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Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Wayanad

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2015 - 20169
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End date: 2016 × Start date: 2015 × Thesis Type: M.Sc ×
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Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    PREVALENCE OF ENDOPARASITE AND PREY PREFERENCE OF TIGER (Panthera tigris tigris) IN WAYANAD WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
    (Kerala Veterinary and animal science university, Pookode, 2016-05-12) Arjun, M S; Arun Zachariah
    Studies on gastro-intestinal parasitic diversity and prey preference of tigers in Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala, were conducted from April to September 2015. Coprological analysis of scat samples was carried out to identify the gastro-intestinal parasitic diversity and diet composition in the tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) population. A total of 46 scat samples (76.6%) analyzed were found to be positive for endoparasites. Scat analysis for parasitic diversity was carried out by sedimentation method. Gastro-intestinal parasitic analysis revealed the presence of parasites belonging to seven different genera. Diphyllobothrium latum (33 nos.) was the most commonly recorded parasite followed by Paragonimus westermani (25), Taenia sp. (6) Strongyle sp. (4), Trichuris sp. (2), Toxocara sp. (2) and Nematode larvae (2). Although the gastro-intestinal parasitic diversity is less compared to similar studies from other tiger habitats, the number of individuals infected was considerably high. Hair samples of known animals were collected and studied for cuticular and medullary structures. This was used as reference while analyzing the hair from scat samples. A total of 60 scats were analyzed. The tigers in Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary were found to be feeding on five prey species. Sambar was the most predominant prey, featuring in 29 of the 60 scat samples (48.33%) followed by Gaur (21.66%), Chital (20%) and Wild Boar (5%). The data revealed that tigers in WWS prefer larger ungulates (i.e. Gaur and Sambar) to smaller prey species such as Wild Boar, Chital and Barking Deer.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    INFLUENCE OF DIFFERENT HABITATS ON OCCURRENCE OF ASIAN SMALL-CLAWED OTTER (Aonyx cinerea. Illeger, 1815) IN WAYANAD, KERALA, INDIA
    (Kerala Veterinary and animal science university, Pookode, 2016-05-12) Ajisha, S; George Chandy
    Aonyx cinerea is a threatened mammal belongs to Mustelidae family, largely due to adverse anthropogenic activities such as sand mining, poaching, misuse of pesticides in agriculture, habitat loss and conversion of natural forest to plantations. In the present study mainly focuses the occurrence of this species in different habitat, which are adjacent to forest areas and hence the occurrence of several large mammals and other invertebrates reside in these plantations. Field sampling was carried out from January to May 2015, which was the driest period of the year and considered an ideal time for sampling otters. The South Wayanad division was divided into four sectors based on location and habitat types namely forests, coffee plantations, tea plantations and paddy fields. Equal number of transects were allotted to each vegetation (ten transects in each vegetation). In each habitat type, samplings for indirect and direct evidence of otter occupancy was carried out along a 500 m transect which was further divided into twenty 25 meter sub-sections. For each 25 meter subsection, habitat variables were recorded. In this study 140 signs including direct and indirect signs were recorded from 40 segments that were surveyed. Otter spraint abundance were identified from 34 segments (85 per cent occurrence) while the rest of the segments were considered as non-otter sites. One way ANOVA between encounter rates in different habitats showed that there is a significant difference in encounter rates between the different habitats (p value 0.0004583; F= 7.6099). Correlation between encountered rates of spraints in tea plantation showed that there is a significant difference between shoreline vegetation width and species occurrence. In this study, it is revealed that the distance of human modification was more, which helped to decrease the negative effects of human induced disturbances.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    DETECTION OF RICKETTSIAL PATHOGENS OF TICKS OF WILD MAMMALS AND REPTILES
    (Kerala Veterinary and animal science university, Pookode, 2016-05-12) Jeena, K D; Reghu Ravindran
    The present study detected the rickettsial pathogens of ticks of wild mammals and reptiles from five different regions of Wayanad district, Kerala (Vaduvanchal, Vythiri, Noolpuzha, Muthanga and Meppadi). A total of 62 ticks collected from four different wild mammals and one reptile species. The collected species were included Amblyomma integrum from (wild boar, elephant calf and barking deer), Haemaphysalis bispinosa, Rhipicephalus haemaphysaloides, Haemaphysalis spinigera and Amblyomma integrum from (sambar deer) and Aponoma gerviasi from (python).The RNA was isolated from RNA was isolated from individual adult engorged female ticks, by using RNAeasy minikit (Quiagen, Germany). cDNA was synthesized from the isolated RNA samples by using Revertaid H Minus cDNA synthesis kit (fermentas, USA) based on manufacturer`s protocol. The cDNA synthesized subjected to PCR amplification using specific primers. The primers used for the PCR amplification were included, mitochondrial 16S r DNA gene of tick species which amplify a 450 bp product, a pair of oligonucleotide primer sequences which are localized within the coding V4 region in a 18S gene, Rickettsia specific citrate synthase gene (gltA) using CS2d and CSEndr primers which amplify a product of 1234 bp, and Rickettsia specific outer membrane protein A by using ompA F and R primers which amplify a product of 632 bp. The Agarose gel electrophoresis was performed on a 2.0 per cent Agarose (Biogene, USA) gel prepared in 0.5X Tris Borate EDTA buffer (Tris 2.7g, Boric Acid 1.37g, EDTA-0.5M 1ml, Aqua dist. Ad 500ml) using 80V power supply for 90 minutes. The samples were send to sequence analysis and obtained were first BLAST analyzed (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ BLAST) to confer their identity. Only Amblyomma and Rhipicephalus spp. of ticks revealed rickettsial organisms. The Rickettsia species identified in these ticks were Rickettsia africae (Amblyomma integrum), Rickettsia parkeri (Amblyomma integrum) and Rickettsia rhipicephali (Rhipicephalus sp).
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    COMPARISON OF COMMUNITY STRUCTURE OF REPTILES BETWEEN A FOREST FRAGMENT AND AN INTACT FOREST
    (Kerala Veterinary and animal science university, Pookode, 2016-05-12) Anuraj R Kaimal; George Chandy
    The present study compared the community structure of reptiles in a forest fragment to that of a continuous forest. The study was carried out in the Vythiri section of South Wayanad Forest Division from June second week to September second week 2015. Diurnal quadrats, transects and time constrained searches were carried out to describe the species assemblage. In total 80 person hours was spend in the continuous forest and 70 person hours was spend in the forest fragment for sampling. Species accumulation curves were plotted and diversity indices were evaluated for both sites. Eight species and forty nine individuals were sampled from the continuous forest while from the fragment merely three individuals belonging to two species were found. Eutropis macularia (n = 18) was the most abundant species in the forest followed by Calotes ellioti (n = 9). Cnemaspis aff. monticola was the only shared species in the forest and forest fragment from quadrats and transects. Twelve different habitat variables were measured from the sampling sites and five of the variables differed significantly with respect to the study sites. Correlation analysis revealed that canopy cover (-0.44) has a negative correlation and leaf litter depth (0.41) have a positive correlation with abundance of reptiles in the forest. None of the habitat variables correlated with abundance in the fragment. The long isolation, small area and edge effects might have resulted in the local extinction of many of the herpetofauna in the fragment.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    DIVERSITY, HABITAT PREFERENCE AND FEEDING HABITS OF CHIROPTERANS IN WAYANAD WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
    (Kerala Veterinary and animal science university, Pookode, 2016-05-12) Nithin Divakar; Arun Zachariah
    Species richness, abundance, roosting habitat and diet composition of bats in different forest types of Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary were studied from December 2014 to September 2015. Sampling method included direct observations and mistnetting. A total of ten bat species were reported from six families and eight genera during the study period. Pteropus giganteus was the highest in abundance (538) followed by Megaderma spasma (70), Rhinolophus rouxii (24), Cynopterus sphinx(12) and Kerivoula picta (9). In Muthanga (dry deciduous forest),Cynopterus sphinx, Kerivoula picta, Megaderma spasma and Taphozous species were recorded. In Sulthan Bathery (dry deciduous forest), Pteropus giganteus and Megaderma spasma were found. In Kuruchyad (semi-evergreen forest), only Megaderma spasma was found from just one roost. In Tholpetty (moist-deciduous forest), A total of seven roosts were observed and the roosts were occupied by Rhinolophus rouxii, Kerivoula picta, Pippistrellus sp. and Hipposideros speoris. One road killed Myotis species specimen was also found from this area. Mixed species roosting and seasonal migration was also reported from Tholpetty. Bat species abundance was highest in moist-deciduous forest. Diet composition analysis revealed that guava was the most preferred fruit (37%) of Pteropus giganteus. The analyzed samples also indicated Rhinolophus rouxii to be a generalized insectivorous bat with Lepidoptera forming a major (32%) part of its diet. Diet analysis also revealed that Megaderma spasma fed upon seven insect orders with Coleoptera forming 33% of its prey. This study, although preliminary, provides baseline information of bats found in WWS
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF MIXED-SPECIES BIRD FLOCKS IN A FOREST AND COFFEE HABITAT IN WAYANAD, KERALA
    (Kerala Veterinary and animal science university, Pookode, 2016-05-12) Karthika Chandran; George Chandy
    Mixed-species flocks in two different habitats in Wayanad District were studied in order to compare the species composition and organization of flocks in both the habitats- a coffee plantation and a natural forest habitat. Studying the association of Racket-tailed Drongos (RTD) with other species within flocks and checking if there was any influence of the associating species on the occurrence of RTDs in flocks was another objective of the study. Flocks were surveyed along three 500 m trails in both the study sites and the different species, number of species, number of individuals, foraging height and foraging substrate of species within the flocks were recorded. The findings of the study suggested that there were no significant differences in the abundance of mixed-species flocks, mean species richness and mean number of individuals per flock. Though species composition of flocks in both habitats remained almost similar, the organization of species within flocks was different in both the habitats. Also, flocks which comprised of White-bellied Treepie, Dark-fronted Babbler, Indian Scimitar Babbler, Flame-throated Bulbul, White-bellied Blue Flycatcher, Puff-throated Babbler and Malabar Trogon were found only in the forest habitat. Canopy cover in the forest was higher than that in the coffee plantation and differences in the foraging height of flocking species in both habitats were also noted. Racket-tailed Drongos were found interacting positively with barbets, minivets, woodpeckers, nuthatches and bulbuls. The preferred associates of RTD were mostly same in both habitats. More elaborative studies with greater sample size are required to analyze such interactions to reach proper conclusions about why RTDs associate with or refrain from associating with certain species.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    ASSESSING THE GENETIC VARIABILITY IN THE FREE RANGING ASIAN ELEPHANT (Elephas maximus) POPULATION OF WAYANAD WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
    (Kerala Veterinary and animal science university, Pookode, 2015-10-31) Neethu Balakrishnan; Arun Zachariah
    Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) have a high influence in the culture, religion and economy, but are facing extinction in the wild. The selective poaching of male elephants for ivory leads to skewed sex ratios, which result in inbreeding and a drastic decline in population size. In this study, the genetic variability of Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) population of Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary was assessed using microsatellites markers. The observed polymorphism was low at the tri and tetra nucleotide loci in the samples analysed (n=28). The observed heterozygosity (0.029) was lower than the expected heterozygosity (0.915) and the mean observed heterozygosity was almost half of the expected heterozygosity indicating very high occurrence of inbreeding.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    A STUDY ON MICROHABITAT SELECTION AND DISTRIBUTION OF BICOLOURED FROG (Clinotarsus curtipes. Jerdon, 1854) TADPOLE WITHIN A HILL STREAM WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO RIVER CONTINUUM CONCEPT
    (2016-07-29) Haritha, S; Abdul Azeez, C P
    The microhabitat selection of C. curtipes within hill streams was carried out in streamlets of Chennaykavala and Sugandhagiri which flow through the vested forests of Wayanad District. The study was carried out from April 2015 to May 2016. The hypothesis that the distribution of C. curtipes within hill stream depends on stream ecology and river continuum concept was tested. Ecological factors in the region of the stream where the tadpoles were present was compared with that of the region where tadpoles were absent. The Chi-square test and t-test were used to analyze the association of presence of tadpole with stream type, vegetation type, canopy cover, embededdness, physical and chemical parameters of water. Analysis was done using the statistical software package SPSS version 20. The microhabitat selection was showed to be influenced by stream ecology and riparian vegetation type. As the vested forests of Wayanad were under human disturbance, the study showed deviation from River continuum concept.
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    The Leverage of Riparian Vegetation and Physical Habitat on Fish Assemblage Structure
    (Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Wayanad, 2016-08-22) Thampy, Decin Rons; George Chandy