Book on reptiles of Nilgiris released

Udhagamandalam: In a first of its kind, a book on snakes and other reptiles of Nilgiris, authored by P Kannan, assistant professor of Ooty Government Arts College, was released on Thursday at the college premises. The book covers reptiles that live in aquatic, terrestrial and arboreal habitats. It documents 67 species of snakes and 47 species of other reptiles, many of which are endemic to this hill range.

Stating that there are 283 kinds of reptiles recorded in India out of which 62 are poisonous, Kannan said, "The main reason to author a book on reptiles is that there is no comprehensive compendium on reptiles in Nilgiris, and also to rule out several superstitious beliefs about snakes".

According to him, the snake is the only reptile that could smell with its tongue and swallow an animal bigger than it.

The book was released by Srinivas R Reddy, project director, Hill Area Development Programme, and the first copy was received by A Manoharan, principal, Ooty Government Arts College, at a function held at the zoology department of the college.

Manoharan said that reptiles hold a primary position in our ecosystem.

"The book could be updated in future as new species are found every day in the Nilgiri Biosphere," said Reddy.

Adverting that this work should have been done by the forest department, C.Badrasamy District Forest Officer (Nilgiris north and south divisions) "The book is nothing but a ?field guide' which will be of very useful to the forest staff".

The book is a meticulous documentation of much unknown reptiles of the Nilgiris.