In the heart of the Monsoon!

 Experience the life giving rains.

At the end of August, the rains in Agumbe are still punishingly heavy. However, there is a good chance that there’ll be a little sun in between. It is an interesting time. Most of the reptiles and amphibians have been taking shelter through the main leg of the monsoon and some of them begin to move again with the few breaks in the rain.
Gerry Martin will be heading up to the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station to experience this transition. We will be staying at the research station, in tents. We will explore the surrounding streams and forests and understand how various animals adapt to this wet clime. We will also learn about taxonomy of reptiles, ecological research methods, outdoor skills and guidelines for safe functioning in the wilderness.
The workshop will be a combination of activities and presentations. Some of the aspects we will address are: • Rainforest ecology
• Canopy Access
•Stream Ecology
•Snake Taxonomy
• Snakebite treatment and first aid
•Night survey techniques


We will be staying in tents set on concrete platforms with a tarpaulin shelter over them. The bathrooms are permanent structures with hot and cold running water.
 Program Dates: 27th to 29th August, 2010. (The group leaves Bangalore by overnight bus to Agumbe on the 26th and returns early in the morning of the 30th.)

If you are interested in joining or need more details, please get in touch with Gerry on gerry@gerrymartin.in

Agumbe Rainforest Research Station ,Here's a glimpse!

Photo Credit : Benjamin Tapley (www.frogshot.co.uk)

Snake-bite management >> India

Snake-bite is one of the more serious health issues, especially in India where deaths due to snake-bites (I am referring to venomous snake-bites) are estimated well over 50,000 every year. Even though actual envenomation takes place less often, it is best to stay prepared for an emergency. This is not only for people residing in remote rural areas (who are the majority victims) but also for urban city residents. There has been a transformation of habitat for snakes from forest systems >> farmlands >> villages >> towns >> cities, but owing to their extraordinaire adaptive nature, they have managed to survive everywhere. No doubt there are only a few common species that are found in and around human habitation, unfortunately the list includes the BIG 4!

Spectacled Cobra Naja naja (Elapidae)

Common Krait Bungarus caeruleus (Elapidae)

Russell's Viper Daboia russelii (Viperidae)

Saw-scaled Viper Echis carinatus (Viperidae)

These four species make up the BIG 4 medicinally important snakes of India. They are lethally venomous and occur commonly throughout most of India. Of course there are other species that too demand utmost respect like other cobras Naja spp., kraits Bungarus spp., coral snakes Calliophis spp. and Sinomicrurus sp., King Cobra Ophiophagus hannah, sea snakes (Hydrophiidae) and some pit vipers (Viperidae). Bites are however rare from these mostly because of their distribution and biological pattern.

Most of the snake-bites take place unknowingly when the snake is accidentally threatened; while in other cases, well some people just ask for it!

Whatever be the reason, it is not unlikely that you might end up in a situation where a simple strategy and presence of mind can prove to be a limb-saver, in some cases, a life-saver.

The snake-bite management strategy is presented below; and presence of mind, well, I just hope you have it!

Suck out venom

Make incision to bleed out venom

Go to traditional healers or anything similar

Try out home remedies

Apply tourniquets

Apply ice

Clean out the bitten part

Try and catch/kill the snake

All of the above activities either do not work or are extremely dangerous to perform. In fact, they will do more harm than good.

Following is what you can and should do:

> Make sure the victim and others are at a safe distance away from the snake

> Try to memorize the snake’s appearance (from a safe distance!)

> Remove watches / rings / other jewelry from the bitten part

> Keep the victim calm and reassured

> Do not panic

> Try to immobilize the bitten limb; do not make the victim run and avoid making him/her walk if possible

> Do not waste any time and arrange for a quick transport to the nearest hospital treating snakebite cases, as safely and comfortably as possible

> If possible, note the time of bite and progression of symptoms

> Describe the snake and the whole incident to the attending doctor

*Anti Snake Venom Serum is the only cure*

If your neighborhood has a high density of snakes, it is advisable to prepare a snake-bite protocol (plan of action in case of an emergency) best suited to you. This can simply be important contact people and numbers who should be informed first, name / address of nearest hospital treating snake-bites, best mode of transport and related details, name / contact no. of doctor, etc. Make sure all family members understand their role in an emergency.

As always, prevention is better than cure

> Do not walk around with bare feet outside your house.

> Take great care when clearing vegetation, raking dry leaves in your garden.

> Supervise kids in the outdoors, especially in a green neighborhood.

> Use torch/flashlight at night and keep wearing those shoes. Check shoes before wearing them.

> Watch your step and see before you sit!

> Keep your backyard free of junk and make sure your solid waste is managed properly.

> If you see a snake, do nothing. Let it go. Do not try to pick it up or kill it.

> If a snake has entered your premises, call professional snake rescuers.

Snake-bite is painful, expensive and extremely risky. Please do not get bit.

Stay safe!

A Workshop on Herpetology

As we continue to plunder natural resources that are not entirely ours and build human infrastructure where it least belongs, we ingloriously destroy pristine animal habitats around us. A sharp increase in human-

animal conflict is testimonial to the fact that we are successfully snatching away what rightfully belongs to the other species that share our planet.

Rural India, fortunately, is still a thing of beauty. Expansive farmlands and the relative abundance of trees make it an intuitive habitat for some very interesting and enigmatic animals.

The Gerry Martin Project will conduct a naturalist workshop this July that focuses on giving its participants a contextual insight into conservation. The activities at this camp highlight the importance of maintaining a more holistic perspective to the problem of conserving what’s left.

We will camp at a fruit orchard on the banks of a beautiful lake in Rathnapuri Village, Hunsur and learn about reptiles, amphibians, birds and insects that play a vital yet often understated role in keeping Nature’s mojo intact.

Here’s a great opportunity to learn and understand animal behavior, develop field skills and explore different habitats.

Gerry Martin and his team will conduct this workshop. We will also have an expert in snake tracking with wisdom passed down through generations of experience.

Activities :

• Herpetological exploration and Field techniques
• Game Tracking
• Exploring aquatic ecosystems
• Understanding taxonomy
• Game drive
• Night Surveys

Dates : 23^rd July – 25^th July 2010.

For further information or to register for this workshop, please get in touch with Chaitanya on 9886285988 (chaitanya@gerrymartin.in)

Reptile Biology Workshop

Through the ages , different civilizations around the world have used Crocodiles as mythological fodder. Killing machines that destroy anything they can lay their jaws on. Primeval animals regarded to have little intelligence and a next to nothing ability to co-exist with humans.

The Madras Crocodile Bank Trust (MCBT) and Centre for herpetology is redefining the way we perceive these beautiful animals that have changed little since the time of the dinosaurs. So, while at the Croc Bank, if you hear someone yelling out ‘Ally’ or ‘Pintoo’, be assured they are not the names of friendly neighborhood mutts!

MCBT was founded in 1976 initially for the conservation of the 3 native croc species in India, Muggers or freshwater crocodiles, salt water crocodiles and the Gharial. Today, through their successful captive breeding initiative MCBT is playing a key role in the conservation of endangered reptiles.

The Gerry Martin Project will conduct a 3 day workshop at MCBT, Ch

ennai this July for keen reptile enthusiasts. The program will cover the different aspects of reptile husbandry and reptile biology. P

articipants will get a unique chance to live the life of a reptile keeper by helping out with some of their day to day husbandry work with Crocs and Turtles.

Herpetologists and experts in reptile husbandry at the Croc Bank will run this program through a set of carefully designed activities. Partic

ipants will also get to meet and interact with the Irula people and walk with them in search of any of the big-4 medically important species of snakes in India.

Activities :

• Introduction to various reptile species at the Croc Bank
• Assisting in research and husbandry work, currently carried out at MCBT
• Understanding reptile taxonomy
• Night Safari
• Morning walk with the Irulas in search of snakes
• Birding at the Croc Bank
• Well…theres the Bay of Bengal in the backyard. A quick dip is always on the cards.
• Safe protocol while working with crocodiles

Dates : 16th July – 18th July 2010.

For further information or to register for this workshop, please get in touch with Chaitanya on 9886285988 (chaitanya@gerrymartin.in)

Here's more ‘ostrich in the sand’ type conservation!

India to stop tiger tourism in attempt to prevent species extinction.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article7109878.ece

For centuries, the prospect of spotting a Bengal tiger in the wild has been a highlight of visiting India. Now the Government is to end the spectacle amid fears that the species is being “loved to death” by visitors desperate for a glimpse of tigers in the wild.
Tourism is to be phased out in the core regions of the 37 tiger reserves, Rajesh Gopal, the head of India’s National Tiger Conservation Authority, told The Times. “We should not forget that tiger reserves are primarily for conserving the endangered tiger and tourism is just a secondary outcome,” he said. “Our reserves are small and prone to disturbance caused by tourism. They cannot compete with large African savanna parks, which can stand large number of tourists.”
The Environment Ministry has ordered India’s states to wind down tourism in such areas and to tightly regulate it in surrounding regions where the chance of seeing a tiger is far smaller, Dr Gopal said. People who live in core tiger habitats will be moved.
A count in February 2008 showed that India’s tiger population had plummeted to 1,411 animals, down from 3,642 in 2002. The latest figure is disputed, however. Some experts say that there may be only 800 wild tigers in India today and that the species could be rendered extinct in five years.
According to government officials, the species has already disappeared or is in danger of becoming extinct in 16 reserves. A century ago, when tiger hunting was a favourite pastime of Raj-era dignitaries, there were an estimated 40,000 in India.
The decline is largely due to poaching, but habitat damage caused by tourism has also reached critical levels, experts say. “Seeing a wild tiger has become a kind of status symbol,” M. K. Ranjitsinh, chairman of the Wildlife Trust of India, said. “People do not realise the harm to the broader ecosystem. They are loving the tiger to death.”
Tourists, whether in vehicles or on top of elephants, destroy the high grassland in which the big cats hunt, and drive away their prey, Mr Ranjitsinh said. In many parks, lodges have been built in core reserve areas while hotels block the corridors that tigers use to travel from one territory or reserve to another.
Some reserves have been criticised for using radio telemetry systems for tracking tigers for the benefit of tourists. Once found by a mahout — an elephant driver — brandishing an antenna, a single tiger can be hounded by dozens of tourist vehicles.
“The parks’ priorities have become warped,” Mr Ranjitsinh said. The bamboo forests and grassland in Kanha provided inspiration for Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.
Experts agree that only radical action can bring back the tiger from the brink of extinction, but add that tourism is only one of several dangers. Poaching to feed Chinese demand for traditional tonics has taken a heavy toll. So too has competition for space between tigers and India’s booming human population.
Jairam Ramesh, the Environment Minister, said this month that unregulated tourism was as much a threat to tiger population as poaching. He said that he would clamp down on “mushrooming luxury resorts around tiger reserves”. He singled out Corbett National Park — named after the British hunter-turned-conservationist Jim Corbett and a favourite destination with Western tourists — as a habitat that had degenerated because of tourism. At least four tigers have died there in the past two months, according to reports.
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On the other hand, let's look at it this way:
- Julian Matthews
This is the kind of NTCA’s bizarre thinking on trying to save Tigers.
For six years I (and many others) have been saying to NTCA and Forest Department that where tourism exists today is where the Tigers are still surviving. Corbett has the highest numbers of Tigers left in India and 65000 visitors - a fact not mentioned in the article above. Bandavgarh has 5 breeding females and 14 cubs in the Tala Tourism zone today and 45000 visits- unbelievably high densities - given that tourism is meant to be ‘killing’ tigers and destroying habitat.
The reality in India today is where there is NO tourism = NO Tigers (or very few). The 15 tiger reserves that have no tigers - also have historically had no or very small levels of tourism!!
The reasons why tourism saves tigers is - More resources are channelled here, more accountability of Forest staff, more alternative livelihoods than marginal farming, poaching, grazing and wood chopping, (they stay away from tourist zones) and millions more people who care about nature - having visited the places. Also millions of dollars extra in Forest department’s coffers to put into conservation measures/staff etc.
Habitat that has no tourism is now in a desperately poor state of health, overgrazed, burnt often, no prey left, no understory left, and being chopped down! Simply it is ‘unloved’. You don’t have to be a wildlife research scientist to see this!
This is not to justify what lots of tourism is doing today (outside of park boundaries of course) - a lot of it is poor and unsustainable - and I have been advocating all this time for better rules, regulations and ENFORCEMENT. ONLY the government can effect this and lay down a template for using tourism more effectively – so let’s not blame the easy target for a complete vacuum of vision from the government here.

Island Ecology - Andaman and Nicobar Islands!

This June, when the monsoons have just set in, we will head to a place that most people associate sunshine with. Sandy beaches, great snorkeling, star-studded skies, etc. We’ve chosen to go there to see a completely different side to The Andaman Islands. We’re looking at the animals that come out when the rains begin and enjoy the cooler clime and wetter environment.

This Island Ecology Experience is going to focus on the most alive season for herpetofauna! We will explore four separate habitats, better understanding the dynamics at play within them and how they affect each other.

We’ll be staying at the premier conservation and research body on the islands- The Andaman and Nicobar Environmental Team’s base. We’ll get involved with their experiences, work and endeavors’. We will explore the adjoining mangroves, inter-tidal zone and rainforests, examining the ecological dynamics that are at play in each of these unique but interdependent habitats.

The workshop will encompass a lot of learning skills, experiencing new ecosystems and getting numerous photo opportunities. We’ll see many species that are unique to the islands and some that are adapted specifically to life in island habitats.

There is also a good chance that we will get to go snorkeling. However, given that this is the monsoon season, this will depend on the weather. Fingers crossed. We will spend some time by the reefs but what remains to be seen is how much we’ll see!

ACTIVITIES:

· Understanding Island Ecologies

· Mangrove walks- Searching for specialized animals

· Intertidal Zone- Understanding this unique niche

· Visits to the reef

· Looking for crocodiles

· Herpetofaunal surveys

· Photography sessions

· Ecology presentations

· Canopy access (weather dependent)

· Snorkeling for marine life

· Loads of hands on experience

· Night surveys

Andaman and Nicobar Islands Environmental Team (ANET)
The Andaman and Nicobar islands are a chain of some 300 little known archipelagic islands situated on the eastern rim of the Bay of Bengal. Closely guarded by the Indian Government, they remain a pristine tropical island paradise, complete with stunning coral reefs, crystal blue waters and unspoiled equatorial rainforest. Most extraordinary, many of the islands are a bastion for some of the last remaining aboriginal tribes on earth that continue to shun all contact with the outside world. The Andamanese, as these tribes are collectively known as, inhabit a significant percentage of the islands in fully protected areas that remain completely off limits to the general public.Shortly after setting up the Croc Bank in the 1970s, the Whitakers realize there were needs for basic herpetological and other ecological work in the then much neglected islands. Over the next several years Rom, together with Satish Bhaskar and Alok Mallick, set about crafting a strategy to effectively address these issues. The Andaman and Nicobar Environmental Team (ANET) was conceived in 1989 and shortly thereafter five acres of land was purchase and a base station constructed in Wandoor, on the southern tip of South Andaman island.
ANET has since carried out extensive work on marine turtles, herpetofaunal biogeography and a host of other biological studies. In addition, ANET has been actively involved in the broader ecological and social spheres including work on natural resource utilization, socioeconomics and the management of protected areas. As one of the most capable NGOs in the region, ANET played a pivotal humanitarian and disaster relief role in the Nicobar Islands after the infamous 2004 tsunami devastated the region. Today, although still very active in the reptile arena (with a recently described genus of Agamid named at the base to prove it!) ANET has a very broad curriculum of environmental development work, including marine and terrestrial components. ANET is the only environmental research base in the islands and remains one of the Croc Banks most exotic and luxurious projects – our very own Treasure Island!

For further details or to register please get in touch with Chaitanya on 9886285988 (chaitanya@gerrymartin.in)

A Naturalist's Beginning!

With our wild ecosystems rapidly vanishing, our cities being deprived of anything natural and species disappearing before our eyes, there seems to be a resurgence of interest and concern for the environment and wildlife. More people than ever are getting interested in Nature, taking time off from their work or even completely changing careers to experience and learn more about the natural world. 
Unfortunately, there aren’t many avenues that give people the opportunity to experience Nature while learning every step of the way.  This May, The Gerry Martin Project will be running a naturalist’s skill building workshop that will focus on a lot of the usually left out aspects such as reptiles, insects and amphibians. We will also look into aquatic life in a lake.  The program will be conducted at Rathnapuri Village, near Hunsur. We will camp on the banks of a lake in a fruit orchard. Here, there will be plenty of opportunity to explore habitats, understand tracking, develop skills and understand some aspects of animal behaviour. 

We will have a guide who has generations of wisdom in tracking snakes and small animals. We will learn the intricacies of the tell tale signs that experts see while tracking. There will be leaders in the field of husbandry of reptiles and amphibians who will share their experience and expertise with us, helping us build strong contextual skills and understanding of these enigmatic animals. 
Activities

• Herpetological exploration and field techniques
• Game tracking
• Exploring aquatic ecosystems
• Understanding taxonomy
• Angling
• Game drive
• Night surveys                        

Dates: 28th to 30th May

For further details or to register please get in touch with Chaitanya on 9886285988 (chaitanya@gerrymartin.in) or Soumya on 9902890909 (soumya@gerrymartin.in)