One Eyed Living

Quick learning on Mandarin Duck -

1. The mandarin, widely regarded as the world's most beautiful duck, is a native of China and Japan. The drake mandarin's stunning plumage has long made it an artist's favourite, and it is widely depicted in oriental art.

2. The first mandarins were imported to Britain in the mid-18th century. The first birds to escape did so from Alfred Ezra's collection at Foxwarren Park, near Cobham in Surrey, and this area remains one of the strongholds of mandarins in England.

3. Mandarins favour small wooded ponds and avoid lakes or large bodies of open water. They are extremely manoeuvrable fliers, able to fly through trees with remarkable agility. They frequently perch in trees, while the female invariably chooses a hole or cavity in a tree trunk in which to lay her eggs.

4. Lack of natural nest sites and competition from jackdaws and squirrels limits population expansion, but they will readily adopt suitable nest boxes. After hatching, the ducklings jump to the ground: their fluffy down and lightweight ensures that injuries are unusual. Once the mother has gathered her brood, she leads them straight to sail.

5. The so-called sail is an elongated tertial feather. In eclipse (summer) plumage the drake moults and looks almost identical to the duck, only his bright red beak indicating his s*x.

Strigiformes is an avian order of nocturnal birds which consists of all species of owls. These birds are predators and prey on other birds, small reptiles, and mammals.

The owl population has seen a decline over the past decades caused by hunting, lack of prey and habitat, and viral diseases. Several owl species prey on insects have seen numbers drop after consuming insects sprayed with insecticide and is most evident in the burrowing owl.

Banning of owl hunting as well as establishing protective areas on owl habitat areas to prevent the destruction of their habitat has shown results. Sensitising farmers to use owls as pest control instead of the use of pesticides has also helped.

Monitor lizards have many natural predators but are hunted by humans for their skin and their meat. They are also caught to be sold in the pet trade. An inhumanly and heinous act against this reptile occurred in April 2022, where Maharashtra forest authorities have arrested four hunters for allegedly ra**ng a bengal monitor lizard in the Sahydari Tiger Reserve.

Most monitor species are terrestrial and found on land but some species will live in trees or are semi-aquatic. Monitor lizards are very territorial and aggressive, lashing out with their tails when provoked. They will also inflate their throats and hiss loudly.

Some Monitor Lizards are active hunters, while others prefer to wait and ambush their prey. They are usually carnivorous.

The sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), locally called Kathe Bhalu, is one of many species facing survival threats in Nepal.

The mammal, listed in the endangered category by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is the most fearsome species by people. Every year, many cases of human-bear conflicts are reported mostly from Chitwan National Park (CNP)

Three species of bears, Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus), Tibetan brown bear (Ursus arctos pruinosus), and the Sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), are found in Nepal.