Journal of Animal Diversity
Volume:5 Issue: 3, Sep 2023

The first inventory of cetacean diversity in coastal waters of the Congo River Estuary, Democratic Republic of the Congo, was obtained between May 2021 and April 2022, through incidental sightings (n=17) reported mainly by artisanal fishers and direct observations of bycatches at fish landing sites. Confirmed records include five odontocete species: four Delphinidae: Delphinus capensis Gray, Pseudorca crassidens (Owen), Stenella frontalis (G. Cuvier), Tursiops truncatus (Montagu); one Kogiidae: Kogia sima (Owen). There was one mysticete, Balaenopteridae: Megaptera novaeangliae (Borowski). Of six small cetaceans documented landed for use as aquatic bushmeat, four (66.7%) were T. truncatus. Megaptera novaeangliae was the most frequently sighted cetacean (47.1% of reported sightings), registered between 17 May–3 September 2021, with a seasonality (austral winter) consistent with the SE Atlantic breeding stock (‘B-Stock’). All information was collected by locals, the at-sea sightings by trained fishermen in a citizen science framework. The main benefits included a welcome marine conservation educational component, and low-cost, opportunistic fishing boat use. Shortfalls comprised a deficiency in scientific detail and effort quantification, occasional data loss and lack of biological sampling. However, in a remote coastal region like the DRC’s Congo River estuary, where marine mammals have never before been studied, local citizen science methodology proved effective and, after adjustments, should be scaled-up.

One juvenile specimen of the desert Cobra (Walterinnesia morgani) was obtained from Kerman Province, southeastern Iran. Three further localities of the species were recorded during 2010–2020. The farthest locality is situated about 270 km northeast of easternmost limit of the range. These records indicate a wider distribution of Walterinnesia morgani on the Iranian Plateau than previously thought. Results indicated that Walterinnesia morgani has a compatible distribution pattern with the zoogeographical region of Khuzestan Plain and the Persian Gulf Costs. In addition, information of pholidosis and habitat is presented.

We report the first record of the White-bellied flying squirrel Petaurista albiventer (Gray, 1834), within the Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, which is part of the Terai Arc Landscape in India. This marks a new geographical distribution for P. albiventer within the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. This study contributes to the understanding of the geographical distribution, habitat ecology and taxonomy of the genus Petaurista (Link, 1795), shedding light on its presence in various ecologically significant regions and emphasizing the importance of preserving its habitat and promoting further research.

Gyps species declined rapidly between late 1990s and early 2000s in southern Asia owing to the use of diclofenac, and are listed as Critically Endangered species. Long-term data on breeding ecology is essential to understand the population trend of these threatened species. This study assessed the reproductive phenology and reproductive performance of two critically endangered Gyps species—Long-billed Gyps indicus (LBV) and White-rumped G. bengalensis (WRV) vultures—through long-term monitoring at breeding colonies in Kaghaznagar and Sironcha Forest Divisions in the Deccan Plateau of India between 2010 and 2021. LBV began their nest construction and copulation in the second week of October, and ended in the fourth week of November, while the WRV completed the same between the first and second weeks of October. LBV started egg-laying during the first week of December and ended in the first week of January, with a peak during the third week, on December 14, and the mean incubation period was 54±1 days. The WRV completed their egg-laying early, during the second and third weeks of October, and peaked during the second week, on 14th and had relatively longer incubation of 61±1 days. In LBV, hatching peaked during the first week of February, and mean nestling period was 103±2, while in WRV hatching was peaking much earlier during the third week of December and the mean nestling period was 105±1 days. Overall nest success, breeding success, and productivity estimated based on 159 breeding pairs of LBV observed over 12 years were lower compared to that of 124 breeding pairs of WRV observed over 6-year period. The decline in breeding success of LBV since 2019 is discussed in the light of poisoning of the cattle reported in 2018, and the reopening of Sirpur, Kaghaznagarpaper industry in 2017 that discharges its hazardous effluent into the Peddavagu stream. Therefore, the present study suggests long-term monitoring of the breeding colonies including evaluating the drivers of population and breeding, molecular and toxicological studies, and implementation of Vulture Safe Zones to save these critically endangered Gyps vultures from local extinction.

Temporal activity patterns of different age and sex classes of a Bengal tiger population were studied at Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh between May 2006 and July 2009 using systematic camera traps. Based on the exact time of photo-capture tigers, information on temporal activity patterns of following age and sex categories of individual tiger: such as Resident male (n= 55 photographs), female with cubs or breeding female (n= 70 photographs), female without cubs or non-breeding female (n= 72 photographs) and transient male (n= 42 photographs), were recorded. It was observed that breeding females significantly utilized different activity period with transient male (P< 0.001) and female without cubs (P< 0.001) whereas overall activity period between breeding female and resident male did not differ significantly (P> 0.6) during the study period. The observed temporal segregation may provide valuable information on cub survival strategies adopted by breeding tigress, finally, aiming at their reproductive success in a tropical deciduous forest. This paper will act as a catalyst, advancing the adoption of camera trap based reproductive behavioral study of any illusive large carnivore at in situ condition.

The Wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) holds a significant ecological role within the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve. Despite its importance, there has been a lack of comprehensive research addressing its distribution, habitat suitability, and interaction with domestic cattle. To address these gaps, this study was undertaken with the primary objectives of elucidating the population distribution of Bubalus arnee, mapping its habitat suitability, and evaluating the interplay between B. arnee and domestic cattle in the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve. The study area was subdivided into cells to gather data on B. arnee presence using various indicators such as sightings, dung, and footprints. Interaction between B. arnee and domestic cattle was assessed based on their spatial overlap within and outside a 500-meter radius from observation points. Employing the MaxEnt algorithm, distribution data of B. arnee and climatic variables including maximum and minimum temperatures, mean temperature, and rainfall were analyzed, while land use and cover maps were acquired from the Department of Survey for further analysis. Results revealed a concentration of B. arnee in the southwest region of the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, with a total of 405 individuals recorded, comprising 26 calves, 6 sub-adults, and 373 adults. The distribution pattern displayed a prevalence of small-sized herds (15) followed by medium-sized (15–29) and large-sized (29) herds. Notably, B. arnee presence was most prominent in grassland areas (approximately 49%), while forested regions accounted for the lowest presence (approximately 10%). Interestingly, domestic buffalo were observed near B. arnee only in a singular grid (24 O) in the southwest, while in the eastern grids of the reserve, overlaps between domestic cows and B. arnee occurred within a 500-meter radius. Our study indicated a suitability index greater than or equal to 0.5876, encompassing only about 14% of the reserve's total area. The jackknife test highlighted the influential environmental variables in the model, with annual precipitation contributing around 60.8% and the maximum temperature of the warmest month contributing about 39.20% in determining the distribution of B. arnee. The results underscored the significance of annual precipitation, with a regularized training gain of 0.50, compared to 0.32 for the maximum temperature of the warmest month. In conclusion, this study sheds light on the distribution, habitat suitability, and interaction dynamics of B. arnee within the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, offering valuable insights for informed wildlife management and conservation strategies.

The present study was undertaken from November 2020 to October 2021 to understand the bird species diversity, and variation in their seasonality, near the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) area of Talcher located in Angul district of Odisha state in India. The identified birds included 668 individuals of 90 species (including three near-threatened species) belonging to 18 orders, 41 families and 75 genera. As per the study, Passeriformes is found to be most dominant with 34 species (38% of total bird species). Considering the feeding guilds of birds, insectivore bird species were found in higher number (32 species) followed by carnivores (16 species), and then omnivores and frugivores (10 species each). It was found that the winter season was the most species rich (70 species, 328 individuals), and the monsoon season the least (43 species, 127 individuals). The Shannon-Wiener index (H' = 3.48) was also found to be high in winter season but the evenness index (E = 0.65) was found to be higher in monsoon season. The cluster analysis showed that the bird composition of the summer season strongly correlates with bird composition of the winter and monsoon seasons, but the bird composition of the monsoon season is not significantly correlated with bird composition of the winter season. The results from the study can act as the baseline for further research on birds in the Angul district of Odisha.