Flora and fauna of Chennai
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The flora and fauna of Chennai are the plants and animals in Chennai, India.
Beaches
The
South of the Adyar, the first section is called
Before the Madras Harbour was built, the Marina beach was just a strip of mud, teeming with mudskippers.
Flora and fauna
The earliest-known documentation of plants in the erstwhile Madras dates to 1853, in a book titled Hortus Madraspatensis by the then conservator of forests, Hugh Cleghorn. The green cover in the city remains at 4%, while the state has 19.65% of forest cover.[1]
The
The
The
The southern stretches of the beach, from Tiruvanmiyur to Neelangarai, are favoured by the endangered
South of the city, along the East Coast Road, is the
A large number of cattle egrets, pond herons and other waterbirds can be seen in the rivers of Cooum and Adyar. In addition, the Government of India has plans to classify the Adyar Estuary into a protected eco-system. About 75,000 birds migrate to Chennai every year.[2]
Marshy wetlands such as
Over 300 species of birds have been recorded in the city and its neighbourhood by members of Madras Naturalists' Society since its inception in 1978. The society aims at raising awareness among the citizens, particularly students, on the importance of wildlife in the city and conservation. They have regular meetings every month and publish monthly newsletter and a quarterly journal Blackbuck. They also organise outings and camps for members.
There were records of wild cats such as tiger, leopard, panther and even cheetahs roaming in the suburbs of Chennai, as late as the 1980s.
Arignar Anna Zoological Park
Chennai has the distinction of having the first zoo in India as early as 1855. The first zoo was located in Moore Market, near Ripon Building. With increasing traffic noise, and the demand for People's Park land for other services, it was decided in 1976 the zoo had to move.[6] It was moved to the Vandalur Reserve Forest in 1979 by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department. The zoo is spread over 510 ha. of dry evergreen forests with gentle undulating terrain open wet and dryland type enclosures, specially developed to simulate natural environment for the animals. After the zoo was inaugurated in 1985, it has undergone improvements, with new animals making their home and breeding.
Today there are some 81 enclosures – six types of deer:
Near every enclosure, there are stone boards talking about the zoological name, its feeding, mating and breeding habits and seasons apart from the place where it is endemic. And trees have placards with their botanical names and other details.
A library is open to public on Mondays and Fridays. The zoo is open 6 days a week from 9-6 PM though ticket sales close an hour earlier, Tuesday being a holiday. For those of you who may find the long trek inside a bit arduous, you can ride on the battery vehicles plying inside, for a fee. Environmental awareness and education form an integral part of the zoo's activities. They have launched education programmes for students (pre-primary, primary and higher secondary and college) and teachers and other visitors. And now they are having a zoo volunteer program in which anyone who wants to work inside the place can apply.
Apart from this, members of the `Student zoo club’ get valuable experience as they get exposed to adventure while getting educated about wildlife management, conservation, animal behaviour, their habitats, ecosystems, evolution, animal adaptations, reproduction, nutrition, animal housing and husbandry. The membership is open for 2 years for which they also get a certificate. The club currently has about 150 members.
References
- ^ With help from students, tree census begins in Chennai
- ^ 30 rare grey headed Lapwings spotted at Pallikaranai marsh Archived 2012-03-31 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Wetlands Archived 2012-03-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ K., Lakshmi (20 January 2019). "Indigenous flora in city wetlands under threat". The Hindu. Chennai: Kasturi & Sons. Retrieved 3 February 2019.
- ^ Kumar, B. Aravind (24 August 2018). "Believe it: Tigers, panthers roamed the city's outskirts". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 November 2018.
- ^ "Lost Landmarks of Chennai – Corporation Zoo". Madras Heritage and Carnatic Music - Articles on Chennai, Its Heritage, History and Culture. 18 September 2014.
External links
- [3]
- https://web.archive.org/web/20061012140646/http://www.environment.tn.nic.in/Schemes-0506.htm
- https://web.archive.org/web/20070210233139/http://hsb.iitm.ac.in/~prakriti/
- http://www.exnora.org/ac-proj.html
- http://www.india-seminar.com/2004/535/535%20s.%20theodore%20baskaran.htm
- http://www.blackbuck.org.in
- https://web.archive.org/web/20110721181546/http://tnenvis.nic.in/index.html