1.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
2.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
3.
States and union territories of India
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India is a federal union comprising twenty-nine states and seven union territories. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and further into smaller administrative divisions, the Constitution of India distributes the sovereign executive and legislative powers exercisable with respect to the territory of any State between the Union and that State. The Indian subcontinent has been ruled by different ethnic groups throughout its history. Between 1947 and 1950, the territories of the states were politically integrated into the Indian Union. The new Constitution of India, which came into force on 26 January 1950, the new republic was also declared to be a Union of States. The nine Part A states were Assam, Bihar, Bombay, Madhya Pradesh, Madras, Orissa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. The eight Part B states were former princely states or groups of states, governed by a rajpramukh, who was usually the ruler of a constituent state. The rajpramukh was appointed by the President of India, the Part B states were Hyderabad, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Bharat, Mysore, Patiala and East Punjab States Union, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, and Travancore-Cochin. The ten Part C states included both the former chief commissioners provinces and some states, and each was governed by a chief commissioner appointed by the President of India. The Part C states were Ajmer, Bhopal, Bilaspur, Coorg, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Cutch, Manipur, Tripura, the only Part D state was the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which were administered by a lieutenant governor appointed by the central government. The Union Territory of Puducherry was created in 1954 comprising the previous French enclaves of Pondichéry, Karaikal, Yanam, Andhra State was created on 1 October 1953 from the Telugu-speaking northern districts of Madras State. The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 reorganised the states based on linguistic lines resulting in the creation of the new states, as a result of this act, Madras State retained its name with Kanyakumari district added to from Travancore-Cochin. Andhra Pradesh was created with the merger of Andhra State with the Telugu-speaking districts of Hyderabad State in 1956, kerala was created with the merger of Malabar district and the Kasaragod taluk of South Canara districts of Madras State with Travancore-Cochin. The Laccadive Islands which were divided between South Canara and Malabar districts of Madras State were united and organised into the territory of Lakshadweep. Bombay State was enlarged by the addition of Saurashtra State and Kutch State, Rajasthan and Punjab gained territories from Ajmer and Patiala and East Punjab States Union respectively and certain territories of Bihar was transferred to West Bengal. Bombay State was split into the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra on 1 May 1960 by the Bombay Reorganisation Act. Nagaland was formed on 1 December 1963, the Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966 resulted in the creation of Haryana on 1 November and the transfer of the northern districts of Punjab to Himachal Pradesh. The act also designated Chandigarh as a territory and the shared capital of Punjab
4.
Kerala
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Kerala historically known as Keralam, is an Indian state in South India on the Malabar Coast. It was formed on 1 November 1956 following the States Reorganisation Act by combining Malayalam-speaking regions, spread over 38,863 km2, it is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Lakshadweep Sea to the west. With 33,387,677 inhabitants as per the 2011 Census, Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state. The region has been a prominent spice exporter since 3000 BCE, the Chera Dynasty was the first prominent kingdom based in Kerala, though it frequently struggled against attacks by the neighbouring Cholas and Pandyas. In the 15th century, the spice trade attracted Portuguese traders to Kerala, after independence, Travancore and Cochin joined the Republic of India and Travancore-Cochin was given the status of a state in 1949. In 1956, Kerala state was formed by merging Malabar district, Travancore-Cochin, Hinduism is practised by more than half of the population, followed by Islam and Christianity. The culture is a synthesis of Aryan and Dravidian cultures, developed over millennia, under influences from other parts of India, the production of pepper and natural rubber contributes significantly to the total national output. In the agricultural sector, coconut, tea, coffee, cashew, the states coastline extends for 595 kilometres, and around 1.1 million people in the state are dependent on the fishery industry which contributes 3% to the states income. The state has the highest media exposure in India with newspapers publishing in nine languages, mainly English, Kerala is one of the prominent tourist destinations of India, with backwaters, beaches, Ayurvedic tourism and tropical greenery as its major attractions. The name Kerala has an uncertain etymology, One popular theory derives Kerala from Kera and alam is land, thus land of coconuts, this also happens to be a nickname for the state due to abundance of coconut trees and its use by the locals. The word Kerala is first recorded in a 3rd-century BCE rock inscription left by the Maurya emperor Ashoka, the inscription refers to the local ruler as Keralaputra, or son of Chera. This contradicts the theory that Kera is from coconut tree, at that time, one of three states in the region was called Cheralam in Classical Tamil, Chera and Kera are variants of the same word. The word Cheral refers to the oldest known dynasty of Kerala kings and is derived from the Proto-Tamil-Malayalam word for lake, the earliest Sanskrit text to mention Kerala is the Aitareya Aranyaka of the Rigveda. It is also mentioned in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the two Hindu epics, the Skanda Purana mentions the ecclesiastical office of the Thachudaya Kaimal who is referred to as Manikkam Keralar, synonymous with the deity of the Koodalmanikyam temple. Keralam may stem from the Classical Tamil cherive-alam or chera alam, the Greco-Roman trade map Periplus Maris Erythraei refers to Keralaputra as Celobotra. According to Hindu mythology, the lands of Kerala were recovered from the sea by the warrior sage Parasurama. Parasurama threw his axe across the sea, and the water receded as far as it reached, according to legend, this new area of land extended from Gokarna to Kanyakumari. The land which rose from sea was filled with salt and unsuitable for habitation, so Parasurama invoked the Snake King Vasuki, out of respect, Vasuki and all snakes were appointed as protectors and guardians of the land
5.
Idukki district
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Idukki is one of the 14 districts of Kerala state, India, created on 26 January 1972. At that time, the headquarters was at Kottayam. In June 1976 it was moved to Painavu, Idukki which lies in the Western Ghats of Kerala. Idukki is the second largest district in area but has the lowest population density, Idukki has a vast forest reserve area, more than a half of the district is covered by forests. The urban areas are densely populated villages are sparsely populated. The name of the district is derived from the Malayalam word Idukku, Idukki has an area of 4,358 km2 and is the second largest District of Kerala. Rugged mountains and forests cover about 97 percent of the area of the District. The district is only by road. Rail and airlink is not available, National Highway NH49 and State highways 13 and 33 passes through the district. Anamudi, the highest peak in India south of the Himalayas, is in the Kuttampuzha Panchayat of Adimali Block, thirteen other peaks in the district exceed a height of 2,000 m. The Periyar, Thodupuzhayar and Thalayar are the important rivers of the district, Idukki Dam, Asias largest Arch Dam is located at Idukki Township of Idukki Taluk. The point where the Periyar flows through the gorge formed between two massive rocks known as Kuravan and Kurathi is the site of the Idukki arch dam. The Idukki Hydroelectic project caters for more than 60% of the requirements of the state of Kerala. According to the 2011 census Idukki district has a population of 1,107,453 and this ranks it as 416th among the 640 districts of India. The district has a density of 254 inhabitants per square kilometre. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was −1. 93%, Idukki has a sex ratio of 1006 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 92.2 per cent. According to the 2011 census, Hindus make up 48, 86% of the population, Christians 43. 42%, Muslims 7. 41%. Idukki district is the first district in India to get connected with super-fast broad band system as a part of Digital India Munnar was the resort of the British Government in the south
6.
Malayalam
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Malayalam /mʌləˈjɑːləm/ is a language spoken in India, predominantly in the state of Kerala. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and was designated as a Classical Language in India in 2013 and it was developed to the current form mainly by the influence of the poet Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan in the 16th century. Malayalam has official status in the state of Kerala and in the union territories of Lakshadweep. It belongs to the Dravidian family of languages and is spoken by some 38 million people, according to one theory, Malayalam originated from Middle Tamil in the 7th century. However, the current understanding proposes the separation of Malayalam from Proto-Dravidian in the pre-historic era, Malayalam incorporated many elements from Sanskrit through the ages. Before Malayalam came into being, Old Tamil was used in literature and courts of a region called Tamilakam, including present day Kerala state, silappatikaramit was written by Chera prince Ilango Adigal from Chunkaparra, and is considered a classic in Sangam literature. Modern Malayalam still preserves many words from the ancient Tamil vocabulary of Sangam literature, the earliest script used to write Malayalam was the Vatteluttu alphabet, and later the Kolezhuttu, which derived from it. As Malayalam began to borrow words as well as the rules of grammar from Sanskrit. This developed into the modern Malayalam script, many medieval liturgical texts were written in an admixture of Sanskrit and early Malayalam, called Manipravalam. The oldest literary work in Malayalam, distinct from the Tamil tradition, is dated from between the 9th and 11th centuries, the first travelogue in any Indian language is the Malayalam Varthamanappusthakam, written by Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar in 1785. Due to its lineage deriving from both Tamil and Sanskrit, the Malayalam script has the largest number of letters among the Indian language orthographies, the Malayalam script includes letters capable of representing almost all the sounds of all Indo-Aryan and Dravidian languages. Malayalam serves as a language on the islands including the Mahl-dominated Minicoy Island. The word Malayalam originated from the Sanskrit resp, Malayalam words malai or mala, meaning hill, and elam, meaning region. Malayalam thus translates as hill region and used to refer to the land of the Chera dynasty, the language Malayalam is alternatively called Alealum, Malayalani, Malayali, Malean, Maliyad, and Mallealle. The word Malayalam originally meant only for the name of the region, Malayanma or Malayayma represented the language. With the emergence of modern Malayalam language, the name of the language started to be known by the name of the region, hence now, the word Malayanma is considered by some to represent the olden Malayalam language. The language got the name Malayalam during the mid 19th century, the origin of Malayalam, an independent offshoot of the proto-Dravidian language, has been and continues to be an engaging pursuit among comparative historical linguists. Together with Tamil, Toda, Kannada and Tulu, Malayalam belongs to the group of Dravidian languages
7.
Marayur
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Marayur or Marayoor is a town in Idukki district of Kerala, India. It is located 42 kilometers north of Munnar on SH17 connecting Munnar with Udumalpet, Marayur is the only place in Kerala that has natural sandalwood forests. Ancient dolmens and rock paintings in Marayur date back to the Stone Age, in 1991 Marayur had a population of 9,590. Marayur claims to be a part of a Stone Age civilization that is as old as 10,000 B. C and it is also home to a later period of large-scale dolmen-building. People migrated from Tamil Nadu to this area when the Madurai king Thirumalainaicker was defeated by Tippu Sultan, the migrants created five villages, being Kanthalloor, Keezhanthur, Karayur, Marayur and Kottakudi. These villages were called the Anju nadu, literally meaning “five lands”, also called Muniyaras, these dolmens belong to the Iron Age. These dolmenoids were burial chambers made of four stones placed on edge, some of these Dolmenoids contain several burial chambers, while others have a quadrangle scooped out in laterite and lined on the sides with granite slabs. These are also covered with cap stones, at least one of them has a perfectly circular hole of 28 cm diameter inside the underground chamber. This region has several types of dolmens, large number of them are overground with about 70–90 cm height. Another type has a height 140–170 cm, there is an overground dolmen with double length up to 350 cm. Fragments of burial urns are also available in the region near the dolmens and this indicates that the dolmens with 70–90 cm height were used for burial of the remains of people of high social status. Burial urns were used for the burial of the remains of commoners, the dolmens with raised roofs might have been used for habitation of people. Why some people lived in the cemeteries has not been satisfactorily explained, ancient rock paintings are part of Marayur heritage at Attala, Ezhuthu Guha, Kovilkadavu and Manala in Marayur panchayat. Attala is situated in the west part of Marayur Township and more than 90 painted motifs can be seen here, the rock paintings of Attala are situated in a colossal east facing rock shelter 1500 meters above mean sea level. Most of the paintings at Attala are abstract designs except for a few human, Ezhuthu Guha rock paintings are sited in the Koodakavu Sandalwood Reserve Forest at Marayur in the Marayur Panchayat at an elevation of 1000 meters above mean sea level. More or less 90 painted motifs can be seen here, however, as the place is the most famous rock art site in Kerala, it attracts a large number of visitors and has been extensively vandalized since it was brought to wide public attention. Kovilkadavu is less than five kilometers from Marayur town and the place is famous for Neolithic dolmens, ten 10 painted motifs are located on the south-western slope of the plateau overlooking the Pambar river. There is a painting at Manala in Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary of Marayur near the Alampetty tribal settlement
8.
IUCN protected area categories
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The enlisting of such areas is part of a strategy being used toward the conservation of the worlds natural environment and biodiversity. This categorisation method is recognised on a global scale by national governments and international such as the United Nations. A strict nature reserve is an area which is protected all but light human use in order to preserve the geological and geomorphical features of the region. These areas are home to dense native ecosystems that are restricted from all human disturbance outside of scientific study, environmental monitoring. Because these areas are so strictly protected, they provide ideal pristine environments by which external human influence can be measured, in some cases strict nature reserves are of spiritual significance for surrounding communities, and the areas are also protected for this reason. The people engaged in the practice of their faith within the region have the right to continue to do so, providing it aligns with the areas conservation and management objectives. Human impacts on strict nature reserves are difficult to guard against as climate and air pollution. If perpetual intervention is required to maintain these strict guidelines, the area will often fall into category IV or V, a wilderness area is similar to a strict nature reserve, but generally larger and protected in a slightly less stringent manner. These areas are a domain in which biodiversity and ecosystem processes are allowed to flourish or experience restoration if previously disturbed by human activity. These are areas which may buffer against the effects of change and protect threatened species. A national park is similar to an area in its size. However, national parks tend to be lenient with human visitation. A natural monument or feature is a smaller area that is specifically allocated to protect a natural monument. These monuments can be natural in the wholest sense or include elements that have influenced or introduced by humans. The latter should hold biodiversity associations or could otherwise be classified as a historical or spiritual site, natural monuments or features often play a smaller but key ecological role in the operations of broader conservation objectives. Habitat or species management areas may exist as a fraction of an ecosystem or protected area. Management measures may include the prevention of poaching, creation of habitats, halting natural succession. A protected landscape or protected seascape covers an entire body of land or ocean with a natural conservation plan
9.
Precipitation
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In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, graupel, Precipitation occurs when a portion of the atmosphere becomes saturated with water vapor, so that the water condenses and precipitates. Thus, fog and mist are not precipitation but suspensions, because the vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate. Two processes, possibly acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated, Precipitation forms as smaller droplets coalesce via collision with other rain drops or ice crystals within a cloud. Short, intense periods of rain in scattered locations are called showers, moisture that is lifted or otherwise forced to rise over a layer of sub-freezing air at the surface may be condensed into clouds and rain. This process is active when freezing rain is occurring. A stationary front is often present near the area of freezing rain, provided necessary and sufficient atmospheric moisture content, the moisture within the rising air will condense into clouds, namely stratus and cumulonimbus. Eventually, the droplets will grow large enough to form raindrops. Lake-effect snowfall can be locally heavy, thundersnow is possible within a cyclones comma head and within lake effect precipitation bands. In mountainous areas, heavy precipitation is possible where upslope flow is maximized within windward sides of the terrain at elevation, on the leeward side of mountains, desert climates can exist due to the dry air caused by compressional heating. The movement of the trough, or intertropical convergence zone. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 cubic kilometres of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 cubic kilometres of it over the oceans and 107,000 cubic kilometres over land. Given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres, Climate classification systems such as the Köppen climate classification system use average annual rainfall to help differentiate between differing climate regimes. Precipitation may occur on celestial bodies, e. g. when it gets cold, Mars has precipitation which most likely takes the form of frost. Precipitation is a component of the water cycle, and is responsible for depositing most of the fresh water on the planet. Approximately 505,000 km3 of water falls as precipitation each year,398,000 km3 of it over the oceans, given the Earths surface area, that means the globally averaged annual precipitation is 990 millimetres. Mechanisms of producing precipitation include convective, stratiform, and orographic rainfall, Precipitation can be divided into three categories, based on whether it falls as liquid water, liquid water that freezes on contact with the surface, or ice
10.
State Highway 17 (Kerala)
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Total road length is about 85 km. SH17 starts north from NH49 at Munnar, running about 2 km alongside the Kannimala River, then to Rajamudi village - Anakkalpetty road and it passes near Eravikulam National Park and Anamudi, The tallest Indian peak south of the Himilayas and into Marayoor town. It then passes through the center of Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary, past Chinnar Watchtower and it crosses the state boundary on a highway bridge over the Chinnar River at 10. 35241°N77. 21775°E /10.35241,77.21775. It enters Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park at Tamil Nadu check post and it passes through the Park around Amaravathi Reservoir and Amaravathi Dam to exit the park at the Forest Department checkpost near Amaravathinagar and the Sainik School, Amaravathinagar
11.
South India
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The region occupies 19. 31% of Indias land area. Covering the southern part of the peninsular Deccan Plateau, South India is bounded by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west, and the Indian Ocean in the south. The geography of the region is diverse, with two ranges, the Western and Eastern Ghats, bordering the plateau heartland. The Godavari River, Krishna River, Kaveri, Tungabhadra and Vaigai rivers are important non-perennial sources of water, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Coimbatore and Kochi are the largest urban areas. Majority of the people in South India speak one of the four major Dravidian languages, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. During its history, a number of kingdoms ruled over parts of South India whose invasions across southern and southeastern Asia impacted the history. Major dynasties that were established in South India include the Cheras, Cholas, Pandyas, Pallavas, Satavahanas, Chalukyas, Rashtrakutas, european countries entered India through Kerala and the region was colonised by Britain and other nations. HDI in the states is high and the economy has undergone growth at a faster rate than most northern states. Literacy rates in the states are higher than the national average with approximately 80% of the population capable of reading and writing. The fertility rate in South India is 1.9, the lowest of all regions in India, South India also known as Peninsular India has been known by several other names. Carnatic derived from Karnād or Karunād meaning high country has also associated with South India. Carbon dating on ash mounds associated with Neolithic cultures in South India date back to 8000 BCE, artefacts such as ground stone axes, and minor copper objects have been found in the region. Towards the beginning of 1000 BCE, iron technology spread through the region, however, the region was in the middle of a trade route that extended from Muziris to Arikamedu linking the Mediterranean and East Asia. Trade with Phoenicians, Romans, Greeks, Arabs, Syrians, Jews, the region was part of the ancient Silk Road connecting the Asian continent in the East and the West. C. to 14th century A. D. The Vijayanagara Empire, founded in 14th century A. D. was the last Indian dynasty that ruled over the region. The Europeans arrived in the 15th century and by the middle of the 18th century, the French, the British Empire took control of the region from the British East India Company in 1857. During the British colonial rule, the region was divided into the Madras Presidency, Hyderabad state, Mysore, Travancore, Kochi, Vizianagaram and a number of other minor princely states. After the independence of India in 1947, the region was organised into four states, Madras State, Mysore State, Hyderabad State and Travancore-Cochin
12.
Protected areas of Kerala
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Kerala State in South India covers an area of 38,863 km2. The total forest area in the state is 10,336 km2, there are six national parks with a total area of 558.16 km2. There are fourteen wildlife sanctuaries with an area of 1,891.07 km2. Together the protected area totals 2,449.23 km2 and it was founded as Nellikkampatty Game Reserve. It was consolidated as a sanctuary in 1950 after the political integration of India. Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve established in 1986, includes parts of Wynad, Nagarhole, Bandipur and Mudumalai, Nilambur, Silent Valley and Siruvani Hills in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve established in 2001, covers parts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Pathanamthitta Districts in Kerala and Tirunelveli,2003 Pambadum Shola National Park, Idukki District,1. 800 m-2550 m, established in 2006, Neelakurinji Ranipuram Wildlife Sanctuary proposed 2007 in Kasaragod district,1978 Periyar Tiger Reserve 777.54 km2 Idukki District 1950. PTR notified in 1982 TE, MF, MD, P, West Coast TE900 m-2019 m tiger, lion tailed macaque, black panther, elephant, smaller mammals. Parambikulam Tiger Reserve is the tiger reserve in Kerala. This is located in the district of Palakkad, Kerala, while the closest town for access to this tiger reserve is Pollachi. The Trivandrum Zoo is one among the best designed in Asia and is set amidst a woodland, lakes and it is one of the oldest in the country, established as an annexe to the museum in 1857. The Thrissur Zoo is home to the variety of animals, reptiles. Spread over an area of 13.5 acres of land, a history museum. There is a building which houses snakes also. Attappadi - The 249 km2 Attappadi Reserve Forest is a buffer zone conjoining Silent Valley National Park to the West. 81 km2 of this forest was separated to become most of the new 94 km2 Bhavani Forest Range which is part of the 147.22 km2 Silent Valley Buffer Zone, a useful source is detailed Topographic Maps of India. Protected areas of West Bengal Protected areas of Himachal Pradesh Protected areas of Tamil Nadu
13.
Eravikulam National Park
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Eravikulam National Park is a 97 km2 national park located along the Western Ghats in the Idukki district of Kerala in India, between 10º05N – 10º20N latitude and 77º0E – 77º10E longitude. See, map. It is the first national park in kerala, Eravikulam National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The main body of the consists of a high rolling hill plateau with a base elevation of about 2,000 m. The terrain consists of high altitude grasslands interspersed with sholas, Anamudi,2,695 meters, the highest peak in India south of the Himalayas is inside this park. Many perennial streams criss-cross the park and they merge to form tributaries of the Periyar river in the west and of the Cauvery River in the east. Lakkom Water falls is in this region, twenty six species of mammals have been recorded in the park including the largest surviving population of Nilgiri tahr, estimated at about 750 individuals. The other ungulates are gaur, Indian muntjac and sambar deer, golden jackal, jungle cat, wild dog, dhole, leopard and tiger are the main predators. Some little-known animals such as Nilgiri langur, stripe-necked mongoose, Indian porcupine, Nilgiri marten, small clawed otter, ruddy mongoose, endemic butterflies confined to the shola-grass land ecosystem like the red disk bushbrown and Palni four wing are among the 101 species in the park. 19 species of amphibians have been recorded in the park, a new bright reddish-orange-coloured frog with multiple glands and extremely short limbs has been discovered in the Eravikulam National Park. The newly discovered species is restricted to less than three km2 on the peak of Anamudi and deserves immediate conservation priority, scientists S. D, biju of Delhi University and Franky Bossuyt of the Free University of Brussels said in Current Science. The frog has been assigned the name Raorchestes resplendens, additional distinguishing characteristics include the colour of the iris, and extremely short legs. Three major types of plant communities are found in the Park – grasslands, shrublands, the terrain above 2000m is covered primarily by grasslands. However, there are small patches of forests in hollows. The deeper valleys are extensively forested, shrublands predominate along the bases of the cliffs and interspersed in rocky slab areas. The antibacterial Eupatorium glandulosum is found here, prior to 1971, the area was managed as a game preserve by the Kanan Devan Hills Produce Company. The government of Kerala resumed control in 1971, and declared the Eravikulam-Rajamala Wildlife Sanctuary in 1975 to protect the habitat of the endangered Nilgiri tahr and it became a National Park in 1978. List of birds of South India Anamudi Munnar
14.
Anamalai Tiger Reserve
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The park is named after former Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi who visited the park on 7 October 1961. Topslip located in the northeast corner of the park is derived from the local 19th century practice of sliding timber logs down the hills from here. By the mid-1800s, large tracts of Valparai plateau in the Anamalais were under intense tea or coffee plantations after deforestation of the natural forests, by 1866 two-thirds of the plantations were owned by Europeans and the remaining by Indians from coastal towns. Since most native inhabitants either refused to work or were inefficient workers, labour for plantations was brought from the plains of Tamil Nadu to clear forests, some parts of the forest however were reserved for timber including large areas around Top Slip. This part of the Western Ghats, under the Bombay Presidency were exploited extensively for teak which was supplied to the Bombay Dockyard for shipbuilding and later for railroad ties. In 1855, this came under sustainable forest management for teak plantations by the pioneering efforts Douglas Hamilton. In the early 1900s, protection of the Karian Sholas was also ensured, the area was notified as Anaimalai Wildlife Sanctuary in 1974. of its unique habitats at 3 places – Karian Shola, Grass hills, Manjampatti Valley were notified as a National Park in 1989. The 108 square kilometres National Park is the area of the 958 square kilometres Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary. IGWS was declared a Project Tiger tiger reserve in 2008, the Park and the Sanctuary is under consideration by UNESCO as part of The Western Ghats World Heritage site. The Sanctuary and the Palni Hills in Dindigul District form the Anaimalai Conservation Area, IGWLS is adjacent to Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary to the west. The core area of Manjampatti Valley is a 110 km2 ± drainage basin at the end of the park. Manjampatti Valley is contiguous with Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary to the south and this Sanctuary is an important watershed for the agricultural economy and power supply in other parts of Tamil Nadu. The IGWS has significant anthropological diversity with more than 4600 Adivasi people from six tribes of people living in 34 settlements. The tribes are the Kadars, Malasars, Malaimalasar s, Pulaiyars, Muduvars, over 250 species of birds have been identified in the park. It is also home to the near-threatened great Indian hornbill and it is home to 15 of 16 species of birds endemic to the Western Ghats. 315 species of belonging to five families have been identified in the Anaimalai Hills. 44 are endemic to the Western Ghats, the Steering Committee of Project Tiger granted approval in principle to inclusion of Indira Gandhi WLS and NP under Project Tiger in 2005. IGWS was declared a Project Tiger sanctuary in 2008, continuance of Project Tiger in Anamalai Tiger Reserve for FY 2010/11, at the cost of Rs
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Palani Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park
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The Palani Hills Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park is a proposed protected area in Dindigul District, Tamil Nadu State South India. The park will be an upgrade and expansion of the 736.87 km2 Palani Wildlife Sanctuary which was to be established in 2008, the park includes about 36% of the 2,068 square kilometres in the Palani Hills. The park is located between latitude 10°7 - 10°28 N and longitude 77°16 - 77°46 E, central location is 1.5 kilometres east northeast of Silver Cascade Waterfall and 4 kilometres E X NE of Kodaikanal Lake. The Palani Hills derive their name from the ancient temple town of Palani located at the base of the hills. It was over 53 square miles in extent and about one quarter of it consisted of sholas. The Ampthill Downs area is now named Upper Palani Shola Reserved Forest and it is the largest reserve forest division in the Palani Hills. The core of the proposed Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary awaiting government notification is located in this division. In the early 1990s, the Tamil Nadu Forest Department submitted a proposal to the State government to protect much of the Palani Hills by declaring the area a wildlife sanctuary or a national park, the proposed park area includes only reserve forest land. These forests are already among the areas of Tamil Nadu. The sanctuary has been under consideration of the Government of India in consultation with the Government of Tamil Nadu since 1999, the actual park boundaries have not been finalized. In 2007, proposals for declaration of Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary were under consideration of the Government, the villages and hamlets that now form part of the Palani Hills buffer zone are Poondi, Mannavanur, Kilavarai, Polur, Kavunchi, Kumbur, Kilanavayal, Kukkal, Pazhamputhur and Puthurpuram. It remains to be whether the Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park will stimulate or stifle commercial development. The decision to establish the park must balance short term financial benefits of the status quo versus long term stability of the natural. The Palni Hills are a spur of the Western Ghats with a maximum east-west length of 65 kilometres. These hills rise in steep escarpments to an undulating plateau ranging from 1,600 metres to over 2,000 metres elevation. The western extremity of the park is contiguous with the Manjampatti Valley core area of the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park, the Kurinjimala Sanctuary in Kerala borders the southwestern corner of the park. These Wildlife Sanctuaries are adjacent to the recently established Eravikulam National Park, the Palani Hills are formed of pre-Cambrian gneisses, charnockites and schists, they are among the oldest mountain ranges in India. It is surrounded to the north, east and south by the Deccan Plateau formed later in the massive Deccan Traps eruption 66 million years ago as India drifted over the Reunion Hotspot
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Anaimalai Hills
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The name animala is derived from the Tamil/Malayalam words ana or anai, meaning elephant, and mala or malai, meaning hill — thus Elephant Hill. Anai Peak lies at the southwestern end of the range and is the highest peak in southern India. Palakkad Gap divides the Western Ghats to the north, the lower slopes of the hills now have coffee and tea plantations as well as teak forests of great economic value. Dense monsoon forests including rosewood, sandalwood, teak, and sago palms cover most of the region, the Western Ghats and Anaimalai Sub-Cluster, including the Anaimalai Hills, are currently under consideration by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee for selection as a World Heritage Site. The hills are located between 10°13 and 10°31 N. and 76°52 and 77°23 E with a point of. They are south of where the Western Ghats are broken by the Palakkad Gap and they border on Kerala to the Southwest and the Cardamom Hills to the southeast. The Palni Hills lie to the east and their geological formation is metamorphic gneiss, veined with felspar and quartz, and interspersed with reddish porphyrite. Twelve major forest types are found in the area, the landscape is fragmented by many coffee and tea plantations on the lower slopes and teak plantations higher up. Annual rainfall varies from 2,000 mm to 5,000 mm in the area, formed by fault-block movements in the Holocene Epoch, the Anaimalai Hills descend to form a series of terraces about 3,300 feet high. The Anamala / Anaimalai Hills are known for their abundant wildlife, birds seen include the pied hornbill, red whiskered bulbul and drongo. Recently, a new species, Beddomixalus bijui, was found within the forest. There are several rivers in the including the Aliayar river, Apambar River, Chinnar River, Kaddambarrai River, Neerar river, Mannambhally, Pambar River. The Anaimalai Hills are a popular trekking destination in the Western Ghats, due to heavy rains during the wet season, the ideal time for tourism is between the months of November and May. SH-17 passes through the Anaimalai Hills, between Udumalapet and Munnar, the nearest international airports are Cochin International Airport and Coimbatore International Airport. Anaimalais, the elephant mountains Chapter One, Field Days, A Naturalists Journey Through South and Southeast Asia By A. J. T. Johnsingh Contributor A. J. T
17.
Western Ghats
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Western Ghats மேற்கு தொடர்ச்சி மலை is a mountain range that runs parallel to the western coast of the Indian peninsula, located entirely in India. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is one of the eight hottest hot-spots of biological diversity in the world and it is sometimes called the Great Escarpment of India. The range runs north to south along the edge of the Deccan Plateau. These hills cover 160,000 km2 and form the catchment area for complex riverine drainage systems that drain almost 40% of India, the Western Ghats block southwest monsoon winds from reaching the Deccan Plateau. The average elevation is around 1,200 m, at least 325 globally threatened species occur in the Western Ghats. The Western Ghats are the mountainous faulted and eroded edge of the Deccan Plateau, geologic evidence indicates that they were formed during the break-up of the supercontinent of Gondwana some 150 million years ago. Geophysical evidence indicates that the west coast of India came into being somewhere around 100 to 80 mya after it broke away from Madagascar, after the break-up, the western coast of India would have appeared as an abrupt cliff some 1,000 m in elevation. Basalt is the predominant rock found in the reaching a thickness of 3 km. Other rock types found are charnockites, granite gneiss, khondalites, leptynites, metamorphic gneisses with detached occurrences of limestone, iron ore. Residual laterite and bauxite ores are found in the southern hills. The Western Ghats extend from the Satpura Range in the north and it traverses south past the states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala. Major gaps in the range are the Goa Gap, between the Maharashtra and Karnataka sections, and the Palghat Gap on the Tamil Nadu and Kerala border between the Nilgiri Hills and the Anaimalai Hills. The mountains intercept the rain-bearing westerly monsoon winds, and are consequently an area of high rainfall, particularly on their western side. The northern portion of the coastal plain between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea is known as the Konkan, the central portion is called Kanara. The foothill region east of the Ghats in Maharashtra is known as Desh, the range is known as Sahyadri in Maharashtra and Karnataka. The Western Ghats meets the Eastern Ghats at Nilgiris in northwestern Tamil Nadu, Nilgiris connects Biligiriranga Hills in southeastern Karnataka with the Shevaroys and Tirumala hills. In the southern part of the range is Anamudi, the highest peak in Western Ghats, following is a list of some of the highest peaks of the Western Ghats, The Western Ghats form one of the four watersheds of India, feeding the perennial rivers of India. The major river systems originating in the Western Ghats include Godavari, Kaveri, Krishna, Thamiraparani, majority of streams draining the Western Ghats join these rivers and carry large volume of water during the monsoon months
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UNESCO
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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations based in Paris. It is the heir of the League of Nations International Committee on Intellectual Cooperation, UNESCO has 195 member states and nine associate members. Most of its offices are cluster offices covering three or more countries, national and regional offices also exist. UNESCO pursues its objectives through five major programs, education, natural sciences, social/human sciences, culture and it is also a member of the United Nations Development Group. UNESCO and its mandate for international cooperation can be traced back to a League of Nations resolution on 21 September 1921, on 18 December 1925, the International Bureau of Education began work as a non-governmental organization in the service of international educational development. However, the work of predecessor organizations was largely interrupted by the onset of World War II. On 30 October 1943, the necessity for an organization was expressed in the Moscow Declaration, agreed upon by China, the United Kingdom, the United States. This was followed by the Dumbarton Oaks Conference proposals of 9 October 1944, a prominent figure in the initiative for UNESCO was Rab Butler, the Minister of Education for the United Kingdom. At the ECO/CONF, the Constitution of UNESCO was introduced and signed by 37 countries, the Preparatory Commission operated between 16 November 1945, and 4 November 1946—the date when UNESCOs Constitution came into force with the deposit of the twentieth ratification by a member state. The first General Conference took place between 19 November to 10 December 1946, and elected Dr. Julian Huxley to Director-General and this change in governance distinguished UNESCO from its predecessor, the CICI, in how member states would work together in the organizations fields of competence. In 1956, the Republic of South Africa withdrew from UNESCO claiming that some of the organizations publications amounted to interference in the racial problems. South Africa rejoined the organization in 1994 under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, UNESCOs early work in the field of education included the pilot project on fundamental education in the Marbial Valley, Haiti, started in 1947. This project was followed by missions to other countries, including, for example. In 1948, UNESCO recommended that Member States should make free primary education compulsory, in 1990, the World Conference on Education for All, in Jomtien, Thailand, launched a global movement to provide basic education for all children, youths and adults. Ten years later, the 2000 World Education Forum held in Dakar, Senegal, UNESCOs early activities in culture included, for example, the Nubia Campaign, launched in 1960. The purpose of the campaign was to move the Great Temple of Abu Simbel to keep it from being swamped by the Nile after construction of the Aswan Dam, during the 20-year campaign,22 monuments and architectural complexes were relocated. This was the first and largest in a series of campaigns including Mohenjo-daro, Fes, Kathmandu, Borobudur, the organizations work on heritage led to the adoption, in 1972, of the Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. The World Heritage Committee was established in 1976 and the first sites inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1978, since then important legal instruments on cultural heritage and diversity have been adopted by UNESCO member states in 2003 and 2005
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World Heritage Site
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A World Heritage Site is a landmark which has been officially recognized by the United Nations, specifically by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Sites are selected on the basis of having cultural, historical, scientific or some form of significance. UNESCO regards these sites as being important to the interests of humanity. The programme catalogues, names, and conserves sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common culture, under certain conditions, listed sites can obtain funds from the World Heritage Fund. The program was founded with the Convention Concerning the Protection of the Worlds Cultural and Natural Heritage, since then,192 state parties have ratified the convention, making it one of the most adhered to international instruments. As of July 2016,1052 sites are listed,814 cultural,203 natural, in 1959, the governments of Egypt and Sudan requested UNESCO to assist their countries to protect and rescue the endangered monuments and sites. In 1960, the Director-General of UNESCO launched an appeal to the Member States for an International Campaign to Save the Monuments of Nubia, the campaign, which ended in 1980, was considered a success. The project cost $80 million, about $40 million of which was collected from 50 countries, the projects success led to other safeguarding campaigns, saving Venice and its lagoon in Italy, the ruins of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan, and the Borobodur Temple Compounds in Indonesia. UNESCO then initiated, with the International Council on Monuments and Sites, the United States initiated the idea of cultural conservation with nature conservation. The International Union for Conservation of Nature developed similar proposals in 1968, the Convention came into force on 17 December 1975. As of June 2016, it has been ratified by 192 states, including 188 UN member states plus the Cook Islands, the Holy See, Niue, a country must first list its significant cultural and natural sites, the result is called the Tentative List. A country may not nominate sites that have not been first included on the Tentative List, next, it can place sites selected from that list into a Nomination File. The Nomination File is evaluated by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and these bodies then make their recommendations to the World Heritage Committee. There are ten selection criteria – a site must meet at least one of them to be included on the list, up to 2004, there were six criteria for cultural heritage and four criteria for natural heritage. In 2005, this was modified so there is now only one set of ten criteria. Nominated sites must be of outstanding value and meet at least one of the ten criteria. Thus, the Geneva Convention treaty promulgates, Article 53, PROTECTION OF CULTURAL OBJECTS AND OF PLACES OF WORSHIP. There are 1,052 World Heritage Sites located in 165 States Party, of these,814 are cultural,203 are natural and 35 are mixed properties
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Munnar
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Munnar is a town and hill station located in the Idukki district of the southwestern Indian state of Kerala. Munnar is situated at around 1,600 metres above sea level. The name Munnar is believed to mean three rivers, referring to its location at the confluence of the Mudhirapuzha, Nallathanni and Kundaly rivers, geographic coordinates of Munnar is 10°05′21″N 77°03′35″E. Munnar town is situated on the Kannan Devan Hills village in Devikulam taluk and is the largest panchayat in the Idukki district covering an area of nearly 557 square kilometres, Munnar is well connected by both National highways, state highways and rural roads. The town lies in the Kochi - Dhanushkodi National highway, about 130 km from Cochin,31 km from Adimali,85 km from Udumalpettu in Tamil Nadu and 60 km from Neriyamangalam. Distance from major cities from Kochi - Ernakulam -150 km The nearest major stations are at Ernakulam. The Nearest Functioning Railway station is at Udumalaipettai, the nearest airport is Cochin International Airport, which is 110 kilometres away. The Coimbatore and Madurai airports is 165 km from Munnar, the panchayath of Munnar formed in 1961 January 24 is divided into 21 wards for administrative convenience. Coimbatore district lies in the north, Pallivasal in south, Devikulam and Marayoor in east and Mankulam, most of the native flora and fauna of Munnar have disappeared due to severe habitat fragmentation resultant from the creation of the plantations. There has been action to address the problems of property takeovers by the mafia that have, according to successive governments. In 2011, the government estimated that 20,000 hectares of land had been illegally appropriated, the temperature ranges between 5 °C and 25 °C in winter and 15 °C and 25 °C in summer. Temperatures as low as −4 °C have been recorded in the Sevenmallay region of Munnar, köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies it as subtropical highland. Bisonvalley Kolukkumalai Kunchithanny Marayur Mattupetty Dam Munnar Tea Museum Pallivasal Rajakkad Munnar travel guide from Wikivoyage Kerala Tourism
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Udumalaipettai
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Udumalai, also known as Udumalaipettai, is a town in Tirupur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of Udumalaipettai taluk and as of 2011, the municipality was established in 1918 and upgraded to second grade municipality in 1970. It was declared as a first grade municipality in 1979 and further upgrades to selection grade municipality in 1984, the extent of the municipality is 7.41 km2 of which 6.582 km2 is urban and 0.828 km2 is rural. The city was part of Coimbatore district until 2008 when it became part of the newly formed Tiruppur district, udumalai is surrounded by Western Ghats on three sides. The average altitude of the town is 1208 feet above MSL, the topography is undulated and general slope is from west to North. Black clay soil is the predominant soil of the area, the town gets major rainfall during the south west monsoon period. The average annual rainfall is 501.40 mm. Black, the soil contains more of alumina and gypsum. While black soil area is utilized for agriculture, the areas red soil has more urbanized usages. According to 2011 census, Udumalaipettai had a population of 61,133 with a sex-ratio of 1041 females for every 1000 males, a total of 4,939 were under the age of six, constituting 2,489 males and 2,450 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 8. 67% and. 07% of the population respectively, the average literacy of the town was 83. 85%, compared to the national average of 72. 99%. The town had a total of 17132 households, as per the religious census of 2011, Udumalaipettai had 81. 83% Hindus,14. 49% Muslims,3. 19% Christians,0. 01% Sikhs,0. 01% Buddhists and 0. 46% following other religions. There are about fifteen higher secondary schools and three colleges namely Vidyasagar college of Arts and Science, Government Arts and Science college and GVG College for woman. The town, in the 1980s and 1990s, had a spinning industry but it has since declined due to labor shortages. There are paper manufacturing plants located alongside the Amaravathi River, the surrounding areas has seen a surge in windmill installations because of the location of the town across the Palghat Gap. Only 1. 25% of land to the area of the town is covered under agricultural usage. Mainly coconut trees and vegetables are grown in this area, where as, agricultural activities are developed mainly in the hinterlands of the town, wherever water facility is available, wet crops like paddy, sugarcane, etc. are grown in those areas. According to 1991 census,33. 82% of the population of the town constitutes the working force. The Secondary and tertiary sectors were the components of the working population accounting for 32. 22% and 60. 27% respectively
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Rain shadow
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A rain shadow is a dry area on the leeward side of a mountainous area. The mountains block the passage of rain-producing weather systems and cast a shadow of dryness behind them, wind and moist air is drawn by the prevailing winds towards the top of the mountains, where it condenses and precipitates before it crosses the top. The air, without much moisture left, advances behind the mountains creating a side called the rain shadow. The condition exists because warm moist air rises by orographic lifting to the top of a mountain range, as atmospheric pressure decreases with increasing altitude, the air has expanded and adiabatically cooled to the point that the air reaches its adiabatic dew point. At the adiabatic dew point, moisture condenses onto the mountain and it precipitates on the top, the air descends on the leeward side, but due to the precipitation it has lost much of its moisture. There are regular patterns of prevailing winds found in round the Earths equatorial region. The zone designated the trade winds is the zone between about 30° N and 30° S, blowing predominantly from the northeast in the Northern Hemisphere, the strongest westerly winds in the middle latitudes can come in the Roaring Forties between 30 and 50 degrees latitude. The Dasht-i-Lut in Iran is in the shadow of the Elburz. The Ordos Desert is rain shadowed by mountain chains including the Kara-naryn-ula, the Sheitenula, and the Yin Mountains, which link on to the south end of the Great Khingan Mountains. The Thar desert is bounded and rain shadowed by the Aravalli ranges to the south-east, the Himalaya to the northeast, Eastern Side of Sahyadri ranges on Deccan e. g. Northern Karnataka & Solapur, Beed, Osmanabad and Vidharba Plateau of India. The central region of Myanmar is in the shadow of the Arakan Mountains and is almost semi-arid with only 750 millimetres of rain as against as much as 5.5 metres on the Rakhine State coast. The High Peaks of Mount Lebanon rain-shadow the northern parts of the Beqaa Valley, the Judean Desert, the Dead Sea and the western slopes of the Moab Mountains on the opposite side are rain-shadowed by the Judean Hills. The Atacama Desert in Chile is the driest non-polar desert on Earth because it is blocked from moisture on both sides, Cuyo and Eastern Patagonia is rain shadowed from the prevailing westerly winds by the Andes range and is arid. The Argentinian wine region of Cuyo and Northern Patagonia is almost completely dependent on irrigation, on the largest scale, the entirety of the North American Interior Plains are shielded from the prevailing Westerlies carrying moist Pacific weather by the North American Cordillera. More pronounced effects are observed, however, in valley regions within the Cordillera. Most rainshadows in the western United States are due to the Sierra Nevada, champlain Valley in upstate New York. It is protected by the Adirondack Mountains, hawaii also has rain shadows, with some areas being desert. Orographic lifting produces the worlds second-highest annual precipitation record,12.7 meters, on the island of Kauai, the entire island of Kahoolawe lies in the rain shadow of Mauis East Maui Volcano
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Chinnar River
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The Chinnar River originates in the Annaimalai Hills below a grassy pass between the hills Kumarikal Malai and Kaladekatti Malai In Idukki District, Kerala state South India. Several adult Crocodiles were reported in the Chinnar river in 1992, the river first proceeds through a large shola then past the Muthuvar settlement of Olikkudi at 10. 331°N77. 1435°E /10.331,77.1435. There is another small village #2 at 10. 3553°N77. 1839°E /10.3553,77.1839. There are Kerala and Tamil Nadu border checkpoints on either side of the river where a SH17 road bridge crosses the river at 10. 35241°N77. 21775°E /10.35241,77.21775. 2 km east it is joined from the south by the Pambar River at Koottar where a tree house accommodation is available. Here it crosses into Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu, the river is joined by a small stream from the south at small village #2. 2 km east of the NH17 road bridge the river is joined from the south by the Pambar River at Koottar, the western part of the Manjampatti Valley catchment basin drains into the end of the Chinnar River. This Valley is drained by the stream Ten Ar and an unnamed stream 2 km to its west. The unnamed stream is the N-S political boundary between Tamil Nadu and Kerala, the top of the ridge above this stream to the west is the western limit of the catchment. This unnamed stream joins the Pambar River at the point they both join the Chinnar River at the north west corner of the Valley
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Anamudi
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Anamudi or Anai Mudi or ആനമുടി is a mountain located in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the highest peak in the Western Ghats and South India, at an elevation of 2,695 metres, the name Anamudi literally translates to elephants forehead, a reference to the resemblance of the mountain to an elephants head. The first recorded ascent of Anamudi was by General Douglas Hamilton of the Madras Army on May 4,1862, Anamudi is the highest peak in the Western Ghats in India, having an elevation of 2,695 metres. Anamudi is also the highest point in South India, the peak is the highest point of the Periyar river basin. The peak is not exceptionally dramatic in term of steepness or local relief and is a Fault-block mountain and it is located in the southern region of Eravikulam National Park at the junction of the Cardamom Hills, the Anaimalai Hills and the Palani Hills. The nearest town is Munnar,13 kilometres, the easiest route to the summit of Anamudi is a technically easy hike on grass slopes, starting from a rolling hill plateau with a base elevation of about 2,000 metres. The north and south slopes are gentle, while the east and west slopes are steeper, Anamudi and the Eravikulam National Park surrounding it is home to the largest surviving population of the Nilgiri tahr. Asian elephants, gaur, Bengal tigers, and the Nilgiri marten are some of the species of animals found here, the Anamudi peak area is also habitat of a unique frog Raorchestes resplendens. This newly discovered species is located in the Eravikulam National Park and is restricted to less than three km2 on the summit of Anamudi, the summit of the Anamudi is vegetated with patches of stunted Arundinaria densifolia and Gaultheria fragrantissima, Anaphalis sp. Impatiens and some species of Eriocaulon, Eravikulam National Park Munnar Pallivasal Hunter, William Wilson, The Imperial Gazetteer of India, BiblioBazaar, LLC, ISBN 1-110-35940-3. Hunter, William Wilson, James Sutherland Cotton, Richard Burn, William Stevenson Meyer, archived from the original on 16 December 2008. Beautiful natural sound of flowing water on Anamudi slope near peak
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Pambar River
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The Pambar River originates in the Anaimudi Hills in Idukki District of Kerala state in South India. The Pambar, Kabani and Bhavani are the rivers of the 44 in Kerala that flow eastwards. It is joined by seasonal rivulets and a few perennial streams originating from sholas in the upper reaches, the Pambar merges with the Chinnar River at Koottar where a comfortable tree house accommodation is available. The spectacular Thoovanam waterfalls lie on the Pambar River deep within the Sanctuary and this breathtaking cascade is a major tourist attraction. Guided trekking from Karimutti Forest Station can be arranged
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Amaravati River
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The Amaravati River is the longest tributary of Kaveri River in fertile the districts of Karur and Tirupur, Tamil Nadu state, South India. It descends in a direction through Amaravathi Reservoir and Amaravathi Dam at Amaravathinagar. It is joined by the Kallapuram River at the mouth of the Ajanda valley in Udumalaipettai, through Dharapuram and Aravakurichi it joins with the Kaveri at Thirumukkudal, about 10 kilometres from Karur. Nanganji, Kudavanar, Shanmuga nadhi, Uppar, Kudumiar, Thenar and it has the Tributary of the Pambar and Chinnar rivers from Kerala also. This river irrigates over 60,000 acres of lands in Tiruppur and Karur districts. The Amaravathi Dam has 4 Megawatts of electricity generating capacity installed, but nowadays in karur, the changes are vicinity by seeing Amaravati river on its clean surface because of pollution controlled by government. The ancient names of the river is Aanporunai and Aambravathi, Amaravathi, which invokes the greenery and Kalpavriksha tree of Lord Indras heaven. The name Amaravathi echoes the Hinduism/ Buddhist past of southern India, and also by the Hindu methodology, river is from the graceness of goddess Ambaal form the heaven. It is one of the longest rivers in Tamil Nadu, which join with the river Cauvery, near Karur
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Shola
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Sholas are the local name for patches of stunted tropical montane forest found in valleys amid rolling grassland in the higher montane regions of South India. These patches of shola forest are mainly in the valleys and are usually separated from one another by undulating montane grassland. The shola and grassland together form the complex or mosaic. The word shola is probably derived from the Tamil language word meaning grove. Shola forests are found in the higher hill regions of the Nilgiris, Kanyakumari district. Although generally said to occur above 2000 meters above sea level, the origin of the shola forest and grassland complex has been the subject of scientific debate. Some early researchers suggested that the composition represents a stable final state or climax vegetation. This stability being maintained by climatic conditions such as frost which allow the grass to grow, others have suggested that the grassland may have been created and maintained by early pastoralists and point out that fire has a major role in the maintenance of the grassland. There is evidence for both and several features of the forest trees and the grasslands have been considered and debated, pollen analysis from bogs in the Nilgiris suggest that the complex of grassland and forest existed 35,000 years ago, long before human impact began. Long term studies on the processes of vegetation change continue. Due to their isolation, altitude and evergreen character, shola forests are home to many threatened, some of the species found here have close relatives only in the distant evergreen forests of Northeast India and Southeast Asia. Some others are nowhere else in the world. The Western Ghats are one of the globally recognized biodiversity hotspots, among the many larger animals inhabiting a shola-grassland mosaic are tigers and leopards, elephants and gaur. The endangered Nilgiri tahr is endemic to the shola-grassland, and its range is now restricted to a 400-km stretch of shola-grassland mosaic, laughingthrushes, Nilgiri woodpigeons, shortwings, and some of the endemic flycatchers are some of the 300+ species of birds that inhabit this area. At least 25 types of trees are present in the sholas of the Nilgiri Hills. The dominant trees in this type of forest are Michelia niligarica, Bischofia javanica, Calophyllum tomentosa, Cedrela toona, shola forests have an upper storey of small trees, generally Pygeum gardneri, Schefflera racemosa, Linociera ramiflora, Syzygium spp. Rhododendron nilgiricum, Mahonia nepalensis, Elaeocarpus recurvatus, Ilex denticulata, Michelia nilagirica, Actinodaphne bourdellonii, below the upper story is a low understory and a dense shrub layer. There is a concentration of mosses growing on the understory
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Kanthalloor
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Kanthalloor is a village in Idukki district in the Indian state of Kerala. It is a village nestled in the Western Ghats of India. The salubrious climate and the landscapes and wide variety of tropical crops coupled with the close proximity of Munnar, has transformed this village into a tourist destination. etc. Nearest highway is NH-49 which passes through Munnar and can be accessed from Kanthalloor-Marayoor-Munnar, Kanthalloor is famous for its apple, oranges, plums, peaches and variety of other fruits and vegetables that are not grown in other parts of Kerala. The Anaimudi Sholai National Park is the evergreen forest surrounding Kanthalloor, the major places of attraction includes Pattisseri Dam, Kulachivayal rocks, Keezhanthoor waterfalls and the cave temple of Sri Rama. As of 2001 India census, Kanthalloor had a population of 10265 with 5272 males and 4993 females, one of the shops in Kanthalloor village still follow the age old Barter System. A woman called Ponnamma is running a grocery in Puthoor village near Kanthallooor and she accepts farm produces like ginger, mustard, garlic, coriander and beans from customers and gives them rice and other essential in exchange. This shop was following the Barter System ever since her husband Pullarkkad Kochu Narayanan started it in 1962, more than 164 houses depend on the shop of Ponnamma for their provisions. When the Indian government demonitized bigger currencies in 2016, many nearby villages suffered without enough new currency for transactions, but the village of Puthoor never suffered because of the Barter system of Ponnamma
29.
Kabini River
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The Kabani, also called Kabini or Kapila, is a river in southern India. It originates in the Wayanad District of Kerala state by the confluence of the Panamaram River and it flows eastward to join the Kaveri River at Tirumakudalu Narasipura in Karnataka. The Kaveri river then irrigates Tamil Nadu and it is drinking water source before emptying into the Bay of Bengal near kaveripoompattinam. Close to the town of Sargur it forms the huge Kabani Reservoir, the backwaters of the Kabani reservoir are very rich in wildlife especially in summer when the water level recedes to form rich grassy meadows. The Kabani dam is 2,284 ft in length with a gross storage of 19.52 tmcft. The Kabani Dam is situated between villages Bichanahalli and Bidarahalli having distance of 17 km 6 km away from Sargur town in Heggadadevana kote taluk and it is 80 km away from Mysuru and 205 km from Bengaluru, and comprises the south-eastern part of Nagarahole National Park. Situated on the banks of the Kabini River, thet reserve is spread over 55 acres of forestland, steep valleys, once a private hunting lodge of the Maharaja of Mysore, Kabini was a popular shikar hotspot for British Viceroys and Indian royalty. Now it is considered to be one of the best wildlife sanctuaries in Karnataka, famous for its spectacular wildlife, the river originates in the Pakramthalam hills at Kuttiady-Mananthavady road. Makkiyad river and Periya river join it near Korome and Valad respectively, after flowing through Mananthavady town, Panamaram river joins Kabini near Payyampally. One branch of the Panamaram river starts from the Banasura Sagar reservoir near Padinjarethara, after traversing 2 kilometres from the confluence of Panamaram river Kabini forms an island called Kuruva Island, spreading over 520 acres with diverse flora and fauna. Within 20 km it reaches the Kabini reservoir bordering Kerala and Karnataka for some distance, between Kabani reservoir and Kuruva island Kalindi river joins Kabini. Kalindi river originates from Brahmagiri hills which on reaching near Thirunelli Temple the rivulet Papanasini joins it, taraka and Nugu are the two small rivers in Heggadadevana kote taluk that join the Kapila. The Kabani dam is built on the River Kabini in the district of Mysore, the dam is 696 meters in length and was built in 1974. The exact location of the dam is near village Beechanahally, in Taluk Heggadadevanakote, the catchment area of the dam is 2,141.90 km2. It caters to the needs of around 22 villages and 14 hamlets and this dam also provides water to the combined system of Sagaredoddakere and Upper Nugu Dams. There is an arrangement of lifting and transfer of 28.00 TMC of water during the months from the Kabini dam to the other two smaller dams. The dam is spread over an area of 55 hectares covering forests, rivers, lakes and valleys
30.
Bhavani
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Bhavani is an avtar of the Hindu Goddess Parvati. She is a form of Durga who is worshiped in Maharashtra. Bhavani translates to giver of life, meaning the power of nature or the source of creative energy and she is considered to be a mother who provides to her devotees and also plays the role of dispensing justice by killing demon Asuras. Bhavani was the patron deity of the Maratha King Shivaji, in whose veneration he dedicated his sword. Lot of Marathi folk stories rejoice her, shivajis mother was said to be a great devotee of Bhavani. The town of Tuljapur in Maharashtra is the location of the annual Tulja Bhavani fair during Navaratri, the temple contains a granite Ill icon of the goddess, one metre in height, with eight arms holding weapons and the head of the slain demon Mahishasura. The Tulja Bhavani temple in Tuljapur in the Osmanabad District of Maharashtra is considered one of the 51 Shakti Pithas and this temple was built close to the 12th century CE. Another Tulja Bhavani temple was constructed between 1537 and 1540 CE in Chittorgarh, located at coordinates 18. 011386°N76. 125641°E /18.011386,76.125641, sri Bhavani Amman is also worshipped in the state of Tamil Nadu. Other Shakti temples in the Maharashtra state are those at Ambejogai, the goddess Bhavani is held in great reverence throughout Maharashtra. She is considered to be an embodiment of ugra or ferocity, as well as a Karunaswaroopini, a number of castes, sub-castes, and families from Maharashtra consider her their family deity or Kuladevata. The Bhavani temple in Tuljapur is located on a known as Yamunachala. The temple entrance is elevated and visitors ascend a flight of steps to reach the shrine, historic records speak of the existence of this temple from as early as the 12th century CE. Bhavani is worshipped in the form of an image,3 feet tall, with eight arms that hold weapons and bear the head of the slain demon. Legend says that a demon by the name of Matanga wreaked havoc upon the devas and humans, upon his advice, they turned to the Mother Goddess Shakti. She took the form of the destroyer and, empowered by the other Saptamaataas, vanquished the demon, legend also describes how Bhavani vanquished another demon who had taken the form of a wild buffalo, Mahishasura. Later, she is said to have taken abode on the Yamunachala hill, Bhavani is said to have come here to save Anubhuti from the demon known as Kukur. In a battle with the goddess, Kukur took the form of a buffalo, Bhavani cut his head, at that time, she penetrated her trident in his chest. Hence, she is in form of Mahishasura Mardhini Durga, four worship services are offered at the temple each day
31.
Pulayar
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The Pulayar are an untouchable caste in Hinduism, forming one of the main social groups in modern-day Kerala and Karnataka as well as in historical Tamil Nadu or Tamilakam. According to the 2001 Census, the Pulayan population in Kerala was 1,041,540, ayyankali, social reformer K. P. Vallon, social reformer Pampady John Joseph, social reformer Vinayakan, film actor Caste system in Kerala Arts of Pulayar caste, Chimmanakali Mangalamkali
32.
Maize
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Maize, also known as corn, is a large grain plant first domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The six major types of corn are dent corn, flint corn, pod corn, popcorn, flour corn, the leafy stalk of the plant produces separate pollen and ovuliferous inflorescences or ears, which are fruits, yielding kernels or seeds. Maize kernels are used in cooking as a starch. Most historians believe maize was domesticated in the Tehuacan Valley of Mexico, recent research modified this view somewhat, scholars now indicate the adjacent Balsas River Valley of south-central Mexico as the center of domestication. The Olmec and Mayans cultivated maize in numerous varieties throughout Mesoamerica, cooked and its believed that beginning about 2500 BC, the crop spread through much of the Americas. The region developed a network based on surplus and varieties of maize crops. Nevertheless, recent data indicates that the spread of maize took place even earlier, according to Piperno, A large corpus of data indicates that it was dispersed into lower Central America by 7600 BP and had moved into the inter-Andean valleys of Colombia between 7000 and 6000 BP. Since then, even earlier dates have been published, the study also demonstrated that the oldest surviving maize types are those of the Mexican highlands. Later, maize spread from this region over the Americas along two major paths and this is consistent with a model based on the archaeological record suggesting that maize diversified in the highlands of Mexico before spreading to the lowlands. Before they were domesticated, maize plants only grew small,25 millimetres long corn cobs, Maize is the most widely grown grain crop throughout the Americas, with 361 million metric tons grown in the United States in 2014. Approximately 40% of the crop—130 million tons—is used for corn ethanol, genetically modified maize made up 85% of the maize planted in the United States in 2009. After the arrival of Europeans in 1492, Spanish settlers consumed maize and explorers and traders carried it back to Europe, Spanish settlers far preferred wheat bread to maize, cassava, or potatoes. Maize flour could not be substituted for wheat for bread, since in Christian belief only wheat could undergo transubstantiation. At another level, Spaniards worried that by eating indigenous foods, which they did not consider nutritious, that not only would they weaken, despite these worries, Spaniards did consume maize and archeological evidence from Florida sites indicate they cultivated it as well. Maize spread to the rest of the world because of its ability to grow in diverse climates and it was cultivated in Spain just a few decades after Columbuss voyages and then spread to Italy, West Africa and elsewhere. The word maize derives from the Spanish form of the indigenous Taíno word for the plant and it is known by other names around the world. The word corn outside North America, Australia, and New Zealand refers to any cereal crop, in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, corn primarily means maize, this usage started as a shortening of Indian corn. Indian corn primarily means maize, but can more specifically to multicolored flint corn used for decoration
33.
Eleusine coracana
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Eleusine coracana, or finger millet, is an annual herbaceous plant widely grown as a cereal crop in the arid and semiarid areas in Africa and Asia. It is a tetraploid and self-pollinating species probably evolved from its wild relative Eleusine africana, Finger millet is native to the Ethiopian and Ugandan highlands. Finger millet originated in East Africa and came to India around 2000 BCE and it has been found in an Indian archaeological site dated to 1800 BCE. Main cultivation areas are Eastern and Southern African countries and Southern Asia, Finger millet is a short-day plant with a growing optimum at 12 h daylenght for most varieties. Its main growing area ranges from 20° N to 20° S, nevertheless, finger millet is found to be grown at 30° N in the Himalaya region. It is generally considered as a drought tolerant crop, but compared with other millets, such as pearl millet and sorghum it preferes moderate rainfall. The majority of worldwide finger millet farmers grow it rainfed, although yields often can be improved when irrigation is applied. In India, finger millet is a typical rabi crop, heat tolerance of finger millet is high. For Ugandan finger millet varieties for instance, the average growth temperature ranges at about 27 °C. Relatively to other millet species finger millet has a tolerance to cool temperatures. It is grown from about 500 meters above sea level up to about 2400 meters above sea level, by that, it can be cultivated on higher elevations than most tropical crops. Finger millet can grow on soils, including highly weathered tropical lateritic soils. Furthermore, it can tolerate soil salinity up to a certain extent and its ability to bear waterlogging is limited, therefore good drainage of the soils and moderate water holding capacity are optimal. Finger millet can tolerate moderately acidic soils but also moderately alkaline soils, Finger millet monocrops grown under rainfed conditions are most common in drier areas of Eastern Africa. In addition, intercropping with legumes, such as cowpea or pigeon pea, are quite common in East Africa. Tropical Central Africa supports scattered regions of finger millet intercropping mostly with legumes and its seeds are very small, which leads to a relatively slow development in early growing stages. This makes finger millet a weak competitor for light, water, in East and Southern Africa, the closely related species Eleusine indica is a severe weed competitor of finger millet. Especially in early growing stages of the crop and the weed and when broadcast seeding instead of row seeding is applied, besides Eleusine indica, the species Xanthium strumarium, which is animal disperesed and the stolon-owning species Cyperus rotondus and Cynodon dactylon are important finger millet weeds
34.
Cymbopogon
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Cymbopogon, better known as lemongrass, is a genus of Asian, African, Australian, and tropical island plants in the grass family. Some species are cultivated as culinary and medicinal herbs because of their scent. Common names include lemon grass, lemongrass, barbed wire grass, silky heads, citronella grass, cha de Dartigalongue, fever grass, tanglad, hierba Luisa, or gavati chaha, amongst many others. Lemongrass is widely used as a herb in Asian cuisines. It has a citrus flavor and can be dried and powdered. It is commonly used in teas, soups, and curries and it is also suitable for use with poultry, fish, beef, and seafood. It is often used as a tea in African countries such as Togo, lemongrass oil is used as a pesticide and a preservative. Research shows that oil has antifungal properties. Despite its ability to repel insects, such as mosquitoes. Lemongrass works conveniently as well as the created by the honeybees Nasonov gland. Because of this, lemongrass oil can be used as a lure when trapping swarms or attempting to draw the attention of hived bees, citronella grass grow to about 2 m and have magenta-colored base stems. These species are used for the production of oil, which is used in soaps, as an insect repellent in insect sprays and candles. The principal chemical constituents of citronella, geraniol and citronellol, are antiseptics, hence their use in household disinfectants, besides oil production, citronella grass is also used for culinary purposes, as a flavoring. Citronella is usually planted in gardens to ward off insects such as whitefly adults. Its cultivation enables growing some vegetables without applying pesticides, intercropping should include physical barriers, for citronella roots can take over the field. Lemongrass oil, used as a pesticide and preservative, is put on the ancient palm-leaf manuscripts found in India as a preservative. The oil also injects natural fluidity into the palm leaves. While both can be used interchangeably, C. citratus is more suitable for cooking, in India, C. citratus is used both as a medical herb and in perfumes
35.
Cannabis
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Cannabis is a genus of flowering plant in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed, the genus is indigenous to central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Cannabis has long used for hemp fibre, for hemp oils, for medicinal purposes. Industrial hemp products are made from cannabis plants selected to produce an abundance of fiber, to satisfy the UN Narcotics Convention, some cannabis strains have been bred to produce minimal levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, the principal psychoactive constituent. Many plants have been bred to produce a maximum of THC. Various compounds, including hashish and hash oil, are extracted from the plant, globally, in 2013,60,400 kilograms of cannabis were produced legally. In 2014 there were an estimated 182.5 million cannabis users and this percentage has not changed significantly between 1998 and 2014. Cannabis is an annual, dioecious, flowering herb, the leaves are palmately compound or digitate, with serrate leaflets. The first pair of leaves usually have a single leaflet, the number gradually increasing up to a maximum of thirteen leaflets per leaf, depending on variety. At the top of a plant, this number again diminishes to a single leaflet per leaf. The lower leaf pairs usually occur in a leaf arrangement. As is common in serrated leaves, each serration has a central vein extending to its tip, however, the serration vein originates from lower down the central vein of the leaflet, typically opposite to the position of, not the first notch down, but the next notch. This means that on its way from the midrib of the leaflet to the point of the serration and this venation pattern varies slightly among varieties, but in general it enables one to tell Cannabis leaves from superficially similar leaves without difficulty and without special equipment. Tiny samples of Cannabis plants also can be identified with precision by microscopic examination of leaf cells and similar features, the plant is believed to have originated in the mountainous regions northwest of the Himalayas. It is also known as hemp, although this term is used to refer only to varieties of Cannabis cultivated for non-drug use. Cannabis normally has imperfect flowers, with male and pistillate female flowers occurring on separate plants. It is not unusual, however, for plants to bear both male and female flowers. Male flowers are borne on loose panicles, and female flowers are borne on racemes
36.
Albino gaur
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They are occasionally called Manjampatti white bison. These gaur are notable for their distinctive ash-grey color as opposed to the almost black color of most gaur, since 1929, there have been at least 19 documented sightings of these rare animals, including the 2004 photographs of N. A. Naseer. The white-colored jungle bison is a subspecies of gaur. Many subspecies of gaur have been described, but only three subspecies are now recognized, further research is required to precisely determine the taxonomy of this species. Gaur were previously numerous all over the Palani Hills, but declined greatly during the 20th century, now they are protected and their numbers are increasing substantially. The endangered gaur are the heaviest and most powerful of all wild bovines, males have a highly muscular body, with a distinctive dorsal ridge, forming a very powerful appearance. Females are substantially smaller, and their dorsal ridge is less developed, adult body length is 2.5 metres to 3.6 metres cm /8. 3–12 ft. Shoulder height is 170 centimetres to 220 centimetres. Average males stand about 180 centimetres to 190 centimetres at the shoulder, females are about 20 centimetres less. Tail length is 70 centimetres to 100 centimetres, the male Indian gaurs average weight is 1,300 kilograms. Large individuals may exceed 1,700 kilograms, Gaurs in Northern India are the same size as the southern breed, but more of the larger, better specimens can be seen in South India, due to the high concentration of gaur there. Calf and juvenile gaurs have several predators, including tigers, Asian black bears There are several herds of gaur in Manjampatti Valley, earlier, the area was well known for many Manjampatti white bison sightings. Only the Manjampatti valley of Udumalpet range is said to harbour white bison, between 1929 and 1937, James L. H. Williams, a British wildlife enthusiast, reported sighting many gaur with light pink or white skin during many trips to Manjampatty Valley. He reported seeing many herds of gaur, with up to 120 animals in a herd, most herds had some individuals with color varying from light red through the duns to pure white. In one herd of 20 animals, every animal was of abnormal color and he reported the white bison had some religious significance to the local Pulayar tribal residents, and they would gently divert outsiders away from any herds with abnormally colored animals. Before 1939, a Mr. Ranicar shot a white bison in the Talinji area of Manjampatti Valley, gouldsbury reported that Ranicar presented the mounted specimen of his cow white bison to the High Range Club in Munnar, where it was subsequently displayed. The pelage was originally almost cream-colored, the 1939 Madras Forest Department - Administration Report mentions white bison in the Manjampatti Valley, Before 1970, Mr. M. A. S. M. Muthuswamy walked the Munnar-Udumalpet road frequently. He reported seeing a herd of four white bison, which he described as greenish-grey in color, on several occasions in previous years. In 1969, he saw a fine greenish-grey bull in a herd of normal-colored gaur at Kamanuthu
37.
Indian leopard
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Indian leopard is a leopard subspecies widely distributed on the Indian subcontinent. The Indian leopard is one of the big cats found on the Indian subcontinent, apart from the Asiatic lion, Bengal tiger, snow leopard, in 2014, a national census of leopards around tiger habitats was carried out in India except the northeast. 7,910 individuals were estimated in surveyed areas and a total of 12. In 1794, Friedrich Albrecht Anton Meyer wrote the first description of Felis fusca, male Indian leopards grow to between 4 ft 2 in and 4 ft 8 in in body size with a 2 ft 6 in to 3 ft long tail and weigh between 110 and 170 lb. Females are smaller, growing to between 3 ft 5 in and 3 ft 10 in in size with a 2 ft 6 in to 2 ft 10.5 in long tail. Sexually dimorphic, males are larger and heavier than females, rosettes are most prominent on the back, flanks and hindquarters. The pattern of the rosettes is unique to each individual, juveniles have woolly fur, and appear dark due to the densely arranged spots. The white-tipped tail is 60–100 centimetres long, white underneath, and displays rosettes except toward the end, the clouded leopard can be told apart by its diffuse clouds of spots compared to the smaller and distinct rosettes of the leopard, longer legs and thinner tail. On the Indian subcontinent, topographical barriers to the dispersal of this subspecies are the Indus River in the west, in the east, the Ganges Delta and the lower course of the Brahmaputra River form natural barriers to the range of the Indochinese leopard. Indian leopard is distributed all over India, in Nepal, Bhutan, bangladesh has no viable leopard population but there are occasional sightings in the forests of Sylhet, Chittagong Hill Tracts and Coxs Bazar. The Indian leopard inhabits tropical forests, dry deciduous forests, temperate forests and northern coniferous forests. In 2015,7,910 leopards were estimated to live in and around tiger habitat in India, the following table gives the major leopard populations in the Indian states. Leopards are elusive, solitary, and largely nocturnal and they are powerful swimmers, although are not as disposed to swimming as some other big cats, such as the tiger. They are very agile, and can run at over 58 kilometres per hour, leap over 6 m horizontally and they produce a number of vocalizations, including grunts, roars, growls, meows, and purrs. In Nepals Bardia National Park, home ranges of male leopards comprised about 48 km2, leopards are versatile, opportunistic hunters, and have a very broad diet. The diet of Indian leopards include axis deer, sambar deer, nilgai, wild pig, common langur, hare, although they are smaller than most other members of the genus Panthera, they are able to take large prey due to their massive skulls and powerful jaw muscles. Depending on the region, leopards may mate all year round, the estrous cycle lasts about 46 days and the female usually is in heat for 6–7 days. Gestation lasts for 90 to 105 days, cubs are usually born in a litter of 2–4 cubs
38.
Chital
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The chital or cheetal, also known as spotted deer or axis deer, is a deer found in the Indian subcontinent. The species was first described by German naturalist Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in 1777, a moderate-sized deer, male chital reach nearly 90 centimetres and females 70 centimetres at the shoulder. While males weigh 30–75 kilograms, the females weigh 25–45 kilograms. The species is dimorphic, males are larger than females. The upper parts are golden to rufous, completely covered in white spots, the abdomen, rump, throat, insides of legs, ears and tail are all white. The antlers, three-pronged, are nearly 1 metre long, the scientific name of the chital is Axis axis. Axis has several origins, the Greek axōn, the Lithuanian ašis. The vernacular name chital is derived from the Hindi cītal or from the Sanskrit citrala, another possible origin is from the Sanskrit citra which means bright or spotted. The name of the cheetah has a similar origin, other names for the chital are cheetal, cheetul, Indian spotted deer or simply the spotted deer, and axis deer. The chital is the member of the genus Axis and is classified under the family Cervidae. The species was first described by German naturalist Johann Christian Polycarp Erxleben in 1777, earlier, Hyelaphus – comprising the Bawean deer, the Calamian deer and the hog deer – was considered a subgenus of Axis. However Hyelaphus has now elevated to generic status a 2004 phylogenetic study showed that Hyelaphus is closer to the genus Rusa than Axis. The study showed that Axis is paraphyletic, and distant from Hyelaphus in the phylogenetic tree, the chital forms a clade with Rucervus duvaucelii and R. schomburgki. The chital diverged from the Rucervus lineage in the early Pliocene, a 2002 study shows that Axis shansius, followed by A. lyra, is the earliest ancestor in the A. axis lineage. Axis is no longer considered a subgenus of Cervus, a 1951 paper identified two subspecies of the chital, A. a. axis and A. a. ceylonensis. The validity of these, however, is disputed, the chital is a moderately sized deer. Males reach nearly 90 centimetres and females 70 centimetres at the shoulder, while males weigh 30–75 kilograms, the lighter females weigh 25–45 kilograms. Exceptionally large males can weigh up to 98 to 110 kg, the tail,20 centimetres long, is marked by a dark stripe that stretches along its length
39.
Indian elephant
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The Indian elephant is one of three recognized subspecies of the Asian elephant and native to mainland Asia. Since 1986, Elephas maximus has been listed as Endangered by IUCN as the population has declined by at least 50% over the last 60 to 75 years or three generations, Asian elephants are threatened by habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation. In general, Asian elephants are smaller than African elephants and have the highest body point on the head, the tip of their trunk has one finger-like process. Their back is convex or level, Indian elephants reach a shoulder height of between 2 and 3.5 m, weigh between 2,000 and 5,000 kg, and have 19 pairs of ribs. Their skin color is lighter than of maximus with smaller patches of depigmentation, females are usually smaller than males, and have short or no tusks. The largest Indian elephant was 3.43 metres high at the shoulder, in 1985, two large elephant bulls were spotted for the first time in Bardia National Park, and named Raja Gaj and Kanchha. They roamed the area together and made occasional visits to the females. Raja Gaj stood 11.3 ft tall at the shoulder and had a body weight. His appearance has been compared to that of a due to his high bi-domed shaped head. His forehead and domes were more prominent than in other Asian bull elephants, Indian elephants have smaller ears, but relatively broader skulls and larger trunks than African elephants. Unlike their African cousins, their abdomen is proportionate with their body weight, Indian elephants are native to mainland Asia, India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, Malay Peninsular, Laos, China, Cambodia, and Vietnam. They are regionally extinct from Pakistan and they inhabit grasslands, dry deciduous, moist deciduous, evergreen and semi-evergreen forests. Elephants are classified as megaherbivores and consume up to 150 kg of plant matter per day and they are generalist feeders, and both grazers and browsers. They graze on the grasses, but the portion consumed varies with season. When the new flush appears in April, they remove the tender blades in small clumps, later, when grasses are higher than 0.5 m, they uproot entire clumps, dust them skilfully and consume the fresh leave tops, but discard the roots. When grasses are mature in autumn, they clean and consume the succulent basal portions with the roots, from the bamboos, they eat seedlings, culms and lateral shoots. They feed on the bark of white thorn and other flowering plants, in Nepals Bardia National Park, elephants consume large amounts of the floodplain grass, particularly during the monsoon season. They browse more in the dry season with bark constituting a part of their diet in the cool part of that season
40.
Gaur
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The gaur, also called Indian bison, is the largest extant bovine, native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. The species has listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. Population trends are stable in well-protected areas, and are rebuilding in a few areas which had been neglected, the gaur is the tallest species of wild cattle. The Malayan gaur is called seladang, and the Burmese gaur is called pyoung ပြောင်, the domesticated form of the gaur is called gayal or mithun. The gaur is a strong and massively built species with a high ridge on the forehead between the horns, which bends forward, causing a deep hollow in the profile of the upper part of the head. There is a prominent ridge on the back, the ears are very large, the tail only just reaches the hocks, and in old bulls the hair becomes very thin on the back. The cows and young bulls are paler, and in some instances have a rufous tinge, the tail is shorter than in the typical oxen, reaching only to the hocks. They have a ridge running from the shoulders to the middle of the back. This ridge is caused by the length of the spinous processes of the vertebrae of the fore-part of the trunk as compared with those of the loins. The hair is short, fine and glossy, and the hooves are narrow, the gaur has a head-and-body length of 250 to 330 cm with a 70 to 105 cm long tail, and is 165 to 220 cm high at the shoulder. The average weight of adult gaur is 650 to 1,000 kg, males are about one-fourth larger and heavier than females. In general measurements are derived from gaurs surveyed in India and China, the Seladang, or Malayasian subspecies, may average larger but no scientifically published measurements are known. Gaur do not have a dewlap on the throat and chest. Both sexes carry horns, which grow from the sides of the head, between the horns is a high convex ridge on the forehead. At their bases they present an elliptical cross-section, a characteristic that is strongly marked in bulls than in cows. The horns are decidedly flattened at the base and regularly curved throughout their length, the colour of the horns is some shade of pale green or yellow throughout the greater part of their length, but the tips are black. The horns, of size by large bovid standards, grow to a length of 60 to 115 cm. The cow is considerably lighter in make and in colour than the bull, the horns are more slender and upright, with more inward curvature, and the frontal ridge is scarcely perceptible
41.
Bengal tiger
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The Bengal tiger is the most numerous tiger subspecies. By 2011, the population was estimated at fewer than 2,500 individuals with a decreasing trend. None of the Tiger Conservation Landscapes within the Bengal tigers range is considered enough to support an effective population size of 250 adult individuals. Since 2010, it is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, by 2010, Bengal tiger populations in India were estimated at 1, 706–1,909. As of 2016, they had increased to an estimated 3,890 individuals. Bengal tigers number around 440 in Bangladesh and 163–253 in Nepal, prior censuses placed the tiger population in Bhutan at around 65–75 individuals. In 2015, it was estimated that 103 Bengal tigers were living in the country, the Bengal, Caspian and Siberian tigers, and lion rank among the biggest cats. It is the animal of both India and Bangladesh. The Bengal tigers coat is yellow to orange, with stripes ranging from dark brown to black, the belly and the interior parts of the limbs are white. The white tiger is a mutant of the Bengal tiger. However, it is not to be mistaken as an occurrence of albinism, in fact, there is only one fully authenticated case of a true albino tiger, and none of black tigers, with the possible exception of one dead specimen examined in Chittagong in 1846. Male Bengal tigers have a total length of 270 to 310 cm including the tail. The tail is typically 85 to 110 cm long, and on average, the weight of males ranges from 180 to 258 kg, while that of the females ranges from 100 to 160 kg. The smallest recorded weights for Bengal tigers are from the Bangladesh Sundarbans, Bengal tigers have exceptionally stout teeth, and the canines are the longest among all living felids, measuring from 7.5 to 10 cm in length. Bengal tigers are defined by three distinct mitochondrial nucleotide sites and 12 unique microsatellite alleles, the pattern of genetic variation in the Bengal tiger corresponds to the premise that they arrived in India approximately 12,000 years ago. Bengal tigers may weigh up to 325 kg and reach a head, several scientists indicated that adult male Bengal tigers from Nepal, Bhutan, and Assam, Uttarakhand and West Bengal in northern India consistently attain more than 227 kg of body weight. Seven adult males captured in Chitwan National Park in the early 1970s had a weight of 235 kg ranging from 200 to 261 kg. Males from northern India are nearly as large as Siberian tigers with a greatest length of skull of 332 to 376 mm, verifiable Sundarban tiger weights are not found in any scientific literature
42.
Sambar deer
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The sambar is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent, southern China and Southeast Asia. Although it primarily refers to R. unicolor, the sambar is also sometimes used to refer to the Philippine deer. The name is also spelled sambur or sambhur, in general, they attain a height of 102 to 160 centimetres at the shoulder and may weigh as much as 546 kg, though more typically 100 to 350 kg. Head and body length varies from 1.62 to 2.7 m, individuals belonging to western subspecies tend to be larger than those from the east and females are smaller than males. Among all living species, only the moose and the elk can attain larger sizes. The large, rugged antlers are typically rusine, the brow tines being simple, the antlers are typically up to 110 cm long in fully adult individuals. As with most deer, only the males have antlers, the shaggy coat can be anything from yellowish brown to dark grey in colour and, while it is usually uniform in colour, some subspecies have chestnut marks on the rump and underparts. Sambar also have a small but dense mane, which tends to be prominent in males. The tail is long for deer, and is generally black above with a whitish underside. Adult males and pregnant or lactating females possess an unusual hairless and this sometimes oozes a white liquid, and is apparently glandular in nature. In the Himalayan foothills, Myanmar and eastern Taiwan it ranges up to 3,500 m, the sambar prefers the dense cover of deciduous shrubs and grasses, although the exact nature of this varies enormously with the environment, because of their wide range across southern Asia. Home range sizes are probably equally variable, but have recorded as 1,500 ha for males and 300 ha for females in India. Sambar feed on a variety of vegetation, including grasses, foliage, browse, fruit. They also consume a variety of shrubs and trees. They are a prey item for tigers and Asiatic lions. In India, the sambar can comprise up to nearly 60% of the selected by the Bengal tiger. Anecdotally, the tiger is said to mimic the call of the sambar to deceive it while hunting. They also can be taken by crocodiles, mostly the sympatric mugger crocodiles, leopards and dholes largely prey on only young or sickly deer, though they can attack healthy adults as well
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Gray langur
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Gray langurs or Hanuman langurs, the most widespread langurs of the Indian Subcontinent, are a group of Old World monkeys constituting the entirety of the genus Semnopithecus. All taxa have traditionally placed in the single species Semnopithecus entellus. In 2001, it was recommended that several former subspecies should be given species status. A taxonomic classification with fewer species has also been proposed, genetic evidence suggests that the Nilgiri langur and purple-faced langur, which usually are placed in the genus Trachypithecus, actually belong in Semnopithecus. Gray langurs are large and fairly terrestrial, inhabiting forest, open wooded habitats. Most species are found at low to moderate altitudes, but the Nepal gray langur and these langurs are largely gray, with a black face and ears. Externally, the species mainly differ in the darkness of the hands and feet, the overall color. There are also significant variations in the size depending on the sex, the head-and-body length is from 51 to 79 cm. Their tails, at 69 to 102 cm are always longer than their bodies, langurs from the southern part of their range are smaller than those from the north. At 26.5 kg, the heaviest langur ever recorded was a male Nepal gray langur, the larger gray langurs are rivals for the largest species of monkey found in Asia. The average weight of gray langurs is 18 kg in the males and 11 kg in the females, langurs mostly walk quadrupedally and spend half their time on the ground and the other half in the trees. They will also make bipedal hops, climbing and descending supports with the body upright, langurs can leap 3. 7–4.6 m horizontally and 10. 7–12.2 m in descending. Traditionally, only Semnopithecus entellus was recognized as a species, the remainder all being treated as subspecies, in 2001, it was proposed that seven species should be recognized, with the majority considered monotypic. This was followed in Mammal Species of the World in 2005, though several of the seven species intergrade, phylogenetic evidence supports at least three species, a north Indian, a south Indian and a Sri Lankan one. It has been suggested that the Semnopithecus priam thersites is worthy of treatment as a rather than a subspecies. During a study based on morphology and ecological niche modelling in Peninsular India six main types were found. Coat color is variable, possible due to phenotypic plasticity. It has been suggested that Trachypithecus should be considered only a subgenus of Semnopithecus, if maintaining the two as separate monophyletic genera, the purple-faced langur and Nilgiri langur belong in Semnopithecus instead of the usual Trachypithecus
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Bonnet macaque
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The bonnet macaque is a macaque endemic to southern India. Its distribution is limited by the Indian Ocean on three sides and the Godavari and Tapti Rivers along with a competing species of rhesus macaque in the north. Land use changes in the last few decades have resulted in changes in its boundaries with the rhesus macaque. This Old World monkey is a diurnal animal and it is 35–60 cm long plus a tail of 35–68 cm. Males weigh 5.5 to 9.0 kg, females 3.5 to 4.5 kg, captive monkey can live up to 35 years. The bonnet macaque feeds on fruits, nuts, seeds, flowers, invertebrates, in southern India, this macaque exists as commensal to humans, feeding on food given by humans and raiding crops and houses. Two subspecies of bonnet macaques have been identified, M. r. radiata, the bonnet macaque has a very wide range of gestures and behaviors, which can be easily differentiated. A grimace is the most common gesture of fear or submission that a subordinate shows to a dominant individual during aggressive encounters and it consists of pulling back its upper lip, showing its upper teeth. It also has distinct alarm calls for such as pythons. Similarly, females also follow this linear herarchy, the male and female hierarchies are different and of a nonoverlapping or nonmixing types. Males are usually dominant over females, the females dominance hierarchy is stable, whilst the males dominance hierarchy is very dynamic. In the male hierarchy, males close in rank often fight to rise in rank, a male has the best chance of obtaining high rank in his prime age, resulting in the greatest benefits to reproduction. High-ranking individuals have first access to breeding females, females are receptive during only a few months in a year, resulting in competition between males. In this situation, the established by aggressive encounters come into play. Most of these encounters are easily resolved, but competition between similarly built or similarly aggressive males results in brutal and sometime fatal fights. Different males may employ various means to rise in rank, coalition formation between unrelated males to oust a more dominant male has been observed. Males often move from troop to troop to gain higher rank with the resulting benefits, however, males remaining in a single troop have been observed to rise to become dominant male of that troop. In the case of females, the dominance hierarchy is a result of female philopatry
India
