Wildlife Institute of India Annual Research Seminar, 2009 report

[Guest guest]

Dear all,

Please find attached a report on the latest Annual Research

Seminar of the Wildlife Institute of India that was attended by delegates

from Nepal and India.

Best wishes,

 

Report on Annual Research Seminar at the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra

Dun, Uttarakhand on 19th and 20th of September, 2009.

 

Several staff members from WWF and TRAFFIC INDIA attended the 23rd Annual

Research Seminar of the Wildlife Institute of India in Dehra Dun. They were

Mr Ravi Singh, CEO and Secretary General of WWF India, Dr Parikshit Gautam,

Head of the Wetlands Programme of WWF, Ms Aditi Raina, Programme Officer of

Wetlands at WWF, Ms Sejal Worah, Development Head of WWF,

 

Mr Samir Sinha, Head of TRAFFIC INDIA, Mr Akhilesh Kumar, Assistant

Programme Officer of TRAFFIC INDIA and , Programme Officer

of TRAFFIC INDIA.

 

The event was attended by 270 delegates from India and Nepal from NGOs,

research institutes and forest departments of various states.

 

In his inaugural speech, Mr P K Sinha, Director of Wildlife Institute of

India, stated that the annual gathering of the research seminar is a

testimony to the research carried out by WII over the years. He highlighted

that this institute has been at the forefront of wildlife research not only

in India but in Asia. He requested all participants for their input to

further refine the learning process for wildlife conservation in the days to

come.

 

Mr Kartick Shankar, Scientist at WII said this Annual Research Seminar has

been held at the institute since 1987 and this year it had 24 presentations.

 

 

A publication was brought out on endangered plants of India. Many ongoing

research projects were outlined including research on spider diversity,

Asiatic Back Bears, Human Tiger conflict in Rajaji National Park and Ecology

of Tricarinate Hill Turtles.

 

The research papers presented by WII members were the following :

 

1) Subsampling photographic capture-recapture data of tigers(Panthera

tigris) to improve estimate precision : a case study by Abhishek Harihar,

Junior Research Fellow

 

2) Distribution and Relative abundance of Carnivores and their prey

in Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve, Sikkim by Tawqir Bashir, Junior

Research Fellow

 

3) Response of Leopards to reintroduced tigers in Sariska Tiger

Reserve, Rajasthan by Krishnendu Mondal, Junior Research Fellow

 

4) Status of Tigers in Panna Tiger Reserve – K Ramesh, Scientist

 

5) Asiatic Black Bear Ecology(Ursus thibetanus) ecology and human

conflicts in Dachigam National Park by Lalit Kumar Sharma, Senior Research

fellow

 

6) Evaluation of tiger population estimation methods in Ranthambhore

Tiger Reserve by Randeep Singh, Senior Research Fellow

 

7) Identifying ICMBAs(Important Coastal and Marine Biodiversity

Areas) along the East Coast of India – an approach for enhancing coastal and

marine habitat conservation by K R Saravanan, Senior Research Fellow

 

8) Long term monitoring of birds and mammals of the Indian Ocean and

Antarctica by S Sathyakumar, Scientist

 

9) Critical offshore congregation and onshore habitat dynamics and

their relationship with Olive Ridley breeding and migration patterns in the

rookeries of Orissa by Sajan John, Senior Research Fellow

 

10) Nest Site selection by Olive Ridley sea turtles and effects of

anthropogenic changes to the Rushikulya nesting beach, Orissa by M

Muralidharan, MSc student

 

11) Species Assemblage and basking habitat use of freshwater turtles

in the Mahanadi River, Orissa by Chandan Jani, MSc student

 

12) Seasonal and altitudinal variation of haematozoan parasites in

the Western Himalayan birds by Farah Ishtiaq, Post Doctoral Fellow

 

13) Resource tracking by Oriental Pied Hornbill(Anthracoceros

albirostris) in a deciduous forest habitat by Rekha Warrier, MSc student

 

14) Role of environmental stochasticity and habitat management in

designing conservation strategies for the Great Indian Bustard by Sutirtha

Dutta, Junior Research Fellow

 

15) Foraging behaviour and habitat characteristics of breeding leaf

warblers in the Himalayas by Mousumi Ghosh, Junior Research Fellow

 

16) Genetic structure of tiger populations in India and its

significance in forensics by Sudhanshu Mishra, Senior Research Fellow

 

17) Demographic status and genetic variability in Sangai(Rucervus

eldii eldii) and Hog Deer(Axis porcinus) populations in Keibul Lamjao

National Park, Manipur

 

18) Genetic diversity and admixture analysis of Red Junglefowl with

Domestic chicken : Preliminary findings by Mukesh Kumar, Senior Research

Fellow

 

19) The diet of Sangai(Rucervus eldii eldii) and Hog Deer(Axis

porcinus) in relation to forage quality in Keibul Lamjao National Park,

Manipur by Ngailian Vaiphei, Senior Research Fellow

 

20) Habitat use and factors affecting distribution of wild ungulates

in Changchenmo Valley, Eastern Ladakh by Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, Senior

Research Fellow

 

21) Ranging pattern of wild pigs in Ranthambhore National Park,

Rajasthan by Kuldeep Singh Barwal, Senior Research Fellow

 

22) A study of Vigilance behaviour in Cheetal(Axis axis) in Pench

Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh by Sartaj S Ghuman, MSc student

 

23) Effects of climatic variation on relative abundance, behaviour

and foraging efficiency of Royle’s Pika in Western Himalayas by Sabuj

Bhattacharyya, Senior Research Fellow

 

24) Social Behaviour and duetting in Hoolock Gibbons(Hoolock hoolock)

in Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam by Sumithra Sankaran, MSc student

 

25) Development of wireless sensor network technology for wildlife

research by Prabhat Ranjan, Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and

Communication Technology, Gandhinagar, Gujarat

 

 

 

All sessions were followed by productive and useful question and answer

periods when speakers interacted with the audience. The Natraj Bookshop also

made a stall to showcase rare books on wildlife and environment.

 

Awards were distributed for the best presentations delivered by students.

The first prize was obtained by Sutirtha Dutta for his work on Great Indian

Bustards, the second prize by Mukesh Kumar for his work on Red Jungle Fowl

and the third prize by Sumitra Sankaran for work on Hoolock Gibbons.

 

Senior Forest officials like Mr Vinod Rishi, Mr S C Dey, Mr Mahendra Vyas

talked about the various aspects of the seminar. Mr V B Sawarkar and Mr P R

Sinha emphasized on the need to do research that would be applicable on the

ground situation in India and expressed optimism on the future of WII. Mr

Kartick Shankar gave the vote of thanks.

 

Regards

 

Programme Officer

TRAFFIC India

WWF India Secretariat

172-B, Lodi Estate, N.Delhi 110003, India

Tel: +91-11-41504786, Fax: +91-11-43516200

Visit us at " www.traffic.org "

 

TRAFFIC- the wildlife trade monitoring network- is a joint programme of WWF

and IUCN-The World Conservation Union. It works to ensure that trade in wild

plants and animals is not a threat to conservation of nature.