Patanjali Civil Services Academy

Jeypore Ground Gecko — Odisha

Tags: Prelims Current events of national and international importance

Source: The Hindu

Context: Proposed bauxite mining in the Balda hills threatens the endangered Jeypore ground gecko and its shrinking forest habitat.

Discovery: Documented in 1878 by Richard Henry Beddome; rediscovered in 2010 after being presumed extinct for over a century.
Distribution: Eastern Ghats of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh; recorded at elevations of 900–1,400 metres.
Habitat: High-elevation forests; nocturnal and largely associated with boulder crevices and leaf litter.
Threat: Proposed 147-hectare opencast bauxite mine in the Nageswari Reserve Forest, Balda hills, Odisha.
Previous habitat loss: Potangi, Odisha, where it was originally recorded, has lost habitat to bauxite mining.
Conservation concern: Only four individuals were documented in Odisha during the past year, according to the report.
Associated issue: Bondo and Porja Adivasi communities oppose the mining project and seek recognition of forest rights.
Eastern Ghats: Discontinuous mountain ranges along eastern India, extending across Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Forest Rights Act, 2006: Recognises eligible forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers’ individual and community forest rights, subject to statutory conditions.

Q1. With reference to the Jeypore ground gecko and its habitat, consider the following statements:

The rediscovery of a species after being presumed extinct necessarily implies that its conservation status has improved.
Habitat fragmentation in the Eastern Ghats can threaten species dependent on specialised microhabitats, such as boulder crevices and leaf litter.
The Eastern Ghats form a continuous mountain chain extending along the eastern coast of India.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(d) 2 and 3 only

Answer: (b)

Explanation:

Statement 1 is incorrect. Rediscovery establishes that a species survives, but does not necessarily indicate population recovery or reduced extinction risk.
Statement 2 is correct. Mining, forest degradation and fragmentation can destroy specialised microhabitats and isolate small populations, increasing extinction risk.
Statement 3 is incorrect. The Eastern Ghats are discontinuous mountain ranges, unlike the more continuous Western Ghats.