Nest-making frogs found in India

A scientist in India says he has found three rare species of frogs that make nests in which to lay their eggs.

Dr SD Biju of Delhi University says the frogs make nests after laying eggs to protect them from heat and predators.

The discovery was made in the rainforests of the Western Ghats mountain range in the southern Indian states of Kerala and Karnataka.

It comes after 20 years of intensive research carried out in Wayanad in Kerala and Coorg in Karnataka.

'Extremely rare'

The tiny frogs, which measure up to 12cm (about five inches) in length, roll leaves from top to bottom to make a cocoon and produce a sticky substance to close the ends to secure the eggs.

"These are extremely rare frogs, the only ones of their kind found in Asia," Dr Biju told the BBC.

He said the frogs differed from leaf-nesting frogs found in America and Africa as they make their nests after the females have laid the eggs.

The American and African species build the nest in the process of laying eggs, and both male and female frogs build it together.

Dr Biju says the species are seriously threatened by coffee and other plantations due to which they are losing their habitat in the forest.

"Eight years ago when I visited the area it was easy to spot them breeding during the night. But there has been a dramatic change and it's now extremely rare to spot them," he says.

source:BBC

Mobile towers threatening honey bees in Kerala

Mobile towers are posing a threat to honey bees in Kerala withe electromagnetic radiation from mobile towers and cell phones having the potential to kill worker bees that go out to collect nectar from flowers, says a study.

A plunge in beehive population has been reported from different parts of Kerala and if measures are not taken to check mushrooming of mobile powers, bees could be wiped out from Kerala within a decade, environmentalist and Reader in Zoology, Dr Sainudeen Pattazhy says in his study.

In one of his experiments he found that when a mobile phone was kept near a beehive it resulted in collapse of the colony in five to 10 days, with the worker bees failing to return home, leaving the hives with just queens, eggs and hive-bound immature bees.

Postal stamp on Silent Valley to be issued

A postal stamp to mark the silver jubilee of the declaration of the Silent Valley in Kerala as a National Park will be issued by the Postal Department in November this year.

Union Communications and Information Technology Minister A Raja had conveyed this to Kerala Forest Minister Binoy Viswam, an official press release said here today.

A rare treasure trove of flora and fauna, the evergreen forest spread along the Western Ghats close to Palakkad district was declared a National Park in 1984.

In the 1970s, the ecologically sensitive area was threatened by construction of a big hydel power project. The move sparked protests from environmental groups within and outside the country, forcing the government to give up the plan.



The state Forest Department has been asked to draw up the design for the silver jubilee stamp.