The buffalo soldier

A FORTNIGHT ago a bunch of us were lucky enough to attend the elaborate yet noisy wildlife week celebrations at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park SGNP wherein Amitabh Bachchan took oath as Maharashtra Statersquos Tiger Ambassador in the presence of the ministers of state for forests environment and climate change There were vehement mentions about planting 50000 to a lakh trees to restore the ecological balance although the species mentioned were a matter of laughter and concern for some of us The gathering unanimously agreed that this yearrsquos monsoons were a mirage and the reality of climate change has dawned on a few intelligent and learned soulsThe cattle egretIn the Isles of Mumbai the dry season has technically begun but Mumbaikars are barely showing any signs of concern lounging sleepily in their cocoons Most are still animatedly discussing the latest cricket scores and whether the films released last Friday will gross in the expected crores As for me Irsquom curious to observe the mechanisms nature will employ to combat this yearrsquos droughtlike conditions or whether there will be any realignment in the way we humans celebrate our Holi and Rang PanchamiGlobally wildlife biologists and climate scientists have started to study reactions of local flora and fauna to the increasing lsquoclimate eventsrsquo Repeated floods in semiarid regions like Rajasthan Gujarat or Ladakh cloud bursts in Uttarakhand Kashmir Himachal or SubHimalayan West Bengal droughts in tropical rainfed regions and increasing intensity of cyclones and tornadoes in coastal islands have become an undeniable reality Sadly few realise that in monsoondominated Peninsular India many of our agrobased industries are going to be affected by this rainfall scarcity mdash primarily the farmers fisherfolks the dairy industry and even our tourism industryIt is typical of biologists to study migratory highly water dependent or evolutionarily ancient taxon groups such as odonates dragonflies and damselflies to figure out responses to climate change But it will be an eyeopener to track highly adaptable and fast expanding or colonising species such as Prosopis Mesquite Lantana mosquitoes rats crows or pigeons to understand how they are using these seemingly unfavourable conditions to their advantage In my opinion the best contender for this fastspreading and colonising category among birds is the ubiquitous cattle egretFound across the tropics subtropics and warm temperate zones the cattle egret is the most widespread bird across the globe In fact they have flown across the Atlantic Ocean colonised deep oceanic islands and taken over parts of North America Canada Costa Rica Mexico Australia New Zealand and France in the last 50 years Fiji and United Kingdom have seen their colonising onslaught as recently as 2008 Their commensalistic association with all forms of cattle and wider human farming are believed to be major causes of their expanded range Though the global population of the cattle egret stands at over seven million individuals and they classify as an invasive species in many parts of the world their benign nature has prevented them from being declared a pestCattle egrets are elegant white waders found living around shallow wetlands and grasslands following cows buffaloes horses camels and goats grabbing any disturbed invertebrate or even small vertebrate preys Structurally they are more similar to herons than other egrets and sometimes exploit habitats far away from water bodies Occasionally in forests cattle egrets are seen taking free rides on deer gaur wild buffaloes and rhinos literally rushing to function as personal pest controllers for wild cattleFlocks of cattle egret create treetop heronries close to human localities probably for protection along with cormorants other egret species Ibis and storks The lack of apex predators in adults and an occasional hunt of a chick has allowed cattle egrets to flourish and display their bright orange breeding colours across the globe Sadly in semiurbanised landscapes these birds are found scavenging in garbage dumps especially near abattoirs and meat packing factoriesIt will be a travesty that shrinking water bodies caused by droughts and extreme climate events push these buffalo soldiers towards extinction and they lose the hunting grounds they have so rightfully colonisedWrite in to Anand at sproutsonlinegmailcom