My Science School

The gorilla lives in the dense forests of equatorial Africa. It is the largest and most powerful of the ape family. The gorilla is extremely strong but it is a unduly disturbed. But other animals are very much afraid of it: few of them will dare to attack a gorilla because they know they would have the worse of the encounter.

A full-grown gorilla stands nearly 2 metres tall, with a massive body and very muscular arms and legs, and can weigh over 200 kilograms. Its jaws jut out and it has a broad, flattened nose and huge beetling eyebrows.

There are two main kinds of gorilla: the lowland gorilla that lives in the rain forests of western Africa, has a dark grey coat; the mountain gorilla which lives in the eastern regions of Zaire-Uganda borderland at altitudes of more than 3,000 metres, has black fur, Little is known about the ways of these big apes. This is because gorillas are very shy animals and also because they were first found only during the last century.

Gorillas usually live in groups which include both young and old. They build rough dwellings in trees a few metres above the ground. These dwellings look like platforms made of branches and twigs.

Gorillas do not spend all their lives in the trees. During the day they wander about on the ground looking for food. They feed on leaves, roots and fruit which the forest has in plenty. Gorillas walk in a crouching position, but every so often they stand up straight on their long hind legs.

 

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In spring the Lapps leave behind the woodlands of the south where they spend the winter and set out for the pastures in the northern mountains. The Lapps move in small family groups, leading their herd of reindeer along established tracks which usually follow the courses of river. The rivers are still frozen and the Lapps us them as safe roads for their sledges, laden with provisions. The reindeer are used to following the same route and move along slowly, feeding as they travel.

Half-way through the journey, when spring breaks, the Lapps pitch their tents for a period lasting several weeks. It is at this time that the baby reindeer are born and the tribe has to wait until they are able to walk by themselves. The young reindeer do not take long to learn how to trot about and the herd moves on once more. The destination is the far north where the tundra, the ‘cold desert’ of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland, ends and the Arctic Ocean begins. The reindeer herd spends the short summer on the grassy shores and on the islets along the coast before travelling south once more.

Lapps consume large quantities of reindeer milk and use it to make delicious cheese. When the icy north wind blows and the family is gathered together in the tent the mother prepares a hot drink by dissolving chunks of reindeer cheese in hot water. This drink provides a great deal of energy and warmth.

Lapps have hunted reindeer since the earliest times and have kept small numbers, but breeding them in large herds is comparatively recent.

 

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The only domestic animal known to the Aborigines is the dingo, the Australian wild dog which is trained and bred by the Aborigines and helps them to hunt. For the primitive Aborigines hunting is often a real adventure, involving long journeys on foot through the desert, the use of primitive weapons and great difficulty because of the lack of any form of transport.

In the main the Aborigine hunts animals which move very swiftly and are difficult to catch. Some species of kangaroo can jump further than 9 metres and nearly 3 metres high, and travel at speeds of over 65 kilometres an hour.

There is one type of kangaroo which has a reddish-brown fur that makes it almost invisible against the surrounding countryside. This kangaroo can hear a suspicious noise several thousands of metres away and it can move very swiftly so that not even a dingo can catch it.

The Aborigines use their cunning to catch this animal. The marksmen take up their position along a kangaroo track. The other men then create a terrible din to frighten the animals which are killed by spears from the hidden markmen.

 

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Snow leopards are found in several Asian countries such as Afghanistan, China, Pakistan, Nepal, Tajikistan, Mongolia, etc. This elusive cat species is found in India too. One of the best places to spot them is the Hemis National Park in the Ladakh region. Spanning an area of about 600 sq.km., it is said to house about 200 of these big cats. States such as Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh too are home to snow leopards. However, the number of these camivores and the chances of sighting them are believed to be higher in Hemis National Park than in other places, In all, over 450 snow leopards call the country home.

 

Snow leopard facts

• Snow leopards occur predominantly in the Himalayan mountain range and Tibetan plateau. Though they are usually found in mountainous regions if there are plains in their habitats, they seem to prefer rugged terrains within these areas. They are found at altitudes about 9,000 to over 15.000 feet. They prefer rocky outcrops because they help with camouflage when they hunt for prey.


• In India, they normally feed on Tibetan sheep and the blue sheep (bharal). These omnivores would also feed on smaller mammals and birds, in addition to livestock where the cat's habitat is interspersed with that of the humans.


• In 2017, the international Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) downlisted the snow leopard from "endangered" to vulnerable on its red list of threatened species, since the overall conservation situation" for snow leopards has been improving over the last decade.


• Snow leopard is the State animal of Himachal Pradesh.

Threats

According to report by the IUCN in 2020, about 7.500 snow leopards live in the wild globally today. However, they seem to facing the threat of extinction due to several factors such as habitat loss, poaching, hunting, and the impacts of climate change. They continue to be illegally traded for their body parts such as fur, bones, meat, etc. Retaliatory killings by people whose livestock has been killed by these cats too happen. In addition, due to the hunting of the cat's prey such as mountain sheep and goat, these herbivores population is dwindling, in effect, affecting the big cats too. Infrastructure development and human activity in the traditional habitats of these leopards is leading to degradation. As global warming continues, it melts ice in the regions these leopards roam, effectively shrinking the areas they live in.

Some good news!

While globally and in parts of India there's concern about the species facing decline in population, this month has brought in some news to cheer about. According to media reports, the "scientific” study conducted on snow leopards show that their numbers have been increasing in Himachal Pradesh. From the earlier estimates in 60s, the number today stands in 70s, excluding the cubs.

 

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The Manipur brow-antlered deer (Racervus eldii eldii) is locally known as sangai. It is a sub-species of the Eld's deer found in Asia. Though Eld's deer are found in other parts of the world too, sangai is found only in Manipur listed as endangered in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, its habitat in Manipur is the Keibul Lamjao National park Covering an area of about 40 sq. km. the Park is located on one end of the Loktak Lake The animals have adapted themselves to a life on floating meadows - called phumdis in the Lake. Interestingly, sangai is also called the dancing deer because of the way it delicately hops between the phumdis. Not surprisingly, it is the State animal of Manipur.

Sangai facts

• A medium-sized animal, the brow-antlered deer gets its name from its antlers that seemingly emerge from its eyebrows. The mammal has a small tail, and a dark reddish brown coat in winter, the coat gets lighter in summer.


• The deer's habitat varies from scrubland and grassland to dry forests and marshland, depending on the country they're found in. In India, however, these animals inhabit the regions in and around the Loktak Lake.


• When there's flooding, apparently, the deer population leaves the phumdis and moves to the hillocks nearby


• The un-submerged area of the Park has tall grasses and shrubs, some of which are food for sangai.

Threats

In the mid-20th Century, sangai was on the brink of extinction. However, a few individuals were spotted, and thanks to conservation efforts, their numbers today are said to be over a 100, at least. While this is a comforting story, the mammal continues to face several challenges. Foremost is the water pollution in the region. As the water in the Lake gets more and more polluted, the quality and thickness of the phumdis are affected. When phumdis get thinner it becomes difficult for the sangai deer to move from one place to another. In fact, it is said that the total area of the phumdis has been decreasing over the decades. A recent study has said that agriculture practices and newer human settlements in the region too are a threat to phumdis. According to media reports as recent as 2020, "unchecked growth of two perennial aquatic weeds - water hyacinth and para grass in the famous fresh water lake of Loktak in Moirang in Manipur is posing a major threat to sangai The increasing abundance of these weeds has reduced space for indigenous plants the sangai feeds on. For a subspecies already plagued by limited space and numbers, the possibility of in-breeding, and infection due to livestock, such challenges make them even more vulnerable. This could drive them toward extinction all over again, undoing decades of conservation effort.

 

Picture Credit : Google