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In the Western Ghats, despite its notoriety as a World Biodiversity Hotspot and because of environmental pressures caused by land-use changes and habitat conversion, there is an alarming paucity of information on the present status of its faunal diversity.
ARRS encourages research on different aspects of the rainforest and rainforest ecology. We welcome students, researchers and scholars to utilize the station to carry out both short and long term studies rarely done before due to lack of facilities.
Since its inception in 2005 ARRS has spearheaded research on king cobras and has made valuable contribution to the scientific world.
- ARRS has rescued and relocated over 100 king cobras
- Observed and documented on film the following behaviors of king cobras in the wild:
- Nest Building
- Hatching
- Male Combat
- Courtship
- Mating
- Cannibalism
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- Started the world's first radio telemetry based studies on king cobras.
- Observed incidences of cannibalism in wild king cobras where two gravid females were killed by males.
- Recorded data and monitored over fourteen king cobra nests
- Released over 300 hatchlings back into wild.
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Team at ARRS has also contributed several scientific papers: |
PUBLISHED
- P. Gowri Shankar1* and S.R. Ganesh2. Sighting record and range extension of Calliophis (=Callophis) bibroni, Jan 1858 (Reptilia, Squamata, Serpentes, Elapidae). The Herpetological Bulletin. Number 108 – Autumn 2009 Agumbe Rainforest Research Station
- S.R. Ganesh1* and P. Gowri Shankar 2. Range extension of Kaestlea beddomei (Boulenger, 1887) (in part) (Reptilia: Sauria: Scincidae) . Number 107 – Herpetological Bulletin [2009]
- P. Gowri Shankar and Nikhil Whitaker. Ecdysis in the king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah). Russian Journal of Herpetology Vol. 16, No. 1, 2009, pp. 1 – 5
- Gopalakrishna bhatta1 , K.P. Dinesh2 , P. Prashanth 3 & Nirmal, U. Kulkarni4. A new species of Gegeneophis Peters (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae) from Goa, India. Zootaxa
- Additional Records on the Distribution, Morphology and Morphometry of Gegeneophis nadkarnii Bhatta and Prashanth (Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae). Biosystematica.
- Gopalakrishna bhatta1 , K.P. Dinesh2 , P. Prashanth 3 & Nirmal, U. Kulkarni4. A new species of the Indian caecilian genus Gegeneophis Peters (Amphibia: Gymnophiona: Caeciliidae) from the surroundings of Mahadayi Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Ghats. Current science, vol. 93, no. 10
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IN PREPARATION
- P. Gowri Shankar1, Romulus Whitaker1, Anju Reshma Devanur2 and S.R. Ganesh3
Intraspecific interactions in king cobras (Ophiophagus hannah) (Cantor, 1836) in the
Agumbe region, Karnataka, India
- Dhiraj Bhaisare, Vipul Ramanuj, P. Gowri Shankar, M. Vittala, Matt Goode, Rom Whitaker. Predation on pit vipers by a wild king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah, Cantor, 1836)
- P.Gowri Shankar 1 , Romulus Whitaker 1 , Prashanth P 2 , and S R Ganesh 2. Removal and relocation of king cobras (Ophiophagus hannah, Cantor, 1836), from human settlements in the Agumbe region, Karnataka, India
- Romulus Whitaker , P.Gowri Shankar , Nikhil Whitaker. Notes of nests of the king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah, Cantor, 1836) in Shimoga District, Karnataka, South India.
- Cannibalism by king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah, Cantor 1836) in the wild.
P. Gowri Shankar
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Agumbe lends its name to the following species:
- Selenops agumbensis: A spider of genus Selenops
- Tarenna agumbensis: A shrub
- Drosophila agumbensis: A species of small fly
Other species discovered around Agumbe include:
- Caudalejeunea pluriplicata: A liverwort plant
- Notothylas dissecta: A plant of type Hornwort earlier found only in Central America was discovered in Asia for the first time in Agumbe.
- Cyclotoma alleni: A beetle discovered in Agumbe
Our studies have highlighted the fact that we still know little about the king cobra and points to the need for more study of this and other key rainforest species. |
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