Abstract

Chinkara Breeding Centre, Kairu is a protected area under the Schedule of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 under the wildlife wing of the Haryana state forest department located in the district of Bhiwani. It was visited during the month of August 2019 by a team of Zoologists, Geographers, and Botanists to study the eco-geography, flora and fauna of the breeding centre. The present study presents the results of first such short term survey of this important wildlife area lying in the centre of the state of Haryana. A total of 18 plant species and 79 animal species were documented during this survey. The total number of Chinkara (Gazella bennettii) were 106 ( 53 bucks, 51 does and 2 fawns) in this breeding centre. The paper further discusses the importance of such studies for the betterment of biodiversity conservation efforts in case of an ecologically fragile state of Haryana where majority of the wildlife is under constant threat from urbanization and industrialization.

1. Introduction

India has rich diversity of plants and animals in variety of habitats and ecosystem ¹. India is a mega biodiversity nation with different types of habitats ranging from rain forests on northeast to hot deserts of Rajasthan. India has three of the world’s 34 biodiversity hotspots located in Western Ghats, Indo-Burma and in the eastern Himalayas ². According to MoEF & CC, GoI environment and forest report ³, the country is estimated to have over 45000 plants species and 81000 animal species representing about 7.0% of the world flora and 6.5% of its fauna. The forests play a key role in maintaining a wide range of delicate relationship with nature and its ecosystem ⁴. The Indian subcontinent is very rich in biodiversity as well as in forest cover and forms a large area of Oriental bio-geographic region.

Haryana occupies an important position (latitude 27°39’ to 30°55’ N and longitude 74°27.8’ to 77°36.5’ E) in northern India. Diversified habitats available in different districts of state of Haryana make this region extremely rich in biodiversity.This northern state of India has number of protected areas viz. 2 National Parks, 8 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 2 Wildlife Conservation Reserves, 5 Animal & Bird Breeding Centres etc. Chinkara Breeding Centre, Kairu is situated on Bhiwani-Behal Road at Kairu, Distt. Bhiwani& lies between 28° 40’N latitude and 75° 56’E longitude. It is a protected Chinkara breeding centre in Kairu village, Tosham tehsil, Bhiwani district, Haryana, India.The centre started in 1985 Initially, 10 chinkaras from the natural habitat were released with in the 60 acre fenced area to provide assured protection to them, and as of 31^st March 2019 had 106 animals (53 bucks, 51 does and 2 fawn) ⁵.

2. Materials and Methods

Chinkara Breeding Centre, Kairu is situated on Bhiwani-Behal Road at Kairu, Distt. Bhiwani & lies between 28° 40’N latitude and 75° 56’E longitude. C.B.C. Kairu is 1 Km. away from the Kairu bus stand and 35 Km. away from the Bhiwani railway station (Figure 1). The Breeding Centre is well connected by road with Delhi, Chandigarh, Jaipur, and other important cities. There is a good network of approach roads all along the periphery of the Breeding Centre. Nearest Airport is Delhi which is 150 Km. away from the Breeding Centre. Chinkara breeding Centre, Kairu was visited during the month of August 2019 during a photography workshop by a team of Botanists, Geographers and Zoologists to study the eco-geography, flora and fauna of the breeding centre under the leadership of the faculty of Chaudhry Bansi Lal University, Bhiwani.

To fulfil the objectives of this visits various plant and animal species were recorded in selected transects and habitats/roads in this breeding centre from morning (06:00 to 10:00 hrs) and later in the evening from (15:00 to 18:00 hrs). Avian species were observed using roadside count/line transects and point count method ⁶. As compared to line transect method, point count method provides required information in a short duration of time ⁷. The birds and other animal species as well as plant species were observed with 8x42 Nikon binoculars and for photography digital and DSLR camera were used. During the present study of first such short-term survey of this important wildlife area lying in the centre of the state of Haryana different plant and animal species were catalogued and some of them documented photographically. The eco-geographical conditions were also noted. Further the status of Chinkara population and breeding were also analysed and the problems faced by the wildlife officials in day to day upkeep of the breeding centre were discussed.

3. Results and Discussion

During the present survey, several species of plants and animals were observed. This chinkara breeding centre has rich plant biodiversity (Table 1) which supports large number of animal species present there. These plant species belong to trees, shrubs, and herbs. As far as animal species are concerned, these belong to class Insecta, Amphibia, Reptilia, Aves and Mammalia. The various species observed in these classes are shown Table 2 to Table 3. During this visit a total of 18 plant species were observed belonging to twelve different families viz. Fabaceae, Meliaceae, Amaranthaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Rhamnaceae, Mimosaceae, Solanaceae, Chenopodiaceae, Cannabinacea, Papaveraceae, Poaceae and Malvaceae (Table 2) ^{8, 9}. A total of twelve insects were observed in this breeding centre which belongs to eight different families shown in Table 3 ^{10, 11, 12, 13}. Only one species of spider i.e. Argiop eamula ¹³, three lizard species, two snake species, fifty four avian species and seven mammalian species were also reported from this site (Table 3) ^{1, 14}. During present survey maximum number of species were observed in class Aves and these 54 bird species belongs to 31 families (Table 3) ¹.

4. Conclusion and Recommendations

Chinkara breeding centre, Kairu was established for the conservation and to protect Chinkara (Gazella bennettii ) species from immediate and impending danger to their lives. It also helps to maintain gene pool of the threatened Chinkara species of this region. It also provides platform for research on the various aspects of ecology and behaviour of Chinkara (Gazella bennettii) species.

There should be a permanent zoologist for better understanding of Chinkara breeding conditions including understanding of behavior. Further a permanent botanist is also required to understand food plants, cover plants and open grassland for better growth conditions for Chinkara (Gazella bennettii). Services must be taken from geographer/geologist for fine tuning the eco-geographic conditions of slope, rainwater pool management for drinking etc.

This breeding centre should get technological support in form of video surveillance, motion sensor photo documentation especially of the newly born young fawns and gestating does.

In last we suggest that there should be permanent veterinary surgeons for surveillance and treatment of pathogens, treatment of diseased Chinkara.

Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Principal, Pt. ChiranjiLal Sharma Govt. College, Sector 14, Karnal for administrative help. We are thankful to the Wildlife officers in charge of the Chinkara Breeding Centre, Kairu for help and support for this survey. We are also thankful to the teaching staff of CBLU, Bhiwani for organizing the photography workshop that helped us in conducting this survey.

References