KING COBRA NESTS AGAIN IN NAINITAL

Photos: K.S.Sajwan                                               Click on picture to enlarge

King Cobra with hood up- Photo.K.S.Sajwan

King cobra guarding its nest

The magnificient King Cobra has nested once again in the Himalayan District of Nainital. The first nesting was observed at Talla Ramgarh at 1500m a few years ago and was successfully protected by Manish of Tapogiri, the locals, NGOs and the forest department and the hatchlings were released in the wild. The same locality reported repeated nesting and hatching since then. King Cobra was found upto 2000m in this region. Now, a new nest has been found at Jeolikote at around 1300m altitude. A large king cobra is presently guarding the nest made of leaf litter in a forest lease land presently being cultivated by a local villager. The forest department has immediately taken the role of protecting the nest and the eggs within. The visitors and villagers have been kept 100m away from the nesting site by a wire fencing. Amit Verma IFS, the Divisional Forest Officer of Haldwani has set up a CCTV at the nesting site so that the activity of the mother and other activities can be seen and shown to visitors too from a remote locality. He has pitched a tent away from the site for this purpose. The above photos were taken by Mr.Kalyan Singh Sajwan, a senior assistant of the Nainital Forest Division. The mother was seen repairing the nest after a severe rain had done some damage to it. It moves in a circle around the nest and in the mean time lifts leaf litter to make a pile in a shape of a dome. After repairing the nest, it sits on top of it and guards the nest from predators. However, as the prey of king cobras are snakes, themselves, there is a danger of the mother eating up the hatchlings. Hence, nature has made the design in such a grand manner that the mother would abandon the nest before the eggs are ready to hatch!!!

 In the earlier nesting at Talla Ramgarh, the mother abandoned the nest one month prior to hatching. The nest was protected from fire and enclosed with a sheet so that the hatchlings could be seen before they leave the nest. A total of 21 eggs hatched out of which 19 hatchlings survived till the first moulting. They were later released in a jungle near by, slightly away from the habitation nearby. Given below are the photographs of the earlier hatching of king cobras at Ramgarh.  According to Shri.Bijulal.T.R. IFS, the Divisional Forest Officer of Nainital, "The parental care of Kingcobras is one of the most amazing phenomenon in the Animal Kingdom!!!".

A baby King Cobra

King Cobras have always been there in the higher himalayas too as the deep crevasses in the rocky ground provided temperatures befitting the species. They were locally known as "Soopy samp" due to their large hood looking like a winnow board ('Soopa' in hindi). However, they were never photographed till 2005 when the first nest was found in Ramgarh, which is the highest published record of this species. The highest unpublished report of Kingcobra is at Kanar Van Panchayat at around 2800m altitude. The Goriganga valley of Askote Wildlife sanctuary also has a good population of Kingcobras. They are also found in pine forests and makes nest out of pine needles. The villagers are aware of a 'snake' that lays eggs under heaps of pine needles and they usually burn the nest out of fear. Such nest was recently reported at Lohaghat too.

Three Orphaned Leopard Cubs Rescued

Three male leopard cubs were rescued by the Uttarakhand Forest Department from Village Marchaur, Adkini, 20 kms from Pithoragarh after these cubs were left orphaned by their missing mother. The villagers found the cubs in a stream bank in a dense oak forest where dogs were trying to attack the cubs. The villagers saved these cubs from the dogs and informed the forest department. The forest department team rushed to the spot and put the cubs safely back to the place where it was found and coodoned the area from any public activity. The team and villagers waited all night in the expectation that their mom would return to take away the cubs or feed them milk. However, inspite of the cubs crying (meowing) loud all night, the mother was not visible or heard anywhere around. After day break, since there was no use of leaving the cubs hungry, the cubs were brought to the Range office and after consultation with the veterinarian was fed with dilute milk, after which the cubs are now somewhat active. Two of the cubs have their eyes opened, but one is still to open its eyes completely. The cubs are expected to be around 25 days old. The search for the mother is going on, but the chances are high that the mother is no more. After observation for a few days, these cubs would be sent to Nainital Zoo.

The death or exclusion of one female leopard means the exclusion of three of its present litter, three of its previous litter and three in the womb. So, that means at least the life of 9 more leopards are at stake.

The death or exclusion of one male leopard will lead to capture of its territory by another male, who would like to have only his offsprings in the area. For this, he will kill all the nine cubs as mentioned above per female. A male territory can have 3-4 females and so, 9x4=36 cubs' life is at stake.

So, we should think before declaring any leopard as man-eater and killing them or allowing a leopard to be hunted otherwise.

Humans killing animals - Hill fox - killed in road accident at Nainital

Another victim of human negligence. This photo is of a Hill Fox (Red fox) Vulpus vulpus montana from Nainital highway, which is a hill station in the Uttarakhand Himalayas, India. The roads are mountainous and winding. The vehicle speed usually is around 30 kmph only. Still, drivers do not care for crossing wildlife. These accidents occur especially in the early morning hours, when these otherwise nocturnal animals would be returning home before day break.

Himalayan palm Civet- road killed in Nainital

Himalayan Palm Civet - road kill at Khairna, Nainital

Another animal not allowed to cross the road. What is the big hurry, my dear driver? I just required another second to cross.

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