Krishnendu Mondal

• PhD in Wildlife Science
• Researcher at Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis with symptoms that are reminiscent of those experienced in previous smallpox cases. The GSAID database (Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data) was used to assess 630 genomes of MPXV. The phylogenetic study revealed six primary clades, as well as a smaller percentage in radiating clades. Individual clades th...

Monkeypox is a viral zoonosis with symptoms that are reminiscent to those experienced in previous smallpox cases. GSAID databases (Global Initiative on Sharing Avian Influenza Data) was used to assess 630 genomes of MPXV. Six primary clades were inferred from the phylogenetic study, coupled with a lesser percentage in radiating clades. Individual c...

In order to understand the generalist nature of leopards and whether they have any degree of specialization, a study on resource selection of the Indian Leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) was carried out in a tropical dry deciduous forest in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Western India from January 2007 to May 2011 with the use of camera trapping under the ma...

Ratufa bicolor is a diurnal, arboreal, and herbivorous rodent occurs mainly in evergreen and semi-evergreen forests of north-eastern India and known to be one of the forest health indicator species. The present study was conducted to enumerate the climatic factors governing the distribution of R. bicolor in its habitat range in India and their clim...

Present article reports first photographic evidence of Panthera tigris from Neora Valley National Park. Previous sightings have been occasionally reported from the National Park and its surroundings, whereas the present study is the first scientific study confirming the presence of this species through photographic evidence. Tiger was camera trappe...

Wild prey base is a potential regulatory parameter that supports successful propagation and secured long term survival of large predators in their natural habitats. Therefore, low wild prey availability with higher available livestock in or around forest areas often catalyzes livestock depredation by predators that eventually leads to adverse situa...

The Marbled Cat (Pardofelis marmorata (Martin, 1837)) is an elusive and near threatened species as per the IUCN assessment and listed in the CITES Appendix – I. Present study record the first photographic evidence of Marbled Cat Pardofelis marmorata (Martin, 1837) in the Neora Valley National Park, Central Himalaya, India. Although, it was recorded...

A new species of the genus Pseudopoda Jäger, 2000, P. cheppe sp. n. is described from the Indian Himalayas. Detailed description and illustrations are provided.

The Asiatic golden cat Catopuma temminckii also known as the Temminck’s cat is a medium-sized wild cat distributed throughout South Asia. Asian Golden Cat is currently listed as Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List, and also listed in the Appendix I by CITES and Scheduled I in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 as the current population has been f...

We report here on the first camera trap pictures of the rusty-spotted cat Prionailurus rubiginosus from Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve USTR, State of Chhattisgarh, India. During our tiger monitoring programme from December 2016 to April 2017 we obtained 29 camera trap pictures of rusty-spotted cats at elevations between 353 and 924 m. Previously, th...

Tardigrades, a group of tiny microscopic metazoan with four pairs of lobopodial legs occur in every possible habitat on earth. There are 1270 species of tardigrades throughout the world, and out of them, 41 species are recorded from India so far. Among them, 23 species have been described from Indian Himalaya. In this chapter, a checklist of 23 spe...

Research on avifauna in India has shown that about 80% of the birds of the Indian subcontinent are found in the Indian Himalaya with the eastern Himalayas being twice species rich than the western Himalaya and most species diverse in the world. Also, the largest number of threatened avian species in Asia are also found in the Indian Himalaya. Since...

India, an acclaimed mega-biodiversity nation, represents about 6.4% of the total global fauna in its share of only 2.4% of the total land surface of the world. Biogeographically, the country is divided into ten different biogeographic zones: Trans Himalaya, Himalaya, Desert, Semi-Arid, Western Ghats, Deccan Peninsula, Gangetic Plains, Northeast, Is...

The book describes the various methods and measures to follow during the faunal investigations in the Indian Himalaya. Chapters include - 1. Introduction 2. Monitoring Protocol for Mammals 3. Monitoring Protocol for Birds 4. Monitoring Protocol for Herpetofauna 5. Monitoring Protocol for Insects 6. Monitoring Protocol for Freshwater Health 7. Monit...

In order to sensitize all stakeholders on the importance of monitoring selected endangered or indicator wildlife species in the IHR, ‘Wildlife Watch in the Indian Himalayan Region’ – a citizens’ science programme has been recently initiated. A user guide for monitoring wildlife species in the IHR has been conceptualized and developed. we have selec...

The present study reports Megalestes irma Fraser, 1926 for the first time from Arunachal Pradesh, Eastern Himalayas, India. A single specimen was collected from West Kameng District of Arunachal Pradesh. Information on its distribution, habitat and taxonomic characteristics viz. male genitalia, wing venation and anal appendages are described in the...

To understand the multi-predator ecosystem and their prey, the present study assessed status of leopard (Panthera pardus) and striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) (co-predators of tiger) and their prey species in Achanakmar Tiger Reserve (ATR) between October 2010 and March 2011 to address issues concerning recovery of tiger population in the area. Camera...

The present study documented Indian mouse deer from Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve after 112 years of the first photograph taken by Brooks in 1905 from Raipur district of recent Chhattisgarh. A camera trapping exercise was conducted in the Tiger Reserve from December 2016 to April 2017 covering 588 km 2 area. In total, 13 photo-capture of Indian mou...

The present study was carried out to understand the butterfly diversity in Singur, West Bengal, India from March 2015 to November 2016. A total of 69 species of butterflies belonging to 54 genera and five families were recorded from the present study. From the observed butterflies, family Nymphalidae was the most dominant among the five families wi...

Indian Himalayan region includes two bio-geographic zones i.e. 1) Trans Himalayan zone and 2) Himalayan zone The trans-Himalayas is an extension to the Tibetean plateau. This region harbors the high-altitude cold desert and arid mountain areas in ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir), Lahaul Spiti (Himachal Pradesh) and Northern part of Sikkim. It accounts...

Biodiversity conservation strategies often face backlash from different regions of Globe in between the process of being materialized. Direct wildlife damage alone holds the main reason for these kinds of repercussion. Peoples’ attitude towards wildlife is complex, with social factors as diverse as religious affiliation, ethnicity and cultural beli...

The present study recorded the avifaunal diversity in the Neora Valley National Park, West Bengal, Central Himalayas between September 2016 and March 2017. Nine selected sites in different altitudinal gradients within and around the National Park were intensively surveyed. The study resulted in recording of 140 species of birds under 13 orders and...

Leopard gecko or eyelid gecko belongs to Eublepharidae family which has sporadic distribution across Eurasia, Africa and North America and is surviving with six genera and 31 species worldwide. Among these six genera, Genus Eublepharis had distribution records from Turkmenistan, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India to Bangladesh. Across Indi...

The status and diversity of avifauna was studied in coastal areas of South Bengal, India from January 2014 to June 2016. The entire survey was comprehensively carried out by walking along the fixed paths/trails, for documentation of avifauna. In total, 171 bird species representing 18 orders and 54 families were recorded. Depending on movement and...

The present study was carried out to prepare a checklist of butterflies in the Coastal areas of Purba Medinipur District of southern West Bengal between January 2014 and February 2016. A total of 112 butterfly species belonging to 74 genera under 14 subfamilies and five families were recorded during the study period. Nymphalidae and Lycaenidae were...

The present study was carried out to prepare a checklist of butterflies in the Coastal areas of Purba Medinipur District of southern West Bengal between January 2014 and February 2016. A total of 112 butterfly species belonging to 74 genera under 14 subfamilies and five families were recorded during the study period. Nymphalidae and Lycaenidae were...

Landscapes of Sikkim are unforgettable. Here the pictureque countryside makes you feel that the journey matters as much as the destination. It can be the golden Khanchendzonga or the „Silk Route‟ in Ganthang Plateau, Ladakh of Eastern India, or the Chhangu Lake. Journey to each of these destinations is mesmerising. Another beautiful area to explore...

Phalacrocorax carbo, commonly known as great cormorant are sighted along the water-bodies is generally distinguished from little cormorant (Microcarboniger) in reference to their body size. Only during the breeding season, great cormorants are prominently distinguishable from the later for its breeding plumage.The breeding adults are glossy black,...

The present study deals with the study on the anuran diversity and their habitat choice based on limno-chemical factors in the two temporary water pools of a rock mining area in the industrial city Durgapur, East India. Two temporary water pools and a perennial water body were chosen randomly as study sites. Population count was done weekly by hand...

Livestock depredation by carnivores cause substantial human carnivore conflict and subsequently decreased support for carnivore conservation. Thus, understanding carnivore diet with respect to wild prey availability has major implications to determine the reasons behind livestock depredation. A study was conducted to investigate food habits and pre...

Young Ecologist Talk and Interact (YETI) is a unique conference in many ways. It is one of the few conferences in the world and the only one in India which is organized by the students, for the students in the field of ecology and conservation. YETI has no fixed venue and it travels across the length and breadth of India, going where the team of st...

There is an increasing demand for scientific information on the state of environment particularly biodiversity in different regions of the world. While information is scanty for poorly studied regions, there is substantial information for some regions but most of it is not readily available as either it is widely scattered or largely unpublished. I...

Young Ecologist Talk and Interact (YETI) is one of the fewconferences in the world and the only one in India in the f ield of conservation which is organized by the students, for the students.Young Ecologists Talk and Interact (YETI) owed its inception to a group of students from various institutes in Bangalore who wanted to organize a National lev...

The negative Human-Wildlife interaction (HWI) or conflict is a major management issue in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) where large expanse of human habitations and agricultural land areas are either interspersed with fragmented wildlife habitats or located in close proximity to wildlife habitats that are home to many wildlife species that are i...

‘Wildlife Watch Series I’ is a User Guide for Monitoring Wildlife Species in the Indian Himalayan Region’ (IHR) that has been brought out by Wildlife Institute of India for monitoring of selected indicator/endangered species in the IHR under the National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) project. This initiative aims at generat...

‘Wildlife Watch Series I’ is a User Guide for Monitoring Wildlife Species in the Indian Himalayan Region’ (IHR) that has been brought out by WII for monitoring of selected indicator/endangered species in the IHR under the National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) project. This initiative aims at generating awareness and monito...

Aim: 'Wildlife Watch Series I' is a User Guide for Monitoring Wildlife Species in the Indian Himalayan Region' (IHR) that has been brought out by WII for monitoring of selected indicator/endangered species in the IHR under the National Mission for Sustaining the Himalayan Ecosystem (NMSHE) project. This initiative aims at generating awareness and m...

Utilize your senses…Mother Nature will not disappoint you ". An advice I hold dear to my heart till today. A simple stop over for a cup of tea near a river can reveal what hours of scanning a mountain cliff from a vantage point cannot. Staring down the deep valley provided that perfect sight – a family of Near Threatened Himalayan gorals (Naemorhed...

To understand the home range and resource selection of trans-located leopards, two male leopards were captured from conflict areas and released in the Sariska Tiger Reserve, western India (March 2009–August 2010). Both the leopards were fitted with VHF radio-collar, and 148 locations were collected from the first leopard (SP1) and 268 locations fro...

To understand the home range and resource selection of trans-located leopards, two male leopards were captured from conflict areas and released in the Sariska Tiger Reserve, western India (March 2009–August 2010). Both the leopards were fitted with VHF radio-collar, and 148 locations were collected from the first leopard (SP1) and 268 locations fro...

To understand the home range and resource selection of trans-located leopards, two male leopards were captured from conflict areas and released in the Sariska Tiger Reserve, western India (March 2009–August 2010). Both the leopards were fitted with VHF radio-collar, and 148 locations were collected from the first leopard (SP1) and 268 locations fro...

To understand the home range and resource selection of trans-located leopards, two male leopards were cap-tured from conflict areas and released in the Sariska Tiger Reserve, western India (March 2009-August 2010). Both the leopards were fitted with VHF radio-collar, and 148 locations were collected from the first leopard (SP1) and 268 locations fr...

To understand the home range and resource selection of trans-located leopards, two male leopards were cap-tured from conflict areas and released in the Sariska Tiger Reserve, western India (March 2009–August 2010). Both the leopards were fitted with VHF radio-collar, and 148 locations were collected from the first leopard (SP1) and 268 locations fr...

The diversity and abundance of rodents were estimated in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, from November 2007 to June 2009. A total of 41 Sherman traps were deployed at twelve sites under different vegetation types for 10 days during winter and summer, which amounted to a total effort of 4, 920 trap nights and recorded eleven species of small roden...

This chapter describes the present status and distribution of the second important big cat, the Leopard, which is an Endangered animal as per Appendix-1 of CITES and Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act, 2006. Worldwide, eight subspecies of Leopard are identified based on DNA studies. The Indian subspecies, Panthera pardus f...

Gaur, which became locally extinct before 1995 in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR), Central India, is an endangered animal per Schedule – I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act (1972). A re-introduction program was therefore created to rebuild the gaur population in BTR, both to enhance the long-term survival of the species and to restore natural b...

Gaur, which became locally extinct before 1995 in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR), Central India, is an endangered animal per Schedule – I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act (1972). A re-introduction program was therefore created to rebuild the gaur population in BTR, both to enhance the long-term survival of the species and to restore natural b...

After the extermination of tigers in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Western India in 2004, three tigers were re-introduced in Sariska during 2008–2009. The present study examined the prey selection and dietary overlap between leopard and tiger after re-introduction of tiger in the study area. Scat analysis revealed the presence of nine prey species in leop...

Nagaland is a mountainous state of north-east India of which the Naga hills are the most prominent physiographic feature. The elevation in the state varies from 250 m to 3000 m. Nagaland supports a fascinating array of flora and fauna. The forest types occurring in the state are the Tropical wet evergreen forest, Upper Assam valley tropical evergre...

Manipur, one of the seven sisters of the North Eastern Region of India, has a geographical area of 22,327 km2. Ninety percent of its geographical area (20,089 km2) is covered by hills and the remaining area is a small valley. The state has a 352 km long International border with Myanmar and the rest of the 502 km long border is shared with the adja...

Mizoram is one of the Seven Sister States listed as in North Eastern India, sharing borders with the states of Tripura, Assam, Manipur and with the neighboring countries of Bangladesh and Burma. Mizoram became the 23rd state of India on 20 February 1987. Its capital is Aizawl. Mizoram is a land of rolling hills, valleys, rivers and lakes. As many a...

Tripura is the 2nd smallest state in terms of area, but the 2nd most populous state in the North Eastern Region (http://tripura.nic.in). It is surrounded by Bangladesh on its north, south and west and Mizoram and Assam on the east (http://tripura.nic.in). Tripura's geography is characterized by several north-south hill ranges with intervening valle...

Orissa is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. Bhubaneswar the capital of Orissa, and home to nearly a thousand temples. Cuttack, the former capital of Orissa, is 22 km from Bhubaneswar. With the rapid expansion of two cities and better road connectivity, the two cities are now almost conjoined and considered...

Abundance of sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) in Achanakmar Tiger Reserve, Central India T he abundance of sloth bear Melursus ursinus was studied in Achanakmar Tiger Reserve, Central India from January to March '2011. Achanakmar is situated in the Central Indian Landscape and connects to Kanha Tiger Reserve on the west and Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve o...

Abundance and Distribution of sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) in Duduwa Landscape, North India T he abundance and distribution of sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) was studied in Duduwa Landscape, North India between November 2011 and February 2012. To investigate carnivore (tiger, leopard, sloth bear) distribution pattern, carnivore sign survey method w...

After the extermination of tigers in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Western India in 2004, three tigers were re-introduced in Sariska during 2008–2009. The present study examined the prey selection and dietary overlap between leopard and tiger after re-introduction of tiger in the study area. Scat analysis revealed the presence of nine prey species in leop...

The honey badger, or ratel Mellivora capensis has not been well studied and very little information is available on its population and habitat use. We used occupancy based technique and binary logistic regression to assess the abundance and habitat suitability for ratel in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, Western India between November 2007 to Jun...

Tigers got exterminated from Sariska Tiger Reserve before 2005. After that, five tigers were re-introduced to Sariska during 2008 to 2010. The present study compared the abundance, site occupancy and temporal activity pattern of leopard before and after tiger re-introduction. The population of leopard was estimated by mark-recapture technique using...

Previously, factors governing distribution of leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) in forest habitats of the Indian subcontinent were unknown. The present study assessed the influence of different ecogeographic variables determining the distribution of leopards in and around Sariska Tiger Reserve through MaxEnt habitat suitability model based on camera...

Home range and food habits of tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) were studied in Sariska Tiger Reserve from July 2008 to June 2009. Three tigers (one male and two females) were radio-collared and reintroduced in Sariska Tiger Reserve from Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve, Western India during 2008-2009. The reintroduced tigers were monitored periodically th...

Home range and food habits of tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) were studied in Sariska Tiger Reserve from July 2008 to June 2009. Three tigers (one male and two females) were radio-collared and reintroduced in Sariska Tiger Reserve from Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve, Western India during 2008-2009. The reintroduced tigers were monitored periodically th...

We used camera trap based capture-recapture method to estimate the population size of Striped Hyena Hyaena hyaena in Sariska Tiger Reserve. Twenty-five days of camera trapping was done with a sampling effort of 1,675 trap nights from January to April 2008. Camera traps yielded a total of 85 Hyena photographs of 26 individuals within an effective tr...

Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India . Abstract: Food habits of golden jackal (Canis aureus) and striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) were investigated using scat analysis between November 2010 and June 2011 in Sariska Tiger Reserve, Western India. Total 104 scats of golden jackal and 86 scats of striped hyena were collected and analyzed. The freq...