Table Of Content394 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 94 (1997)
The doe I saw was in fair physical anonymous referee for comments on an earlier
condition. I could not monitor it to confirm its draft of this note. The observation was made
recovery. However, Dr. P.K. Malik (WII, pers. during a study funded by WII and IUCN.
comm.) opined that ifthe prolapsed mass was as
small as that which I saw, there were chances of April 10, 1996 SHRIDHAR. D. BHAT,
its natural retraction and the animal regaining Forestry Degree Programme,
health. Banavasi Road,
I thank Dr. P.K. Mailk for a useful Sirsi (N.K.)
discussion on this aspect. I also thank an Karnataka, India-581 401.
References
Banerjee, G.C. (1991): Atextbook ofanimal husbandry. Sankar, K. (1990): Recto-Vaginal prolapse in a wild
7th edn, Oxford & IBH Publ. Co. Pvt. Ltd., New chitalCervusaxis. J. Bombaynat. Hist. Soc. 87(2):
Delhi, pp 201-203. 288.
COMMENTS ON A NEWLY BORN GAUR (BOS GAURUS)
5.
On morning of28th August, 1995 my field vicinity (c. 100 mradius). We approached thecalf
assistantMr. Kunmari andI were walking through to get a close look and found that it had been
a mixed deciduous forest patch in Mudumalai delivered only a few minutes earlier. Fresh
Wildlife Sanctuary for a routine bird census. At placenta and blood were on the grass. The calf
0930 hours we were on a rock at 10 m observing could not move and was staring at us. It had a
birds, when I heard a strange sound coming from pale reddish brown coat with bluish eyes. After
a bush below. A few seconds later, a single gaur about 15 min it tried to run but could not balance
(cow) came out of a lantana bush and started its hind limbs and fell down often, but somehow
grazing about 100 m from where I was. Since I managed to go behind a nearby bush. During this
was on the top ofthe rock, it did not notice me. I period, there was no vocalization either from
silently approached the animal with my camera the cow or the calf. I looked around the delivery
to get a closer shot of it. When I was just 50 m site and noted some habitat features. It was a
away, it lifted its head and stared at me, but dry deciduous forest close to a dry stream. The
continued grazing. This surprising behaviour of shade in the area was moderate, shrub cover low
not being alarmed, tempted me to find out the and the ground was almost fully covered with
reason. grass. Tectona grandis and Anogeissus latifolia
All my previous encounters with gaur had were the dominant trees and the terrain was
suggested that the gaur is extremely shy and slightly undulating. The gaur had given birth
sensitive to even the slightest disturbance. Ihalted on the grass patch. According to Schaller (1967)
there and continued observing it. Scanning the and Prater (1971), female gaurs separate from the
area, Inoticed acalf(resembling a domestic cow’s herd when the calf is born and remain with it,
calf) struggling to standup, about 10 m away from feeding it till the calf is able to accompany it to
the adult gaur. My experienced field assistant told rejoin the herd. I could not find any gaur herd
me that it was the calf of a gaur. Our talking even after a 3 km walk around the site. After a
disturbed the gaur and it ran with an alarm call. gap of 15 days, I sighted one herd ofgaur in the
In a few seconds, the gaur disappeared from our same place consisting of 4 adult bulls, 8 adult
. ,
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
395
GOKULA
cows, 3 sub adults and 6 calves. All the calves January 27, 1995 V.
were ofthe same age. Prater (1971) reported that Division ofAvian Ecology,
the gaur gives birth all around the year but there SalimAli Centrefor Ornithology and
could be a peak at some seasons. As many small Natural History
calves were sighted during August and Kalampalayam PO.
September, this may be one of the peak birth Coimbatore-641 010.
seasons for gaur in Mudumalai Wildlife
Sanctuary.
References
Schaller, G.B. (1967): The deer and the tiger: A case Prater, S.H. (1971): The Book of Indian Animals,
study of Wildlife in India, The University of Bombay Natural History Society & Oxford
Chicago Press, Chicago, pp 370. University Press, Mumbai, 324 pp.
RANGE EXTENSION OF THE KASHMIR FLYING SQUIRREL
6.
HYLOPETES FIMBRIATUS GRAY)
c
The Kashmir flying squirrel (Hylopetes The general colour ofthe dorsal surface of
flmbriatus), belongs to the Family Scuiridae. It the body was brownish-black with whitish
has a distributional range from north Punjab and underparts. Thesquirrel had distinctbrown pinnae
Kashmir, eastwards to Simla in Himachal Pradesh and a thick, hairy brownish black tail. Each hind
(Corbett and Hill 1992). Ellerman (1961) and and forelimb had four functional toes almost of
Prater (1980) describe two races of the Kashmir same size, the fifth toe being small. Each toe had
flying squirrel from the western Himalayas, distinct claws. The soles werebare with a spongy
H.f fimbriatus and H.f baberi. The race H.f pad below each toe. The measurements of the
baberiisconsidered a differentspeciesbyCorbett body parts taken are given in Table 1
and Hill (1992). On the basis of the above characters the
species was identified as the Kashmir flying
Table
EXTERNAL MEASUREMEN1 TS OF HYLOPETES squirrel (Hylopetes fimbriatus). The species is
FIMBRIATUS FOUND AT BALMORAL endemic to the western Himalayas (Prater 1980).
(RANIKHET) Thus the occurrenceofthe Kashmir flying squirrel
in Ranikhet extends the range of the species by
&
Sex Head Ear Tail Hind-Foot Fore-Foot about 300 km.
Body (cm) (cm) (cm) (cm)
(cm)
March 22, 1997 MOHD. KHALID S. PASHA
Male 26.9 3.4 29.0 8.5 6.1 Wildlife Institute ofIndia
P.O. Box. 18, Chanrabani
A
dead specimen ofan adult male Kashmir Dehra Dun (UP) - 248 001.
flying squirrel was recovered from Balmoral site
in Ranikhet (29° 29' N, 79° 26' E), Kumaon, Uttar INTESAR SUHAIL
Pradesh, on 8th May, 1995. The general Centre ofWildlife & Ornithology
morphological characters and the measurements
Aligarh Muslim University
of certain body parts were noted down.
Aligarh (UP) - 202 002.
