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IS POINT CALIMERE WILDLIFE SANCTUARY SAFE FOR MIGRATORY BIRDS?

• • The sanctuary was created in 1967 for conservation of the near threatened blackbuck antelope.
  • It is famous for large congregations of waterbirds, especially greater flamingos.
  • The sanctuary, located adjacent to and east of Kodaikarai and Kodaikadu villages, is basically an Island surrounded by the Bay of Bengal to the east, the Palk Straight to the south and salt pans to the west and north

• • This site has recorded the second largest congregation of migratory waterbirds in India, with a peak population in excess of 100,000, representing 103 species.
  • In October these waterbirds arrive from Rann of Kutch, Eastern Siberia, Northern Russia, Central Asia and parts of Europe for their feeding season and start returning to those breeding places in January. These waterbirds include threatened species such as spot-billed pelican, Nordmann’s greenshank, spoonbill sandpiper and black-necked stork. Near threatened species include black-headed ibis,Asian dowitcher, lesser flamingo, spoonbill, darter and painted stork.
  • The water quality at the Point CalimereWildlife Sanctuary might be unsafe for avifauna to feed and breed,
  • Though it is a pro-tected area and a Ramsar site, chemical companies and small- scale shrimp farms around the wetland have started to pose a threat to the biodiversity and ecosystem of the sanctuary
  • Atmospheric temperature at a few stations exceeded 36- -40 degrees Celsius. “This can affect the egg albumen dur-ing the pre-incubation pe-riod, thereby providing bet-ter growth conditions for harmful microorganisms in the eggs,
  • The pH and salinity of the waters also exceeded the per-missible limits
  • acidic or high alkaline water can affect the metabolic and developmental activities of wild animals and birds.
  • “There are many salt pans near the sanctuary. This could be increasing the salin-ity. The chemical companies are also letting out untreated effluents into the waters. All this can have a deteriorating effect on the ecology,
• Microbial indicators such as coliform bacteria were also found to be very high. The faecal waste of the birds contains a high level of microbial load besides nitrogen,
• Previous studies have shown that drinking the contaminated water can lead to deformities in birds. Coliform infections in the birds have also been reported to cause a change in their natural behaviour and even affect their long dis-tance migration.
• There are also high chances for the prevalence of antibiotic resistance among the coliform bacteria.
• Strict environmental regula-tions should be imposed and salt pan and other aquacul-ture practices around the sanctuary should be prohibited.
• Eco-tourism is also causing disturbances in this area.

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