New species of wasp identified in Goa

Prakash Kamat

MAY 29, 2019 22:50 IST

UPDATED: MAY 29, 2019 22:51 IST

A new species of wasp from the genus Kudakrumia has been recently identified by scientists in Goa.

The wasp, Kudakrumia rangnekari, was named after Goa-based researcher Parag Rangnekar.

“A species being named after me comes as a complete surprise. Mixed feelings at the moment, of joy and for some unknown reason slightly uncomfortable,” Mr. Rangnekar said. The new species was collected in the forests of Western Ghats.

His quest to document the butterflies of this unique region resulted in a record of 220 species, of which 13 species had not been described before.

He is the author of a book “Butterflies of Goa”, which is perhaps a first field guide with photographs of the species found in this region.

Mr. Rangnekar, who is the founder-president of the Goa Bird Conservation Network, has now taken up the documentation of the dragonflies in the State.

The holotype is from Kotigao Wildlife Sanctuary of Goa of northern Western Ghats and the paratype is from Ranipuram hill of Kerala of southern Western Ghats.

Source

Monitor Lizards out of reach, goats may salvage Goa's ghumat - via Herp Digest

IANS Apr 8, 2013,Times of India 

Stringent wildlife laws are hammering long, legal nails into the coffin of one of Goa's very few indigenous musical instruments, the ghumat. 

Could goats be an alternative to the monitor lizard, whose tough treated skin is stretched taut across the mouth of the ghumat, which is actually a uniquely designed clay-pot? 

While monitor lizards, once hunted frequently across the state's forested hillsides, are now protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act and their hides are rare and very expensive contraband, taking the ghumat - Goa's answer to the dholak and the tabla - to the brink of extinction. 

But help could be at hand. 

"There is no point ruing about anything. We switched to goat skin after monitor lizard skins became rare," said Vinayak Akhadkar, 62, a leading ghumat player in Goa who has a troupe that plays at several competitions as well as Ganesh Chaturthi ceremonies, during which a 'ghumat arti' has a special significance. 

According to Rohan Khaunte, an independent member of the Goa assembly, "we should accord it official recognition as a traditional state instrument and then find ways to salvage it or we will lose it forever". 

Khuante had moved a private member's bill during the budget session of the Goa assembly last month to safeguard the fading thump of the ghumat. 

What Goa's lawmakers agreed during the discussions to salvage the ghumat was that the instrument perhaps needed to adapt to survive in a world which was keen to value its wildlife, at least when it comes to public commitments. 

Chief minister Manohar Parrikar summed it up in one line. 

"You have to change with the times. We have to find out substitutes for monitor skin," he said. 

Apart from goats, there could be other alternatives. 

Vishnu Wagh, a versatile artiste and also a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislator claims that synthetic material could also be developed to ensure that the legacy of the ghumat survives. "It's a matter of getting the sound right. The pores and scales on the monitor lizard creates that special ghumat sound. Synthetic material could be developed to calibrate the same sound effect," he said.

Sent to the wild: 300 frogs saved in Karwar, India – via HerpDigest

TNN Jun 9, 2012, 04.04AM IST

PANAJI: A seizure of 300 Indian bullfrogs in a Goa-bound bus at Karwar has alerted officials and activists in both states to the possibility of an inter-state smuggling racket catering to the eateries in Goa's tourism belt.

Forest officials in Karwar tried to intercept persons carrying more than 300 giant frogs of the Rana tigrina species at the town's bus stand. "But seeing our men, they abandoned the gunny bags and escaped," Nagraj Naik, deputy conservator of forests, Karwar sub-division, said.

The smugglers were about to board a Goa-bound bus at Karwar bus stand on Tuesday. "We had received a tip off about it," Naik said.

After taking the frogs in their custody, the forest officials booked a case against the unknown offenders. The rescued amphibians were then dispatched straight to the local science centre where a function to mark world environment day was in progress.

The local minister and forest officials were present and briefed the press before releasing them into the wild. "We are keeping vigil and hope to arrest the culprits and bust the racket," Naik added. Green activists in the state said the supply from across the border is fuelled by the consumption in restaurants. "The restaurateurs pay a huge price for the frogs," Clinton Vaz, an environmental activist said. In Goa, patrolling by volunteers and forest department during the first monsoon showers, has helped curb the poaching to a great extent.

"But it is the suppliers who are caught while restaurateurs get away," Vaz said. Goa forest officials said they are alert to the possibility of inter-state smuggling of frogs. "We will take up the matter with our counterparts in Karnataka," D N Carvalho, deputy conservator of forests north Goa (wildlife and eco tourism) said.

The vehicles entering the state at the check-posts will be monitored, sources told TOI.