Sangai
Sangai | |
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Not evaluated (IUCN 3.1)
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Artiodactyla |
Family: | Cervidae |
Subfamily: | Cervinae |
Genus: | Rucervus |
Species: | |
Subspecies: | R. e. eldii
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Trinomial name | |
Rucervus eldii eldii (McClelland, 1842)
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The sangai (Meitei pronunciation: /sə.ŋai/[1]) (Rucervus eldii eldii) is an endemic and endangered subspecies of Eld's deer found only in Manipur, India. It is also the state animal of Manipur.[2] Its common English name is Manipur brow-antlered deer or Eld's deer.[3] Its original natural habitat is the floating marshy grasslands of the Keibul Lamjao National Park, located in the southern parts of the Loktak Lake, which is the largest freshwater lake in South Asia.
The film The Return of Sangai (Manipuri film Sangai Hallakpa ) made for the Manipur Forest Department[4] by George Thengummoottil is about the Sangai and Keibul Lamjao National Park.
Distribution and habitat
The
Phumdi is the most important and unique part of the habitat. It is the floating mass of vegetation formed by the accumulation of organic debris and biomass with soil. Its thickness varies from few centimeter to two meters. The humus of phumdi is black in color and very spongy with large number of pores. It floats with 4/5 part under water.[5]
The number of deer listed in the
Biology and behavior
The brow-antlered deer is a medium-sized deer, with uniquely distinctive antlers, measuring 100–110 cm. in length with extremely long brow tine, which form the main beam. The two tines form a continuous curve at right angles to the closely set pedicels. This signifies its name, brow-antlered deer, the forward protruding beam appears to come out from the eyebrow. The antlers of the opposite sides are unsymmetrical with respect to each other. The beams are unbranched initially whereas curvature increases as length increases and they get forked also. The sexes are moderately dimorphic in body size and weight. The height and weight of a fully grown stag may be approximately 115–125 cm at shoulder and 95 to 110 kg (210 to 230 lb) respectively. The height and weight of the female are shorter and less as compared to the male counterpart. The length of the body from the base to the ear up to the tail is about 145 to 155 cm in both sexes. The tail is short and rump patch is not pronounced.
Sangai feed on a variety of water living plants, grasses, herbaceous plants, and shoots.
The sangai has a maximum lifespan in the wild of around 10 years.[6]
Rutting takes place in the early spring months between February and May. Males compete with each other to gain control of a harem of females that they can then mate with. After a 220- to 240-day-long gestation period, normally a single calf is born. The young are spotted at birth; these spots fade as the animal grows. The young are weaned at 7 months of age, and becomes sexually mature from 18 months of age onwards.
Sangai in Meitei society
Culturally, the sangai finds itself embedded deep into the legends and folklore of the
It is believed that the name sangai (sa "animal" and ngai "in awaiting") was coined from its peculiar posture and behaviour while running. By nature, the deer, particularly the males, even when running for its life stops occasionally and looks back as if he is waiting for someone and hence the name.
In Meitei folklore
According to a story in
In another story in
Identified as one of the rarest animal species in the entire world, the sangai is the apple of the eye for the people. Talk of Manipur, and one of the first things to introduce the state is the sangai, other than
Danger of extinction
The sangai was believed to be almost extinct by 1950. However, in 1953 six heads of the sangai were found hovering at its natural habitat. Since then, the State Government has taken serious and positive measures for the protection of this rare and endangered species. The number of endangered deer sangai found in Manipur has increased from 204 in 2013 to 260, according to the latest census conducted in March 2016 jointly by Wildlife Wing, Forest department, State government, Manipur University and Wildlife Institute of India.[8]
The sangai faces a two-pronged danger to its life. Firstly, its habitat is steadily degenerating by reason of continuous inundation and flooding by high water caused as the result of artificial reservoir of the
In 1983 the 103 megawatt capacity National Hydroelectric Power Corporation Loktak was commissioned with the objective of ensuring rapid development in the State. A maximum high water level of 168.5 meters (553 ft) above mean sea level (MSL) is maintained in the Loktak Lake to feed the reservoir for the hydel project. This high water level had wreaked havoc in the Keibul Lamjao National Park. The high water level, maintained continuously through the year, had disturbed the natural life cycle of the vegetation growth, the phumdi, upon which the sangai thrives. The deer feed on several types of vegetation that grow on the phumdi. The vegetation also provides shelter to the deer and other wildlife in the park.
The life-cycle of the phumdi involves floating on the water surface during season of high water as in the monsoons. In the lean season, when the water level reduces, the biomass come into contact with the lake bed and they secure the required nutrient from there. When the rains come again and they become afloat, the biomass have enough 'food'—the nutrients—stored in their roots and their life continues. What is happening now, according to local scientists who are studying the phenomena, is that with continuous high water in the lake throughout the year much of this process of 'feeding' on the nutrient in the lakebed had discontinued. The result—the biomass are losing weight and getting thinner by the year. Around January last week in 1999, it was reported that a large chunk of the biomass in the northern part of National Park had broken up into pieces and had drifted freely from the park area. This was a bad sign for the sangai habitat. It spelled out very clearly that the beginning of the end of the sangai habitat had begun. There are reports of local people cutting up the phumdi into sizable pieces and then towing away these with dugout canoe for 'selling' to fish culture owners. This is another potential danger to the sangai habitat. It meant humans are now aiding the process of annihilating the habitat area, supplementing to the rapid degeneration of the habitat.
Films
- The Return of Sangai is a documentary by George Thengummoottil about Keibul Lamjao National Park and Sangai[4][9]
- Paari (2000 film) - a children's movie by Aribam Syam Sharma
See also
References
- ^ Sharma, H. Surmangol (2006). "Learners' Manipuri-English dictionary.Sangai". dsal.uchicago.edu. Retrieved 2022-07-28.
- ^ "Symbols of Manipur- knowindia.gov.in". Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
- .
- ^ a b "The Return of Sangai George Thengummoottil | Documentary Film Editor". theindia.info. Archived from the original on 2018-01-22.
- ^ "Sangai population up - The Hindu". The Hindu. 13 May 2016.
- ^ Thamin or Brow-antlered Deer Cervus eldi Archived 2009-03-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "State Animal Sangai". Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
- ^ "Sangai population up". The Hindu. 13 May 2016.
- ^ "Forest Dept makes first documentary on Sangai: 01st may18 ~ E-Pao! Headlines". e-pao.net. Retrieved 2023-04-15.