Two Earth-size planets spotted beyond solar system

New York: Scientists have found two Earth-sized planets orbiting a star outside the solar system, an encouraging sign for prospects of finding life elsewhere.

The discovery shows that such planets exist and that they can be detected by the Kepler spacecraft, said Francois Fressin of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They're the smallest planets found so far that orbit a star resembling our sun.

Scientists are seeking Earth-sized planets as potential homes for extraterrestrial life, said Fressin, who reports the new findings in a paper published online yesterday by the journal Nature.

One planet's diameter is only 3 per cent larger than Earth's, while the other's diameter is about nine-tenths that of Earth. They appear to be rocky, like our planet.

But they are too hot to contain life as we know it, with calculated temperatures of about 1,400 degrees and 800 degrees Fahrenheit (760 Celsius and 425 Celsius), he said.

Source: The Indian Express, 21-12-2011

Delhi zoo adds new feature

New Delhi: As part of the new master plan, the 100-acre Delhi Zoo on Tuesday added a new feature in the form of an additional enclosure to house animals from Central India. Animals like the black buck, nilgai, sambar, spotted deer, barking deer and gaur have now been housed together for the benefit of visitors.

“This is the first time in the history of the zoo that such a grouping has been done. The decision was taken on the advice of the Central Zoo Authority. We hope the experiment will give additional information to visitors about the area from where these animals come,'' said a senior zoo officials.

“Initially we were apprehensive that the animals might start fighting among themselves, but we have noticed that they have grouped themselves and are grazing in different sections of the enclosure,'' added the official.

The zoo is home to over 1,000 animals, representing almost 130 species of animals and birds from around the world.

In keeping with the new master plan, the Delhi Zoo is undertaking an ambitious “renovation” plan, which is all set to change its face.

“We plan to have a butterfly park, an insectarium and an aquarium. The master plan aims to provide more space to the animals, bring about infrastructural improvements and make the place more educational for the visitors. There is also a plan to bring in different themes like peninsular India, central Indian highlands and Himalayan foothills,'' said a senior zoo official.

The zoo is seeking over Rs.100 crore from the Union Forests and Environment Ministry to implement the master plan and the survey work for the revamp began last year.

“As per the plan, visitors to the zoo will also be able to enjoy a walk-through aviary and a rainforest region. The idea is to provide a real-life experience to visitors. Better signages and information kiosks are also part of the plan. The master plan also envisages providing improved drainage and sewage. This measure is especially important during the monsoon season when flooding endangers the health of the zoo inmates,'' noted the official.

Source: The Hindu, 14-12-2011

Dried bamboo groves bring ominous portents

The dried bamboo groves inside the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary and the adjacent sanctuaries such as the Rajiv Gandhi National Park, Nagarhole, and the Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka are posing a threat to the wildlife population of the Nilgiri Biosphere, a major tiger and elephant habitat.

The bamboo groves in the Wayanad forest are the mainstay of the herbivores in the Nilgiri Biosphere during summer. With the advent of the season, migration of wild animals starts from the adjacent sanctuaries in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to Wayanad owing to shortage of fodder and water there.

“This season may be a period of famine for wildlife, especially elephants, wild gaur, and other lower herbivores owing to the mass destruction of bamboo groves in the area,” forest officials said.

“Bamboo groves, which grow in 100 sq. km. of the 344.44 sq. km. of the sanctuary, have completely withered away except for a few patches after the gregarious flowering of the plants started in 2005,” K.K. Sunilkumar, Wildlife Warden, Wayanad sanctuary, told The Hindu.

Nearly 60,000 tonnes, worth Rs.4 crore, of it is extractable. But norms forbid the extraction of plants from the sanctuaries, sources said.

Moreover, posing a threat to the wildlife as well as the ecology of the Nilgiri Biosphere, it is reported that close to 25 per cent of the bamboo groves in the adjacent sanctuaries have bloomed since 2010 and the phenomenon is continuing.

Thorny bamboo (Bamboosa Bambos) is a monocarpic (flowering only once) plant belonging to the Poaceae family (grass family) and its flowering cycle varies from 30 to 34 years and 44 to 49 years, Ratheesh Narayanan, senior scientist, M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Kalpetta, said.

Profuse natural regeneration occurs from seeds after gregarious flowering. Seeds have no dormancy and this helps germination under favourable conditions soon after seed fall, Mr. Narayanan said.

But, protection from fire and grazing is essential for proper establishment of seedlings, he added.

Fire incidents have been comparatively low in the sanctuary for the past two years following summer rain and the conservation measures implemented by the Forest Department. But, combustible materials have accumulated in the sanctuary this year and a spark may cause an uncontrollable disaster, the sources added.

Meanwhile, dearth of funds for implementing conservation measures inside the sanctuary, after the Union Ministry drastically cut the funds in the current fiscal, is a major concern.

The Central government is yet to allot any funds for implementing forest fire protection measures in the sanctuary so far, the sources added.

Farmers adjacent to the sanctuary fear that destruction of the bamboo groves may worsen the increasing man-animal conflict in the district.

Source: The Hindu, December 16, 2011

Migratory birds arrive in Kerala

One of the clear signs that winter has set in the northern hemisphere is the arrival of migratory birds in their thousands to tropical India to escape the winter-related problems at homeland. Kerala has many such terrestrial and wetland winter resorts for them and the feathered guests have already checked in to all of them.

The arrival has been traditionally abrupt. Especially, the wetlands and its surroundings are one fine morning suddenly teeming with birds that were not there the previous day. Bird watchers say that the migratory birds usually arrive during the night following certain cues that are part of their genetic heritage.

By the time they have reached their Kerala destinations, they would have flown thousands of kilometres over many countries. They return to their homes to breed when they get the instinctive message that spring has arrived there. Till then there are expatriates of sorts here enjoying the warmth of the Kerala.

According to P.O. Nameer, associate professor (forestry) of the Kerala Agriculture University, about 152 species of migratory birds sojourn in Kerala. They include about 80 species of water birds. Professor Nameer, who is also the State coordinator of the International Bird Conservation Network (ICBN), said that none of the migratory birds breed during this sojourn.

He said that these birds come from the Eurasia region. They are mainly from Siberia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan and other area north of the Himalayan regions. Some of the birds are also from the Himalayan region. As part of the global process, survey of the migratory birds at the winter resorts will begin in January.

Prof. Nameer said that given the flock strengths that have arrived, there appears to be not much of a fluctuation in the population of these birds compared to last year. Even the arrivals last year was more or less on par with the previous year. It shows protection and conservation awareness is appreciably strong, he said.

Travancore Natural History Society coordinator, H. Charan said that some of the important wetland destinations of the migratory birds in Kerala are Vellayani, Ashtamudi, Sasthamcotta, Vembanad-Kuttanad belt, the charcoal fields of Thrissur, Bharathapuzha belt, Kadalundi, Kattamballi in Kannur, the Kawaikayal of Kasargode and the Neeleshwaram Thaikadappuram.

The migratory species arriving include godwits, terns, ospreys, golden plovers, pratincoles, several species of ducks and waders like sandpipers and plovers. The counting of the birds will be conducted by the Asian Wetland Bird Survey with support from the ICBN under supervisions of the Bombay Natural History Society.

Source: The Hindu December 7, 2011

Use of microalgae helps in controlling pollution

To its votaries, tiny organisms known as microalgae could hold answers to some intractable problems. That includes curbing carbon dioxide emissions that are contributing to global warming and reducing the burden of industrial effluents.

“We can change trash into gold” and safeguard human existence on the planet, exclaimed Ji-Won Yang of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea.

Microalgae, like plants, are capable of photosynthesis, using the energy from sunlight to turn carbon dioxide and water into sugar.

In a talk at the International Conference on New Horizons in Biotechnology held in Thiruvananthapuram recently, Prof. Yang spoke of his team's efforts at treating municipal wastewater using the single-celled green alga, Chlorella vulgaris.

Such wastewater contained plenty of organic compounds and nutrients to sustain the organism. The oils that then accumulated in the cells could be harvested and turned into biodiesel.

It was found that untreated wastewater gave the best algal growth. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria found in the wastewater could be acting as growth enhancers, he noted.

In Taiwan, a group is seeking reduce emissions from a steel plant by turning the carbon dioxide it belches out into a resource for growing C. vulgaris. The alga could then be turned animal and aquaculture feed.

A mutant strain of the alga had been isolated that could tolerate the elevated temperatures that resulted from bubbling the steel plant's flue gas through the medium in which the organism was growing, according to Jo-Shu Chang, deputy-director of the Centre for Bioscience and Biotechnology at the National Cheng Kung University.

Using the alga in this manner could halve the carbon dioxide in the flue gas. Simultaneously, the levels of nitrogen oxides could also be drastically cut and that of sulphur oxides considerably reduced.

A pilot plant based on the alga had been established at a plant of the China Steel Corporation, he said.

Both Prof. Yang and Prof. Chang, however, pointed out that technological breakthroughs were needed to bring down the cost of harvesting and processing microalgae.

Algae can be a very effective and economical way of dealing with industrial effluents, according to V. Sivasubramanian, Director of the Vivekananda Institute of Algal Technology in Chennai.

He gave the example of a company based in Ranipet in Tamil Nadu that was producing alginate, a compound with a variety of applications from food to textiles. The effluent from the production process was highly acidic. To meet pollution control norms, the effluent was earlier being neutralised with sodium hydroxide. The large quantities of sludge that resulted had then to be disposed in a secured landfill.

It had been possible to engineer a treatment process to efficiently carry out the neutralisation by providing suitable conditions for a blue green alga, Chroococcus turgidus, to grow in the effluent. As the alga grew, it reduced the acidity of the effluent. This algal strain had been isolated from the effluent itself.

The remediation plant had been working well for over five years, producing negligible quantities of sludge and saving money that had earlier been spent on sodium hydroxide.

An added bonus

An added bonus was that the company was able harvest and sell some of the alga as a biofertiliser and aquaculture feed.

In the case of another company in Ranipet, this time producing chemicals used in leather processing, the microalga Chlorella vulgaris had been successfully employed to reduce the load of heavy metals, such as copper, zinc, chromium, nickel, cadmium and lead, in the effluent.

Once again, the strain of C. vulgaris used for this purpose had been isolated from the effluent itself, he said.

Source:The Hindu December 8, 2011

Migratory birds declining, government monitoring habitat

New Delhi: The population of endangered migratory bird species is either decreasing or stable, but the central government is working to protect them during their sojourn, says Environment and Forests Minister Jayanthi Natarajan.

The number of migratory birds arriving in India depends on various factors, including habitat quality, preference and human disturbances along their migratory routes, Ms. Natarajan said in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

However, as per the latest Asian Waterbird Census coordinated by the Wetlands International, the population of threatened migratory birds in the entire flyway region, which includes Central Siberia, Mongolia, Central Asian republics, Iran, Afghanistan, the Gulf and the Indian subcontinent, is either decreasing or stable.

Ms. Natarajan said the central government is providing financial and technical assistance to specialised institutions like the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON), the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) for conducting studies to monitor the populations of important bird species and their habitat.

WII, BNHS and SACON are monitoring migratory birds in the Keoladeo National Park in Bharatpur in Rajasthan. BNHS is also working in Point Calimere in Andhra Pradesh.

In Himachal Pradesh’s Pong Dam wetlands, one of the largest manmade wetlands in northern India, the BNHS is tracking the migratory routes of the barheaded goose and some duck species through satellite.

A study on the status of trans-Himalayan and Himalayan birds, including migratory ones, is being conducted by the WII.

Crossing national and international boundaries, millions of migratory birds descend in India to avoid the extreme winter chill in their native habitats.

According to “Handbook on Indian Wetland Birds and their Conservation”, written by scientists of the Dehradun-based Zoological Survey of India, of the 1,230 species found in the Indian subcontinent, nearly 350 are migrants.

The most abundant winter migrants to the Indian subcontinent are ducks and geese. Both constitute about 85 per cent of the population.

The book says the birds go by celestial navigation. The birds possess sensory objects that can trace the waves generated by earth’s magnetic field. The migration starts when the winds are favourable, mostly at dusk.

Source: The Hindu, 30-11-2011

World's heaviest insect weighs 3 times more than mouse

London: A giant insect, which weighs three times more than a mouse and eats carrots, has been recorded as the heaviest insect in the world.

A nature-lover Mark Moffett from Colorado, America, revealed that he spent two days tracking down the giant weta on a remote island in New Zealand, and got it to eat a carrot out of his hand.

Moffett’s finding makes it the world’s biggest insect in terms of weight, which at 71g is heavier than a sparrow and three times that of a mouse.

The 53-year-old former park ranger discovered the giant weta up a tree and has now been declared the largest ever found.

The cricket-like creature has a wing span of seven inches and is only found on Little Barrier Island, in New Zealand, the Daily Mail reported.

There are 70 other types of smaller weta found throughout the country.

The giants of the species were wiped off the mainland by rats accidentally introduced by Europeans.

Source: The Indian Express, 2-12-2011

First image of another solar system captured

London: Rolf Olsen, a New Zealand-based astrophotographer, has published the first non-professional pictures of the disk of debris and dust swirling around Beta Pictoris, a very young solar system.

Incredibly, the 12 million-year-old system, some 60 million light years away from our own, was captured with only a 25cm telescope, the ‘Daily Mail’ reported. The material that forms the proto-planetary disc around Beta Pictoris has been photographed by large observatories before, but it was not thought possible for amateurs to take a picture of the system, due to the glare from the star itself.

But by capturing an image of a similar star and subtracting it from the picture of Beta Pictoris, Olsen was able to eliminate the stellar glare, revealing the dust disk.

Olsen says he first gathered fifty images of Beta Pictoris. Then he collected similar pictures of another star that is similar in colour and brightness Alpha Pictoris. He subtracted the image of the second star, removing the glare.

The raw image of the material disc looked scrappy, so he blended it with the original image of Beta Pictoris using photo editing software. Olsen wrote on his website: “The result is, I believe, the first amateur image of another solar system: The proto-planetary disc around Beta Pictoris. I must say it feels really special to have actually captured this.”

Olsen’s observatory is located in Titirangi in the foothills of Waitakere Ranges west of Auckland.

Source: Deccan Herald, 28-11-2011

Oxygen 2.48 billion years old

Washington: Oxygen is likely to be 2.48 billion years old, a new research has suggested.

An international team says that banded ironstone core samples from the Pilbara rocks in Australia have aided in dating the first appearance of atmospheric oxygen at 2.48 billion years ago.

Prof Mark Barley, who led the team, says their findings, published in the ‘Nature’ journal. rested on the reliability of the rock samples they used as evidence.

According to geologists, the Great Oxidation Event, when earth’s atmospheric oxygen formed, happened at between 2.48 and 2.32 billion years ago.

“This was evidence for the most primitive form of aerobic respiring life, aerobic respiring bacteria which oxidise pyrite that released acid that dissolved rocks and soils on land, including chromium, that was then carried to the oceans by the flow of water.

“The aerobic respiring chemolitho-autorobic bacteria require coexistence with cyanobacteria producing oxygen to do this,” Prof Barley said.

Prof Barley says that geobiologists are working towards a better database, for more evidence of when the types of bacteria linked to the rise of oxygen were really functioning.

“We got a good group of samples from banded iron formations and analysed the chromium isotopes and other elements because that gives the strongest evidence of oxidation.

“If you have a good deep drill hole that’s not close to a big iron ore deposit, you have got the appropriate chemistry record,” he said.

Source: The Hindu, 26-11-2011

New super yeast turns pine into ethanol

Washington: A “super strain” of yeast developed by researchers at the University of Georgia can efficiently ferment ethanol from pre-treated pine – one of the most common species of trees in Georgia and the U.S.

The breakthrough discovery could help biofuels replace gasoline as a transportation fuel.

“Companies are interested in producing ethanol from woody biomass such as pine, but it is a notoriously difficult material for fermentations,” said Joy Doran-Peterson, associate professor of microbiology in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences.

“The big plus for softwoods, including pine, is that they have a lot of sugar that yeast can use.

“Yeast are currently used in ethanol production from corn or sugarcane, which are much easier materials for fermentation; our process increases the amount of ethanol that can be obtained from pine,” she said.

Before the pinewood is fermented with yeast, however, it is pre-treated with heat and chemicals, which help open the wood for enzymes to break the cellulose down into sugars.

Once sugar is released, the yeast will convert it to ethanol, but compounds produced during pre-treatment tend to kill even the hardiest industrial strains of yeast, making ethanol production difficult.

Doran-Peterson, along with doctoral candidate G. Matt Hawkins, used directed evolution and adaptation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a species of yeast used commonly in industry for production of corn ethanol, to generate the “super" yeast”.

Their research showed that the pine fermented with the new yeast could successfully withstand the toxic compounds and produce ethanol from higher concentrations of pre-treated pine than before.

Source: Indian Express 19-11-2011

Most liveable 'moons and planets' revealed

London: Saturn’s moon Titan and the exoplanet Gliese 581g - thought to reside some 20.5 light-years away in the constellation Libra – are among the most habitable alien worlds, according to scientists.

The researchers propose two different indices: an Earth Similarity Index (ESI) and a Planetary Habitability Index (PHI), to assess the probability of hosting alien life.

“The first question is whether Earth-like conditions can be found on other worlds, since we know empirically that those conditions could harbour life,” the BBC quoted co-author Dr Dirk Schulze-Makuch from Washington State University, US, as saying.

“The second question is whether conditions exist on exoplanets that suggest the possibility of other forms of life, whether known to us or not,” he said.

The maximum value for the Earth Similarity Index was 1.00 -- for Earth, unsurprisingly. The highest scores beyond our solar system were for Gliese 581g (whose existence is doubted by some astronomers), with 0.89, and another exoplanet orbiting the same star -- Gliese 581d, with an ESI value of 0.74.

The Gliese 581 system has been well studied by astronomers and comprises four -- possibly five -- planets orbiting a red dwarf star.

HD 69830 d, a Neptune-sized exoplanet orbiting a different star in the constellation Puppis, also scored highly (0.60).

It is thought to lie in the so-called Goldilocks Zone - the region around its parent star where surface temperatures are neither too hot nor too cold for life.

The highly rated worlds from our own solar system were Mars, with a value of 0.70, and Mercury, with 0.60.

Source: The Indian Express, 25-11-2011

Fish enzyme can help indicate environmental toxins

Washington: A particular enzyme in fish can be used as biomarker to indicate the presence of toxic and non-toxic substances, a new study has revealed.

The level of the enzyme carbonyl reductase (CBR) is elevated in the livers of fish that have been exposed to cleaned wastewater.

Scientists at the University of Gothenburg can show that CBR has properties that may make it suitable to be used as a biomarker, an early warning signal of environmental toxins.

The aim of the project is to achieve better environmental monitoring.

“While chemists measure the levels of environmental toxins, we biologists monitor their effects,” says Eva Albertsson, research student in the Department of Zoology at the University of Gothenburg.

“We can use biomarkers to discover these effects before the levels of toxins have become fatal. The increased CBR level in fish is probably caused by chemicals in the water.”

Source: The Indian Express, 10-11-2011

Slow death awaits Chalakudy river

Kochi: Chalakudy River is yearning for a lifeline. Chalakudy River, the fifth largest river in the State, is faced with a series of risks including sand-mining, release of untreated effluents from an industrial unit and improper disposal of solid waste.

The environmental monitoring programme on water quality of the Chalakudy River Basin carried out by the Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment has brought out the challenges faced by the river.

The river basin covers Ernakulam, Thrissur and Palakkad districts.

The river is home to a large number of fish varieties and studies have identified 104 fish species from it. Considering the fish diversity supported by the river, the National Bureau of Fish Genetics Resources, Lucknow, has recommended that the upstream areas of the river should be declared as a fish sanctuary, the report says.

It is estimated that over 10 lakh people directly depend on the river for various needs. Lift irrigation, drinking water schemes and dams have been constructed in the river system.

The study has cautioned that “the construction of dams and inter basin water transfers have added to the degradation of the river.

Heavy sand-mining, over extraction of water for drinking purposes and irrigation and even for other river basins and saline ingress are taking their toll on the river.”

Low dissolved oxygen, abnormal colour and offensive odour were reported in the Kanjirapally area of the river basin and this has been attributed to the discharge of effluents from an industrial unit. Clay mining, transportation of mined clay and its processing near Chalakudy Bridge, presence of pesticide from Koodapuzha and Kanjirapally were some of the signs of slow death awaiting the river.

Another cause of worry for the river was the presence of heavy metals in sediment samples collected from the river. Traces of Manganese, Lead, Nickel, Zinc, Copper and Cadmium were identified in the scientific analysis, it was reported.

Source: The Hindu, 24-11-2011

Unique night-flowering orchid found

An orchid that unfurls its petals at night and loses its flowers by day has been found on an island off the coast of Papua New Guinea.

The plant is the only known night-flowering orchid and was collected by botanists on a field trip to New Britain, an island in the Bismarck archipelago.

The flowers of the species, Bulbophyllum nocturnum, are thought to be pollinated by midges and last for only one night, according to a description of the plant published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.

Orchid specialist Ed de Vogel, from the Netherlands, discovered the unusual flowering after he gathered some of the plants from trees in a logging area on the island and returned home to cultivate the orchids at the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden. Most orchids are epiphytes, which means they take root on trees.

The botanist was particularly eager to see the orchid's flowers because it was a member of the Epicrianthes group of orchids. This group contains several species that have bizarre flowers with strange appendages, which often resemble leggy insects, small hairy spiders or intricate sea-creatures.

The appendages are usually attached by thin filaments, which allow them to move erratically in the slightest breeze.

As De Vogel cultivated the orchids, he noticed flower buds appear, but instead of opening to reveal their petals, they simply shrivelled up and died. He finally realised what was happening when he took one of the plants home and saw its flowers open around 10pm one night and close again soon after sunrise.

Flowers that open only at night are seen in a small number of plant species, such as the queen of the night cactus, the midnight horror tree and night blooming jasmine.Bulbophyllum nocturnum is the only orchid among 25,000 species that is known to do so. Many orchids are pollinated by moths and other nocturnal insects, but have flowers that remain open during the day.

In 1862, Charles Darwin correctly predicted that the Christmas star orchid, which is endemic to Madagascar, was pollinated by a moth with a 30cm-long proboscis. The moth in question was not discovered until 20 years after his death. The small night-flowering orchid has yellow-green sepals that unfurl to reveal tiny petals adorned with dangling, greyish, thick and thin appendages. The flower, which is 2cm wide, has no noticeable smell, though some nocturnal species can time the release of their scents to attract night-time pollinating insects. Writing in the journal, the authors point out the resemblance between the flowers' appendages and the fruiting bodies of certain slime moulds found in the same part of the world. The similarity led the botanists to speculate that the orchids might be pollinated by midges that normally feed on slime moulds or small fungi.

Andre Schuiteman, an orchid specialist at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew said: “This is another reminder that surprising discoveries can still be made. But it is a race against time to find species like this that only occur in primeval tropical forests. which are disappearing fast.”

Source: The Hindu, 23-11-2011

International Year of Chemistry

The International Year of Chemistry 2011 (IYC 2011) is a worldwide celebration of the achievements of chemistry and its contributions to the well-being of humankind. This recognition for chemistry was made official by the United Nations in December 2008. Events for the year are being coordinated by IUPAC, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, and by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Under the unifying theme “Chemistry-our life, our future,” IYC 2011 will offer a range of interactive, entertaining, and educational activities for all ages. The Year of Chemistry is intended to reach across the globe, with opportunities for public participationat the local, regional, and national level. The goals of IYC2011 are to increase the public appreciation of chemistry in meeting world needs, to encourage interest in chemistry among young people, and to generate enthusiasm for the creative future of chemistry. The year 2011 will coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prize awarded to Madame Marie Curie-an opportunity to celebrate the contributions of women to science. The year will also be the 100th anniversary of the founding of the International Association of Chemical Societies, providing a chance to highlight the benefits of international scientific collaboration. IYC 2011 events will emphasize that chemistry is a creative science essential for sustainability and improvements to our way of life. The Year of Chemistry will help enhance international cooperation by serving as a focal point or information source for activities by national chemical societies, educational institutions, industry, governmental, and non-governmental organizations.

International year of Bat

Bats, the worlds only flying mammals are one of the planet’s most misunderstood and persecuted mammals. Around half of the world’s 1100 bat species are currently at risk. Bat populations have declined alarmingly in recent decades. Despite intensified conservation efforts, over half of all bats species are now classified by the International Union for Conservation as threatened or near threatened. The recently launched, UNEP-backed ‘Year of the Bat’ will promote conservation, research and education on bats. The Year of the Bat in 2011 will coincide with the United Nations’ International Year of Forests. The Year of the Bat will encourage people across the world to get involved in bat conservation efforts.

Bats play a key part in sustaining the world’s forests. Bats provide ecological benefits such as pest control and seed dispersal. Bat populations in large urban areas can consume up to 30,000 pounds of insects in a single night. An estimated 134 plants that yield products used by humans are partially or entirely dependent on bats for seed dispersal or pollination. Environmental experts say bats as indicators of biodiversity and healthy ecosystems. Most people are unaware that bats provide invaluable services to the environment.

Bats are found nearly everywhere and approximately 1,200 species account for almost a quarter of all mammals. Nevertheless, in recent decades their populations have declined alarmingly. Many are now endangered, though they provide invaluable services that we cannot afford to lose. Simply because they are active only at night and difficult to observe and understand, bats rank among our planet’s most misunderstood and intensely persecuted mammals. Fruit and nectar-eating bats are equally important in maintaining whole ecosystems of plant life. In fact, their seed dispersal and pollination services are crucial to the regeneration of rain forests which are the lungs and rain makers of our planet. Many of the plants which depend on such bats are additionally of great economic value, their products ranging from timber and tequila to fruits, spices, nuts and even natural pesticides. It is now well demonstrated that people and bats can share even our cities at great mutual benefit. Through varied activities during the Year of the Bat, it can understand that bats are much more than essential. They’re incredibly fascinating, delightfully likeable masters of our night skies.

Butterfly survey records 140 species

A recent butterfly survey in the North Wayanad Forest Division organised jointly by the Ferns Naturalists Society, an environment organisation, and the Forest and Wildlife Department reported the sighting of 140 species, including 17 which had not been hitherto reported in the region.

The three-day survey was conducted at three locations under the division at Brahmagiri, Makkimala, and Kunjome.

Four researchers, V.C. Balakrishnan, Padman Karayad, Sasi Gayathri, and P.A. Vinayan, and 40 students from the Department of Wildlife Biology, AVC College, Mayiladuthurai, Tamil Nadu; Centre for Wildlife Biology, veterinary college, Pookode; Department of Applied Zoology, Kannur University; Department of Zoology, Mary Matha College, Mananthavadi, and the College of Forestry, Mannuthy, took part in the survey.

The team reported 38 species of skippers, 14 species of blues, 15 species of swallow tails, 18 white and yellows, and 55 species of brush-footed butterflies, A.T. Sudheesh, coordinator of the survey, said.

Rare species such as Yellow-Jack Sailer and Club Beak were sighted at the Thirunelly reserve forest. Species such as Orange Awlet, Nilgiri Tiger, Tamil Lacewing, and Malabar Banded Swallow-tail were sighted in the Periya reserve forest, Brahmagiri Hills, Hilldale reserve forest, and at the Kunjome forest.

The sighting of 140 species of butterflies is an evidence of a healthy butterfly habitat in the region, V.C. Balakrishnan of the Society for Environment Education in Kerala (SEEK) said.

The new species in the region included Black-Veign Sergeant, Dark Pierrot, Nilgiri Tiger, Blue Pansy, Common Banded Demon, and Yellow-Jack Sailer, he added.

Source: The Hindu 30-11-2011

Malabar ornithological survey: Kerala sets new benchmark

The Forest Department of Kerala has just completed the first-ever ornithological survey for the Malabar region recording 341 species of birds.

The survey is one of a kind notable for its sheer depth and span, more comprehensive than all such surveys undertaken so far in India. Hopefully, the five-member team including four eminent ornithologists commissioned by the Forest Department of Kerala, having completed such a through status report on the birds of Kerala, has established a new national benchmark for all such wildlife surveys in future.

The survey spans locations in North Kerala, which covers Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasargode districts. The area extends from the Ghats, through the midlands, to the seacoast, which lies north of Palakkad Gap.

The forest areas studied are the Silent Valley National Park, Mannarkad forest division, Nilambur North and South divisions, the Malabar Wildlife Sanctuary, the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, Aralam Wildlife Sanctuary and their neighbouring areas as well as the Reserve Forests of Kasargode district and the wetlands of North Malabar.

Twelve locations, within them 58 sites and 103 transects, covering a distance of 2,200km were identified in the survey. This included six habitat types – tropical evergreen, tropical moist deciduous, tropical dry deciduous, Shola grassland, low elevation evergreen grassland and wetland areas.

The 341 species of birds surveyed comes to 73.27 per cent of all bird species so far recorded from Kerala. The survey could successfully estimate the density of 48 species of birds. Yellow-browed Bulbul is credited with the highest density (122.4 birds/sq km) followed by Small Sunbird with a density of 109.7.

The other high-density birds recorded are White-cheeked Barbet, Red-whiskered Bulbul, Black-headed Babbler and Oriental White-eye. Interestingly the density estimate also includes some of the skulking birds such as Indian Blue Robin, White–throated Ground Thrush and Spotted Babbler but the density of such birds could not be estimated during the Travancore-Cochin Survey 2009.

Density estimate for six migratory birds including Green Leaf-Warbler, Large–billed Leaf Warbler and Blyth’s Reed Warbler, and for some Western Ghat endemic birds such as Blue–winged Parakeet, Malabar Hornbill, Grey–headed Bulbul and Indian Rufus Babbler are also be obtained.

The survey also records the encounters of raptors, globally-threatened species of birds, rare birds, and abundant birds, as well as sightings of heronries of Malabar and breeding nests of birds. Of the 1,149 individual raptors belonging to 32 species encountered, 11 species are migrants and 21 residents. The two critically endangered vulture species, the White-backed vulture and Red-headed vulture, are sighted in Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, the only region in Kerala that supports these vulture species.

22 of the 341 species surveyed belong to globally-threatened category as notified by IUCN. Alarmingly, of the 22 threatened species 17 are residents and, of which 9 are specifically endemic to Western Ghat. 15 species of birds are found to be abundant in the region, of which two are migrants, and one endemic. They include Yellow-browed Bulbul, Small Sunbird; Green Leaf-Warbler, Large–billed Leaf-Warbler and the three species of Bulbuls including the Black Bulbul.

15 species are found to be rare with only one sighting for each. Syke’s Warbler, Indian Grey Hornbill, Jerdon’s Bush Lark and Sirkeer Malkoha are some of the rare birds recorded. 121 breeding records for 58 species, of which five records each are for Malabar Grey Hornbill and Small Sunbird, four for White-bellied Blue Flycatcher, one each for Nilgiri Laughing-thrush and Black and Orange Flycatcher, and two for Wayanad Laughing-thrush, all of which are endemic to Western Ghat.

The landmark survey was conducted by an efficient team of five ornithologists led by C. Sasikumar, the Chief Investigator, and his four research associates, C.K. Vishnudas, S. Raju, P.A. Vinayan and V.A. Shebin. The surveyors spent a year (from November 1 2010 to the middle of October 2011) during, which they had covered over 4000 km, trekking through treacherous forest areas enduring extreme weather conditions and threats from wild animals.

Source: The Hindu 30-10-2011

Nilgiri langurs continue to be hunted: WII

Kollam: Nilgiri langurs ( Trachypithecus johnii ) continue to be hunted for the preparation of crude medicines despite the implementation of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Prior to the Act coming into force, these primates were ruthlessly hunted to the brim of extinction.

According to a National Studbook on Nilgiri langurs published in May this year by the Wildlife Institute of India and the Central Zoo Authority, poaching continues to be a main threat to Nilgiri langurs. The studbook says the primates were being hunted mainly for their pelt, blood, flesh and organs to produce crude medicines and even so-called aphrodisiacs.

Before the Act came into force, such medicines were freely available with traditional medicine practitioners in Kerala and the products were even advertised. ‘Karingkorangu Rasayanam' was one of the leading products available then. Later the Kerala Forest Department launched a publicity campaign to save the Nilgiri langurs.

Though the campaign produced desirable results, the langurs are still not free from poaching; medicines brewed from the flesh, blood and organs of these primates are available illicitly and are said to be very costly. Habitat destruction, which includes construction of hydroelectric projects, is another threat to the primates, according to the studbook.

Red list

The glossy black Nilgiri langurs with a reddish-brown crown are colobines endemic to the southern part of the Western Ghats from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu through Kerala up to the Coorg Hills in Karnataka. The studbook, authored by Manjari Malviya, Anupam Srivastav, Parag Nigam and P.C. Tyagi, says the present Nilgiri langur population in the wild can touch 15,000. They find a place in the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature that includes vulnerable animals.

About 45 per cent of their diet comprises tender leaves of 115 species of flora, out of which 58 species are trees. They also feed on fruits, flowers, buds, seeds and bark. In fact, they eat up the largest number of plant species among all primates in the Western Ghats. Hence, habitat destruction even on a small scale would hit them very hard.

Source: The Hindu 24-10-2011

Forest department to conserve heronries in North Kerala

The Forest Department will soon launch a programme to conserve heronries, communal nesting places of large water birds, in four districts in North Kerala.

It plans to enlist public support to protect 15 “resident and breeding” water bird species, which are vulnerable to poaching and loss of habitat, in Kannur, Malappuram, Palakkad and Wayanad districts.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Raja Raja Varma, is finalising the scheme in consultation with ornithologist C. Sashikumar, who is the principal investigator of the department’s ongoing Malabar Ornithological Survey 2010-11.

The investigators had surveyed 102 sites and counted 8,677 nests of 12 species of water birds in August. They recorded their habits, documented the nesting trees (34 different species including bamboo clumps, mangroves and some exotic varieties planted as avenue trees) and mapped nearby wetlands. They also assessed the threats to the sites and problems such habitats posed to local populations.

The surveyors found that Kannur had the highest number of heronries (28) and nests (3917). In Wayanad, 766 water birds of nine different species nested in three heronries. More than 93 per cent of the heronries were on Government land, mostly on trees near roadsides, markets, bus stops, police stations, hospitals and riverbanks.

The Indian Pond Heron and the Little Cormorant were the most common species and shared 71 per cent of the heronries in the region.

Oriental White Ibis, classified as “near threatened” by the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN), was perhaps among the rarest of the resident water birds and nested “only” at Panmaram in Wayanad. In the South, the Ibis nested at Kumarakam in Kottayam district.

The surveyors, arguably for the first time, found that the Darter (Snake Bird), another “near” threatened species, nested in North Kerala in a heronry near Nanniyoor on the banks of Valapattanam River.

Local people often viewed such habitats as a nuisance owing to the excess of bird droppings, dead chicks and half eaten frogs and fish that litter the ground beneath nesting sites. The birds were most vulnerable during their breeding season, which coincided with the south west monsoon.

The Forest department will rope in students, bird watchers and ornithologists to sensitize the public on the importance of water birds to the vast wetland and agricultural eco-systems in North Kerala.

Source: The Hindu 21-09-2011

12 night frog varieties found in the Western Ghats

There is hope on the green front. That is what the croaks resonating from the Western Ghats proclaim. A team of scientists from Delhi University, Bombay Natural History, Zoological Survey of India and Brussels' Vrije University has discovered 12 new frog species in the Ghats.

The discovery was announced in 'Zootaxa', the international journal for zoologists, on Wednesday in a paper, 'A taxonomic review of the Night Frog genus Nyctibatrachus Boulenger, 1882 in the Western Ghats, India with description of twelve new species'.

The 12 species of frogs belong to the genus or scientific classification 'Nyctibatrachus' - 'Nycti' from the Greek word for night and 'batrachus', the Greek word for frog. The findings included the rediscovery of three frog species which were not seen for more than 75 years since their original descriptions by C R Narayana Rao in the 1920s and 1930s. The Coorg Night Frog hadn't been seen for 91 years. The Kempholey and Forest Night Frogs had been missing for 75 years.

S D Biju, from Delhi University's Systematics lab, now has a personal tally of 45 new amphibian species. "The Night Frogs require unique habitats - either fast-flowing streams or moist forest floor - for breeding and survival. Further, it is the only group of frogs that can fertilize and reproduce without physical contact," he said.

"They lived alongside dinosaurs, which have long since disappeared, but amazingly frogs continue to exist," he says. Biju is not optimistic about their future. "Their existence is precarious. If the present trends in extinction continue, many frogs could disappear forever," he says. Six out of the 12 new species are from unprotected, highly degraded habitats and require immediate attention to conserve these species and their habitats, he adds.

Source: Times of India Oct 13, 2011

This is a rare cat now

Mangalore: A leopard cat, five toddy cats (the common palm civet), a civet cat (the Indian small civet), and a wild cat are among the feline members at the Pilikula Biological Park.

These cats have been rescued from some villages in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, according to H.J. Bhandary, Director of the park. He told The Hindu that the cats had been added to the park over the past five years. The leopard and civet cats were rare now owing to loss forest cover and poaching, he said. The leopard, as the name suggested, had spots all over its body. The civet cat was known for its musk, and the toddy cat was called so because it lived atop palmyra palms, Mr Bhandary said.

He said the cats lived for 16 to 20 years if they were kept in a zoo. They were fed with meat and eggs. Like other animals at the park, the cats were made to starve one day in a week, he added. The cats were dozing when The Hindu team visited the park. They would be active in the evening as they were nocturnal animals, Scientific Officer of the park Jerald Vikram Lobo said.

Source: The Hindu, 11-10-2011

Royal beasts are cynosure of all eyes here

Mangalore: Tigers, lions and panthers continue to be the cynosure of all eyes at Dr. Shivarama Karanth Biological Park which has completed 10 years' of its existence.

The park, which was opened on January 12, 2001 with a few animals, now has 550 mammals, and 80 reptile and bird species, according to its director H.J. Bhandary.

It is the only biological park in the State being managed by Pilikula Nisargadhama Society, a registered society, with a governing council approved by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), a statutory body under the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests for controlling zoos.

Mr. Bhandary said the CZA had listed the park under the category of major zoos. The primary objective of the park was to conserve and breed endangered species found in the Western Ghats. It also functioned as a rescue centre for orphaned animals. A recent addition of such an animal to the park was a two-month-old panther cub.

“The orphaned panther cub was rescued from near Bajpe. It is now in the rescue centre and is being hand fed. The cub will be reared in the park,'' Mr. Bhandary said.

The park has four male and three female tigers. The male tigers have been named as Raja, Vikram, Kumara and Kadamba. The tigresses have been named after the major rivers in the region — Sharavathi, Netravathi and Shambhavi. There are two male (Siri and Bharat) and two female (Sara and Victoria) lions in the park. The park has six panthers of which, three are females. Four panthers have been named as Shwetha, Karna, Chandu and Shankar.

Mr. Bhandary said that each tiger and lion was fed with 6 to 10 kg of meat daily except Sunday. Each panther was fed with 6 to 7 kg of meat daily except Sunday.

Scientific officer at the park Jerald Vikram Lobo said that the animals were subjected to health check-ups twice a day. In morning, while letting them out of the animal houses to display enclosures and in the evening, when they returned to the houses. They were fed late in the evening as they were nocturnal beasts. They were given de-worming tablets after stool test or once in three months. They were vaccinated once a year. Mr. Bhandary said that Sunday's starvation helped animals in digestion.

He said the carnivorous animals were fed late in the evening and the herbivorous during the day.

Source: The Hindu, 11-10-2011

Project to make Pathanamthitta plastic-free

The district administration has chalked a novel scheme to make Pathanamthitta plastic-free from November 14, according to District Collector, P.Venugopal.

An official meeting convened by the Collector here the other day has resolved to make necessary arrangements to supply eco-friendly carry bags made of cloth, priced at Rs 1 and Rs 2, to all shops and other commercial establishments in the district during October 2 to November 14.

Mr Venugopal said Kudumbasree units in the district have been producing cloth bags for supplying it to various commercial establishments. He said the district administration would purchase eco-friendly carry bags from various other agencies too, if needed, to meet its growing requirement during the annual Sabarimala pilgrimage season.

Plastic menace at Sabarimala

Mr Venugopal said the Divisional Forest Officer at Ranni, R.Kamalahar, has prepared a project named `Harita-poonkavanom' with a view to reduce the plastic menace at Sabarimala and surrounding forest areas, especially during the annual pilgrimage season.

Littering of plastic waste has been a major source of environment pollution at Sabarimala situated in the Periyar Tiger Reserve during the Mandalam-Makaravilakku festival when as many as double the population of the State congregate in a short span of two months.

Mr Kamalahar has prepared a project to make Pampa and surrounding reserve forests pollution-free with the help of school-college students, local population and Vana Samrakshana Samiti (VSS) workers. The project stresses the need to make people well aware of the need to make their surroundings clean and litter-free, upholding the slogan of environment conservation.

Adequate publicity would be given through television channels and newspapers in Kerala and neighbouring States on the alarming pollution menace posed by the plastic waste at Sabarimala.

Special check-posts

The collector said special check-posts would be set up at Kanamala, Laha, Plappally, Elavumkal and Angamozhy on the main trunk roads leading to Sabarimala to collect plastic carry bags brought by devotees and replace it with eco-friendly cloth bags on the spot itself.

Mr Venugopal said arrangements would also be made to remove empty pet bottles from Sabarimala, Pampa and surrounding forest areas.

He said six workers would be posted at Pampa Manalpuram round the clock to remove the waste accumulated along the iron fence erected across river Pampa during the annual pilgrimage season. Solid waste would be segregated and degradable waste would be disposed in earthen pits in the forest area itself and the non-degradable waste would be taken outside the forests for recycling, Mr Venugopal said.

Vana Samrakshana Samiti members would deployed at the proposed Pilgrim Service Centres at Vadasserikkara, Laha, Plappally, Angamoozhy, Nilackal and Pampa. This is besides a 24-hour mobile rescue force headed by Forest officials.

The Collector has also sought active support and participation of the general public, traders and all other sections of the society in the administration's efforts to make the district plastic-free and ensure effective environment conservation.

Source: The Hindu October 3, 2011

Restriction on plastic use in Kerala soon

Steps are under way to restrict the use of plastic materials, especially plastic carry bags, as part of implementing the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest's (MoEF) Plastic Waste (Management and Handling) Rules 2011 that replaces the earlier Recycled Plastics Manufacture and Usage Rules 1999. Municipal authorities here had started enforcing the rules which ban the use of plastic carry bags below 40 microns.

Shops and commercial establishments here had been directed to use bags above 40 microns. The initiative is being made as part of improving municipal solid waste management systems envisaged in the rules. The Pollution Control Board (PCB) officials here have already urged municipalities in the district to take steps to implement the rules

that also seek to ensure safe collection, storage, segregation, transportation, processing and disposal of plastic waste. The local bodies are also tasked to set up collection centres for plastic waste involving manufacturers, ensure safe channellisation of plastic waste to recyclers and prevent open burning of plastic waste, they said. Environmental Engineer of the district PCB here A.M. Sheela said that under the earlier rules the minimum thickness of carry bags was 20 microns. The 40-microns norm has now been made uniform standard to be followed across the country, she said. The new rule had also banned plastic materials in sachets for storing, packing or selling gutkha, tobacco and pan masala in the wake of the Supreme Court order, she informed. Under the new rules, foodstuffs would not be allowed to be packed in plastic materials, she added. The additional safeguards under the rules include provisions for marking or labelling to indicate name, registration number of the manufacturers of the plastic carry bags, their thickness and whether they are recycled or compostable. The municipalities are required to establish plastic waste collection centres involving the plastic manufacturers. Municipal officials here, however, say that the plastic carry bags being mused here are mostly manufactured outside the State.

Source:The Hindu October 2, 2011

World Ozone Day celebrated at school

Thiruvananthapuram: World Ozone Day was celebrated as part of the International Year of Chemistry 2011 observance at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pattom, here on Saturday.

Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) Member Secretary K.K. Ramachandran inaugurated the programme. KSCSTE Joint Directors Kamalakshan Kokkal and Ajith Prabhu; National Green Corps district coordinator K.G. Ajit Kumar; and C.P. Aravindakshan were among the guests of honour. C.P. Kumaran, Principal, Kendriya Vidyalaya, welcomed the guests.

In his presidential address, Dr. Kokkal said human activities were destroying the biodiversity of the State. He reminded students that it was the responsibility of the people to act as ‘defenders of planet Earth.'

Dr. Ramachandran said environment and development should go hand-in-hand.

Speakers at the seminar dealt in detail on the Earth's atmosphere and the chemistry of Ozone. Students representing schools across the district participated in a quiz organised in connection with the programme.

A. Bijukumar, Head, Department of Aquatic Biology, University of Kerala, was the quiz master. Anandapadmanabhan and Aravind of Kendriya Vidyalaya, Pattom, (shift-II) were the winners and Ashuthosh B. Sai and Harita of the school shift-I were the runners-up. Mr. Kumaran gave away the trophies.

Source: The Hindu, 25-09-2011

Survey finds four river basins polluted

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : Scientific management of wastewater, regulation of sand mining and land use controls have become imperative to address the deterioration of water quality in rivers, the Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) has recommended to the government.

An Environmental Monitoring Programme on Water Quality carried out by the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) has reported pollution of four river basins, namely Pamba, Chalakudy, Bharathapuzha and Anjarakandi-Mahe-Thalassery. In its report on the findings, KSCSTE has mooted an action plan for river basins.

The report stresses the need for a water policy incorporating wastewater management. It calls for appropriate building rules to ensure water saving, wastewater treatment and reuse. An awareness campaign to promote grey water resuse has also been mooted.

The report calls for a water safety plan for river basins, scientific operation of barrages and bunds, regulation of tourism, better urbanisation and scientific planning based on carrying capacity. It also highlights the need for epidemiological research on water quality and water borne diseases and public participation in water quality monitoring and liquid waste management.

The report observes that heavy inflow of waste materials and sewage from towns, markets, hospitals, factories and slaughter houses has contaminated the Pamba river to alarming levels. Analysis of samples revealed that the water was unfit even for bathing during the Sabarimala pilgrimage season when devotees converge along the banks in large numbers.

All the surface water samples were found to be grossly polluted with fecal coliform and the dissolved oxygen content was reported to be low at many locations. The downstream areas reported concentration of heavy metals.

Most of the groundwater samples collected for the survey were found to be acidic and bacteriologically contaminated. All the stations showed clear evidence of organic pollution.

The survey showed that sand mining, industrial pollution and pesticide contamination were major threats to the Chalakudy river. While locations like Vettilapara reported high water turbidity due to sand mining, pesticide and industrial pollution was detected in water samples from Koodapuzha and Kanjirappilly. Groundwater samples from clay mining areas also showed turbidity and low dissolved oxygen.

E.Coli was present in 70 per cent of groundwater samples and heavy metal contamination was detected in sediment samples.

Analysis of samples from the Bharathapuzha river basin showed moderate pollution. All the stations in the basin reported marginal water quality indicating frequently threatened or impaired status. The observations indicate that the river faces stress due to sewage and organic effluents.

The report observed that bacteriological contamination was a major threat to the Anjarakandi- Mahe- Thalassery river basins. Most of the stations reported marginal water quality while a few were found to be of poor quality. Pesticide residue was detected in some of the samples.

Sorce: The Hindu, 26-09-2011

Walayar deer park to be made Safari Park

PALAKKAD: Jayaprakash Narayan Smrithivanam and Deer Park located beside National Highway-47 at the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border close to inter-state Walayar check posts will be converted as a Safari Park as per the guidelines issued by Zoo Authority of India.

The Park spread over 110 acres of forest area mainly of Teak plantation started in 1997 got recognition from the Zoo Authority recently with conditions to convert it as a Safari Park providing more amenities for the Deer and other animals and also to the visitors.

The Park located 22 kms from Palakkad town could be developed as a tourist centre as one can see Deers and other small animals roam about in their natural habitat.

There could also be facilities made for elephant Safari in the park to make it a major attraction for visitors.

Walayar Dam is also nearby that attracts large number of tourists from Tamil Nadu.

The Park now houses 47 Deer and 10 Stag apart from small animals. Walayar is also the gateway to Kerala and the main centre for movement of goods to the State.

Since Walayar is a gateway it is also the main entry point to the main tourists centres of the District like Malampuzha, Kanjirapuzha, Nelliampathy, Silent Valley, Mangalam Dam etc.

Palakkad Divisional Forest Officer M. Sreedharan Nair has said that when the Zoo Authority of India gave recognition to Deer Park it has stipulated certain conditions like reducing the area of animal movement and converting part of it for fodder cultivation.

It also wanted to remove some of the teak trees under the thinning scheme to provide open space for growing fodder and other food plants for the animals.

So the Forest Department has taken up the thinning of teak trees and shade regulations in the Park. It has also started growing fodder, he said.

The compound wall and the fencing will be strengthened to prevent attack from wild elephants and leopard in the area that had occurred on a number of times earlier, the DFO said.

He said that the long term plan is to convert the Deer Park as a Safari Park with more facilities for the animals and the visitors.

Source: The Hindu, 22-9-2011