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Text and photographs by Sandesh Kadur1

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The road was nearly impossible. The incessant rains had eroded the sides, making passage very challenging for our vehicle. Treesbrought down by heavy gusts of wind lay across the road, which itself had turned into slush, part ravine, part bog. We had beenforewarned about the road conditions but our only other option was to hire a hundred porters to lug all our equipment to Pange, ourbase camp. So we continued onwards – hacking, pushing, slipping and sliding our way precariously to Pange. We refused to consider thepossibility that the continuous rain might prevent our return trip.

Mid-way to our destination, Chinmay found the first herp – a false cobra Pseudoxenodon macrops that decided to take shelter underthe vehicle. We quickly bagged it without waiting to confirm our identification. Soon after, Seth found a tree frog Polypedateshimalayensis under a stone. We were delighted that Talle’s herpeto-fauna was showing up and hoped it was a sign of things to come. 3

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1. The Atlas moth Attacus atlas possibly gets its name from the map-likepattern on its wings. It sports a wingspan of nearly 30 cm. The wind had causedthe moth in this image to up-end in an awkward manner which the photographercaptured using a 15 mm. fish-eye lens and off-camera flash. Subsequently,the moth took off in an ungainly and unsteady flight back into the valleyforest. 2. These orchids belonging to the genus Coelogyne are one amongalmost 600 orchid species found in Arunachal Pradesh. 3. Relatively little isknown about the diversity of freshwater crabs found in India. Worldwide,nearly 850 species of freshwater crabs are described, inhabiting tropical andsemi-tropical landscapes.

Expedition – Talle Valley

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At an elevation of 1,700 m. above sea level, Pange sits on the edge of the 337 sq. km. Talle Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, which lies east ofthe town of Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh (27° 32’ N; 93° 52’ E). The camp comprises a few concrete buildings and a long row housewith a central fireplace. This was the main dining and kitchen area and a space to dry clothes and sleep. Importantly, it also served as a leechcrematorium. Looking out from the clearing a cool, clear stream flowed past surrounded by dense tropical forest with crowns that lookedlike broccoli tops.

THE INITIAL SURVEYS

The rest of the team arrived two days later after walking the nine kilometre soggy trail from Siro and familiarised themselves withthe local denizens, including mithun – a hybrid between a gaur and domestic cattle and a myriad blood-sucking but very colourfulleeches. The team brought with them plenty of enthusiasm and also a tropical depression in the form of continuous rainfall. Gerard

6. to 9. In a week, the team recorded 10 amphibian species including this unidentified tree frog of the genus Rhacophorus (top left) and a Himalayan tree frogPolypedates himalayensis (top right), found across the Himalaya. They also saw several Rhacophorus bipunctatus, 40-50 mm. tree frogs, (middle left) with distinct black markings.Common rhacophorids were spotted along foliage, fence posts and small bushes next to ponds and streams. Their small size and excellent camouflage made them very difficult tofind in the undergrowth. The stream-dwelling frog Amolops formosus (middle right) is widely distributed from the Western Himalaya to Arunachal Pradesh in the Eastern Himalaya.10. One of the most common snakes encountered was the Himalayan keelback Rhabdophis himalayanus. Of the six individuals listed by the expedition members, most were youngones and were actively pursuing their quarry during the day. 11. With highly variable colouration the false cobra Psuedoxenodon macrops ranges across the Eastern Himalaya intoSoutheast Asia. On this trip, the group encountered two colour morphs – green and red. The species was observed actively hunting during the day and one specimen was spotted bya stream when it had just swallowed a frog.

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4. The Oriental glass lizard Ophisaurus gracilis derives its name from its long tail, which can break apart and fall into several pieces if and when the reptile is stressed. 5. Feedingprimarily on rodents and other small prey, the red bamboo snake Oreocryptophis porphyracea also known as the black-banded trinket snake, or red mountain racer is astrikingly-coloured rat snake found largely in moist tropical forests at elevations above 800 m. The expedition team found two specimens, one close to Pange base-camp and the otherlower down close to Siro. Both were discovered under dead wood on the ground.

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alter not just the flow of life but alsothe freshwater lifecycle of many species offish, several of which are still to bedocumented in this region.

HERPING IN TALLE

Our mission was to find as many speciesof reptiles and amphibians as possible in theshort time we were there. Herping is hardwork – back-breaking, knee-jerking andexhausting, but in the right place – veryrewarding for the avid herp enthusiast.While the snakes continued to remain‘no shows’ on the first day, Karthik andBarkha were luckier. Within the first twodays we had nearly six species ofamphibians. The Rhacophorids – tree frogswere a particular treat. Some, such as theRhacophorus bipunctatus showed a hugevariation in colour and pattern. They werefound calling along the edges of stagnantpools and streams.

On the second day, the sun emergedfor brief periods. The perfect weather forsnakes! A beautiful bamboo rat snake,followed by mountain pit vipers, followedby worm-eating snakes – all in a day’swork. Once the weather showed signsof clearing, a few of us marched up toTalle Valley. A steep hike of nearly15 km. took us beyond leech countryand over the ridge at 2,700 m. and droppedus into the high-elevation valley. Here atall forest of conifers welcomed us across awide plateau. Along the gently flowingstream, stretched thickets of cane and aforest floor covered in moss over a foothigh. The mossy floor felt like a softmattress. The name Talle comes from aparticular plant that grows profusely inthis region along the stream. The arduoushike yielded nothing in particular, evenafter hours of turning logs over and lookinginto holes. The rains had renderedeverything soggy, and even seeminglybig logs, broke off into wet crumbs at thefirst touch. One very large tree trunkseemed the most likely dry spot to lookunder. The two groups were positioned oneither end of the 40-foot-long (12 m.)trunk to move it, and suddenly, to oursurprise a golden cat came boundingout. I was on the wrong end of the trunkand missed the sighting but Gerry andthe rest of the team had a fantasticglimpse, although the brevity of thesighting makes it difficult to make apositive identification. However, there are

very limited possibilities. While Talle Valleyis also home to clouded leopards and redpandas, we did not come across pugmarks.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of humandisturbance and presence throughoutthe inner areas of the sanctuary. We heardof hunting parties of local Apatani menwho come in during the winter monthswhen rain and leeches are not an issue.That is when the wildlife in the region ismost threatened.

A TRIP TO REMEMBER

We spent the night huddled around afire after a hot meal that included thelocal ingredients of talle and cane.Overnight we found another large treefrog as well as a few small Nanoranaspecies. We quickly photographed themduring the day and released them. Gerryset off with James and Rowland, whileKarthik and I explored the cane forest fora little while longer. It was a fabulous dayof great sunshine.

By late afternoon when Karthik and Iarrived, there were smiles all around.Gerry and his group, had caught oneof the most beautiful snakes in thearea – Ptyas nigromarginatus – the greenrat snake. They had also caught a pit viper,and that was proving to be a bit of aproblem. None of the keys in any of thebooks matched the snake. Detailedphotographs were taken along withmeasurements. It was tentatively calledthe Jerdon’s pit viper Protobothrops jerdoni.Little did we know at the time that a teamof researchers at Eaglenest (Aamod Zambreet. al) had recently made its discoveryand reported the first ever sighting of thissub-species Protobothrops jerdoni xanthomelaswithin India (Sanctuary Vol. XXX No. 5,October 2010). Our find added a secondlocation for this striking pit viper.

In our seven days of searching wefound eight species of snakes, threelizards and over 10 species of amphibians.The unlikely star of the whole expeditionproved to be a tiny forest lizard inthe Genus Japalura. We are yet to ascertainthe identity of this diminutive littlecreature – a living emblem of the many newspecies and discoveries that are yet to bemade in our forests. My only hope isthat these tropical rainforests thatsustain so many varied forms of life arenot submerged, before we even know whatexists within their realms. T

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12. to 14. A wall of ferns (above), with fronds measuring over 150 cm. (five feet) in length dwarfs a man. The vast plateau of Ziro Valley (top right) nestled within the Eastern Himalayaspreads across 20 sq. km. Blessed with a year-round supply of water, the Apatani people that inhabit this region cultivate paddy and fish – in a unique form of agriculture. An Apataniwoman (top left) holds up half a kilo of small, peanut-sized silkworm grubs at the market in Ziro. Known as ampyang tiyo in the local language, the grubs are considered a delicacy.

Martin, the co-leader of the trip, along withJames and Rowland were quick to set offto explore the surroundings in search ofpossible hiding nooks for snakes; Gauravwent out looking for large trees to accessthe high frontier of the canopy; KarthikVasudevan from the Wildlife Institute ofIndia and Barkha Subba, a research scholarfrom ATREE, awaited nightfall to golooking for amphibians – their primaryinterest and a convenient excuse to stayback and rest at the camp. Sangeetha Kadur,my sister and wildlife artist got busy findingthings to sketch. Seth Patterson and I wentabout setting up a mobile photo studio inone of the concrete rooms in preparation forthe models that would turn up for positiveidentifications. Chinmay Rane, a filmmaker,began documenting the whole process.Our team worked closely with Chadaand Tatu and other members of FutureGenerations – an NGO based in Ziro workingto document and protect the biodiversityof Talle Valley. Our hope was that theexpedition would further the mission ofFuture Generations to document the region’sextraordinary biodiversity.

The Talle Valley Wildlife Sanctuary,like many Protected Areas across India,faces a number of threats. One that could dothe most damage is, of course, the LowerSubansiri dam, (Sanctuary Vol. XXV No. 1,February 2005) which will submerge largetracts of forest in the lower reaches of TalleValley and surrounding areas of the Ziroregion. There is much opposition to the damas it violates several clauses stipulated underthe Wildlife Protection Act. But withoutstricter policies and greater control from thecentral government, dams will continue to

270 47’ 56.68” N 920 35’ 57.29” E

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