Mammals on Monday 15 - Indian Elephant

The India Elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) is one of the three known subspecies of Asian Elephant. Although its name suggests this sub-species would only be found on the Indian subcontinent, populations also exist in South East Asia and China.  The other two subspecies of Asian Elephant are found in Sri Lanka and on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

There are two species African Elephants (genus Loxodonta) and they are both larger than Asian Elephants.  The ears of African Elephants are massive, while Asian elephants have smaller, rounded ears. Another distinguishing feature is head shape - African Elephants have a rounded head with a single dome, while Asian elephants have a twin-domed head with a depression between these domes. There are also differences in the structure of the tip of trunk between the two species.

The species shows significant sexual dimorphism (this means that males and females have different sets of features above and beyond those of the reproductive system). Males reach an average shoulder height of about 2.75 m and a weight of up to 4,000 kg. Females reach an average shoulder height of about 2.4 m and a weigh of up to 2,700 kg.

Only male Asian elephants have prominent tusks, whereas both sexes of African Elephants have large tusks.  Interestingly, the animal in these pictures was identified as a male by our guides, but it only has very small tusks.   Males with small tusks are known as 'Makhnas' - and this form of the male elephant is becoming more common in India as the males with large tusks - known as 'Tuskers' are selectively removed from the population by ivory poaching.  The Makhnas are of little interest to ivory poachers, so they survive to reproduce, and pass on the 'small tusk' genes to their offspring.   

We saw this elephant in the Jim Corbett National Park which is in Northern India, relatively close to the Nepalese boarder.  The park was established in 1936 as Indias first national park and covers an area of 520.8 km^2.  There are thought to be over 1000 elephants in this park.  

We had encountered an elephant hiding in the bushes (!) the day before, but we had only been able to see small parts of its trunk and head through the branches.  The animal in the picture walked between the small convoy of 'Gypsy' (that's a brand name) four wheel drives we were in, and started to walk along the road in the same direction as we were travelling.  This meant that 90% of the views I saw were of an elephants rear!  Oh well.

What a remarkable animal.  And just for clarification, this is a wild animal.

Hope all is well.  Cheers  SM

Wild Bird Wednesday 714 - Indian skimmer

The Indian Skimmer (Rynchops albicollis) is one of three species of Skimmers found in the world - the other two species are found in the Americas and Africa.

The Indian Skimmer (and the other two species) have highly asymmetrical beaks, with the lower part being significantly longer than the upper section.  When feeding (and unfortunately I only saw this at a distance, and going away from me) the birds slice the longer, lower part of the beak through the water.  When this part of the beak strikes an object - hopefully food - the bird bends its head back to grab the object.

The Indian Simmer can be found on large rivers and lakes, swamps and coastal wetlands such as estuaries, but as is the case with many birds it is becoming rarer each year and its distribution more fragmented.  Indian and Bangladesh are now the centres for the last areas where there are substantial populations.

These birds were photographed at the breeding colonies from the Chambal river area, which is a well known and relatively reliable site to observe these birds.

The Indian Skimmer is a member of the Laridae family, which means it is related to gulls, terns and noddies.  The bird is about 40cm long and its bill makes it highly distinctive.

I assume that the bird that is lying flat on the gravel is 'sun-baking', probably as part of a behaviour that rids the feathers of parasites.

As ever, to join in with WBW click on the link below.  Cheers  SM

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Mammals on Monday 14 - Sloth Bear

The Sloth Bear (Melursus ursinus) or Indian Bear is native India, parts of Nepal, Bhutan, and Sri Lanka.  It was formerly found in Bangladesh, but is now extinct there.

Sloth bears are a medium-sized bear. Females typically weight between 55 and 105 kg, and the larger males weight between 80 and 145 kg.  Sloth Bears have completely black fur, except for a pale white Y- or V-shaped mark on the chest. They are 60–92 cm at the shoulder, and have a body length of 1.4–1.9 m 

Sloth Bears feed on termites, bees and ants, and it has a long lower lip that helps it to suck up insects. Sloth Bears bear use their long powerful claws to rip open termite mounds and other insect colonies or nests before feeding on the disturbed insects.  Apparently they are also very fond of honey, and at times can become a nuisance as they forage for sweet food wastes discarded by humans!

I take it that this individual is a female as it (she?) was accompanied by young bears.  Due to the density of the forest they were in I was unable to get decent pictures of the young bears, and to be honest they looked like indistinct fluffy black lumps when I glimpsed them through binoculars!

I saw these animals near the end of the Five Tigers day in Ranthambore National Park - which ended an utterly remarkable day of wildlife watching on an even higher note.

Hope everyone is well in these strange and worrying times.  SM

Wild Bird Wednesday 713 - Common Green Magpie

The Common Green-Magpie (Cissa chinensis) was not an easy bird to spot in India.  Despite its common name I only saw a single individual of this species - and that was outside the hide at the Birders Den in Sattal in Uttarakhand. 

This was a wonderful place to stay, with great food, and possibly even more important a bird hide!  Fruit and small amounts of seed were provided outside the hide and the birds, knowing that a free feed was on offer, flocked in.

That being said, and as noted above, this was the only individual of this species I saw during this trip.  A knowledgable Indian birder who was in the hide at the time the this bird arrived point out that while the bird was both green and a true magpie, it was not at all common.

It was another of those special encounters - and if you have not had a look at this post about tigers, it shows some pictures from an even more special encounter! 

As you can see, this bird came in to an artificial pool of water outside the hide.  I am no fan of artificial reflection pools, but I was more then happy to see this bird.

E-bird describes this species as 'a neon-colored, noisy, highly social bird of lowland and mid-altitude subtropical forests. Surprisingly difficult to spot as it glides from tree to tree in the middle and upper levels of the forest. Memorable if seen well: bright green with chestnut-tipped wings, a black mask, and a coral-red bill'.   I have to say I agree with this analysis.

The Common Green Magpie is a member of the crow family, roughly the size of the Eurasian Jay or slightly smaller.

I have to say, I am particularly fond of the picture where this bird is poking out its tongue.

As ever, to join in with WBW, click on the link below.  Cheers  SM

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Mammals on Monday 14 - Tiger

During my recent trip to India, I was lucky enough to see five different tigers in a single day during a to slightly longer visit to Ranthambore National Park.  The group I was in saw two large cubs in the morning, two females, a male and same two cubs in the afternoon.

It was an utterly remarkable experience.  The morning sightings were distant and generally through trees, but the afternoon brought very close sightings.  At their closest two or three of the tigers were less than 10m from the open topped vehicles we were in.  People have asked if I found it frightening to have an apex predator that close, with nothing between us and it but thin air.  I can honestly say that I was uttering unbothered by this proximity - which may say a great deal about my understanding of risk - as the tigers seemed totally relaxed and unconcerned by our presence. 

And the more I think about that day, the more I come to understand that it really was an 'out of the box' day that is extremely unlikely ever to occur again. 

Ranthambore National Park covers an area of 1,334 square kilometres in the state of Rajasthan.  The national park is about 400km south of Delhi and was declared a National Park in 1980.  It's probably one of the most famous places to see tigers in the wild.  There are approximately 70 tigers in the National Park.

The tiger in India is classified as Panthera tigris tigris, a species which is now thought to include all tigers except those that occur on in Borneo, Java, Sulawesi and Sumatra. 

In the past the tiger ranged across eastern Turkey, northern Iran and Afghanistan to Central Asia and from northern Pakistan through the Indian subcontinent and Indochina to southeastern Siberia, Sumatra, Java and Bali. As of 2022, it inhabits less than 7% of its former range and now has a fragmented distribution in the Indian subcontinent, the Indochinese Peninsula, Sumatra, northeastern China and the Russian Far East. 

Approximatley 75% of the world's wild tiger population is found in India, with an almost 3,700 tigers being identified in 2022. The India tiger population has more than doubled since 2006, largely due to protected area management, anti-poaching efforts, and community cooperation.

Tigers have a typical body length of between 1.4–2.8 m with an additional  0.6–1.1 m of tail! They stand 0.8–1.1 m high at the shoulder. The tigers found in Siberian are some of the largest known, and this may be an adaptation to the cold environment in which they occur. Male tigers in India weigh between 200–260 kg, with females weighing somewhat less.

They are an utterly remarkable animal, and it was a privilege to watch them. 

Hope all is well.  SM