ANAMALAI TIGER RESERVE

ANAMALAI TIGER RESERVE

Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) is located on the southern side of the South Western Ghat 

landscape. It is surrounded by Parambikulum Tiger Reserve on the East, Chinnar Wildlife 

Sanctuary and Eravikulum National Park on the South Western side. The reserve is also surrounded 

by Nenmara, Vazhachal, Malayattur and Marayur reserved forests of Kerala. The Kariyan shola, 

Grass hills and Manjampatti of Anamalai Tiger Reserve has been identified as a world heritage site 

by the UNESCO.

Anamalai Tiger Reserve was declared as a Tiger reserve in the year 2007. There are two Divisions 

and six ranges in this Reserve. The ranges found in this reserve include Amaravathi and Udumalpet 

falling in Thiruppur Division and Pollachi, Ulandy, Valparai and Manamboli in Pollachi Division.

Area of the Tiger Reserve

Core/critical tiger Habitat : 958.59 sq km

Buffer/Peripheral Area : 521.28 sq km

Total : 1479.87 sq km

Location

Latitudes : 10O 13.2’ N to 10 O 33.3’N

Longitudes : 76 O 49.3’ E to 77 O 21.4’ E

Habitat Attributes

Flora

Around 2500 species of angiosperms are found in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve, with several species 

of Balsam, Crotalaria, Orchids and Kurinchi. The reserve is rich in wild relatives of cultivated 

species like mango, jackfruit, wild plantain (Musa species), ginger (Zingiber officinale), turmeric 

(Curcuma longa), pepper (Piper longum), cardamom, solaipuli, nutmeg, cinnamom, amla 

(Phillanthus emblicus), jasmine (Jasminum species), drumstick, yams, rice, strawberries and wild

Fauna 

The reserve supports several species of endangered wild animals. There are 70 species of fishes, 

more than 70 species of amphibians, 120 species of reptiles, 300 species of birds and 80 species of 

mammals. The important mammals include: Asiatic elephant (Elephas maximus), Sambar (Rusa 

unicolor), Spotted deer (Axis axis) Barking deer (Muntiacus muntjac), Mouse deer (Tragulus 

nigricans), Gaur (Bos garus), Nilgiri tahr (Hemitragus hylocrius), Lion Tailed Macaque (Macaca 

silenus), Nilgiri langur (Trchypithecus johnii) and Common langur (Semnopithecus entellus). Other

common wild animals include: Wild pig (Sus scrofa) and Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus).

In general, the wild animals of the reserve include: Jackal (Canis aureus), Wild dog (Cuon alpines), 

Indian fox (Vulpes bengalensis), Tiger (Panthera tigirs), Leopard (Panthera pardus), Jungle cat 

(Felis chaus), Leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), Smooth coated otter (Lutrogale 

perspicillata), Small clawed otter (Aonyx cinerea), Nilgiri marten (Martes gwatkinsii), Small Indian

civet (Viverricula indica), common Palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphrodites), Brown palm civet 

(Paradoxurus jerdoni), Grey mangoose (Herpestes edwardsii), Ruddy mangoose (Herpestes 

smithii), Indian Brown mangoose (Herpestes fuscus), Stripe-necked mangoose (Herpestes 

vitticollis), Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata), Black naped hare (Lepus nigricollis), several 

species of rodents and bats. 

Tiger Status

The reserve has a good presence of tigers and co-predators.

Core

Camera trapping in 698 sq.km. of the tiger reserve have shown the presence of a minimum of 15 

tigers in the sampled area.

Buffer

The Buffer area of Anamalai Tiger Reserve is a 10 kilometer belt of revenue villages and hamlets, 

along the Northern boundary, adjoining the plains of Pollachi and Udumalpet taluks. In the East, it 

shares a common boundary, including a 5 kilometer belt falling in two adjoining divisions, viz. 

Kodaikanal and Dindigul.

The interstate boundaries from West, South and East are shared with the Nemmara Forest Division, 

Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, Vazhachal Forest Division, Malayatoor Forest Division, Munnar 

Forest Division, Eravikulam National Park and Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary. The Parambikulum 

Tiger Reserve is within a radius of 10 kilometers of the reserve and is contiguous.

Wildlife Corridors

There are several wildlife corridors which include: Navamalai near monkey falls, Punachi in 

Valparai range, Waterfall, Siluvaimedu, Nadu Ar, Sethumadai–Nenmara and 9/6–Chinnar check 

post. Wild animals like elephant, gaur, tiger, leopard and wild dog use these corridors for their 

seasonal movement within the reserve, and also between the reserv

IMPORTANT POINTS TO REMEMBER

●Anamalai Tiger Reserve is tropical jungle, shola forest and grassland.

●It is spilled over the Western Ghats into Kerala between Kodaikanal and Coimbatore. 

●Threatened species of mammals in the sanctuary include:

1)Endangered Bengal tiger, Indian elephant, Indian leopard

Nilgiri tahr and lion-tailed macaque,

2)Vulnerable brown mongoose, gaur, Malabar spiny dormouse, Nilgiri langur, rusty-spotted cat, sambar deer, sloth bear and smooth-coated otter,

3)near threatened Indian giant squirrel, Indian leopard and Indian pangolin.

●Tropical wet evergreen forest is found at an altitude of 600 m to 1,600 m.

●Tropical montane forests occur at higher elevations and are interspersed with montane grasslands, forming the shola-grassland complex. 

WAYS TO PROTECT ENVIRONMENT

5WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR ENVIRONMEN

 Unfortunately, humans have not been very good stewards of the Earth over the years. To protect the environment and preserve the planet for our children and future generations, we all need to take proactive steps toward cleaner living habits.

Most of the damage to our environment stems from consumption: what we consume, how much we consume and how often.

Whether it’s gas, food, clothing, cars, furniture, water, toys, electronics, knick-knacks or other goods, we are all consumers. The key is not to stop consuming, but to start being mindful of our consumption habits and how each purchase or action affects the ecosystem.

The good news is that it’s often not too difficult, expensive, or inconvenient to become more environmentally friendly. It can even be a fun challenge to implement among your family or coworkers. And though small changes at the individual level may seem trivial, just think how much cleaner the planet would be if everyone adopted even a few of the following behavior modifications.

1.Don’t buy single-use plastics.
Pop a flask or reusable bottle in your bag next time you are out and about. Make this a habit and cut your weekly bottle buying altogether, stopping 52 bottles ending up in landfills and oceans.

More than 2,600 plastic bottles a year would be stopped from entering our environment altogether if just 50 people packed a flask instead of buying a bottle. Small changes can make a big difference

2.Reduce our ecological footprint: 

Reducing our ecological footprint means placing less demand on nature .

• Recycle your rubbish and participate in or help organize recycling campaigns.
• Avoid littering and participate in or help organize litter clean-ups .
• Use less plastic by, for example, carrying a reusable water bottle, saying no to disposable straws and cutlery, avoiding plastic toys, and bringing your own shopping bags.
• Swap toys, movies, and books instead of buying new ones.
• Donate, recycle, and repair electronic devices.
• Use less water when brushing teeth, taking a shower, or washing the dishes.
• Use less electricity by turning off lights and electronic devices when not in use, using energy-saving light bulbs, and hanging clothes to dry.
• Use public transport, share a journey with friends (e.g., car-sharing), cycle, or walk when possible.
• Use less paper by not printing unnecessary things and reading e-books.
• Turn down the air conditioning when it is hot and use fans if you are still hot-they use much less pow

3.Re-use and Recycle.

  Reducing the amount of “stuff” you consume has the greatest benefits for the planet. It’s best to avoid waste in the first place, so think more carefully about your purchases.

Re-using items saves the natural resources and energy needed to manufacture new ones - as well as saving money.

4. Skip the Bottled Water

Opt for a reusable water bottle to save money and help the environment. Install a water filter in your home or use a Brita filter. Besides, tap water is already stringently monitored by the government, so bottled water  isn’t necessarily safer.

5. Compost Your Food.

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There are many benefits for environment composting. Not only do you reduce the amount of food going into the landfill thus reducing greenhouse gas emissions, you also can use it to help grow your own sustainable garden.

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NBS Scheme for fertilizer

NBS Scheme for fertilizer

NUTRIENTS BASED SUBSIDY (NBS)

It’s over a decade since a so-called nutrient-based subsidy (NBS) regime for fertilisers was instituted. By linking subsidy to nutrient composition rather than products per se, NBS was expected to wean away farmers from applying too much urea containing only nitrogen. But the actual results prove otherwise. Between 2009-10 and 2019-20, urea consumption rose from 26.7 million tonnes (mt) to 33.7 mt. While overall fertiliser consumption increased from 53.4 mt to 61.7 mt, urea’s share went up from below half to 54.6 per cent during this period. The reason for the worsening fertiliser imbalance is simple: Since April 2010, the maximum retail price (MRP) of urea has been raised by hardly 11 per cent, from Rs 4,830 to Rs 5,360 per tonne. The MRPs of other fertilisers — which were decontrolled, with the government only giving a per-tonne subsidy based on their nutrient content — have gone up from 2.5 to four times during these 10 years. Since NBS has been implemented only in other fertilisers, even as urea remains under price control, farmers are using more, not less, of the latter.

The Narendra Modi government must shoulder much of the blame for this agronomic and environmental disaster. The basic MRP of urea hasn’t been revised at all in its nearly six-and-a-half years. Instead of bringing urea under NBS — which would push up its MRP closer to Rs 10,000 per tonne at the current per-kg subsidy for nitrogen present in other fertilisers — the Modi government has resorted to tinkering at the margins. That includes compulsory neem-coating of all urea (from December 2015) and making fertiliser subsidy payment to companies conditional upon actual sales to farmers being registered on point-of-sale machines with retailers after biometric authentication (from March 2018). There’s a plan next, as reported by this newspaper, to cap the total number of subsidised fertiliser bags that any person can purchase during an entire cropping season. But these measures merely address the issue of subsidised fertilisers, especially urea, getting diverted to bulk buyers/traders or even non-agricultural users such as plywood and animal feed makers. They don’t fix the real problem — of overuse by farmers themselves. If urea is heavily under-priced, they will apply three bags when two or less would suffice.

IMPORTANT POINTS

 The NBS Scheme for fertilizer was initiated in the year 2010 and is being implemented by the Department of Fertilizers, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers.

• Under the scheme the government is making available fertilizers, Urea and 21 grades of P&K fertilizers to farmers at subsidized prices through fertilizer manufacturers/importers.

• As part of the scheme a fixed amount of subsidy decided on an annual basis is provided on each grade of subsidized Phosphatic and Potassic (P&K) fertilizers, except for Urea based on the nutrient content present in them.

• It is largely for secondary nutrients like N, P, S and K and micronutrients which are very important for crop growth and development.

Glossanodon macrocephalus(Kerala argentine)

 

New family of prehistoric fishes discovered in Kerala

A team of researchers has discovered a new deep sea fish species in Kerala waters. Glossanodon macrocephalus (common name Kerala argentine) with whitish and Silvery body

In  the new family of bony freshwater fish  from paddy fields of Kerala. It is believed that this fish has lineage going back to Gondwanaland and has survived even after the parting away of the Asian and African continents began some 125 million years ago.

Researchers from the Indian Institute of Science, Education and Research (IISER), Pune, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), Nirmalagiri College in Kerala, Natural History Museums in London and Berne, along with Senckenberg Natural History Collections, Germany, were part of the discovery of the fish family named Aenigmachannidae.

As the researchers suspected, the fish was new to science. They named it the ‘Gollum snakehead’ as it is a subterranean creature, spending most of its life underground .

But the discovery had bigger implications than simply being a new species. Another snakehead species – the Mahabali snakehead – had also been collected in Kerala a few months before and was published as a new species after the Gollum snakehead had been described. Rajeev, Ralf and an international team of ichthyologists recognised many clear similarities between the Gollum and the Mahabali, and proved that not only were the two species new to science, they were actually members of a whole new family of fish.