Amir Sohail Choudhury | Assam University (original) (raw)
Papers by Amir Sohail Choudhury
UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY
Southern Assam (in Northeast India), also known as Barak valley, is a part of the Indo-Burma biod... more Southern Assam (in Northeast India), also known as Barak valley, is a part of the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot. With some magnificent species already extinct from the region, and some on the verge of extinction, the valley is rightly called the ‘Valley of Extinction’. The region has two wildlife sanctuaries (WLS): Barail WLS and Barak-Bhuban WLS; one proposed WLS (Patharia), and a network of reserve forests (RF) which serve as strongholds of several wild species. However, due to rapid deforestation and decrease in their suitable habitats, encroachment into the wildlife sanctuary and RFs, depletion of prey and food trees, expansion of agriculture, changes in land use and land cover, road kills, etc., most of the wildlife are severely threatened, while others have now adapted to human dominated habitats thereby becoming pests, and vulnerable to prosecution. Moreover, research on the wildlife of the region, excluding a few species, is extremely limited, more so in the case of carniv...
Mammalian Biology, 2019
The Ganges river dolphin (GRD) is an obligate freshwater cetacean that inhabits the Ganges-Brahma... more The Ganges river dolphin (GRD) is an obligate freshwater cetacean that inhabits the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM), and Karnaphuli-Sangu river basins of India, Bangladesh and Nepal. The other sub-species, Indus river dolphin, is distributed in the disjunct lower Indus basin of India and Pakistan. The global population and distribution range of the GRD has declined in the recent past, and thus the sub-species has been listed ‘Endangered’ by IUCN since 1996. In Assam (India), the Ganges sub-species occurs in the Barak and the Brahmaputra river systems. The Barak river is a tributary of the Meghna river, and is the upstream distribution range of the sub-species in this branch of the GBM river basin. The dolphin inhabits meanderings and confluences of rivers, with prevalence of eddy counter-current and the resultant high aquatic diversity, including prey fish abundance. In the 1970 s–1980 s, the cetacean used to be fairly common in the Barak river system. Of late, it has been extirpated from the tributaries of the Barak river, and currently no longer occurs in any part of the main channel as well. However, it continues to occur in the downstream Kushiyara river (a distributary of the Barak river) which suggests a decline in the upstream distribution range by approximately 135 km. The major factors which affected the decline and the extirpation of the cetacean from the Barak river system include poaching, by-catches and interactions with fisheries including prey-fish depletion, and habitat destruction and fragmentation due to construction of sluice gates, embankments, siltation of rivers, dredging, extraction of water for irrigation and domestic uses, aquatic pollution, and lack of awareness. Thus, for effective conservation of the dolphin, these threats need to be eliminated or managed. This article provides an exhaustive review of the distribution (past and present), population, ecology, threats and conservation recommendations of the GRD in the Barak river system of Assam, India. Further, the article includes data obtained from the recent surveys conducted by the authors in the Barak river system.
Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies, 2017
Primates, 2022
The Bengal slow loris (Nycticebus bengalensis) is an endangered nonhuman primate distributed in S... more The Bengal slow loris (Nycticebus bengalensis) is an endangered nonhuman primate distributed in Southeast Asia, including India. The species is facing sharp population decline throughout its range, largely due to acute habitat loss and fragmentation. IUCN revised the threatened status of the species from vulnerable to endangered in 2020. In the present study, habitat suitability modeling was conducted in southern Assam (India) to analyze the suitable habitat for the Bengal slow loris. The modeling analysis was performed using MaxEnt software. Using a reconnaissance field survey and questionnaire, data on the presence of 30 Bengal slow lorises were collected and run along with seven biophysical factors. The area under the curve (AUC 0.825) indicated high predictive performance of the model. A jackknife test revealed that all seven biophysical factors were important (scores greater than 0.1). The contribution of forest pattern, normalized difference vegetation index, elevation, slope, distance from cropland, normalized difference built-up index and distance from roads were found to be 35.3%, 34.9%, 9.3%, 5.9%, 5.7%, 4.6%, and 4.3%, respectively. Based on thresholds including minimum training presence, tenth percentile training presence, and equal training sensitivity and specificity, this model indicates that 49.91%, 38.30% and 20.37% of the land, respectively, was suitable for the slow loris in southern Assam. This finding regarding habitat distribution and suitability is essential for identifying priority areas for future research and for focusing survey efforts for the long-term conservation of the species.
Primates
Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in publishe... more Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Journal of Threatened Taxa, 2019
A concise interpretation of people’s perception and attitude towards wildlife helps in formulatin... more A concise interpretation of people’s perception and attitude towards wildlife helps in formulating better long-term conservation policies. In an attempt to understand people’s perception, we considered one of the threatened and least known ecosystems of northeastern India, the Barail range, mainly focusing on the Barail Wildlife Sanctuary, the only protected area of this range, and falls in the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot area. The sanctuary is known for a high diversity of mammals, mainly primates (with seven reported species), and bears (with three of the eight globally known species—a diversity not met elsewhere in the globe). To protect its pristine wildlife wealth, it is essential that the perception of the local settlers is elucidated, and this prompted us to take up the present study. In this study, we used open- and close-ended questionnaire, which was then coded (yes/positive=1 and no/negative=0). Each response was thoroughly examined using logistic regression and variables like socioeconomic factors, knowledge of the sanctuary, wildlife and forest management were found to generate positive perception towards the sanctuary and its wildlife, and vice-versa. Further, alternative means is suggested in terms of tourism, and the attitudes towards instigation of tourism were mostly favoured by the locals. Besides promoting tourism, providing alternative livelihood and vocational trainings for the locals and, timely compensation for the losses caused by the animals should be long-term strategies for the conservation of the mammals of the sanctuary. It has been increasingly recognized that involvement of locals is a prima facie requirement in the conservation of wildlife, and as such their perception is of great significance. While the study was conducted at the Barail Wildlife Sanctuary, the results may translate in other protected areas, and may be referred to as a model strategy for other protected areas having similar scenario.
Biawak , 2019
The Barak Valley, located in India's northeastern state of Assam, is a part of the Indo-Burma bio... more The Barak Valley, located in India's northeastern state of Assam, is a part of the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot and harbors a rich wildlife assemblage. The valley is characterized by a diverse blending of forests, wetlands, rivers, hills and plains. Of the four species of Varanus reported from India, two are distributed within the Barak Valley, the Asian water monitor (V. salvator) and the Bengal monitor (V. bengalensis). Since the last century, an increasing human population and the destruction of wildlife habitats due to logging, the expansion agricultural land, encroachment on forests, the establishment of tea gardens, and infrastructure development have resulted in severe population declines for the wildlife of the region, including varanids. This has also led to human-wildlife conflicts and retaliatory killings and the hunting of the varanids for their meat and oil. However, studies on the conservation status, ecology and threats to varanids in the region are lacking. This article reports on incidences of varanids killed by local residents and discusses the prevailing threats in the area. Based on these accounts, we provide recommendations for the conservation of the varanids of the valley and encourage more studies on these species.
From December 2015-April 2016 and October-December 2016 we undertook a survey for eight months to... more From December 2015-April 2016 and October-December 2016 we undertook a survey for eight months to document the recent status of occurrence and threats of primates at Hailakandi (Assam). As a result, we found Rhesus macaque were the most common primates species (90% occurrence) while threatened species like Capped langur as fairly common (68% occurrence), Phayre's leaf monkey as uncommon (43% occurrence) and Hoolock gibbon remain to be as rare (37% occurrence). In priority rating, Hoolock gibbon scores 9 high for any primate species, this is followed by Stump-tailed macaque scores 8 and Assamese macaque scores 7 analogues to Slow loris while Phayre's leaf monkey scores 6 irrespective of its threatened status. Thus, the species score near to or equal to 11 would indicate an urgent attention for conservation. Among conservation issues habitat loss, illegal encroachment and poaching were supposed to be major issues of concern. Besides lack of awareness and scientific study also devoid this area from better conservation practice. At last, it is hope that the present area could make significant contribution to the survival of these globally threatened primate species if right conservation strategies are implement in time.
BAUWWA BEEL is among 47th IBA of Assam. Earlier it is known to support more than 90 species inclu... more BAUWWA BEEL is among 47th IBA of Assam. Earlier it is known to support more than 90 species including four threatened species of birds. This fresh water beel has not been surveyed for about eight years until last year and subsequently this year. Results were detrimental; this small beel is under threat by land reclamation, siltation, overfishing, flood, pollution but it has potential to become good birding spot if conserved in time. In this article an attempt has been made to aware people about this small fresh water beel.
UTTAR PRADESH JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY
Southern Assam (in Northeast India), also known as Barak valley, is a part of the Indo-Burma biod... more Southern Assam (in Northeast India), also known as Barak valley, is a part of the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot. With some magnificent species already extinct from the region, and some on the verge of extinction, the valley is rightly called the ‘Valley of Extinction’. The region has two wildlife sanctuaries (WLS): Barail WLS and Barak-Bhuban WLS; one proposed WLS (Patharia), and a network of reserve forests (RF) which serve as strongholds of several wild species. However, due to rapid deforestation and decrease in their suitable habitats, encroachment into the wildlife sanctuary and RFs, depletion of prey and food trees, expansion of agriculture, changes in land use and land cover, road kills, etc., most of the wildlife are severely threatened, while others have now adapted to human dominated habitats thereby becoming pests, and vulnerable to prosecution. Moreover, research on the wildlife of the region, excluding a few species, is extremely limited, more so in the case of carniv...
Mammalian Biology, 2019
The Ganges river dolphin (GRD) is an obligate freshwater cetacean that inhabits the Ganges-Brahma... more The Ganges river dolphin (GRD) is an obligate freshwater cetacean that inhabits the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM), and Karnaphuli-Sangu river basins of India, Bangladesh and Nepal. The other sub-species, Indus river dolphin, is distributed in the disjunct lower Indus basin of India and Pakistan. The global population and distribution range of the GRD has declined in the recent past, and thus the sub-species has been listed ‘Endangered’ by IUCN since 1996. In Assam (India), the Ganges sub-species occurs in the Barak and the Brahmaputra river systems. The Barak river is a tributary of the Meghna river, and is the upstream distribution range of the sub-species in this branch of the GBM river basin. The dolphin inhabits meanderings and confluences of rivers, with prevalence of eddy counter-current and the resultant high aquatic diversity, including prey fish abundance. In the 1970 s–1980 s, the cetacean used to be fairly common in the Barak river system. Of late, it has been extirpated from the tributaries of the Barak river, and currently no longer occurs in any part of the main channel as well. However, it continues to occur in the downstream Kushiyara river (a distributary of the Barak river) which suggests a decline in the upstream distribution range by approximately 135 km. The major factors which affected the decline and the extirpation of the cetacean from the Barak river system include poaching, by-catches and interactions with fisheries including prey-fish depletion, and habitat destruction and fragmentation due to construction of sluice gates, embankments, siltation of rivers, dredging, extraction of water for irrigation and domestic uses, aquatic pollution, and lack of awareness. Thus, for effective conservation of the dolphin, these threats need to be eliminated or managed. This article provides an exhaustive review of the distribution (past and present), population, ecology, threats and conservation recommendations of the GRD in the Barak river system of Assam, India. Further, the article includes data obtained from the recent surveys conducted by the authors in the Barak river system.
Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies, 2017
Primates, 2022
The Bengal slow loris (Nycticebus bengalensis) is an endangered nonhuman primate distributed in S... more The Bengal slow loris (Nycticebus bengalensis) is an endangered nonhuman primate distributed in Southeast Asia, including India. The species is facing sharp population decline throughout its range, largely due to acute habitat loss and fragmentation. IUCN revised the threatened status of the species from vulnerable to endangered in 2020. In the present study, habitat suitability modeling was conducted in southern Assam (India) to analyze the suitable habitat for the Bengal slow loris. The modeling analysis was performed using MaxEnt software. Using a reconnaissance field survey and questionnaire, data on the presence of 30 Bengal slow lorises were collected and run along with seven biophysical factors. The area under the curve (AUC 0.825) indicated high predictive performance of the model. A jackknife test revealed that all seven biophysical factors were important (scores greater than 0.1). The contribution of forest pattern, normalized difference vegetation index, elevation, slope, distance from cropland, normalized difference built-up index and distance from roads were found to be 35.3%, 34.9%, 9.3%, 5.9%, 5.7%, 4.6%, and 4.3%, respectively. Based on thresholds including minimum training presence, tenth percentile training presence, and equal training sensitivity and specificity, this model indicates that 49.91%, 38.30% and 20.37% of the land, respectively, was suitable for the slow loris in southern Assam. This finding regarding habitat distribution and suitability is essential for identifying priority areas for future research and for focusing survey efforts for the long-term conservation of the species.
Primates
Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in publishe... more Publisher's Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Journal of Threatened Taxa, 2019
A concise interpretation of people’s perception and attitude towards wildlife helps in formulatin... more A concise interpretation of people’s perception and attitude towards wildlife helps in formulating better long-term conservation policies. In an attempt to understand people’s perception, we considered one of the threatened and least known ecosystems of northeastern India, the Barail range, mainly focusing on the Barail Wildlife Sanctuary, the only protected area of this range, and falls in the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot area. The sanctuary is known for a high diversity of mammals, mainly primates (with seven reported species), and bears (with three of the eight globally known species—a diversity not met elsewhere in the globe). To protect its pristine wildlife wealth, it is essential that the perception of the local settlers is elucidated, and this prompted us to take up the present study. In this study, we used open- and close-ended questionnaire, which was then coded (yes/positive=1 and no/negative=0). Each response was thoroughly examined using logistic regression and variables like socioeconomic factors, knowledge of the sanctuary, wildlife and forest management were found to generate positive perception towards the sanctuary and its wildlife, and vice-versa. Further, alternative means is suggested in terms of tourism, and the attitudes towards instigation of tourism were mostly favoured by the locals. Besides promoting tourism, providing alternative livelihood and vocational trainings for the locals and, timely compensation for the losses caused by the animals should be long-term strategies for the conservation of the mammals of the sanctuary. It has been increasingly recognized that involvement of locals is a prima facie requirement in the conservation of wildlife, and as such their perception is of great significance. While the study was conducted at the Barail Wildlife Sanctuary, the results may translate in other protected areas, and may be referred to as a model strategy for other protected areas having similar scenario.
Biawak , 2019
The Barak Valley, located in India's northeastern state of Assam, is a part of the Indo-Burma bio... more The Barak Valley, located in India's northeastern state of Assam, is a part of the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot and harbors a rich wildlife assemblage. The valley is characterized by a diverse blending of forests, wetlands, rivers, hills and plains. Of the four species of Varanus reported from India, two are distributed within the Barak Valley, the Asian water monitor (V. salvator) and the Bengal monitor (V. bengalensis). Since the last century, an increasing human population and the destruction of wildlife habitats due to logging, the expansion agricultural land, encroachment on forests, the establishment of tea gardens, and infrastructure development have resulted in severe population declines for the wildlife of the region, including varanids. This has also led to human-wildlife conflicts and retaliatory killings and the hunting of the varanids for their meat and oil. However, studies on the conservation status, ecology and threats to varanids in the region are lacking. This article reports on incidences of varanids killed by local residents and discusses the prevailing threats in the area. Based on these accounts, we provide recommendations for the conservation of the varanids of the valley and encourage more studies on these species.
From December 2015-April 2016 and October-December 2016 we undertook a survey for eight months to... more From December 2015-April 2016 and October-December 2016 we undertook a survey for eight months to document the recent status of occurrence and threats of primates at Hailakandi (Assam). As a result, we found Rhesus macaque were the most common primates species (90% occurrence) while threatened species like Capped langur as fairly common (68% occurrence), Phayre's leaf monkey as uncommon (43% occurrence) and Hoolock gibbon remain to be as rare (37% occurrence). In priority rating, Hoolock gibbon scores 9 high for any primate species, this is followed by Stump-tailed macaque scores 8 and Assamese macaque scores 7 analogues to Slow loris while Phayre's leaf monkey scores 6 irrespective of its threatened status. Thus, the species score near to or equal to 11 would indicate an urgent attention for conservation. Among conservation issues habitat loss, illegal encroachment and poaching were supposed to be major issues of concern. Besides lack of awareness and scientific study also devoid this area from better conservation practice. At last, it is hope that the present area could make significant contribution to the survival of these globally threatened primate species if right conservation strategies are implement in time.
BAUWWA BEEL is among 47th IBA of Assam. Earlier it is known to support more than 90 species inclu... more BAUWWA BEEL is among 47th IBA of Assam. Earlier it is known to support more than 90 species including four threatened species of birds. This fresh water beel has not been surveyed for about eight years until last year and subsequently this year. Results were detrimental; this small beel is under threat by land reclamation, siltation, overfishing, flood, pollution but it has potential to become good birding spot if conserved in time. In this article an attempt has been made to aware people about this small fresh water beel.