish. Bumphead parrotfish, Bolbometopon muricatum, is an important component of coral reef ecosystem, but is highly endangered globally. It is categorized as ‘vulnerable’ in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
This fish is a highly prized resource, but is threatened due to limited knowledge about its distribution and abundance in Indian waters. A group of researchers recently studied the distribution, abundance and dangers to this species in the waters of Andaman and Nicobar islands.
A large body size, aggregating behaviour and limited activity at night make B. muricatum an easy target for spear-fishers. Combined with slow growth and low replacement rates, this has resulted in population decline across the Indo-Pacific and Red Sea regions.
The team carried out underwater visual census, between November 2013 and April 2015, at a total of 75 reef sites across 51 islands, using underwater camera. They recorded 59 individuals of parrotfish across nine sites from the northernmost island in the Andamans (Landfall Island) to the southernmost island in the Nicobars (Great Nicobar Island).
During the study, the scientists also spoke to about 100 fishermen regarding the awareness and perception of this species. From the interviews, they collected data on the intensity of fishing, ethnic heterogeneity of the fishing community and the diversity of fishing gear used.
The team found that the fish occurs unevenly, with most sightings from only two islands, and with a very small density. It also emerged that free diving spear-fishers exclusively target the aggregations of this fish during night.
The study reports that the presence of a protected area, live coral and algal cover, significantly influenced the distribution and abundance of B. muricatum. Incidental catch by fishers and degradation of coral reef habitats are two potential threats to the species.
Evidence of low abundance of B. muricatum on ocean reefs surrounded by deep waters, and traits such as limited dispersal and gregariousness, could also have influenced the distribution and abundance of this fish.
The findings suggest the necessity to ban night fishing for the species and to implement regulations regarding reef fishing. Considering the vulnerable status of Bumphead parrotfish globally, the species could be a flagship for educational campaigns focusing on the importance of conserving similar fish groups and protecting the coral reefs.
27-Mar-2019: The hump-backed mahseer is now 'critically endangered'
The hump-backed mahseer—a large freshwater fish also called the tiger of the water and found only in the Cauvery river basin (including Kerala’s Pambar, Kabini and Bhavani rivers)—is now “Critically Endangered”: more threatened than the tiger is, as per the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. The fish is one of the 229 species added to the Red List last November; this update also reveals that the threat status of 12 other Indian species, including great hornbills, has increased.
The inclusion of the mahseer in the Red List was possible only once the fish got its scientific name last June—Tor remadevi. 16 species of mahseer are recognised in India. Now, securing the future of the hump-backed mahseer would depend on the strong willingness and cooperation of a range of stakeholders in three states—Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka—in the Cauvery, one of India’s most contested rivers.
Five other species have also made it to threatened categories: two wild orchids, the Arabian scad (a marine fish) and two wild coffee species found only in a few localities in the Western Ghats.
While 31 species that were already in the Red List have been down-listed (since threats are not as significant as earlier thought or due to conservation efforts), the threat status of 12 species has increased. The great hornbill (found in India and southeast Asia) was earlier categorised as “Near Threatened”. It is now “Vulnerable” due to high hunting pressure coupled with habitat loss and deforestation, while the wreathed hornbill has moved from “Least Concern” to “Vulnerable”.
Conservation managers use information from the Red List to understand threats to specific species and plan effective conservation strategies to improve the conservation status of individual or groups of species.
Shoal (an international organisation working to conserve freshwater species) initiated ‘Project Mahseer’ last month along with other stakeholders to enable conservation action for the hump-backed mahseer. The Red List is indeed being used in many developing countries including India as a standard to understand the conservation status of species. There is an increase in conservation action, funding and research when a species is included in the List. But up listing or down listing species is a continuous process.