Roshnath R

Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University | KVASU · Center for Wildlife Studies

Vultures are essentially scavengers but their population decline is exacerbated by competition with stray dogs for carcasses. Our study, using camera traps to monitor carcass visitation, revealed dietary overlap and competition intensity are linked more to carcass size than habitat type. Addressing dog presence is critical for vulture survival.

Heronries are the communal nesting sites of water birds, including herons, egrets and cormorants. As top predators, these birds have crucial food web roles and affect nutrient cycling in aquatic ecosystems. Yet, when they nest in the vicinity of cities, towns, and villages, the public often perceives them as a nuisance. Therefore, effectively conse...

Kattampally wetland is a large swamp located on floodplains of the Valapattanam River in the Kannur District of Kerala. Two systematic fish surveys were carried out in four sampling stations spread across the marine-to-freshwater gradient from March 2019 to March 2020. Experimental fishing operations were carried out using mosquito nets, scoop nets...

House Sparrows are urban birds which are thought to be declining in differnt countires. The House Sparrow population in the Kannur district of Kerala in India was studied from March to May 2021 to understand the change in population and to identify the habitat variables that predict their distribution. A total of 914 House Sparrows were recorded fr...

Kattampally wetland is a large swamp on the floodplains of the Valapattanam River in Kannur District of Kerala previously nominated as a Ramsar site. By systemic sampling in different seasons and sites within the wetland, we recorded the diversity of adult odonates. The area was found to be rich in odonate diversity with greater species richness th...

Kattampally wetland is a large swamp on the floodplains of the Valapattanam River in Kannur District of Kerala previously nominated as a Ramsar site. By systemic sampling in different seasons and sites within the wetland, we recorded the diversity of adult odonates. The area was found to be rich in odonate diversity with greater species richness th...

Citizen-science driven exercises (e.g., bird surveys) and online platforms (e.g., eBird) provide voluminous data on bird occurrence but the data quality is often compromised. Bird atlases are based on standardized surveys and describe the distribution of bird species over a predefined region and have less biases, and thus are better suited for use...

The article discusses the Kerala Bird Atlas (KBA), Asia's largest bird atlas, which systematically surveyed bird species distribution across the state of Kerala, India. The KBA dataset provides valuable information on bird occurrence, species richness, and conservation priorities, making it a valuable resource for ecological research and science-ba...

Urbanisation is a major threat to biodiversity by forcing animals to either adapt to it, emigrate or face extinction. Wetland depended birds, and in particular heronry birds, are known to be adapted to fresh urban conditions in Kerala, India. They nest on large trees and forage at waste yards and fish markets in urban sites. We used flight initiati...

Association between species may strengthen the fitness of the species involved It is not rare that avian species associate on the breeding and feeding grounds. However, a species associated with a potential egg predator is less common. In this study, a synchronized breeding of Indian House Crow (Corvus splendens) and breeding Indian Pond Herons (Ar...

A total of 6790 nests of 11 species were recorded from 9 districts in Kerala during the 2019 Heronry Survey. Highest number of heronry sites was recorded in Kannur (N=21), while the highest number of nests was recorded in Thrissur district (N= 2872).

Woollynecked Stork is a large wading bird found in wetlands and reservoirs in Kerala. Using bird checklists uploaded on eBird, we analysed the distribution, seasonality, flocking propensity, breeding and trend of reporting of Woollynecked Storks by birdwatchers in Kerala. We found no longterm variation in the annual rates of reporting in checklists...

Sixteen species of colonial waterbirds are known to breed in Kerala, with most of their breeding sites located near human habitations. The proximity of heronries to human habitation areas makes them prone to various anthropogenic disturbances. Urban expansion and infrastructure developments are the major causes leading to the decline and loss of br...

A total of 7966 nests of 11 species were recorded from Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad and Thrissur districts of North Kerala during 2018 heronry survey. Highest number of sites was recorded in Kozhikode (30), while highest number of Heronry Survey in Kerala, 2018 nests was recorded in Thrissur district (4793) and highest species count (8 spe...

Serpent‐god worship is an ancient tradition still practiced in many sacred groves across the Western Ghats of India. Although sacred groves there hold ecological conservation value, few studies have focused on arguably the most iconic taxon in the region, snakes. We thus investigated the impact of sacred groves and snake deity worshipping on attitu...

Snakes are feared but largely misunderstood by the public. In India, a country with ancient cultures and traditions, snakes were historically worshiped and their habitats were protected as sacred. However, over time these values have shifted to non conservative approaches, even with people killing snakes on encountering them. This attitudinal chang...

Snakes are feared but largely misunderstood by the public. In India, a country with ancient cultures and traditions, snakes were historically worshiped and their habitats were protected as sacred. However, over time these values have shifted to non-conservative approaches, even with people killing snakes on encountering them. This attitudinal chang...

Predation is an important selective force that determines breeding success in all animals. Animals adopt a range of antipredatory strategies to overcome predation pressure in breeding site, which is also a major predation ground. Birds mitigate this pressure through parental care, colonial or group nesting, and selecting habitats that are predicted...

A total of 7022 nests of 12 species were recorded from Kasaragod, Kannur, Kozhikode, Wayanad and Thrissur districts of Kerala during 2017 heronry survey. Highest number of heronry sites was recorded in Kozhikode (33), while the highest number of nests was recorded in Thrissur district (2815 nests) and the highest number of breeding species (9) from...

House Sparrows Passer domesticus are one of the most widespread passerines in the world. A survey was conducted to find out their status in Kannur District, Kerala. The survey recorded 553 sparrows in 35 sites in the district. The perspectives of the public were recorded through a questionnaire survey and conservational inputs from the public were...

Data on snake bite cases were collected from a hospital that is the main centre for the diagnosis and treatment of envenomation and poisoning in the Kannur district of Kerala (India), from 2012-2015. Data on financial compensation for snake bite was collected from the Kannur Forest Department in the same period. A total of 770 snake bites were reco...

Wetlands being one of the productive ecosystems, hosts high avian diversity. Present study were focused to understand the basic composition of species of wetland birds in three selected wetlands in Kannur district of Kerala. Out of total number of bird species recorded, an average of 42% species were wetland birds and 58% were wetland-associated bi...

K erala heronry survey for the year 2016 covered eight districts where a total of 9496 nests from 93 sites were recorded. Nine species of heronry birds were found to breed during the year of which Little cormorant (36%) and Indian Pond Heron (25%) shared highest percentage of nest abundance.

Human-wildlife conflict is a serious obstacle for wildlife conservation. With the increase in human encroachments and decreasing natural habitat, negative interactions between humans and wild animals are intensified. This communication focuses on the incidence of Wild Dogs (Cuon alpinus) predation on livestock in Aralam and perspectives of the vict...

Human-wildlife interactions are increasing progressively with decrease in natural habitat. Of which, many of the interactions are detrimental to wildlife which had resulted in formation of Rapid Response Teams (RRT) in each district under the Forest Department. This data explains the present situation of rescue activities in North Kerala. The RRT o...

Sightings of Grey-headed Lapwings wintering in Kerala were compiled from different sources. With a total of 77 sightings from 1999–2016 in Kerala the bird, which was earlier thought to be a rare winter visitor, was found to be a frequent visitor to the state. Kole wetland, Vellayani-Punchakkari paddy fields and Kattampally wetlands were the sites i...

Snakes can be found near human habitation because of different reasons of which abundance of prey (rodents) is the major fact. This draws conflict between snakes and humans. Even though snakes are protected with Indian Wildlife Act of 1972, they are generally regarded dangerous creatures to man and whenever spotted deserve no mercy. Hence, recues o...

Butterfly diversity was recorded from Nov (2013) - May (2014) in Pookode region. A total number of 128 species recorded from the five families; Nymphalidae (46 species) Lycaenidae (28 species), Hesperiidae (22 species), Pieridae (17 species) and Papilionidae (15 species) respectively. During the survey invasive plant species were also recorded. The...

Wetland ecosystems, particularly the mangrove forest, are the primary wild habitat of heronry birds. However, urban ecosystems have become a favourite breeding habitat of these birds. To provide inputs into the habitat management for conservation of these birds, we investigated the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of nesting trees of he...

Heronry survey was conducted in 10 districts of Kerala during which a total of 11,550 nests belonging to 16 species of waterbirds from 194 heronry sites were counted. Little Cormorant (3396 nests) and Indian Pond-Heron (3277 nests) were the two most widespread and abundant species. This heronry census recorded the nesting of Woolly-necked Stork and...

The diet composition of Little Cormorants Microcarbo niger, during their breeding season, was studied in the Kannur District of Kerala during July–August 2012 to evaluate whether their diet conflicted with the commercial interests of shrimp, and fish farmers. Regurgitated samples (n=498) revealed that they mainly preyed upon shrimps (91%), to feed...

Munderikadavu is rich in avifaunal diversity. A total of 82 species of birds from 36 families belonging to 13 orders were recorded in the wetland including wetland dependant species. Lowland vegetation had the highest species richness (46 species) followed by upland (41 species), aerial (38 species), emergent vegetation (22 species) and paddy field...

A survey of the heronries in Kannur District, Kerala was carried out from 25July, to 3August 2014. A total of 25 heronries consisting of 1416 nests of eight species of colonial nesters Little Cormorant Phalacrocorax niger, Indian Cormorant Phalacrocorax fuscicollis, Oriental Darter Anhinga melanogaster, Indian Pond Heorn Ardeola grayii, Black-crown...

A questionnaire survey and field investigation in the shrimp farms were conducted in the coastal regions of Villupuram and Cuddalore district in the East Coast of South India from October to November 2012. A total of 16 farms were interrogated to identify and quantify the number of birds considered to be a threat to shrimp farming. Tiger shrimps (P...

Indian Pond Heron (Ardeola grayii) diet consisted of Channa sp. (25%), Trachypauchen sp. (25%), Puntius mahecola (14%) and Mystus vittatus (8%). It preferred medium sized prey of sizes 4-7 cm. In terms of biomass Channa sp. and Trachypauchen sp. constituted greater percent (51%). Scavenging behavior of Indian Pond Heron was observed. The prey fish...

A questionnaire survey and field investigation in the shrimp farms were conducted in the Kannur District of South India from 28 th July, 2013, to 5 th August, 2013. A total of 30 shrimp farms were studied in Kannur district of Kerala. Shrimp farms were facing many threats of which only 30% were due to bird menace. Among the different bird species C...

Shrimp farmers were facing different biological and management issues 88% and 12% respectively during farming period. The biological issues like disease (27%) and birds (32%) as both predator and disease transmitted are the major concern. Biological oxygen demand, fungal, stray dogs and stunted growth are other biological issues (88%) and aerosol,...