Indian Mammals Field Guide

1275 Pages·2014·46.466 MB·English

by  Vivek Menon

For Shiva and Shasta

and their generation of nature lovers
First published in 2014 by Hachette India
(Registered name: Hachette Book Publishing India Pvt. Ltd)
An Hachette UK company
www.hachetteindia.com
This ebook published in 2014
Text Copyright © 2014 Vivek Menon
Copyright for photographs rests with the individual p hotographers
Distribution maps, illustrations and evolutionary charts Copyright © Wildlife Trust of
India
Map of India – Biogeography (page 16) C opyright © Vivek Menon and Smita
Bodhankar Warnekar
Vivek Menon asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be copied, reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system (including but not limited to computers, disks, external drives,
electronic or digital devices, e-readers, websites), or transmitted in any form or by
any means (including but not limited to cyclostyling, photocopying, docutech or
other reprographic reproductions, mechanical, recording, electronic, digital
versions) without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise
circulated in any form of binding or cover or digital format other than that in which
it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent
purchaser.
Print edition ISBN 978-93-5009-760-1
Ebook edition 978-93-5009-761-8
The maps in this book are pictorial representations and not to scale.
They do not represent exact or accurate geographical boundaries
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Contents
INTRODUCTORY PAGES
PRIMATES
ELEPHANTS
ODD-TOED UNGULATES
EVEN-TOED UNGULATES
CARNIVORES
HARES AND PIKAS
PANGOLINS
TREE SHREWS
SHREWS AND MOLES
HEDGEHOGS
RODENTS
BATS
WHALES AND DOLPHINS
DUGONGS
ENDNOTES
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
CONTRIBUTORS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INDEX
NATIONAL SYMBOLS
F OUR OF INDIA’S national symbols have mammals
associated with them. The regality of the lion, the
charisma of a tiger, the power of an elephant and the
grace of a dolphin are celebrated, according them a unique
status.
National Emblem
LION CAPITAL
Adapted from the Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath, by
Madhav Sawhney in 1950, this shows three lions, the
fourth being hidden from view. The wheel appears in the
centre of the abacus, with a bull on the right and a
galloping horse on the left.
National Aquatic Animal
GANGES RIVER DOLPHIN
Declared the National Aquatic Animal in October 2009 to
save it from extinction.
National Heritage Animal
ELEPHANT
In October 2010, the Indian Government declared the
elephant a National Heritage Animal.
National Animal
TIGER
The tiger was accorded the status of National Animal in
1973, with the initiation of Project Tiger, a national tiger
protection programme. Before this, the National Animal was
the lion.
AUTHOR’S INTRODUCTION
M AMMALS ARE THE most charismatic of all fauna.
Perhaps it is because we belong to the order
ourselves that we find them of perennial interest.
Majestic big cats fascinate us, gigantic elephants hold us
spellbound, and primates with their forward-facing eyes and
human-like faces remind us of our own origins. These
charismatic mega-fauna serve as flagships for a class that
encompasses 5,488 distinct species.
India has about 400 mammals, some of them widely
recognized such as the national animal – the tiger, and
others such as the tree shrew – enigmatic and evolutionarily
unique. Around 65 per cent of the world’s wild tigers and
Asian Elephants are found in India, as are 85 per cent of its
One-horned Rhinoceroses. It is also the only country to have
the Asiatic Lion. India teems with antelope and deer, has
five species of big cats, four massive wild cattle, 11 wild
goat and sheep, and at least 22 primates. Add to these the
numerous bats, rodents and cetaceans, and you have the
most incredible array of wildlife. Herds of elephants at the
Kabini reservoir in Karnataka in the months of March and
April, the bats that swarm into Robber’s Cave every evening
at Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra, or the temporary
associations of wild goat and sheep as they shift their
altitudinal range in response to the climate, offer
unforgettable glimpses into the world of mammals.