Neha Madaan, TNN
PUNE: Efforts of researchers, including those from city, has resulted in protection of a 30 sq.km. habitat of the Indian wolf, a Schedule 1 species. A four-month expedition in the Banas region of Greater Ranthambhore in Rajasthan by the research team has confirmed the presence of the Indian wolf there. This landscape was facing immediate threats due to sand mining and levelling for construction and cultivation. Following the finding, the district authorities have declared the area as ‘protected community land’ (PCL).
The 10-member team under Rajasthan-based NGO Tiger Watch included researchers from city-based Fergusson College, University of Mumbai and the Durrel Institute of Conservation and Ecology, University of Kent. Tiger Watch, led by conservation biologist Dharmendra Khandal, aims at conservation and protection of wildlife at Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve.
Schedule 1 of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972 and part II of Schedule II of this Act provide absolute protection to the species listed under them – offences under these attract the highest penalties.
“Studies have reported that a realistic number of wolves for the entire Indian peninsula would be around 2,000-3,000. However, these numbers are just past estimates and require a detailed review, as there have been changes in demography and structure of human pressure variables. Hence the survey, said Pooja Rathod, a student from Fergusson College, who was a research-volunteer.
Also, the Indian grey wolf primarily inhabits human-dominated agro-pastoral landscapes. This suggests that large population of Indian wolves is outside the protected areas, Rathod added.
“Thus, conservation in these areas is always a challenge and needs to be dealt in a holistic way. There is evidence that the Indian grey wolf belongs to an ancient clade which has not mixed with the shallow wolf-dog clade, making them genetically different from all other wolves. This gives all the more reason to prioritize conservation efforts for the Indian grey wolf,” Rathod said.
The survey covered an area of 73 sq.km. at four locations in the Sawai Madhopur district of Rajasthan. The sites were selected on the basis of background information on wolf presence and their denning sites.