Albino palm civet sighted in Satkosia Tiger Reserve

Source: DowntoEarth

What is the news?

The common palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) has been sighted in Odisha’s Satkosia Tiger Reserve after 129 years.

Common palm civet

• It is also known as Asian palm civet or Indian palm civet.
• A partial albino common palm civet, Saliapatani, was last sighted in 1891 in the forests of Kandhamal district.
  • Albinism is a hypo-pigmentary disorder with a total lack of both melanins in hair, eyes and skin due to the heritable absence of functional tyrosinase enzyme in pigment cells affecting skin and hair. This resulting in a total white plumage / fur with red eyes. Albinism is controlled via inheritance by an autosomal recessive gene in all animal species
• The common palm civet is a small mammal belonging to the family Viverridae.
• It is thought to lead a solitary lifestyle, except for brief periods during mating.
• It is both terrestrial and arboreal, and shows a nocturnal activity pattern.
• Habitat: It can be found in southern and southeastern Asia.
• Conservation status:
  • IUCN Red list = Least Concern (LC)
  • Indian Wildlife Protection Act 1972 = Schedule II
  • CITES = Appendix III

Satkosia Tiger Reserve

• Satkosia was established as a wildlife sanctuary in 1976. It is spread along the magnificent gorge over the mighty river Mahanadi in Odisha.
• The name Satkosia originates from two words; sat meaning seven and kos meaning two miles, indicating the length of the gorge as 14 miles or 22 km.
• The area was declared as Satkosia Tiger Reserve in 2007, comprising two adjoining wildlife sanctuaries; the Satkosia Gorge sanctuary and Baisipalli sanctuary. The Reserve is spread over 4 districts like; Angul, Cuttack, Nayagarh and Boudh.
• Core area of the reserve is also a part of the Mahanadi elephant reserve. Satkosia is the meeting point of two bio-geographic regions of India; the Deccan Peninsula and the Eastern Ghats, contributing immense biodiversity.
• Species found: The area of Satkosia Tiger Reserve supports moist deciduous forest, dry deciduous forest and moist peninsular Sal forest.
  • This area is the home for Tiger, Leopard, Elephant, Gaur, Sambar, Spotted deer, Mouse deer, Nilgai, Chousingha, Sloth bear, Wild dog etc.
  • Varieties of resident and migratory birds, reptilian species( Gharial, Magar, Crocodile, Fresh Water turtle, Poisons & Non poisons snakes etc.)
• The Forest Department of the Government of Orissa with technical support from the UNDP and FAO decided to start a breeding programme of crocodiles during March 1974. As a part of this joint conservation initiative, the Gharial Research and Conservation Unit (GRACU) was started during March 1975.