Asiatic wild dog returns to Assam's Kaziranga landscape
The dhole, or Asiatic wild dog (Cuon alpinus), believed to have been locally exterminated, has made a confirmed return to Assam's Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong Landscape (KKAL), according to a new study by scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
The findings, published in the latest issue of the Journal of Threatened Taxa, indicate that this elusive and less charismatic carnivore may have gone unnoticed for an extended period, despite its ecological significance.
'India is experiencing a decline in wildlife species due to habitat loss, deforestation, and climate change. Species once thought to be extirpated from certain areas are being rediscovered, offering hope for conservation efforts,' the study notes.
Mujahid Ahamad, Jyotish Ranjan Deka, Priyanka Borah, Umar Saeed, Ruchi Badola, and Syed Ainul Hussain are the authors of the study, which highlights the first-ever camera-trap evidence of the endangered canid in the Amguri corridor of the KKAL.
'This finding is significant as it highlights the ecological value of the corridor in supporting threatened species,' said Dr. Ruchi Badola, Dean of WII's Faculty of Wildlife Sciences, speaking to The Hindu. 'Dholes require large, undisturbed forest habitats, and their presence here confirms the need to conserve this dynamic wildlife corridor, which also supports tigers, leopards, elephants, and other species.'
'With increasing threats from habitat loss and fragmentation, this discovery is a timely reminder of why these forest linkages must be protected and restored for the long-term survival of India's lesser-known carnivores,' she added.
The study, conducted in 2022, focused on four key animal corridors within the 25,000 sq. km KKAL, which lies within the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot. These corridors include Panbari, Haldhibari, Kanchanjuri, and Amguri.
The dhole was photo-captured on six occasions in the Amguri corridor. All images were of a single individual, recorded 375 metres from National Highway 37 and approximately 270 metres from the nearest human settlement.
Dholes are social animals known to form packs of up to 30 individuals. However, depending on prey availability, they may also hunt alone or in pairs.
The current distribution of the dhole is restricted to parts of Central and Eastern Asia, including India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. Its global range, however, is now less than a quarter of its historical extent, significantly reduced due to threats such as habitat degradation, prey depletion, and retaliatory killings.
The last confirmed sighting of dholes in northeast India was reported from Nagaland in 2011.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
Revealed: Faces of Keeladi men; 3D recon by UK lab and researchers brings 2,500-year-old skulls from Tamil Nadu into shape
FIRST LOOK: These faces are predominantly south Indian with a touch of West Eurasian and Austro-Asiatic characteristics A rchaeological excavations and carbon dating point to one of the oldest civilizations thriving at Keeladi, 12km southeast of Madurai in Tamil Nadu, in 6th century BCE. Now, they've put faces to at least two men who walked this earth some 2,500 years ago. South Indian with traces of ancestral West Eurasian (Iranian) hunter-gatherers and ancestral Austro-Asiatic people — that's how researchers at Madurai Kamaraj University describe the facial features reconstructed on two skulls with help from Liverpool John Moores University in the UK. The skulls were found at Kondagai, a burial site around 800m from the main excavation site. Further DNA studies are needed to pinpoint the ancestry based on genetics, they say. You Can Also Check: Chennai AQI | Weather in Chennai | Bank Holidays in Chennai | Public Holidays in Chennai 'We used a computer-assisted 3D facial reconstruction system to rebuild the facial musculature and estimate facial features following anatomical and anthropometrical standards,' said Professor Caroline Wilkinson, director of Face Lab, Liverpool John Moores University, UK. The lower halves of the faces were more guesstimate; reconstruction of the upper halves was more accurate. 'As the lower jaws of the skulls were missing, we used orthodontic standards to estimate the shapes of the mandibles from cranial measurements and planes,' said Prof Wilkinson. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 境界のないゲームを発見する BuzzDaily Winners Undo Researchers used forensic guidelines for facial reconstruction created from the study of clinical images of living people. After obtaining CT scanned images of the skulls from Kondagai, they estimated the tissue depth at various points of the skulls following published data of modern south Indians. 'It is 80% science and 20% art' They used digital sculpting to recreate muscle, fat and skin while the placement and size of facial features (eyes, nose and mouth) were estimated based on the skulls' characteristics and anatomical relationships. Using a photographic database, researchers assigned colours and textures for the skin, hair and eyes. 'It is 80% science and 20% art,' said professor G Kumaresan, department of genetics, Madurai Kamaraj University, which scanned and sent images of the skulls to Liverpool. He said the reconstructed faces, along with DNA data, will help trace the ancestry of Tamils who lived in the Sangam age. Keeladi has been at the centre of a tussle between the Union and state govts over its antiquity. Last month, the Archaeological Survey of India asked its archaeologist K Amarnath Ramakrishna, who unearthed the Sangam age brick structure at Keeladi in 2015-16 and dated the site to 8th century BCE, to revise his report quoting unnamed experts who said it could be no older than the 3rd century BCE. The Tamil Nadu state archaeology department, which took over the excavation from ASI in 2018 after the courts intervened, has since obtained 29 radiocarbon dates between 6th century BCE and 2nd century CE at Keeladi. Researchers from Madurai Kamaraj University are analysing DNA from the Kondagai urns in collaboration with the department of genetics at Harvard University in the US. 'Work is in progress to obtain a large number of DNA markers and compare them with global reference populations to understand the routes of migration and admixture of the ancient inhabitants of Kondagai and Keeladi,' Kumaresan said. After studying the contents of the burial urns excavated from Kondagai, researchers estimated that most of the skeletal remains were of people aged around 50 years. 'There are many criteria such as dental wear patterns, expression of sutural lines, presence of arthritic lesions and general size of the bone that can tell us about age,' said anthropologist Veena Mushrif Tripathy from Deccan College in Pune. She studied the bone remains at Kondagai and Kodumanal. 'The stature estimation is feasible for only 11 skeleton remains at Kondagai. Though it is insufficient to measure the height of the entire Kondagai population, the average height of males was 170.82cm (5ft 7') while females was 157.74 cm (5ft 2'), which is comparable to Kodumanal where stature estimation was conducted on five skeletal remains,' she added. Researchers identify the sex of the skeleton remains based on pelvic bone and skull morphology. 'Though reconstructing faces is common throughout the world, in South India, we have attempted it for the first time at Keeladi,' said archaeologist K Rajan, advisor to the Tamil Nadu department of archaeology.
New Indian Express
a day ago
- New Indian Express
Rethink move to open Angul coal belt for mining: Study
BHUBANESWAR: A new study has urged that declaring the entire coal belt of Angul district for mining use must be reconsidered. Wildlife Institute of India (WII) researchers S Karthy and GV Gopi carried out the study to understand the status of elephants in coal mine landscape using geospatial methods. A snippet of the report 'Status of Management of Elephants in Coal Mine Landscape of Odisha' cautioned that operating inactive coal mines would result in destruction of about 390 sq km of forest Angul forest division. Employing Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) approach to determine the suitable elephant landscape in the division, the study found that most of the habitat utilised by the pachyderms in the region fall under the proposed coal blocks. 'There are already operational coal mines in Angul division which hinder the movement of the elephants. If all the inactive coal mines come into operation, it would lead to destruction of about 390 sq km forest in the protected area,' it stated. The report sought construction of adequate overpasses and underpasses in the southern part and stressed the importance of managing habitat outside protected areas and enforcing stringent environmental framework.
The Hindu
2 days ago
- The Hindu
Asiatic wild dog returns to Assam's Kaziranga landscape
The dhole, or Asiatic wild dog (Cuon alpinus), believed to have been locally exterminated, has made a confirmed return to Assam's Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong Landscape (KKAL), according to a new study by scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII). The findings, published in the latest issue of the Journal of Threatened Taxa, indicate that this elusive and less charismatic carnivore may have gone unnoticed for an extended period, despite its ecological significance. 'India is experiencing a decline in wildlife species due to habitat loss, deforestation, and climate change. Species once thought to be extirpated from certain areas are being rediscovered, offering hope for conservation efforts,' the study notes. Mujahid Ahamad, Jyotish Ranjan Deka, Priyanka Borah, Umar Saeed, Ruchi Badola, and Syed Ainul Hussain are the authors of the study, which highlights the first-ever camera-trap evidence of the endangered canid in the Amguri corridor of the KKAL. 'This finding is significant as it highlights the ecological value of the corridor in supporting threatened species,' said Dr. Ruchi Badola, Dean of WII's Faculty of Wildlife Sciences, speaking to The Hindu. 'Dholes require large, undisturbed forest habitats, and their presence here confirms the need to conserve this dynamic wildlife corridor, which also supports tigers, leopards, elephants, and other species.' 'With increasing threats from habitat loss and fragmentation, this discovery is a timely reminder of why these forest linkages must be protected and restored for the long-term survival of India's lesser-known carnivores,' she added. The study, conducted in 2022, focused on four key animal corridors within the 25,000 sq. km KKAL, which lies within the Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot. These corridors include Panbari, Haldhibari, Kanchanjuri, and Amguri. The dhole was photo-captured on six occasions in the Amguri corridor. All images were of a single individual, recorded 375 metres from National Highway 37 and approximately 270 metres from the nearest human settlement. Dholes are social animals known to form packs of up to 30 individuals. However, depending on prey availability, they may also hunt alone or in pairs. The current distribution of the dhole is restricted to parts of Central and Eastern Asia, including India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, China, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. Its global range, however, is now less than a quarter of its historical extent, significantly reduced due to threats such as habitat degradation, prey depletion, and retaliatory killings. The last confirmed sighting of dholes in northeast India was reported from Nagaland in 2011.
