snakes of hazaribag, jharkhand
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Snakes of Hazaribag, Jharkhand, IndiaTRANSCRIPT
GOTUMBi* '%, *u:.. { ts, r*l w* ^
rssN - 0972-0847
Columban J. Life Scr. Vol.10 No.1&2 9-14 2009
REPORT ON THE SNAKE FAUNAOFHAZARIBAGDISTruCIJHARKHAND,INDIA
Satya Prakasht and M. Raziuddin2INeo Human Foundation, College More, Hazaribag 825 301, Jharkhand' India
,University Depaftment of Zoology, vinoba Bhave University, Hazaribag 825 3 0 I '
ABSTRACTNinteen species ofsnakes belonging to five families are recorded
lrom clilferent parts of Hazaribag district of Jharkhar.rd. Out of
these only six species v\2.. BtLngarus caeruleus' B fasciattts'Naja naja, Daboia nLsselii'; Cryptelytrops albolabris (Gray)
and L'iriclovipera sp arevenomous Of the total recorded species'
P.rthon molttrus (Linnaeus) is specified in Schedule I, Part Il of
Wildlii'e Protection Act 1972, while Amphiesma stolata
(Linnaeus). Mcrcropisthodon plumbicoior (Cantor)'
.Xenochrophis piscalor (Schneider). Naja naja (Linnaeus) and
Dctboia rttsselii (Shaw & Nodder) are in Schedule iI of Part II'lhe IUCN statuses ofthe species are also provided'
Key words: Snakes, Jharkhand, Hazaribag, Nortli
Chhotarragpur. Fauna.
INTRODUCTIONThe reptile fauna of India is unique in its diversity'
Sr-rakes belonging to the order Squamata are the most
fascinating legless predators characterized by their
elongated bodies covered with overlapping scales
leitner smooth or keeled) and lacking movable
eyelids and external ears. These feed upon live
animal prey and are widely distributed al1 over India'
Like other reptiles of India, the snake fauna are
slorvly disappearing rnainly becattse of the growing
demancl for their skin in the intemational market, their
ruthless killing and destruction of their natural
habitats.
Ahmad and Dasgupta (1991) have studied lizards
and snakes of north Bihar but no such record is
available for north Chhotanagpur division of
Jharkhand. In the present pap€r an attempt has beBn
made, perhaps for tlie first time, to record the snake
fauna of Hazaribag district. It is based on our surveys
to different localitiesiareas of Hazaribag district
including forest areas ftom200'7 -2009 '
PHYSIOGRAPHY OF HAZARIBAGHazaribag district of Jharkliand forms a part of
Chhotanagpur plateau and has an area of 5998 Km'?'
It lies between exteut from84a2l'E longitude to 850
5 5' 32" E lon gitude and 230 25' 29 "N latitude to 240
49'24"N latitude. The average elevatiotl is 604
meters. It is a region of residuary 'hills and
intermountain valleys. lt is predominantly a forest
district with about 36.05 % forest areas. The climate
is moderate but tlie later part of December to early
part of January have chilly days and night, the
mercury dropping down to an average of 40C to 50C
or even less. During peak summer (May) maxitnum
temperatttre shoots up to more than 400C' This region
gets more thang0o/o of total rainfall from the monsoon
during the rainy season. The average annual rainfall
is 1234.5 mm. Between July to mid October prevails
high Humidity.
MATERIAL AND METHODSA through survey of different areas of the district
was made with a view to locate snakes between
2001-2009. lnformation received by Neo Humat.r
Foundati on ( a Hazaribagbased NGO worki n g i n th e
field of Wildlife Conservation) frorn different sources
about the presence of any snake in and around
Hazaribag were irnmediately looked into and the
rescued snakes were identified and then handed over
to the Department of Forest and Environmellt
(Wildlife Division) Hazarlbag. Snake sticks were used
for rescuing the snakes safelY.
Photographs of the snakes were taken using Nikon
D60 (SLR) and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9 cameras'
Snakes were identified with the help of keys provided
by Deoras (1970), Whitaker (1978), Daniel (2002)
and Das (2008).
OBSERVATIONS ANN bTSCUSSION
There are about 240 species of snakes in India of
which only 52 species are venomous (Murthy and
Ravichandran, 1 998).
Phone number' + 91 - 9934509213 I 993419098'7
e-mail- [email protected], mrazi vbu@Bmail com
Received I 7 October 2009; Accepted 1 4 November 2009
SNAKE FALINA OF HAZARIBAG
PLATE. I
Fig: I . Ramphotyphlops braminus 2. Python molurus 3. Lycodon aulicus 4. Oligodon arnensis 5.
Amphiesma stolats 6. Macropisthodon plumbicolor 7. Xenochrophis piscator 8. Atretium schistosum
10
COLUMBAN J. LIFE SCr. VOL. 10 (t&2),2009
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Fig: 9. Ptyas mucosus 10. Dendrelaphis tristis ll. Boigaforsteni L2. Bungarus caer,uleus 13.Bungarus fasciatus 14. Naja naja 15. Daboia russelii 16. Viridovipera sp.
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In the past Herpetofauna of various parls of Indiahave been studied by a number of workers viz,.Biswas and Sanyal (1977), Sharma (i982), Ahmadarrd Dasgupta (1992), Sanyal (1993, 1995), Das
(1991),Gyan (1999), Ingle (2002, 2003), Negi (2004),
Chandra and Gajbe (2005) and others.
In Hazartibag district ofNorth Chhotanagpur a totalof 1 9 speices of snakes belonging to 5 families viz.,
Typhlopidiae, (l sp.) Boidae (1 sp.) Colubridae (11
sp.). Elapidae (3sp.) and Viperidae (3 sp.) have been
observed and identified (Table i) during the period
2001 to 2009. Further, of the Ninteen species
reported here only Six species viz., Bungaruscaeruleus, B. fasciatus, Naja naja, Daboiar u s s e I i i. C ryp t e ly tro p s a I b o I ab r i s and Vir id ov ip er a
sp. (Figs. 12,13,14, l5 and 16) are venomous and
the rest (Figs.1-1 1) are nonvenortous.
Table I also shows the status of the snakes as
specified in the Willd Life Protection Act (WPA),
1972 (as ammended up to date), IUCN status and
their distribution. Python molurus (Linnaeus) as
listed in Schedule I Part II of the WPA, 1972. Fivespecies of snakes viz., Atretium schistosum (Daudin),
Xenochrophis piscator (Schneider), lVaia naia(Linnaeus), Ptyas rnucosels (Linnaeus) and Daboiarusselii (Shaw & Nodder) are specified in Schedule
II of Part II and thirteen species viz.,Romphotyphlops braminus (Daudin), Lycodon
aulicus (Linnaeus), Oligodon arnensis (Shaw),
Antphiesma stolata (Linnaeus), Macropisthodonplumbicolor (Cantor), Argyrogena fctsciolata(Shaw). Dendrelaphis tristis (Daudin), Ahaetullanasuta (Lacepede), Boigaforsten I (Dum. & Bibr.),
Bunp;arus caeruleus (Schneider), Bungarus
Jasciatus (Schneider), Cryptelytrops albolabris(Gray 1812) and Viridovipera sp.are specified in
schedLrle lV of the WP{,1912.
So far as the green pit viper (also local name 'Basar
samp') listed at serial number 18 in table I is
concerned, we have not yet been able to identif its
species. This snake was observed for about half an
hour and photographed in a small forest near
Chharwa Dam area, a suburb of Hazaribag town.
It closely resembled in all details with that of the
Medo Pit Yiper (Viridovipera medoensis) described
by Das (2008) except for the absence ofbicolouredwhite/red ventrolateral stripes.
During the period ofsurvey nearly hundred snakes ,
both venomous and noltvenomous, from different
COLUMBAN J. LIFE SCr. VOL. 10 (1&2),2009
localities in and around Hazaribag district Head
Quarters were rescued, which after properidentification were handed over to the Deparlmentof Forest and Environment (Wildlife Division),Hazaribag.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe authors are extremely thankful to Dr. Anil I(umarMishra, DFO, Wildlife Division,Hazarlbag for hishelp in manifold ways. We are also thankfulto ShriB.R.Rallan, RCCF, Department of Forest &Environmen t, Hazaribagand Sh ri Mahend ra Prasad,
DFO, East Division, Hazaribagfortheir ever helping
attitude and co-operation during the survey. Specialthanks are due to Shri Murari Singh, member IBCN(BNHS) and Neo Human Foundation for hiscontinued supporl and help.
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