06-bioresourcesstatu.. - M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation

Chilika Lake
and Carter (1920) are no more found during a
survey undertaken by CDA recently (CDA, 2002).
Banerjee and Roy (2002) listed some of the most
important, endemic and rare plant unique to the
Chilika lagoon, which include Cassipourea
ceylanica, Colubrina asiatica, Commiphora
wightii, Strychnos nux-vomica, S. potatorum,
.Sercostemma acidum, Cissus vitiginea,
Commiphora caudate, Aegiceras comiculatum,
Stenoclina pelustris and Aristolochia indica.
Some of the rare, vulnerable and endangered
species listed in the International Union for
Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
(IUCN) Red List of threatened animals belong to
habitat of the lagoon area. The Dhuanali forest in
the north east of Chilika was the home of wild
buffalo, recorded in 1960,is no more found in that
region. The black bucks (Antilope cervicapra)
which were found in large numbers around
Balukhand and in the Chilika range along the
coastal shore zone have decreased their numbers
to a great extent. Ram et al (1994) report that
Irrawady river dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris),
was once abundant in the lagoon but today it is
endangered, their number has been dwindled to a
few. Gradual increase of mechanized boats has
been posing threat to the population of Dolphin.
The last census conducted by the Zoological
Survey of India in association with the Wildlife
Department, Government of Orissa had put their
population in the lake at over 150 during the 1980s
(India Abroad, news features 15/09/ 2000).
According to the latest available information the
population of the Irrawady dolphin in the lagoon
had been reduced to less than 50 (Sinha et al.,
2002). The above species of Dolphin has been
included in the Schedule of Wildlife (Protection)
Act, 1972 (amended in 1991) and regarded as a
endangered animal as per IUCN Red Data Book.
Sea cow (Dugong dugong) is also a rare mammal
reported in Chilika region, but no more seen at
present.
Among birds, 17 species of wetland birds of orders:
Pelecaniformes, Ciconiformes, Anseriformes,
Gruiformes and Charadriiformes are recognized as
'threatened' or 'endangered' species occurring in
wetland ecosystem (Alfred and Nandi, 2000). Birds
like Common cranes (Grus grus), Common
shelduck (Tadorna tadorna) and Mallard duck
(Anas palatyrhychos) and European white stork
(Cicnia cicona), which were visitors in 1930s are
not seen now. Dev (1997) indicated the following
212
bird species: l.White stork (Cicnia ciconia) a
winter migrant from Germany, 2.Black necked
stork (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus) a winter
migrant from Assam, 3.Lesser adjutant stork
(Leptoptilos javanicus) a resident, 4. Adjutant
strok (L.dubius) a resident, all the four belonging
to the order Ciconiformes, 5. Smew duck (Mergus
albellus), a winter migrant from Ladakh of the
order Anseriformes, 6. Red kite (Milvus milvus)
from Scandanavia of the order Falconiformes, and
7. . Asiatic dowithcer (Limnodromus
semipalmatus) from Central Asia of order
Charadriiformis to be rare and endangered.
According to ZSI (1995), another four species of
birds namely Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps
crstatus), Black necked Grebe (P. nigricoillis),
Curlew Sand Piper (Caladris testasew) and
Avocet (Recurvirostra. avecetta) are indicated as
rare. Among reptiles, Barakudia limbless skink is
perhaps extinct now.
iv. Conservation values
a. Habitat (Sbelter):Chilika has been a natural
habitat for water fowls and Irrawady river
dolphins. During the months of winter, birds
from other parts of the world, Siberia, Caspian
Sea of Russia, Mangolia, North and Central
Asia, Northern Europe, Antarctica, Persian
Gulf, Iran, Pakistan, Nepal and Tibet, as well as
from the northern and northeastern parts of the
country including Ladakh, Kashmir and Assam
come in large numbers for shelter to Chilika. As
per the available reports, as against an
estimate of more than 19 lakhs of birds
recorded in 1999, the figure dropped to 14.5
and 13 lakhs in 2000 and 2001, respectively.
(The New Indian Express, Bhubaneswar, 07/
01/2002). The annual bird census conducted by
the Wildlife Wing of Orissa, the figure has been
put at 15 lakhs for the winter of 2002. As many
as 87 species of birds were sighted during the
annual one day census conducted on January
13, 2002, of which 65 were migratory and 22
were residents (The New Indian Express,
Bhubaneswar, 06-02-20q2).
b. Buffering action/Sboreline and inland
protection: Chilika has been separated from
the Bay of Bengal by a 60 kIDlong narrow sand
bar. The total area of the sand bar has been
estimated to around 323.62 km' and acts as a
barrier island between the lagoon and the sea.
The sand bar with its sand dunes and
vegetation offers shoreline protection of the