This story is from June 12, 2019

Project to document northern Konkan’s reptiles finds conservation problems

Project to document northern Konkan’s reptiles finds conservation problems
The book contains images of the reptile species, their scientific names, habits and even their common names in English and Marathi
PUNE: The northern parts of the Western Ghats — from southern Gujarat to Goa — is home to more than 100 reptile species, many of them endemic.
A project to document the reptiles in the region through an exhaustive encyclopaedia has revealed conservation issues and several superstitions surrounding the species.
The book, compiled by city-based Ela Foundation’s founder and ornithologist Satish Pande and featuring more than 50 contributors, is the culmination of more than 10 years’ work in the northern Western Ghats, in the low foothills to the thickly forested ranges in southern Maharashtra and Goa.
Part of the book’s funding has also come from a private power utility, which operates a number of dams in the region.
The project has documented nearly 120 species of reptiles in the regions, around 40 of which are endemic and in serious need of conservation. However, one of the greatest obstacles to the conservation of the reptile species has been the absence of population numbers. “There are no population numbers available for any of the reptile species we tried to document. Some of these species live on trees, some are nocturnal in nature. Therefore, we had to rely on observation only,” Pande told TOI.
And despite the biodiversity in this region in terms of reptiles, there has been precious little documentation in the past. Pande said besides the “neglect” of the reptiles in research, most studies in the past have concentrated on the southern Western Ghats.
The book includes images of the reptile species photographed, the scientific names, their habits, their occurrence (endemic or not), and even their common names in English and Marathi. “We have also explained the local cultural significance of many of these reptile species. A lot of people have superstitious beliefs associated with snakes. We have explained the behaviour of certain species, like snakes,” he said.
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