ATREE’s The Family WilD Quest 2.o

நீர்இன்று அமையாது உலகெனின் யார்யார்க்கும்
வான்இன்று அமையாது ஒழுக்கு 
                                                             - திருவள்ளுவர்.

Thiruvalluvar in this couplet ‘Neer Indru Amaiyathu Ulagu’ recorded the universal truth, there is no world without water and further stated there will be a collapse of morality if the rains fail. In this context and present scenario on water usage and conservation, there is an urgent need to create awareness about wetlands and its wildlife. In connection to this, following its successful first edition ATREE’s The Family WilD Quest 2.o (Wetlands Special Edition) was conducted as a part of ATREE’s Tamiraparani WaterBird Carnival 2020 arousing a general awakening in the common man in favour of protection of wildlife and wetlands in special through a quiz competition with 49 teams jointly organized by ATREE’s Agasthyamalai Community Conservation Centre (ACCC), Manimutharu, Tamil Nadu Forest Department, Kalakadu Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR), District Science Centre, Tirunelveli, Nellai Nature Club, Tirunelveli, and Hindu Tamil Thisai. This programme cosponsored by Brakes India, Sundaram Finance and Indian Overseas Bank Officers’ Association. 

This annual Wildlife Quiz Competition for students along with their parents was conducted on November 17, 2019, to make students explore, encourage and award the budding talent more aware of conservation and protection of the Indian wildlife and to focus their attention towards the importance of Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve and Tamiraparani Wetlands in special. The programme was inaugurated by Mr. S. Nambiraj, Former Director, RSETI, Tirunelveli and Ms. Hemalatha, ACF, Tirunelveli at the District Science Centre, Tirunelveli. Special skits by Ilango and crew on wetland conservation were arranged during the inaugural ceremony. 

It consists of two stages such as Elimination Written Round and ’on stage’ Finals. Forty-nine teams with two participants each from the same family participated in the paper and pen Elimination Round with 25 multiple choice questions related to environment and wetlands. In that maximum 17 questions were answered correctly. Out of 49 families, six families were selected for the Final On-Stage Round.

The on-stage round was conducted at 2.30 pm on the same day at Innovation Hub, District Science Centre, Tirunelveli. The 6 teams with two participants each were named with wetland birds Avocet, Bittern, Curlew, Darter, Egret, and Flamingo. Questions were asked exclusively from Indian wildlife and wetland in 4 rounds. The first round, Matriarch Round consists of 24 questions in 4 sets. Based on the points scored in the Matriarch Round, the teams were given priority to choose a topic for the Falcon Round. Totally 60 questions were fired in Swallow Round; 10 questions each in Sanctuaries and National Parks, Environmental Important Days, Birds, Invertebrates, Personalities, and Mixed Bag. The Display Round comprised of 12 questions projected as images, audios, videos, Pic-connect, Newspaper articles, etc. was conducted as a buzzer round. In the final WilD Drum Round, five clues were given in the form of activity cards comprising pick odd one out, unscramble the scrambled word, word puzzle, etc. to find the take-home hidden message ‘SAVE WETLANDS’. In this competition around 47% of the questions were answered correctly. Master Ramana Kailas of grade 9, Bishop Remigius School, Nagercoil with his father Mr. Chandrasekaran became the title winner ‘The Family WilD Quest 2.o’ Champion with 70 points. Ms. S. Varsha, Grade 9 with her mother Ms. Arul Selvi of AUPET Chinmaya Vidyalaya Matric. Hr. Sec. School, Tirunelveli, and Ms. Maushmi Subrata, Grade 7 of Puspalatha Vidhya Mandir with her mother Ms. Kavitha, Tirunelveli placed second and third position respectively. This competition made students look beyond their textual knowledge and established a relationship between wildlife and the application of the learnt concepts in conservation.

The ‘Winners Camp Wild’ a one-night one-day nature camp was conducted on November 23 and 24, 2019, at Mundanthurai Range, Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) along with Tamil Nadu Forest Department for the twenty participants including the families of WilD Quest finalists and the audience who answered the most questions to explore the rich biodiversity and ecosystem services of KMTR to human wellbeing especially for the people of southern Tamil Nadu. The participants attended three presentations on KMTR forest types, Butterflies and ATREE’s WilD Camp. In the night they witnessed the silent and cool darkness, sighted Sambar Deer (Rusa unicolor) made the night extraordinary for the campers. They observed moths including a Hawk moth of Sphingidae family, Geometer Moths, Owl Moths, etc. Long-horn Beetle (Batocera rufomaculata), Shield Bugs, Grasshoppers, Earwigs, etc. were attracted towards the Moth screen. They also sighted a House Centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata), Termite Hill Gecko (Hemidactylus triedrus), Gerbil Rat, Fireflies (male and female). The camper’s experiences of their life in wild inspired and motivated the fellow campers and ATREE team. 

The campers partook a trail on the second day and witnessed the splendour of Mundanthurai’s Dry Deciduous Forest vegetation in the Puckle’s Path. The overnight rain added a green wet mask for the forest. Forest staff Mr Boothathaan guided the team and sighted many living creatures including land snails (Cryptozona bistrialis), Slugs, Spiders namely Giant Wood Spider (Nephila pilipes), Spiny Orb-weaver Spider (Gasteracantha sp.), butterflies namely Gladeye Bushbrown (Mycalesis patnia), Water Snow Flat (Tagiades litigiosa), Golden Angle Butterfly (Caprona ransonnetii), Blue Mormon (Papilio polymnestor), Southern Birdwing (Troides minos), Angled Pierrot (Caleta decidia), Common Pierrot (Castalius rosimon), Common Leopard (Phalanta phalantha), Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus), White Orange Tip (Ixias marianne), Great Orange Tip (Hebomoia glaucippe), Common Evening Brown (Melanitis leda), Common Four-ring (Ypthima huebneri), Common Grass Yellow (Eurema hecabe), Lime Butterfly (Papilio demoleus ), Lemon Pansy (Junonia lemonias), Crimson Rose (Pachliopta hector), Caterpillar of Papilionidae Family, Birds namely Chestnut-headed Bee-eater (Merops leschenaulti), Black Drongo (Dicrurus macrocercus), Common Iora (Aegithina tiphia), Indian Peafowl (Pavo cristatus), Grey Junglefowl (Gallus sonneratii), lizards namely Common Garden Lizard (Calotes vesicolor), Peninsular Rock Agama (Psammophilus dorsalis), Whriligig Beetle, Hoverfly, Praying Mantis, Walking Stick, Reduviid Bugs, Long-horned Grasshoppers, etc. along with the joined activities designed for parents and children added curiosity and interest during the hike. 

They enjoyed the drizzles of the Northeast Monsoon and it’s delights were Glory Lily (Gloriosa superba), Riccia/ Liverworts, Fungi species including Clavaroid Fungi, Calocera Fungi, Wood Rotting Fungi (Micropus sp.), Gymnopilus sp., Panaeolina Fungi on elephant dungs, Collared Earthstar (Geastrum triplex) and Sac/ Cup Fungi, Millipedes such as Pill Milliopede, Yellow spotted Millipede, Giant Millipede, etc. were abundant and added beauty to the trail. The Hump-nosed Pitviper (Hypnale hypnale), an endemic to India and Sri Lanka and pug-mark of Leopard (Panthera pardus) and Nilgiri Langur (Trachypithecus johnii) was the highlights of this wonderful ‘winners on the nature trail’. 

At the end of the trail, the campers sighted the Servalar Dam obtained its maximum capacity, Mr. Boothathaan narrated the history behind the dam. The camp ends after a feedback session. The campers had so much fun and interactions, without their restless mobiles stored up a lifetime of happy memories with their beloved families!

Team ATREE: M. Mathivanan, A. Saravanan, S. Thamizhazhagan, Maria Antony and 

S. Thalavai Pandi

Team District Science Centre: S. Muthukumar, Mari Lenin and Srikanth

ATREE’s Volunteers: Vinod Kumar, Sharly Leela, Raisha Banu, Rama Narayanan, Adolf Raja

Acknowledgements:

We would like to specially thank the following persons: Mr Lenin Sudhakar, IOBA for his continuous support for the ATREE’s the Family WilD Quest. Mrs Hemalatha, ACF, Tirunelveli and Mr K. Nambiraj, IOBA for their motivational talk at inauguration. Mr Ilango, Mr Balaganesh, Mr Arumuguam, Mrs Sundarammal and Mr Sathish for performing skit on wetland conservation. Mr K.Natarajan, Madurai for Tamil translation of questions. Staff members of District Science Centre for venue arrangements and hospitality during competition. Nellai Press Club for wide coverage of the event.   The 49 families who participated in the WilD Quest 2.o. Mr.Kommu Omkaram, I.F.S. Deputy Director, KMTR for the permission and guidance to conduct the winners camp, Mr.Saravanakumar, Forest Range Officer, Mundanthurai, KMTR for providing accommodation and logistics, Mr. Boothathaan, Anti-Poaching Watcher, Mundanthurai, KMTR for guiding the nature trail.