Andaman booklet aw.FH10 - Zoological Survey of India

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Some important animals in the protected areas Giant coconut crab Birgus latro This large sized crab grows up to 30 cm long and 22 cm wide. Its body is covered with hard plates. The crab is well adapted for an aerial mode of existence by keeping its body parts. It is diurnal and nocturnal in habits. The animal feeds on smaller worms, crustaceans and mollusks. It also climbs coconut trees and feeds on their nuts by tearing the fibrous cover and breaking the shell open. The giant robber crab Birgus latro occurs only in the Southern Nicobar Group, south-western part of Little Andaman, and South Sentinel Islands, is a flagship species of the inland invertebrates. Andaman Green Lizard Phelsuma andamanense: This species is endemict to Andaman group of Islands. It is green in colour with orange spots all around. The animal is sluggish in habits and feeds mostly on insects. It is a common inhabitant of vegetation and sometimes even enters the human settlements. 16
Water Monitor Varanus salvator: This is one of the largest monitor lizard known reaching a length of 2.5 m and is common inhabitant of forest areas in these islands. It climbs trees with great ease and also a good swimmer. This lizard is carnivorous and feeds fish, eggs of turtles, crocodiles and birds. It is widely distributed in Andaman and Nicobar islands. Reticulated python Python reticulatus: This species found in Southeast Asia and adults grow to a maximum of over 8.7 m in length and are the world's longest snakes (Murphy and Henderson, 1997) and distributed over southeast Asia from the Nicobar Islands, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia and Singapore, east through the Indo-Australian Archipelago and the Philippines (McDiarmid et al., 1999), in evergreen forests and is semi-aquatic in habits. It largely feeds on small mammals, birds and reptiles. It occasionally feeds on medium-sized mammals like wild pig, monkey, deer (Shine et al., 1999). It lays eggs in a large clutch between 15 and 80 eggs per clutchup (Christopher, 1999). This species was reported all over the Great Nicobar Island and young ones were commonly seen in the lowland forests. Green sea turtle Chelonia mydas: This is the largest of hard shelled turtles, reaching a length of 1 m and weighing up to 110-190 kg. It is encountered in the inshore waters in these islands. The turtles feed mainly on marine algae and weeds, but rarely on crustaceans and mollusks. The turtles and their eggs were collected by tribals and settlers for feed. Due to their over exploitation, the turtle population in the islands has been alarmingly depleted in recent years. Olive ridley turtle Lepidochelys olivacea: This is a small marine turtle measuring less than 1.0 m in length and weighing up to 60 kg. The head is large and triangular. Carapace is olive grey in colour. The turtle occurs in coastal waters as well as in open seas. Its food consists of crabs, prawns, mollusks, fishes, and marine algae. 17
Page 1: Fauna of Protected Areas of Andaman
Page 4 and 5: CITATION Sivaperuman, C. and Raghun
Page 6 and 7: Saddle Peak in North Andaman and 64
Page 8 and 9: identifiable groups. Of these, only
Page 10 and 11: million) km2 (Saldanha, 1989). The
Page 12 and 13: Dermochelys coriacea, Reticulated P
Page 14 and 15: 36. Jungle Island Wildlife Sanctuar
Page 16 and 17: Fauna of Andaman and Nicobar Island
Page 18 and 19: diversity of reef fish. These brigh
Page 22 and 23: Dugong Dugong dugon: The Dugong dug
Page 24 and 25: Andaman Wood Pigeon Columba palumbo
Page 26 and 27: Nicobar Scops-Owl Otus alius: The N
Page 28 and 29: Studies conducted by Zoological Sur
Page 30: Biodiversity Conservation Prioritie

Andaman booklet aw.FH10 - Zoological Survey of India

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