Building Walkways: Observation on Nest Duplication of Stingless Bee Trigona iridipennins

Preeti S. Virkar*, Shivam Shrotriya & V. P. Uniyal

Besides the popular honeybees, Apis cerana and Apis mellifera, stingless bees are also reared for honey, having high medicinal value. The practice of keeping stingless bees is called meliponiculture. Naturally stingless bees nest in a variety of habitats ranging from cracks, crevices of trees, walls and
sometimes even underground. However, their specific nesting habits are not yet well studied. There are two methods of acquiring these bees from natural habitat- hiving & eduction. While first is destructive to the colony of stingless bees, second method consumes a lot more time. We are studying the reasons for this delay, which can make eduction technique efficient and adaptable to beekeepers. Our initial observations are reported in this article.

Find the article from here.

citation: Virkar, Preeti S, Shivam Shrotriya, and V P Uniyal. 2014. “Building Walkways : Observation on Nest Duplication of Stingless Bee Trigona Iridipennins Smith ( 1854 ).” Ambient Science 1 (1): 38–40.

Amar Anagoto, Amar Anahoto...

“A thousand desires such as these...

Pause me, hold me, reach me,
Where no man has gone
Crossing the seven seas
With the wings of fire
I fly towards nowhere
And you ‒
Rivers, mountains, rain !
Rain against a scorched landscape of pain ” (Soundtrack of Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi)

I look at my tragedies, the pains I had no options to, the moments I cannot undo, personal failures, my mistakes and shame. It sends a tremble through my nerves. It is a feel of sudden collapse of a person I am. But do I collapse forever, do I never resurrect from my own ashes? May be I wouldn't have if I was a story of only dark chapters. And I'm not the only person with mistakes and disasters in life. I haven't met a single person without tragedies and sadness. I remember this passage from the Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller-

“Everywhere I go people are making a mess of their lives. Everyone has his private tragedy. It's in the blood now – misfortune, ennui, grief, suicide. The atmosphere is saturated with disaster, frustration, futility. Scratch and scratch – until there's no skin left.”

There is something that always keeps me afloat- a desire to stay happy. Among a thousand desires, the root one is to be happy. Life has made me to learn my responsibility for it. It is a right to me that I must protect against all forces. There is a poem that gives me philosophical guard against losses, failures and hurt. This poem defines my general take on life-

“Jibone jaha kichhu holo na sara
Jani he jani tao hoyni hara.
Je phul na futite jhorechhe dhoronite
Je nodi morupothe haralo dhara
Jani he tao hoy ni hara.
Jibone ajo jaha royechhe pichhe
Jani he jani tao hoyni michhe.
Amar anagoto, amar anahoto
Tomar binatare bajechhe tara.”

Three decades of wildlife radio telemetry in India: a review

Authors: Bilal Habib, Shivam Shrotriya, Kuppusamy Sivakumar, Priya R Sinha and Vinod B Mathur

Abstract:

 

From 1983, there have been three decades of the application and development of radio telemetry for wildlife studies in India. In this article, we review 82 studies from India, covering 47 species from four taxonomic classes. We examine and discuss the trends in the selection of study species, habitats and objectives of radio-telemetry studies and the functional success of radio collars and tags. A strong bias for study species and study region is observed and researchers generally tend not to look beyond the traditional research questions. Habitats that are difficult to access, such as the Trans-Himalayas, the Himalayas and north-eastern India, are overlooked. Most of the studies aimed to infer primary information only, such as home range, migration and movement patterns and habitat preference (53.7%, 47.6% and 28.1% studies, respectively). We expect these trends to change with time as the development of technology allows researchers to explore further. We investigated the tracking histories of 483 animals and the records of 496 radio collars or tags, but detailed information could be acquired for only 330 collars or tags. Of the collars, 49% malfunctioned before the end of their anticipated life due to a variety of reasons, early battery drainage being the prevalent cause. The performance of different technologies and collar manufacturers was also analysed but the small sample size was an issue for most of the cases. Argos-based collars and tags generally failed to record most of the locations precisely and failed to transmit them successfully. Issues with permissions and capturing animals for tagging, particular to India, are also discussed. A uniform and centralized system for granting permissions and guidelines for capturing and handling animals would be beneficial to future telemetry studies. 

Access  full article here.

citation: Bilal Habib, Shivam Shrotriya, Kuppusamy Sivakumar, Priya R Sinha and Vinod B Mathur. Three decades of wildlife radio telemetry in India: a review. Animal Biotelemetry 2014, 2:4  doi:10.1186/2050-3385-2-4

Prey Preferences of the Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia): Regional Diet Specificity Holds Global Significance for Conservation

Authors: Salvador Lyngdoh, Shivam Shrotriya, Surendra P. Goyal, Hayley Clements, Matthew W. Hayward, Bilal Habib

Abstract:

The endangered snow leopard is a large felid that is distributed over 1.83 million km² globally. Throughout its range it relies on a limited number of prey species in some of the most inhospitable landscapes on the planet where high rates of human persecution exist for both predator and prey. We reviewed 14 published and 11 unpublished studies pertaining to snow leopard diet throughout its range. We calculated prey consumption in terms of frequency of occurrence and biomass consumed based on 1696 analysed scats from throughout the snow leopard's range. Prey biomass consumed was calculated based on the Ackerman's linear correction factor. We identified four distinct physiographic and snow leopard prey type zones, using cluster analysis that had unique prey assemblages and had key prey characteristics which supported snow leopard occurrence there. Levin's index showed the snow leopard had a specialized dietary niche breadth. The main prey of the snow leopard were Siberian ibex (Capra sibrica), blue sheep (Pseudois nayaur), Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus), argali (Ovis ammon) and marmots (Marmota spp). The significantly preferred prey species of snow leopard weighed 55±5 kg, while the preferred prey weight range of snow leopard was 36–76 kg with a significant preference for Siberian ibex and blue sheep. Our meta-analysis identified critical dietary resources for snow leopards throughout their distribution and illustrates the importance of understanding regional variation in species ecology; particularly prey species that have global implications for conservation.

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citation: S Lyngdoh, S Shrotriya, SP Goyal, H Clements, MW Hayward, B Habib. Prey Preferences of the Snow Leopard (Panthera uncia): Regional Diet Specificity Holds Global Significance for Conservation. PLOS One 9 (2), e88349

पत्राचार : दो कविताएँ

एक कविता बड़ी पसंद है मुझे- जब मैं facebook पर था, तब भी साझा की थी। कविता काइसिन कुलीव ने लिखी है। शायद ये कविता अवचेतन में अब तक इसलिए अटकी है कि कुछ पत्रों के जवाब, जो लिखे थे, भेजे न जा सके। विचारों के ब्रह्माण्ड में कुछ समय-सुरंगों से वापस उन्हीं पलों पे लौट जाता हूँ- ताकि वो पत्र फिर फिर पा सकूँ, ताकि लिख सकूँ फिर फिर जवाब। पर पत्रों को पठाने का पल घटित होते नहीं पाता किसी भी सामानांतर संसार में।

दो कवि, दो संस्कृतियाँ, एक-दूसरे से एकदम अलग। लेकिन कविता तो एक पत्राचार है भावों का। देश, भाषा, समय को पार कर एक ही लय में गुँथी ये दो कविताएँ-

(१)

(काइसिन कुलीव की ये कविता मेरी डायरी में दर्ज हुई थी) 

(२)

हर बार प्रेम-पत्र  लिखने के बाद हर बार अपना 

हस्ताक्षर करते समय 

जरा काँप जाने वाली स्त्री 

दोष देती है मौसम को 

और फिर से शुरू करती है प्रेम-पत्र;

अबकी बार कोसती है शोर को,

खिड़की से आती हुई हवा को,

द्वार पर पड़ती हुई दस्तक को,

शेल्फ़ से गिरकर चौंका देनेवाली एक पुस्तक को,

बिस्तर पर बल खाकर गिरते समुद्र को,

बाहर बेफ़िक्र खड़े ताड़ को,

आखिर में वक़्त को।

घबराकर ढूँढती है सारा दिन किसी परित्यक्त को !

(श्रीकान्त वर्मा की कविता 'पतझर')

Is philosophy dead?

Dr. Dave Ward's MOOC class on "Introduction of Philosophy" generated a stirring discussion on a statement made by Stephen Hawking about philosophy. The statement was taken from his book The Grand Design, which goes as follow:

" ... philosophy is dead. Philosophy has not kept up with modern developments in science, particularly physics. Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge."

I have always admired Hawking for his science writings and promoting scientific ideas to the common people. But this one was certainly a careless and poorly thought-out statement from a prominent scientist. And it forms an example of his mediocre understanding of philosophy and advances in philosophical studies. One definition of philosophy suggests that philosophy is about asking the right question, figuring out the right way to answer it and reasoning the answer with explanation. As far as a person is on the quest for knowledge, it falls in the domain of Philosophy. In this respect, even the people like Hawking and Richard Dawkins are philosophers themselves, until they don't turn into firm believer of only one way of looking at knowledge and stop their quest without considering other angles. Philosophy is not only as progressive as other fields of study, but also it often provides foundation for progress. If philosophy is dead, how and why the new branch of science (or philosophy) has emerged out- philosophy of science.

'Hawking is so evangelical about the notion of progress is he that it might as well be a religion'. Photograph: Murdo Macleod (Source here)

Physics is not a necessarily anti-philosophy and anti-religion stream. Another famous physicist, Fritjof Capra, is known for investigating parallels between philosophy and physics. How the duality of properties of sub-atomic entities as wave or particle is tackled in science... what does it even mean by saying "probability" or "likelihood" in statistical world... what is the whole mathematics of Bayesian and Information theory based upon- Information and perfect truth... and how do we understand these concepts... answers to these questions lead us to conjunction of science and philosophy. I've discussed the unity of science and philosophy in my earlier post as well. Referring to Kurt Gödel's incompleteness theorem, every self-enclosed logical system, the Principles of mathematics included, contains the seeds of its own incompleteness; and modern physics stands on the shoulders of mathematics.

Nicholas Blincoe from The Guardian, criticized Hawking's restricted view to see the 'progress'. Read his article also, titled 'Why does Stephen Hawking think science has overtaken philosophy?'.

Threat to wildlife from carnivorous pets: A case of cat attacking Indian Pipistrelle Pipistrellus coromandra (Gray, 1838)

Preeti S. Virkar and Shivam Shrotriya

Citation: Virkar, Preeti S, and  Shrotriya, Shivam. 2013. “Threat to Wildlife from Carnivorous Pets : A Case of Cat Attacking Indian Pipistrelle Pipistrellus Coromandra (Gray, 1838).” Zoo’s Print XXVIII (8): 25–27.

Ecology of urban wildlife is sparsely known despite its relevance in sustaining exclusive populations of many species and instilling environmental awareness among citizens. While a number of species have adapted to human modified habitats, domestic pets pose an impending risk to their populations. We report such an incidence from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) campus in Dehradun, Uttarakhand (30˚ 17' 2.47"N 77˚ 58' 30.48"E), a semi-natural habitat of forest and human-built areas with a large interface between wild and domestic life. On April 15, 2013, at 22:15 hrs, a semi-domesticated cat was spotted with an unusual hunt. A small bat was rescued from its mouth. The rescued animal was still alive, injured with visible but very small blood stain, a hole in patagia, and breathing rapidly.

X                                              X                                         X

Carnivorous pets, if kept without movement restrictions, can follow their natural instincts and hunt available prey in the surroundings. While their populations are sustained by human food provisioning (pet food and garbage), they are known to kill their natural prey as substitute food. Stray dogs have been reported forming hunting packs and killing wild animals as well as livestock (Bhatta 2008; Habib et al.2013). Cats particularly have been reared in homes to hunt on rodents for thousands of years. A considerable impact of domestic cats on wildlife of the United States of America has been estimated where free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.4–3.7 billion birds and 6.9–20.7 billion mammals annually (Loss et al. 2013). Presence of domestic/semi-domestic cats and dogs turns into a concerning issue around wild/semi-wild habitats. Such areas are not only important for big, charismatic, well-known and threatened species, but also for small, cryptic, ignored and often Data Deficient (DD) species. Carnivorous pets around such areas could impose a threat to many small mammals, birds and reptiles by hunting them, and such events should be avoided to the best possible extent.

 Read the complete article here.