Wildlife Issues and Crisis in a Changing World: A Naturalist's 25 Years Jungle Journey in Asia Africa

Agoramoorthy, Govindasamy

• Publisher: Daya Publishing House
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9789383129508
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Zoology
• Index: Biological Sciences

Seeing wildlife was common in India two decades ago when the author studied Hanuman langurs in the Masanagudi jungle at Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary. During a recent visit, the author saw a bustling town ravaged by thousands of cattle that scavenged the forest floor replacing the langur habitat. Destruction of natural forest is not limited to India. When the author surveyed wildlife on the other side of the globe-in Trinidad and Tobago in 1990, he saw agriculture farms in the midst of a major wildlife sanctuary. Even in the remote wilderness of Liberia's only protected reserve in 1980s, he saw chainsaws chopping rainforest trees. From the Malay Peninsula to the islands of Java, Sumatra and Borneo, he had seen more palm plantations than rainforests. As a result, one of man's closest relatives and Asia's only great ape, the orangutan is nearing extinction. The conflict between human progress and wildlife survival is not likely to end any time soon. In this book, the author based on his 25 years of wildlife research in Africa, South America and Asia, introduces the pressing global wildlife conservation crisis into 20/20 focus. This monograph highlights a variety of wildlife, biodiversity and environmental issues facing developing nations globally. It emphasizes how field research could contribute to nature conservation. Therefore this book should serve as an introductory, supplementary and reference text for wildlife, biodiversity, environmental conservation, and sustainable development courses in colleges, universities and other institutes of higher learning around the globe.

Table of contents

• Preface
• 1. Chasing a Wild Dream–Jungle Adventure Memoirs
• 2. Biodiversity Surveys are Crucial for India
• 3. India’s Ignored Bats Need Conservation Attention and Action
• 4. Status of India’s Rarest Salim Ali’s Fruit Bat
• 5. Threat of Human-Induced Climate Change
• 6. Primates of the Thar Desert of Western India
• 7. Social Life of Bonnet Macaques in South India
• 8. On the Tiger Tourism in Ranthambore
• 9. Protecting India’s Rarest Giant Squirrels in Sanctuaries and Occurrence of Rare Birds and Otters in Villages
• 10. Toxic Waste Dumping in India by Developed Countries Affect Nature
• 11. Conserving India’s Rare Plants: Can it be Done?
• 12. India’s Rural Monuments in the Wilderness Need Urgent Protection
• 13. Animals aren’t Pariahs
• 14. Conservation of Forest Primates in Sapo National Park, Liberia, West Africa
• 15. Rescue, Rehabilitation and Release of Chimpanzees in Liberia, West Africa
• 16. Conservation Status of Black-and-Gold Howler Monkeys along Rio Riachuelo, Argentina
• 17. Feeding Associations Between Red Howlers and White-Tail Deer in the Rainforest of Venezuela
• 18. Inter-Group Infant Adoption Among Wild Red Howler Monkeys of Venezuela
• 19. Mate Choice in Red Howler Monkeys: At What Cost?
• 20. Conservation of Red Howlers and Capuchins in Trinidad, West Indies
• 21. Shaky Future of Wildlife in Trinidad: Can they Survive?
• 22. Human Disturbance Reduces Fauna Diversity in Tropical Caves
• 23. Wildlife Conservation in Taiwan: Problems and Prospects
• 24. Ritual Release of Wildlife Threatens Island Ecology
• 25. Heavy Metal Pollution Threatens Terrestrial Biota in Island Ecosystem
• 26. Primate Polythelia Puzzle
• 27. Population Status of Long-tailed Macaques in Singapore
• 28. Conserving a Shy Creature: The Malayan Flying Lemurs in Singapore
• 29. Community-Based Wildlife Tourism in Indonesia: Can it Work?
• 30. Proboscis Monkeys Face Extinction in Borneo’s Mangrove Forests
• 31. Foraging Ecology of Borneo’s Proboscis Monkeys
• 32. Rescue, Rehabilitation and Reintroduction of Orangutans in Borneo’s Rainforest
• 33. Biogas Plants Ease Ecological Stress in India’s Wilderness
• 34. From Biohazard to Bioresource: A Global Initiative
• 35. Can India Meet the Increasing Food Demand by 2020?
• 36. Forgotten People of the Chambal Valley Wilderness
• 37. The Small Dam Route to Salvage the Cauvery Conflict
• 38. Small Size, BIG POTENTIAL: Check Dams for Sustainable Development
• Appendix I Professor Agoramoorthy’s Selected Research Publications From 1989 to 2008
• Index