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The Indian Pangolin, Manis crassicaudata is a nocturnal, elusive, sparsely distributed, poorly studied and rapidly declining species.  The stomach contents of a female Indian Pangolin were analysed from a road kill specimen collected from the South Wayanad Forest Division in Kerala on September 2013 and confirms that they are myrmecophagous, i.e., feeding primarily on ants and ant eggs.  The morphometry of the head and position of the eye in the head was used to identify the ant species consumed, which was found to be exclusively Leptogenys sp. with head size of one to two millimeter.  Since the abundance of the ant species was not available, the preference could not be determined.  Rather, our preliminary survey in the area revealed that Leptogenys sp. is the most abundant in the tropical moist deciduous forest of Wayanad, Kerala.  The soft parts of the ant body were digested while only the heads remained in the stomach content.  Similarly, only hard egg shells could be identified from the content.  The major proportion of the stomach content was grit (50%), both in frequency and biomass.  Ant head constituted higher biomass (41.3%) and lower frequency (22.5%) whereas ant egg shells were found in higher number (29%) with a low biomass (1.8%).  The present observation gives insight into ant species selection and biomass contribution.  Though the biomass of ant head was higher, its contribution to the Indian Pangolin nutrient intake is unknown. Further research is needed to better understand the diet of the Indian Pangolin.

1. In vertebrate population estimation, converting faecal density into animal density requires information on the faecal production rate, decay rate and faecal density. Differences in the above factors for long-lived species across age classes were not evaluated. We have evaluated these factors associated with the dung count of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in the tropical forest of southern India.2. The defecation rate of elephants was determined in semi-wild elephants at the Mudumalai elephant camp. The relationship between dung bolus diameter and age was determined to estimate the age of the elephant. The total and age-specific elephant density based on dung bolus diameter was estimated. A total of 24 transect lines of 2-4 km (125 km) were sampled in the study area. An experiment was conducted to assess the detection probability across the age classes of dung piles. The dung decay rates across age classes and seasons were determined by marking fresh dung piles (n = 1551). The dung-based age structure assessment and its limitations were evaluated.3. The mean defecation rate was 13.51 ± 0.51 per day. The defecation rate was significantly lower for the younger age class and increased with the age of elephants.Defecation rates were significantly lower in the wet season than in the dry. The dung bolus diameter positively increased with the age of elephants, and the growth curve can be used to predict the age and age structure of elephant populations.4. The disparity in the dung production rate results in the lower availability of younger age class (juvenile and calf) dung in the transect for counting, which results in lower dung abundance. The detection probability of dung piles of younger age classes was low (0.58). The survival rates of dung piles of younger age classes were lower and increased with the age of elephants in the wet season. Hence, the demographic assessment of the population based on dung needs to consider age-specific differences in dung production, decay and detection probability. Although the This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Tuticorin district of Tamilnadu has the potential of growing Banana in an area of more than 11,000 ha annually under canal irrigation system. The farmers were lacking in technical knowhow about improved technologies in Banana cultivation. The present study was conducted during 2013 to ascertain the knowledge gain and adoption level of thirteen specific technologies demonstrated through various interventions during earlier years by the KVK. Tiruchendur and Alwarthirunagari blocks of Tuticorin District were taken for study and the respondents were randomly selected at the rate of 50 beneficiary farmers per block. The data were collected through personal contacts (interview) with well designed questionnaire. The data revealed that the gain in knowledge was more than 50 per cent for technologies viz., foliar application of Banana special (73 %), use of bunch cover (63%), drip irrigation (62 %) and application of Pseudomonas (54%). Similarly, foliar application of Banana special and soil application of neem cake and Furadon recorded the highest extent of adoption, 66 and 53 per cent, respectively. This could be due to the easiness and effectiveness of technologies in field application and yield enhancement. Though the acquisition of knowledge for the technologies like drip irrigation (85 %), use of tissue culture plants (52%) and high density planting (42%) was high, the number of farmers adopting these technologies were very low i.e. 18, 11 and 5 %, respectively due to the various reasons.

Elephant conservation carries cost in the form of human-elephant conflict and affects the wellbeing of people living near ecologically important areas.  Conflicts impart serious challenges towards the survival of Asian Elephants, which are categorized as Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.  Issues of wildlife conservation are least addressed in areas with less restricted categories of protection.  Hence an attempt was made to evaluate the intensity of elephant conflict and factors associated with its occurrence in villages with forest fringes of North and South Forest Divisions of Nilambur, Kerala, southern India.  It was hypothesized that variables such as number of houses, area of village, livestock population, forest frontage, and presence of water source along the forest boundary abutting the village to be the underlying correlates of conflict.  Field studies were conducted fortnightly from June 2014 to May 2015, by visiting farms and households of 17 selected forest fringe villages.  Observational methods, questionnaire surveys and secondary data collection were employed for this purpose.  A total of 277 incidents of crop depredation, 12 incidents of property damage, three human injuries, and one human death due to conflict were recorded during this period.  Crop raiding was highest during post monsoon season and it was low during pre-monsoon and monsoon seasons.  Multiple linear regression results suggest that forest frontage and livestock population were significant predictors of conflict incidence.  Information regarding the prime causes of conflict will be helpful for planning strategies for the establishment of appropriate mitigation methods.  The present study serves as baseline information which will be helpful for formulating prospective management plans.