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Columban J. Life Scr. Vol.10 No.1&2 9-14 2009

REPORT ON THE SNAKE FAUNAOFHAZARIBAGDISTruCIJHARKHAND,INDIA

Satya Prakasht and M. Raziuddin2INeo Human Foundation, College More, Hazaribag 825 301, Jharkhand' India

,University Depaftment of Zoology, vinoba Bhave University, Hazaribag 825 3 0 I '

ABSTRACTNinteen species ofsnakes belonging to five families are recorded

lrom clilferent parts of Hazaribag district of Jharkhar.rd. Out of

these only six species v\2.. BtLngarus caeruleus' B fasciattts'Naja naja, Daboia nLsselii'; Cryptelytrops albolabris (Gray)

and L'iriclovipera sp arevenomous Of the total recorded species'

P.rthon molttrus (Linnaeus) is specified in Schedule I, Part Il of

Wildlii'e Protection Act 1972, while Amphiesma stolata

(Linnaeus). Mcrcropisthodon plumbicoior (Cantor)'

.Xenochrophis piscalor (Schneider). Naja naja (Linnaeus) and

Dctboia rttsselii (Shaw & Nodder) are in Schedule iI of Part II'lhe IUCN statuses ofthe species are also provided'

Key words: Snakes, Jharkhand, Hazaribag, Nortli

Chhotarragpur. Fauna.

INTRODUCTIONThe reptile fauna of India is unique in its diversity'

Sr-rakes belonging to the order Squamata are the most

fascinating legless predators characterized by their

elongated bodies covered with overlapping scales

leitner smooth or keeled) and lacking movable

eyelids and external ears. These feed upon live

animal prey and are widely distributed al1 over India'

Like other reptiles of India, the snake fauna are

slorvly disappearing rnainly becattse of the growing

demancl for their skin in the intemational market, their

ruthless killing and destruction of their natural

habitats.

Ahmad and Dasgupta (1991) have studied lizards

and snakes of north Bihar but no such record is

available for north Chhotanagpur division of

Jharkhand. In the present pap€r an attempt has beBn

made, perhaps for tlie first time, to record the snake

fauna of Hazaribag district. It is based on our surveys

to different localitiesiareas of Hazaribag district

including forest areas ftom200'7 -2009 '

PHYSIOGRAPHY OF HAZARIBAGHazaribag district of Jharkliand forms a part of

Chhotanagpur plateau and has an area of 5998 Km'?'

It lies between exteut from84a2l'E longitude to 850

5 5' 32" E lon gitude and 230 25' 29 "N latitude to 240

49'24"N latitude. The average elevatiotl is 604

meters. It is a region of residuary 'hills and

intermountain valleys. lt is predominantly a forest

district with about 36.05 % forest areas. The climate

is moderate but tlie later part of December to early

part of January have chilly days and night, the

mercury dropping down to an average of 40C to 50C

or even less. During peak summer (May) maxitnum

temperatttre shoots up to more than 400C' This region

gets more thang0o/o of total rainfall from the monsoon

during the rainy season. The average annual rainfall

is 1234.5 mm. Between July to mid October prevails

high Humidity.

MATERIAL AND METHODSA through survey of different areas of the district

was made with a view to locate snakes between

2001-2009. lnformation received by Neo Humat.r

Foundati on ( a Hazaribagbased NGO worki n g i n th e

field of Wildlife Conservation) frorn different sources

about the presence of any snake in and around

Hazaribag were irnmediately looked into and the

rescued snakes were identified and then handed over

to the Department of Forest and Environmellt

(Wildlife Division) Hazarlbag. Snake sticks were used

for rescuing the snakes safelY.

Photographs of the snakes were taken using Nikon

D60 (SLR) and Sony Cyber-shot DSC-H9 cameras'

Snakes were identified with the help of keys provided

by Deoras (1970), Whitaker (1978), Daniel (2002)

and Das (2008).

OBSERVATIONS ANN bTSCUSSION

There are about 240 species of snakes in India of

which only 52 species are venomous (Murthy and

Ravichandran, 1 998).

Phone number' + 91 - 9934509213 I 993419098'7

e-mail- nhfsatya@hotmail.com, mrazi vbu@Bmail com

Received I 7 October 2009; Accepted 1 4 November 2009

SNAKE FALINA OF HAZARIBAG

PLATE. I

Fig: I . Ramphotyphlops braminus 2. Python molurus 3. Lycodon aulicus 4. Oligodon arnensis 5.

Amphiesma stolats 6. Macropisthodon plumbicolor 7. Xenochrophis piscator 8. Atretium schistosum

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COLUMBAN J. LIFE SCr. VOL. 10 (t&2),2009

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In the past Herpetofauna of various parls of Indiahave been studied by a number of workers viz,.Biswas and Sanyal (1977), Sharma (i982), Ahmadarrd Dasgupta (1992), Sanyal (1993, 1995), Das

(1991),Gyan (1999), Ingle (2002, 2003), Negi (2004),

Chandra and Gajbe (2005) and others.

In Hazartibag district ofNorth Chhotanagpur a totalof 1 9 speices of snakes belonging to 5 families viz.,

Typhlopidiae, (l sp.) Boidae (1 sp.) Colubridae (11

sp.). Elapidae (3sp.) and Viperidae (3 sp.) have been

observed and identified (Table i) during the period

2001 to 2009. Further, of the Ninteen species

reported here only Six species viz., Bungaruscaeruleus, B. fasciatus, Naja naja, Daboiar u s s e I i i. C ryp t e ly tro p s a I b o I ab r i s and Vir id ov ip er a

sp. (Figs. 12,13,14, l5 and 16) are venomous and

the rest (Figs.1-1 1) are nonvenortous.

Table I also shows the status of the snakes as

specified in the Willd Life Protection Act (WPA),

1972 (as ammended up to date), IUCN status and

their distribution. Python molurus (Linnaeus) as

listed in Schedule I Part II of the WPA, 1972. Fivespecies of snakes viz., Atretium schistosum (Daudin),

Xenochrophis piscator (Schneider), lVaia naia(Linnaeus), Ptyas rnucosels (Linnaeus) and Daboiarusselii (Shaw & Nodder) are specified in Schedule

II of Part II and thirteen species viz.,Romphotyphlops braminus (Daudin), Lycodon

aulicus (Linnaeus), Oligodon arnensis (Shaw),

Antphiesma stolata (Linnaeus), Macropisthodonplumbicolor (Cantor), Argyrogena fctsciolata(Shaw). Dendrelaphis tristis (Daudin), Ahaetullanasuta (Lacepede), Boigaforsten I (Dum. & Bibr.),

Bunp;arus caeruleus (Schneider), Bungarus

Jasciatus (Schneider), Cryptelytrops albolabris(Gray 1812) and Viridovipera sp.are specified in

schedLrle lV of the WP{,1912.

So far as the green pit viper (also local name 'Basar

samp') listed at serial number 18 in table I is

concerned, we have not yet been able to identif its

species. This snake was observed for about half an

hour and photographed in a small forest near

Chharwa Dam area, a suburb of Hazaribag town.

It closely resembled in all details with that of the

Medo Pit Yiper (Viridovipera medoensis) described

by Das (2008) except for the absence ofbicolouredwhite/red ventrolateral stripes.

During the period ofsurvey nearly hundred snakes ,

both venomous and noltvenomous, from different

COLUMBAN J. LIFE SCr. VOL. 10 (1&2),2009

localities in and around Hazaribag district Head

Quarters were rescued, which after properidentification were handed over to the Deparlmentof Forest and Environment (Wildlife Division),Hazaribag.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThe authors are extremely thankful to Dr. Anil I(umarMishra, DFO, Wildlife Division,Hazarlbag for hishelp in manifold ways. We are also thankfulto ShriB.R.Rallan, RCCF, Department of Forest &Environmen t, Hazaribagand Sh ri Mahend ra Prasad,

DFO, East Division, Hazaribagfortheir ever helping

attitude and co-operation during the survey. Specialthanks are due to Shri Murari Singh, member IBCN(BNHS) and Neo Human Foundation for hiscontinued supporl and help.

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Snakes ofNorth Bihar. Records of the Zoological survev o/IndiaSS(1):7 5-80.

Ahmed, S. and G Dasgupta 1992. Reptilia, pp. 1-65. |n; Stdte

Fauna Series 3 ; Fattna of West Bengal, Part 2 . Zoological survey

of Ind ia.

Bisrvas, S. and D.P, Sanyal 1977. Fauna of Rajesthan. India.

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