Table Of Content,
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
lesser woolly horseshoe bat, on the basis ofits Thelesserwoollyhorseshoebatisendemic
largesize,colour,habitatandsolitaryoccurrence. to peninsular India and Sri Lanka. In Kerala, it
I had an occasion to visit Chinnar again has hitherto been recorded from Wynaad,
inJune 1998. 1foundabat,presumablythesame Tellicherry, Trichur district and Palghat. This
individual, roosting at the same place as it had report constitutes a possible new record of a
been doing nine months earlier. Even with a species which has been described as very
moderatelybrighttorch, no furtherdetails could vulnerable to habitat destruction on account of
benotedtoascertainitsidentity. Iwas,however, low densitypopulations and forest dependency.
able to photograph it using a flash this time. On a later visit to the same place in
The photograph strengthens the February 1999, 1 could not find any bat.
impression thatthe bat is indeed a lesserwoolly
horseshoe bat. The animal is seen to behanging March 23, 1999 KUMARANSATHASIVAM
byone leg, whichis a habitcharacteristic ofthat 29Jadamuni Koil Street,
species. Further,Dr. PaulBates,whostudiedthis Madurai 625 001,
picturewrotethathethoughtitwas Rhinolophus TamilNadu
beddomei. India.
DEAD SNOW LEOPARD UNCIA UNCIA ATYABUK,
3.
DONGKUNG (5500M) INNORTH SIKKIM
Snow leopard Uncia uncia is protected in Unfortunately feral dogs discovered the
ScheduleIoftheIndianWildlife(Protection)Act, carcass. The next day, most ofthe softer parts,
1972 as amendedupto 1998. There are almostno the internal organs and the ribs had been
recent sight records of this rare big cat from eaten away. The grazier collected the remains.
Sikkim,thelastbeingacubfromSebuLaregion Almost in the same sleeping posture, most
in Lashar valley, north Sikkim. The male cub of the carcass except the head and shoulders
‘Shebu’ survivedforlessthanayearincaptivity dried naturally in the cold of this desert area.
in Gangtok in 1993-1994. There has been no Six months later, on May 16, 1999, he brought
study so far on its present status in Sikkim. the remains down to Gangtok in a highly
OnNovember 18, 1998, aTibetan grazier decomposed state and deposited them in the
or ‘dokpa’ was attracted by a hovering raven Wildlife Circle of the Department of Forests,
while grazing his yaks at Yabuk (c. 5500m), a Environment & Wildlife. The heat accele-
rockyplace about2 km above Dongkung, atthe rated putrefaction and we tried to save the
foot of Chomiomo peak on the Chho Lhamo specimen as much as possible by skinning.
Plateau. Upon investigating, he saw what he On examining thejaws ofthe snow leopard, we
thought was a sleeping, probably sick, snow saw that the upper left canine was missing, as
leopard in the grass at the base of some large was one incisor in the upper jaw. The other
boulders. Sensing something was wrong, he teethwere also worn out and yellow: The claws
drove awaytheravenandwentcloser. He found were blunt. The front pad in the pug measured
it was an adult male snow leopard lying dead in 8.5 cm and the hind, 8 cm. The tail mea-
sleepingposture. The spotwas very isolatedand sured 92 cm and had a diameter of c. 13 cm.
intending to return the next day to collect the The bones were buried in the ground to remove
specimen to bring down to me in Gangtok, he thetissue.Theywerelatercleanedandmeasured
wentback to his camp. (Table 1).
JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY, 97(1), APR. 2000 137
MISCELLANEOUS NOTES
Table 1 including those animals which have been lamed
SKULLMEASUREMENTSOFSNOWLEOPARD(INMM) by landmines.Usuallynothing is donetocontrol
Totallength 171 their number. Needless to say, pure breed of
Condylobasallength 145
Zygomaticwidth 122.5 Tibetan mastiff, which is a master herder, also
PostOrbitalWidth 44.9 seemstohavebeenirretrievablylost.Itisdifficult
InterOrbitalWidth 40 to quantify the feral dogpopulation as the entire
MaxillaryWidth 72.5
area, though under the jurisdiction of the
MandibularLength 115.2
Upperjaw Lowerjaw Department of F. E. & WL, is under defence
Premolar4 13.88 16.1 control, wherecivilianactivitiesareseverelyand
Molar1 21.25 16.15 actively restricted.
All wildlife and domestic livestock on the
The ‘dokpa’ grazier had two previous Tibetanplateauof Sikkimareunderseverestress
sightings ofsnow leopard in this area. On July due to various defence priorities. This area,
27, 1998 itwas sighted atDongkung. Itwas last known as the Chho Lhamo plateau, is perhaps
seen alive at Yabuk on September 10, 1998. He the only one in the entire eastern and central
also recorded sightings of upto 30 blue sheep Himalayas to have breeding populations of
Pseudois nayaur in this area. Around 1100 yak endangered species such as the southern kiang
and2000sheepbelongingto 18 ‘dokpa’ families Equus kiang polyodon, lynx Lynx lynx and
also use the area. blacknecked cra—ne Grus nigricollis, .in addition
Feral dogs have long infested the entire to snow leopard all listed in Schedule I ofthe
area where this animal was found. These dogs Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act. The richness
werebroughttotheTibetanplateauaspupsfrom of the region has prompted the State Wildlife
loweraltitudesbythe armyjawansforcompany. Advisory Board to propose its recognition as a
On finishing their stint in this ‘difficult area’ all cold desertprotected area.
thedogswere abandoned. Thesehavesincebred
with the local Tibetan mastiffand multiplied by July 27, 1999 USHA GANGULI-LACHUNGPA
feedingoffthekitchenwastesofthearmycamps. Department ofForest,
Today these feral dogs roam in packs on the Environment & Wildlife,
plateau, livingoffmarmots,woollyhare,Tibetan Government ofSikkim,
gazelle, blue sheep, young nayan and kiang as Deorali 737 102,
also domestic sheep, goats and young yak Sikkim, India.
4. ON THE LONGEVITY OF THE TIGER (.PANTHERA TIGRIS) IN CAPTIVITY
A white tigressnamedDiana-Subhra born for protection from extreme weather conditions
at the National Zoological Park, New Delhi, on andfor feeding. She was fedwith 14 kg offresh
June 6, 1977, was received at the Nandankanan raw beef with bones six days in a week.
Zoological Park, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, on Intermittently, vitamin supplements were added
December 28, 1979. She died on February 28, tothebeef. She wasusuallycagedwithhermate
1999, after remaining 21 years, 8 months and orher cubs.
22 days in captivity. During her lifetime in the park, she was
The tigress was housed in an open-air pairedwithtwotigers(oneheterozygousnormal
enclosurewithsuitablevegetation.Theenclosure coloured “Deepak” and one white “Debabrata”)
had a set of retiring cells with cemented floor and she gave birth to 16 cubs (6 males and 10
138 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HISTORYSOCIETY. 97(1) APR. 2000
