Turtles Come Back To Indian Beach For The First Time In 20 Years After World’s Biggest Clean Up, Prove We Can Make A Difference - via Herp Digest

We are all very much aware of the suffering that we, as human beings, impose on the other species that inhabit our planet. Habitat destruction, over-exploitation, climate change and the introduction of invasive species have all contributed to what is rapidly becoming a sixth ‘mass extinction,’ and this time it’s all down to us.

But what if we could successfully undo some of this damage, and help endangered species to recover? While this is a huge ask, the story of the sea turtles can give us some cause for optimism.

Sea turtles have roamed the oceans for over 100 million years, but have had it seriously tough since humans started encroaching on their habitats. When not being caught and eaten in their millions by people looking for an ‘easy catch,’ their nesting sites have been ruined by development and pollution along beaches, and they have been accidently caught and entangled in the countless nets and hooks that fisheries use and leave behind.

However, a recent study of 299 nesting sites in diverse locations around the world has shown a significant increase in sea turtle nests, indicating that numbers of these magnificent creatures may be making a remarkable comeback from the brink of extinction. This is wonderful news, especially as the research team has credited conservation efforts as the likely cause for the turnaround.

Sea turtles were recognised as vulnerable in the 1970’s, and laws were passed in the USA and Mexico in order to protect them. Since then, conservation efforts have stepped up. WWF are leading the way by introducing circular fish hooks that are much less likely to be swallowed by turtles, as well as specially designed shrimp nets that allow turtles to safely escape. These measures reduce turtle ‘bycatch’ deaths by up to 90%. Other protection methods have included darkening beaches, so hatchlings don’t get disoriented, and mass clean ups of coastal habitats.

The best example of a major beach cleanup comes from Versova beach in the Indian city of Mumbai. Once a putrid dumping ground, waist high in plastics and other trash, the beach has been transformed into a beautiful coastline where turtles can safely nest, thanks to the hard work of dedicated volunteers.

The effort was lead by Lawyer and environmentalist Afroz Shah who, not content with initiating what the UN called the “world’s largest beach cleanup project,” removing an incredible 5 million kilograms of plastic in 85 weeks, also personally guarded the first turtle hatchlings to make their way into the sea from Versova beach in many decades. “I had tears in my eyes when I saw them walking towards the ocean,” he told The Guardian.

Bored Panda spoke to a representitive of the volunteer team for an update on the condition of the beach, who was pleased to confirm that it is currently clean. “Every monsoon the ocean pukes plastic and filth onto the beach, but with regular clean ups the situation on ground is changing,” the volunteer told us. “We have close to 30,000 school kids on a roster system and about 500 volunteers cleaning up regularly on weekends. We recently also had close to 6000 people on the beach for clean up on 31st May 2018.”

Despite these positive initiatives, the sea turtles are far from out of the woods yet. Just this week, 300 turtles were found dead off the coast of Mexico, likely to have drowned in stray fishing nets. Six of the seven species of sea turtle are still considered highly vulnerable, so while conservation efforts have started to bear fruit, there is still plenty of work to do to ensure that these ancient, beautiful creatures don’t disappear from our oceans forever. Scroll down below for more information, and let us know what you think in the comments!

Sea turtles have roamed the oceans for over 100 million years, but have had it seriously tough since humans started encroaching on their habitats

When not being caught and eaten in their millions by people looking for an ‘easy catch’

They end up tangled up in fishing nets

While climate change, pollution, and development along beaches have destroyed their habitats

Just recently 300 turtles were found dead off the coast of Mexico, likely to have drowned in stray fishing nets

But things are slowly starting to change. A recent study of 299 nesting sites in diverse locations around the world has shown a significant increase in sea turtle nests

Citizen initiatives like this one in Mumbai, India, are cleaning up beaches to make them suitable for nesting again

The effort was lead by Lawyer and environmentalist Afroz Shah

The UN called it the “world’s largest beach cleanup project,” removing an incredible 5 million kilograms of plastic in 85 weeks

What was once a putrid dumping ground, waist high in plastics and other trash

By clicking this image you confirm that you're 18+ years old

The beach has been transformed

Into a beautiful coastline where turtles can safely nest

“I had tears in my eyes when I saw them walking towards the ocean” Mr. Shah said

Six of the seven species of sea turtle are still considered to be critically endangered however, so there is still plenty of work to do to ensure that these ancient, beautiful creatures don’t disappear from our oceans forever

UPDATE: This is how the beach currently looks. “We have close to 30,000 school kids on a roster system and about 500 volunteers cleaning up regularly on weekends,” a volunteer told Bored Panda

A New Lizard Species is Discovered in Mumbai – via Herp Digest

By Angel Soleil, | September 28, 2016 Telegiz

Scientists have discovered a new species of gecko in Goregaon's Aarey Colony and Thane's Badlapur forests. Previously, the species was considered to be the same as "Geckoella collegalensis," but after extensive research, it was confirmed to be different.

The "Cyrtodactylus varadgirii" is the first new species of Gecko discovered after 130 years. The reptile was named after Varad Giri, a member of the Indian Herpetological Society.

For several years, Ishan Agarwal and Aaron Bauer of Villanova University as well as Anurag Mishra and Zeeshan Mirza of Saunak Pal of Bombay Natural History Society and the National Centre for Biological Science, have been doing research on the reptile. It was initially found to be the same species as the "Geckoella collegalensis," but it was later differentiated using the reptile's morphological characters and DNA data.

The "Cyrtodactylus varadgirii" has been spotted among the leaf litters in Maharashtra, Gujarat, and are more active during the night. Most of the known species of the group stay in the forest and hide under rocks and logs during the day, but Giri said they also prefer residing near human-dominated areas.

Giri, during his post-doctoral talk at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, explained that since the "Cyrtodactylus varadgirii" are mainly found in the ground, it did not have a well-developed lamellae [a special structure on the foot] as compared to other types of geckos.

Giri also added that the "Cyrtodactylus varadgirii" is brown in color and can grow to about six centimeters. The findings of the discovery has been published in "Zootaxa." 

Custom officials seize 146 tortoises at Mumbai Airport – via Herp Digest

ANI

Updated Mar 20, 2016, 7:11 pm IST

The bag was said to belong to a transit passenger, who arrived from Madagascar and flew to Kathmandu leaving this bag behind.

 Two radiated tortoises were found dead with broken shell . (Photo: Twitter)

Mumbai: The Custom officials on Sunday seized 146 tortoises from a mishandled baggage of a Nepal citizen at the Mumbai airport.

The incident happened when the Jet Airways staff brought one left behind baggage to officers of Air Intelligence Unit (AIU), saying that some suspicious images (shell like) had been noticed by GVK Security.

The bag was said to belong to a transit passenger, who arrived from Madagascar and flew to Kathmandu leaving this bag behind. Officers of Air Intelligence Unit examined the bag and recovered and seized 146 tortoises.

Out of the 146 tortoises, 139 were Radiated tortoises (Astrochelys radiata) and seven were Angonoka tortoises (Astrochelys yniphora), both critically endangered tortoise species of Madagascar.

Two radiated tortoises were found dead with broken shell.

Since these were exotic species and cannot be introduced into India and because of quarantine reasons, as informed by wild life authorities, the airlines have been instructed to re-export the same to Madagascar under intimation to wildlife authorities there.

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/200316/custom-officials-seize-146-tortoises-at-mumbai-airport.html

Thieving monkey bound and caged in India's Mumbai

AFP

5 February 2016

The captured monkey, its arms tied tightly behind its back, sits crouched over in a Mumbai residential colony trying with its teeth to untie the cord bound around its ankles.

But this primate -- caught just moments ago by a professional monkey catcher in India's commercial capital -- isn't going anywhere for a while, other than straight into a cage.

The wild macaque was caged after locals said it had been causing a nuisance for more than six months, including stealing food and tearing up pillows that were on sale in one of the colony's shops.

It was one of three or four monkeys to have been tearing around the community in the western city's Sion area and residents recently complained to a local municipal councillor about the unwelcome guests.

Monkeys, who are revered in Hindu-majority India, often trash gardens, offices, residential rooftops and even attack people viciously for food -- but are rarely subjected to such public humiliation.

When locals spotted one of the primates on Friday morning they called a monkey catcher who hot-footed it to the housing block and laid a trap with fruit.

Local residents gathered round and cheered as bandages were tied around the macaque's wrists and elbows and a rope was put around its neck.

Read on ...

Gecko rediscovered after 135 years – via Chad Arment

Extinct lizard rediscovered after 135 years

March 23, 2013

Mumbai: Geckoella Jeyporensis or Jeypore ground gecko, an enigmatic lizard from the Eastern Ghats which was considered extinct, has been rediscovered after 135 years, according to naturalists at the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) here.

This species was recently rediscovered in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, the results of which have been published in journal 'Hamadryad', the product of two years of collaborative work between scientists from Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore; Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai and Villanova University, USA.

This gecko, a lizard of the family Gekkonidae, is morphologically unique and was known only from a single male specimen collected in 1877 by British Colonel, R H Beddome, from the Jeypore Hills (in Orissa).

Though subsequent efforts were made by researchers, scientists and nature enthusiasts, this species was not seen in the intervening 130 plus years, naturalist Varad Giri told PTI.

The story of the rediscovery began in 2008-2009, when a PhD student at CES, Ishan Agarwal, began working on the genus Geckoella. Ishan was desperate to find this lost species in order to understand more about its evolutionary history, he said.

The first steps toward rediscovering the species involved a lot of homework, poring over the scanty published information on the species, in an effort to retrace the journey Colonel Beddome made in the Eastern Ghats over a century ago, Giri said.

The only clues on the whereabouts of this species were from its original description, which said that this species was collected under a rock in a forest at 4,200 ft on 'Patinghe Hill, Jeypore' in the Eastern Ghats, he said.

Finally, in 2010, a team from CES embarked on a field trip to try and locate this species. The team included two members of Karanth Lab, CES, Ishan Agarwal and Aniruddha Datta-Roy and their field assistant, Tarun Khichi.

The team wasn't very optimistic about finding the species, as it hadn't been seen for so many years and they had searched various places in Koraput district for this species with no luck.

As Ishan later put it, "it takes persistence and just a little bit of luck," and so it was that one day of hard work by four people paid off with the rediscovery of 'Geckoella jeyporensis' (the lizard).

The team reassembled in 2011 with Praveen Karanth, V Deepak and Prudhviraj, for another field trip through high elevations of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and against all odds were able to find the species again from a different locality in Andhra Pradesh, Giri said.

While Ishan and Aniruddha were the main people involved in fieldwork, Varad Giri of the Bombay Natural History Society and Aaron Bauer of Villanova University studied the taxonomy of the species.

Giri stated "this species is unique among Indian Geckos as it has enlarged, hexagonal, plate like scales across the back." This is one of the most beautiful Indian Geckos, with an orangey-brown dorsum with a series of large, chocolate brown dorsal blotches."

Interestingly, besides being morphologically unique and endemic to a region not traditionally known to harbour many endemics, this species appears restricted to a very specialised habitat in the Eastern Ghats, semi-evergreen forests above 1000m elevation.

The authors of the study conclude that the Eastern Ghats are more biodiverse than previously thought.

While this is doubtlessly a notable discovery, the study by them says, "In many ways, the rediscovery of Geckoella jeyporensis is symptomatic of herpetological research in India. There are a number of species that have not been recorded since their original descriptions or are known from few localities."

"While some of these species may be intrinsically rare, range-restricted or infrequently encountered due to ecological traits such as seasonality, fossoriality or arboreality (high canopy species); many so-called lost species have simply not been searched for by trained field biologists."

This underscores the need for basic biodiversity inventory across India, especially in areas that have been relatively less studied such as the Eastern Ghats.

Additionally, the areas this Gecko was found in are under severe anthropogenic pressures and are not formally protected. There has been severe deforestation, conversion of forest to coffee plantations and for agriculture, and there are imminent threats of mining in the region, it said.

"From this it is clear that even basic data on Indian biodiversity is lacking, we do not even know what species we have in India or where they are found; and time is running out for many species in the wake of immense changes in the natural system triggered by the human species.

"There is an urgent need for trained biologists to undertake country-wide surveys on a number of groups," says Giri.

http://zeenews.india.com/news/science/extinct-lizard-rediscovered-after-135-years_837288.html

Peacocks, rare birds found dead in India village

Mumbai: In a tragic incident, as many as 14 peacocks and 35 rare birds, including 15 partridges, were on Monday found dead under mysterious circumstances at Khatgaon village in Aurangabad district in Maharashtra.

The authorities have not established the exact reason for the sudden and simultaneous death of the birds, They prima facie suspect that these birds, including peacocks, might have died after consuming pesticide-mixed food grains strewn on agriculture fields.

Following the development, the forest officials rushed to the Khatgaon village and began questioning the people on the circumstances leading to the death of so many peacocks and other birds. The authorities have sent the carcasses of the birds for a post-mortem.

“It is only after the post-mortem that we will be able to pinpoint the reason for the death of peacocks and other birds,” a senior state forest official based in Aurangabad said.

The peacock is the national bird of India. It is fully protected under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. The poaching or hunting of peacocks is banned in the country.

Though the killing of peacocks is prohibited in India, there have been instances, where the birds were killed using pesticide for the collection of the lovely tail feathers.

The simultaneous death of so many peacocks is bound to shock bird lovers across Maharashtra, where there was a similar incidence of peacock deaths nearly five years ago.

In August and early September, 2008, as many as 30 peafowls — 17 peahen and 13 peacocks — had been found dead under mysterious circumstances in a span of a week at Khedkar Vasti near Ranjangaon in Pune district.

Khedkar Vasti is close to Morachi Chincholi village, famous for prevalence of peacocks.

At that time, the clinical examination of viscera of peafowls had revealed that these birds had died after consuming poisonous pesticide sprayed on the poultry.

http://gulfnews.com/news/world/india/peacocks-rare-birds-found-dead-in-india-village-1.1046803

‘Monkey man’ rumour: Cops arrest 72 in crackdown

The Mumbai Police have finally cracked the whip on rumours about ‘monkey men’ and the ‘chaddi baniyan gang’ floated in city’s suburbs, by arresting 72 people for allegedly spreading the rumours.

Although the East Region police have made the arrests, mostly of local residents, the West and North Region police stations are yet to register a single case - in spite of a death in Kandivali in a stampede-like-situation sparked of by an alleged sighting of a ‘money man’.

According to Quiser Khalid, additional commissioner of police (East Region), 27 offences have been registered against people for spreading rumours and creating fear and panic.

“We traced the pranksters and arrested them,” said Khalid. “After the arrests, the rumours have died down considerably,” he added.

Sanjay Shintre, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 7) claimed that these rumours originated during the recently held Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, and have died down since.

Shintre said during the BMC election, due to heavy bandobast, the police did not allow political party members to sit idle on roads and streets. “In order to be on streets and restrict other party members from entering their locality, party members began spreading such rumours. They told the residents and the police that they were on the streets for patrolling and securing the locality,” Shintre said.

The police received many complaints about people spotting men from the ‘chaddi baniyan’ gang or the ‘monkey man’. “We visited the spots where a person claimed to have spotted the monkey man, many entirely denied the claim. We have arrested such people,” Shintre said.

Read on:  http://www.indianexpress.com/news/monkey-man-rumour-cops-arrest-72-in-crackdown/919324/

Of terrace-hopping creatures & child-eating ogres

Daily News & Analysis [India] | 29 February 2012

Of terrace-hopping creatures & child-eating ogres

Manoj R Nair

While the northerly breeze over Mumbai has been giving its denizens, albeit fitfully, some fair weather days, it seems the air is thick with rumours.

As this paper reported on Tuesday, policemen in some parts of the city have been kept busy by people who think the best way to spend a pleasant February afternoon is by indulging in the hobby called "rumour mongering."

Some of the rumours are assuredly bizarre. In the eastern suburbs, there has been talk about 'oil men' who cover their lithe bodies with some slimy stuff so that they can easily slip away from pursuers.

Another part of the city has been so tormented by tales of child-lifting gangs with painted faces that mothers are worried about sending children unescorted to schools and playgrounds. Some stories, like that of bands of Africans picking up children, are offensively racist, at least for people who pretend they are sensitive about such things.

Policemen, who are not bothered about such niceties like racial and cultural sensitisation, told reporters that residents in some areas were worried about 'negroes' trying to kidnap children.

Other fantastical characters in the telltales wear shoes fitted with metal springs that enable them to jump from terraces of one building to another. Some shoemaker should patent this footwear; the invention should be the most revolutionary improvement in our footwear ever since we discarded our grass-and-twine sandals and wooden clogs for leather shoes. Mumbai police chief Arup Patnaik was obviously informed about the existence of these shoes by his men because he told our reporter that his men went around inquiring with shoe dealers whether such 'custom-made' shoes were being sold there.

One cast in this freak theatre wears boots that take away several feet from his height. A ghastly story doing the rounds is that of a man who devours children alive.

According to our reporters, this story whirled about in the northern plains of the country before it was blown into Mumbai by the northerlies. I think I know where the inspiration for the last story came from. A
fortnight ago, policemen in the city came across an amateurish copy of Spanish master Francisco Goya's nightmarish painting 'Saturn devouring his son'. While the policemen's story that they stumbled into a 19th century masterpiece in a ramshackle warehouse in Oshiwara was incredible, they nevertheless managed to convince some reporters that the master work could have been stolen and smuggled into Mumbai where art collectors were negotiating to buy it for Rs20 crores!

The story of a possible art heist with its epicentre in Mumbai was printed in local newspapers. The report must have been picked up by some four-page newsletter in the north and then woven into a fantasmagorical story of the kind that some news channels specialise in. From there, the regurgitated story found its way into Mumbai's slums and housing colonies. But, unlike the humorous vein that this article feigns to assume, the rumours are no laughing matter. Driven to delirium by stories of child-eating ogres and spring-footed creatures, some people have been beating up unfortunate passers-by.


http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column_of-terrace-hopping-creatures-and-child-eating-ogres_1656422

West too rocked by rumours

Times of India | 29 February 2012

West too rocked by rumours

TNN

MUMBAI: Rumours have travelled west in Mumbai. The buzz about men robbing homes and abducting children in the eastern suburbs has now reached the western suburbs creating panic among residents.

The western suburbs are now agog with talk of the "monkey man" abducting children since the last one week. Fortunately, no crimes seem to have been reported in the area and police are on the lookout for rumour-mongers . "We want to contain elements who take advantage of the situation to settle scores. One such incident was reported in the eastern suburbs," said a senior police officer.

"We will deal sternly with rumour-mongers since it is the only way to  tackle the issue," he added. However, experts suggested that the police should rope in community leaders to deal with the situation.

Additional police commissioner ( crime) Deven Bharti said, "People should confront the person who spread such stories after directly asking about the victim's detail and informing the police about it." "We received
several calls about the "monkey man" , however, we didn't find anything to substantiate its existence. People claim to have heard about a supernatural being, but no victim has come forward," added a police
officer.


http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-29/mumbai/31110337_1_rumours-suburbs-monkey-man