Which mountain goat with highest number of species is found in Munnar, Kerala?



The Nilgiri Tahr is an endangered mountain goat species, their numbers dwindling due to lack of natural habitats and heightened poaching. However in Eravikulam National Park, Munnar Nilgiri Tahr finds its safe shelter along with other species of unique animals, birds and butterflies.



The male Nilgiri Tahr is larger and darker when compared to its female counterpart which is famous for its silvery saddle like patch on its back. The breeding season of the Tahrs is between June and August and the maturation period is approximately six months. As newly born calves are very susceptible to diseases and disturbances, human presence is absolutely not tolerated during such times. The offspring follow their mothers for first two months and go along with their mothers to the Rajamala Tourism Region. The approximate population of Nilgiri Tahr has shown slight progress in its number. Tigers, leopards and wild dogs are the main predators of this mountain goat.



Eravikulam National Park is very popular in Kerala especially for the way it has preserved the species of Nilgiri Tahr. It closes during the calving or birthing season of Nilgiri Tahr which is mostly from February to April, which is to give utmost care for this endangered species.



 



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The Odisha coast is home to one of the largest mass nesting sites in the world for which sea turtle species?



The eastern Indian state of Odisha is known worldwide for seasonally hosting olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) en masse as they visit the seashore along the Bay of Bengal for mass nesting. This spring (March 2020), however, heralded a surprise for the marine conservationists and state forest department, who witnessed mass nesting of the species during the day after nearly seven years.



Local government officials taking care of the sea turtles told Mongabay-India that the daytime nesting along the Rushikulya rookery was recorded after seven years.



The olive ridley turtle is considered the most abundant sea turtle in the world, with an estimated 800,000 nesting females annually. The olive ridley is globally distributed in the tropical regions of the South Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. They are listed as vulnerable in the IUCN Red list and are also protected under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.



This year nesting at Rushikulya has been a little delayed due to recent torrential rains in the region. It usually starts in the third week of February and continues until the first week of March, officials said. This year, mass nesting started from March 21 and has continued till March-end, even during the day.



 



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The Sunderbans spanning India and Bangladesh is the world’s only mangrove habitat of which big cat?



The Sundarbans forest is the only mangrove in the world that harbours Bengal tigers as the ecosystem’s apex predator. Occupying approximately 10,000 sq km, it is the largest tiger habitat in India and Bangladesh and home to more than 4 million people. With limited space and resources, these characteristics also make it one of the most significant human-tiger conflict hotspots.



The Bengal tiger ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna. It is the national animal of both India and Bangladesh. It used to be called Royal Bengal tiger.



The Bengal tiger's coat is yellow to light orange, with stripes ranging from dark brown to black; the belly and the interior parts of the limbs are white, and the tail is orange with black rings. The white tiger is a recessive mutant of the tiger, which is reported in the wild from time to time in Assam, Bengal, Bihar, and especially from the former State of Rewa. However, it is not to be mistaken as an occurrence of albinism. In fact, there is only one fully authenticated case of a true albino tiger, and none of black tigers, with the possible exception of one dead specimen examined in Chittagong in 1846.



 



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In India, which endangered deer species is found only in the Loktak Lake area in Manipur?



The sangai or the Indian Eld’s deer resides as an isolated single population in the world’s only floating national park in Manipur ? the grassland-dominated Keibul Lamjao National Park (KLNP).



Culturally, the sangai finds itself imbedded deep into the legends and folklore of the Manipuris. Based on a popular folk legend, the sangai is interpreted as the binding soul between humans and the nature. The slaying of the sangai, an unpardonable sin, is conceived as the rude breaking up of the cordial relationship between humans and the nature. When humans love and respect the sangai, it is respecting nature. In the sangai, therefore, humans find a way of expressing their love for the nature. Socially, the sangai is the symbol of a prized possession of the state.



It is believed that the name sangai was coined from its peculiar posture and behaviour while running. By nature, the deer, particularly the males, even when running for its life stops occasionally and looks back as if he is waiting for someone and hence the name.



 



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Every year, the Doyang reservoir in Nagaland witnesses the world’s single largest congregation of which small raptor that migrates from its breeding grounds in Russia and China?



Doyang, in Pangti village of Wokha district, witnesses one of the biggest congregations of these migratory birds because of which now Nagaland is a declared 'Falcon Capital of the World'. The Amur Falcon Conservation Week & Festivals will be held from November 8 to 10 every year and this year (2018) is its first edition. This indeed is a big and happy news when it comes to Amur falcon conservation. Nagaland and these falcons have come a long way from the days of rampant hunting to Nagaland's present-day status as a safe haven to these winter visitors. 



The main objective behind this initiative is not only to spread the word on the importance of wildlife conservation but also to highlight the fragile human-nature relationship and the need to understand it. The three-day event is a combination of wildlife conservation and many festivals that will highlight the rich culture, tradition and custom of the Lotha Nagas.



The event will also have a three-day music festival; water sports; food festivals (indigenous recipe contest, open air ethnic cooking competition to name a few); outdoor activities like angling, camping, trekking, cycling; adventure sports like off-roading, ziplining, mountain terrain biking competition. Focus will also be given on eco-tourism by promoting homestays, local guides, boating and workshops with experts in the field. 



 



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Which mammal is found only in Kanha and is also the official mascot of the Kanha Tiger Reserve?



 



Kanha has become the first tiger reserve in India to officially introduce a mascot — Bhoorsingh the Barasingha — to present the hard ground swamp deer as the spirit of the reserve and spread awareness to save it from possible extinction. Barasingha, or swamp deer, is the state animal of Madhya Pradesh. The Kanha tiger reserve, spread over Mandla and Balaghat districts, is the only place in the world where the species exists.  They used Barasingha as a Mascot due to create a unique identity for Kanha, which makes it look distinct and help in spreading awareness and allows the younger generation to connect with all wildlife. Kanha National park is the last home to the Hard-Ground Barasingha (Swamp Deer). From a population of around 3,000 in 1938, their population dwindled to a near-extinction level of just 66 in 1970. Their current population is in excess of 400.



The Barasingha is a medium sized deer. It can grow to a height of 130 cm and weigh up to 180 Kg. The Barasingha have a predominantly brown coat with yellowish undersides; males (stags) develop a reddish tinge in summer and juveniles (fawns) are mottled with white. The coat of the male Barasingha becomes darker in color during the mating season. The antlers of an adult male Barasingha can grow up to 75cm long and can have more than 12 points. The Barasingha prefers tall grass and reed beds near rivers. Marshes or swampland is a Barasingha's preferred territory. The Barasingha is found in forested areas in the Gangetic and Brahmaputra basins in India.



 



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Which is the world’s tallest flying bird found in Madhya Pradesh?



Despite heavy loss of habitat, the trumpeting call of the sarus crane – the world’s tallest flying bird with a height of approximately 1.8m and also the state bird of Uttar Pradesh— continues to echo in Gautam Budh Nagar, with the district recording a slight increase in their population, a recent forest department survey has revealed.



The bird is mainly found across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, West Bengal and the north-eastern states.



With light grey plumage and a greenish crown, sarus cranes also have a distinctive red skin covering their head and upper neck.



The species mostly lives and breeds in and around wetlands as well as marshy areas, small lakes and cultivated land with the presence of water, like paddy fields.



 



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In Gir forest region which big cat is found in the wild?



The Asiatic lion is a Panthera leo leo population in India. Its current range is restricted to the Gir National Park and environs in the Indian state of Gujarat. Historically, it inhabited much of Western Asia and the Middle East up to northern India. On the IUCN Red List, it is listed under its former scientific name Panthera leo persica as Endangered because of its small population size and area of occupancy.



The Asiatic lion's fur ranges in colour from ruddy-tawny, heavily speckled with black, to sandy or buffish grey, sometimes with a silvery sheen in certain lights. Males have only moderate mane growth at the top of the head, so that their ears are always visible. The mane is scanty on the cheeks and throat where it is only 10 cm (3.9 in) long. About half of Asiatic lions' skulls from the Gir forest have divided infraorbital foramina, whereas African lions have only one foramen on either side. The sagittal crest is more strongly developed, and the post-orbital area is shorter than in African lion. Skull length in adult males ranges from 330 to 340 mm (13 to 13 in), and in females from 292 to 302 mm (11.5 to 11.9 in). It differs from the African lion by a larger tail tuft and less inflated auditory bullae. The most striking morphological character of the Asiatic lion is a longitudinal fold of skin running along its belly.



 



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The Thar Desert has among the largest numbers of which critically endangered species, also the State bird of Rajasthan?



Great Indian Bustard (GIB) is a large bird with a horizontal body and long bare legs, giving it an ostrich like appearance, this bird is among the heaviest of the flying birds. The GIB lost to the peacock in the race to become national bird of India. Now it is on the verge of extinction due to modernization of agriculture practises and rapid infrastructural developments. Rajasthan government in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), is formulating a long-term plan to save its state bird, The Great Indian Bustard (GIB) from extinction.



Great Indian bustards make local movements but these are not well understood although it is known that populations disperse after the monsoons. Males are said to be solitary during the breeding season but form small flocks in winter. Males may however distribute themselves close together and like other bustards they are believed to use a mating system that has been termed as an "exploded or dispersed lek". The male is polygamous.



The habitat where it is most often found is arid and semi-arid grasslands, open country with thorn scrub, tall grass interspersed with cultivation. It avoids irrigated areas. The major areas where they are known to breed are in central and western India and eastern Pakistan. The dry semi-desert regions where it was found in parts of Rajasthan has been altered by irrigation canals that have transformed the region into an intensively farmed area.



 



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The Ladakh region is said to have the highest number of which big cat species in the country?



The snow leopard (shan) once ranged throughout the Himalaya, Tibet, and as far as the Sayan Mountains on the Mongolian-Russian border; and in elevation from 1800 m to 5400 m. They are extremely shy and hard to spot, and as such not well known. It is believed there are about 200 in Ladakh. Other cats in Ladakh are even rarer than the snow leopard: the lynx (ee), numbering only a few individuals, and the Pallas's cat, which looks somewhat like a house cat. The Tibetan wolf (shangku) is the greatest threat to the livestock of the Ladakhis and as such is the most persecuted. There are only about 300 wolves left in Ladakh. There are also a very few brown bears (drenmo / tret) in the Suru valley and the area around Dras. The red fox (watse) is common, and Tibetan sand fox (watse) has recently been discovered in this region.



The snow leopard is distributed from the west of Lake Baikal through southern Siberia, in the Kunlun Mountains, in the Russian Altai mountains, Sayan and Tannu-Ola Mountains, in the Tian Shan, across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan to the Hindu Kush in eastern Afghanistan, Karakoram in northern Pakistan, in the Pamir Mountains, and in the high altitudes of the Himalayas in India, Nepal, and Bhutan, and the Tibetan Plateau. In Mongolia, it is found in the Mongolian and Gobi Altai Mountains and the Khangai Mountains. In Tibet, it is found up to the Altyn-Tagh in the north.



 



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