Although Meghalaya's hoolocks have lost more than half their known habitat since the 1950s, viable populations are still found in the Balpakram and Nokrek National Parks in the Garo Hills, the Nonghkhyllem Wildlife Sanctuary in Ri-Bhoi and Narpuh Reserved Forest in the Jaintia Hills. Though there are also good populations in the forests of the West Khasi Hills, these are private and community lands and I am not too optimistic about their future. Other reserved forests such as Saipung, Baghmara, Songsak, Rongrengiri, Dhima, Dambu, Chimabongshi, Angratoli, Rewak and Emangre hold scattered populations.
I was born in Meghalaya, which was then a part of Assam, and love its beautiful mountains, high plateaux and wild rivers. Today, despite the decline of the state's wildlife, there is much to celebrate in this land of diversity. While at Darugiri, I also got reports of slow lorises being captured near habitations at night. The loris is patchily distributed all over Meghalaya. Gibbons and lorises need contiguous forest so that they can move great distances without having to descend to the ground. Unfortunately, throughout their range, they are now forced to cross barren patches on foot, exposing them to predators.
As I moved on, a group of capped langurs bounded away. The display of primate diversity in this small jungle was truly impressive. I had earlier observed these animals in the Baghmara and Narpuh Reserved Forest and the Nongkhyllem Sanctuary. Good populations are also found in the Balpakram, Siju and Nokrek reserves. With their bright golden-yellow fronts, Meghalaya's capped langurs are often mistaken for golden langurs. The state has four more primates, all macaques - the pig-tailed, Assamese, rhesus and the stump-tailed. The stump-tailed is the rarest but is still seen in Narpuh, Nokrek and Balpakram.
Elephantine problems
Meghalaya's Garo Hills were once thickly forested, but barren slopes are now the norm, due to jhum or shifting cultivation. The market economy and an increasing population have ensured that jhum cycles have shrunk from 15-20 years to less than five now, preventing regeneration. The species worst affected is the Asian elephant, of which there were around 1,870 in Meghalaya in 2002, down from 2,870 in 1993. About two-thirds of this population live in the Garo Hills alone. Human-elephant conflict is now a severe problem and large herds have migrated to the small forests of Assam's Goalpara district to the north, leading to conflict and a rising toll on humans and elephants. The Jaintia Hills have only a few elephants in Narpuh and Lakadong, but the Ri-Bhoi and the West Khasi Hills still have sizeable populations.
Cats, bears and pandas
Meghalaya's pride is its state animal, the beautiful and rare clouded leopard, whose stronghold is the Balpakram-Siju and Narpuh-Saipung areas. The adaptable common leopard is still widely distributed, but the tiger is now extremely rare, with as few as 47 of the striped cats estimated in 2002. Recent pugmarks confirm the presence of small numbers in the Nongkhyllem, Balpakram-Siju and Nokrek Protected Areas as well as Narpuh. Lesser cats include the jungle cat and leopard cat, as well as the rare fishing cat, golden cat and marbled cat.
Given the diversity of Meghalaya's forests, it should come as no surprise that they are home to three species of bears, the Himalayan black bear, sloth bear (a specimen was recovered near Umsning in Ri-Bhoi) and the Malayan or sun bear (recorded at Balpakram). The Himalayan black bear in particular is extensively hunted for its bile and gall bladder. Smaller carnivores also abound, among them the hog badger, binturong, dhole, jackal, weasel and otter.
The presence of the elusive red panda in the state has been a source of much debate and controversy, as it was hitherto found only in temperate Himalayan forests and other mountain areas farther east. There is a story dating back to the 1980s, of a forester in Balpakram going out and shooting a panda to convince disbelieving visitors of its presence! The Garos call the red panda Matchibel and among the Khasi hunters, it is known as Tkhanbah. My records indicate that the red panda is mainly confined to Nokrek and Balpakram in the Garo Hills and the adjacent forests of the West Khasi Hills. I also found it farther east in Trongpleng in the Mawsynram area of the East Khasi Hills district.
In the Himalaya, the red panda occurs above 1,500 m., while in Meghalaya, it is recorded between 700 m. to 1,400 m. The Tura-based wildlifer Surajit Roy has even reported seeing one in the Siju Sanctuary, adjacent to Balpakram in 1997, at an altitude of just 200 m. Though little is known about these arboreal mammals, habitat loss and opportunistic killing have drastically reduced their numbers.
The rare water buffalo
Sceptics also dismissed the existence of the globally endangered wild water buffalo in Meghalaya, until a huge bull was shot after it killed five people in the Balpakram-Siju area in the 1970s. Small groups of 10 to 20 are found in the Balpakram-Siju-Baghmara belt and adjacent areas including parts of the West Khasi Hills. Unlike the buffalo, gaur were once common until foot-and-mouth disease, poaching and habitat loss caused their extinction in many areas, leaving the only significant populations in Balpakram and adjacent areas of the West Khasi Hills.
The serow (red subspecies) and sambar are still not uncommon, but the goral has been reported only from the Garo Hills and I believe it is very rare. An interesting quirk observed among sambar in the Garo Hills is the growth of long, unbranched antlers on some individuals. Local hunters mistake this to be a new deer species, however, from specimens I have examined, I am sure that they are, in fact, sambar. Muntjac and wild boar are still plentiful, and the hog deer is still occasionally found in the Garo Hills, but swamp deer are now extinct.
Around 450 bird species have been listed from Meghalaya, although I suspect that proper studies could reveal over 500. Commoner galliformes such as the Kalij Pheasant, Red Junglefowl, Grey Peacock Pheasant, White-cheeked Hill Partridge, Common Hill Partridge and Mountain Bamboo Partridge are still ubiquitous. The rare Swamp Francolin has not been reported for many years while the Black Francolin has also become rare. The Common Peafowl has been hunted to extinction in the Garo Hills. The globally endangered White-winged Wood Duck and Greater Adjutant Stork have only been recorded from the South Garo Hills and Ri-Bhoi respectively.
Only three of the five species of hornbills that once occurred in Meghalaya survive today - the Great Pied (the state bird), Wreathed and the Oriental Pied. The endangered Rufous-necked Hornbill, once found in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, now probably survives only in the Narpuh Reserved Forest, which might also be the state's last remaining home for the Brown Hornbill. The Tawny-breasted Wren-Babbler Spelaeornis longicaudatus (recently recorded in Upper Shillong and Mawphlang) and the Dark-rumped or Khasi Hills' Swift Apus acuticauda are two globally endangered species from the Khasi Hills. The Cherrapunji cliffs are the world's most important nesting site for the Dark-rumped Swift.
Orchids, pitchers and coal mines
The Meghalaya plateau, parts of which are above 1,900 m., in the Khasi Hills is characterised by grassy meadows with scattered pine groves. This pine species, Pinus kesiya, is believed to be an introduced species, which has replaced the original broadleaf forest.
The rare blue vanda, lady's slipper and bamboo orchids have made Meghalaya famous as a botanical hotspot. The state's undisputed botanical wonder is the endemic carnivorous pitcher plant Nepenthes khasiana, not found anywhere else in the world. The pitcher plant is found on the moist, south-facing slopes of the West and South Garo Hills, West and East Khasi Hills and the Jaintia Hills. Despite being a source of pride for the state, the plant's habitat has suffered due to rampant coal mining in the Rymbai and Khliehriat areas of the Jaintia Hills. Some new pitcher plant habitats, discovered by T. Deb Roy and myself in the Jaintia Hills, are also threatened by mining. As of now, only two small sanctuaries for the plant exist, at Baghmara, under the forest department and at Jarain, under the Jaintia Hills District Council.
Rain, water and dams
‘Meghalaya' literally means ‘abode of rain or cloud'. Cherrapunji had the distinction of recording the highest rainfall in the world, 26,461 mm. between August 1860 and July 1861, of which 9,300 mm. was received in July. Such figures are now history, as the sacred groves here and elsewhere in the state have been destroyed. Water scarcity in Cherrapunji is today's reality and the magnificent waterfalls at Mawsmai (India's highest, over 315 m.), Nohkalikai and Kynrem have lost much of their glory, as winter flows have reduced.
At Peshadwar near the Bangladesh border, I took a boat up the Prang river, travelling several kilometres upstream, with elephant dung visible on the banks, gibbon calls in the background and the dense forest of the Narpuh Reserved Forest all around us. I was told that we were able to move so swiftly against the current in hilly terrain because deep gorges have cut the riverbed down almost to plains level for long distances. The Prang valley is just east of the Myntdu valley, where the Myntdu-Leshka dam is coming up. As we moved under the overhanging branches, I shuddered at the thought of this beautiful valley facing a similar fate!
There are already several hydroelectric dams in Meghalaya - Umiam (Barapani), Umtru and Kopili. While it may not be possible to stop all such dams due in part to genuine needs, and also because of pressure from vested interests, some river valleys in Meghalaya must at all costs be strictly protected because of their rich biodiversity. Among these are the Lubha and Prang (Hari) valleys in the Jaintia Hills and the Kanai, Mahdeo, Maheshkola and Simsang (Someswari) valleys in the South Garo Hills. The first two drain the Narpuh forests while the remaining four, the Balpakram and Siju areas. The Jadukata river valley in the West Khasi Hills and the Umngot valley at the junction of the Khasi and Jaintia Hills also teem with biodiversity.
Coal, lime and uranium dangers
I have seen the changes in the Shillong-Barak Valley over decades. The large flocks of hornbills and ubiquitous hoolock gibbon families in Narpuh near the Lubha river can no longer be sighted. The greenery in Khliehriat-Ladrymbai has given way to ugly, destructive coal mining, mostly through dangerous ‘rat' holes. A sacred grove at Chiehruphi, where a few troupes of gibbons live, is now being mined. The rivers originating in or flowing through the area are polluted, and residents of fishing villages downstream at Borghat near Muktapur on the Myntdu river have had to abandon their traditional occupation. The scenario is similar in other parts of the Jaintia and Garo Hills. Coal mining must be strictly monitored so that its impact is minimised. And there are many forested areas where mining must be banned. Then there are limestone mines and the dangers from proposed uranium mining.
The private ownership of forests is a major issue in Meghalaya. Reserved forests and the Protected Area network cover 12 and two per cent respectively of the state's forest cover. The only way to enlarge existing Protected Areas is by acquisition or through community involvement via “community reserves" as envisaged in the amended Wildlife (Protection) Act. As of now, felling continues in forests under private and community ownership, especially in the West Khasi Hills. Dense forest cover in the state has dropped from 33 per cent in 1980-82 to 25 per cent in 2000.
The way forward
Meghalaya is a globally significant biodiversity hotspot that must be preserved. For starters, steps must be taken, with the help of village councils and NGOs, to ensure that all sacred groves are strictly preserved. Both blocks of the Narpuh Reserved Forest, the falls and cliffs near Cherrapunji, the Darugiri-Songsak Reserved Forest and the forests near Trongpleng should be declared Protected Areas. The Baghmara Reserved Forest should either be included in Balpakram National Park or declared a separate Protected Area. Some of the West Khasi Hills' forests should be included within Balpakram, and the Nongkhyllem Sanctuary should be extended to include the remaining portion of the reserved forest and some adjacent areas. Nokrek also needs to be enlarged. Major pockets of pitcher plants should also be protected. The forest department's anti-poaching measures need to be strengthened. Strictly regulated eco-tourism with the involvement of local communities can be introduced in some areas. Sailing against the current on Meghalaya's south-flowing rivers, under a thick rainforest canopy could serve as a wonderful eye-opener for those who ignore nature's beauty and bounty!
by Anwaruddin Choudhury
