Dr. Debabrata Phukon
Veterinary Officer
Assam State Zoo cum Botanical Garden
Guwahati – 781 005
North-East India has a great diversity of Agamids, Calotes jerdoni, commonly known as the Indo-Chinese Forest Lizard or Jerdon’s forest lizard, is among these beautiful lizards.
Location: Kisama village, Nagaland
Assam State Zoo’s Rescue Centre receives a lot of nests fall cases of the Near Threatened Greater Adjutant Stork (Leptoptilos dubius) which are hand-raised and rehabilitated back to the wild. They can be distinguished from the Lesser Adjutant in having a gular pouch and white band in the primary feathers.
Sinomicrurus macclellandi, commonly known as MacClelland’s coral snake, is one among the eight beautiful coral snake species discovered in India to date and one of the two species recorded from North-east India, the other being S. gorei.
Indian Tent Turtle (Pangshura tentoria) is native to India, Nepal and Bangladesh, with three subspecies recorded from the region viz., P. t. tentoria, P. t. circumdata and P. t. flaviventer. Due to the attractive appearance of the species, they are illegally traded in the pet market.
The Crested Goshawk (Lophospiza trivirgata) is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae that is widely distributed in tropical Asia. Like its relatives, this secretive forest bird hunts birds, mammals and reptiles in woodland, relying on surprise as it flies from a perch to catch its prey unaware.
