The herp helpers

Amidst the heavy lashing of the Agumbe rains and the croaking of several varieties of frogs, researcher Jonathan Hakim waits keenly to hear the call of one particular frog: The Malabar tree toad.

Armed with a thick raincoat and a head torch, he has been braving the torrential rains and numerous leech bites. For the last 10 nights, the researcher from the US has been herping in the thick jungle tracks near Agumbe Rainforest Research Station, in Shivamogga district. He is looking for the elusive toad, which according to experts is active for only 15 to 20 days during the peak of the monsoon.

Sachin Gowda and a team of herping enthusiasts in Tumakuru.

“I had a checklist of 36 species of frogs and 34 species of snakes (to spot),” says Jonathan. Out of this, he managed to see 20 varieties of frogs and 12 types of snakes. “I even saw a few snakes and frogs which I did not know existed here,” he adds.

He lists the Malabar tree toad, as well as Thackeray’s cat snake, Travancore wolf snake, Sahyadri hills whipsnake and Jerdon’s shieldtail as examples of species he spent a great deal of time looking for, without turning any up. 

The only means he had to chance upon the frogs and snakes in the Western Ghats, which is home to more than 150 species of frogs and 71 species of snakes, is through herping.

The Malabar tree toad. 

‘Herping’ is an act of searching for amphibians and reptiles — it is comparable to how birdwatchers set out to spot and identify birds. While ‘herpers’ look out for the elusive creatures all through the year, it is during the monsoon that they find the highest number of animals. Thanks to the efforts of several herpers, this has led to the discovery of several new species and better conservation of the habitat. Many of the enthusiasts do not necessarily have a scientific background. 

An ideal platform

Given its diversity, the Western Ghats region provides an ideal platform for herping. Gururaj Gouda, a forester at Kali Tiger Reserve in Uttara Kannada district who herps all through the year, says one can witness a large number of amphibians and reptiles during monsoon.

Despite research efforts, there are several missing links in the knowledge of frog life cycles in the Western Ghats. There is limited information on species such as Malabar tree toad, the common Indian toad, the bullfrog, the castle-rock night frog and others, which are active only during the monsoon. “Our walk into the wild, especially during the night, provides fascinating insights about not just the life cycle of the frogs but also about its prey, predators (snakes), its ecology and the impact the external world has on vulnerable habitats,” Gururaj Gouda says. 

Vishwanath takes a picture of the Malabar pit viper.

Herping is not just limited to the Western Ghats, but also diverse landscapes. Kiran Bagade Srinivas, a Nanjangud-based herper says his ‘night outs’ have helped in the documentation of several frogs that are endemic to the region. “Frogs such as Sholiga narrow-mouthed frog, balloon frog, orient narrow-mouthed frog and Sphaerotheca Bengaluru were studied in greater length after their field data was uploaded on the ‘Frog Watch’ platform (of the India Biodiversity Portal),” he says. 

Srinivas’ team was instrumental in identifying deformities in several species of frogs due to the use of chemical pesticides. They conducted and published several studies on the subject, and regularly share their findings with the agriculture and forest departments. 

The monsoon is a key time for research, not just in the Western Ghats but also in the plains. Vishwanath, a naturalist from Raichur explains: “During my 10 years of herping, I have noticed that the chances of sighting amphibians and reptiles increase in monsoon when the temperature at night is between 21 to 24 degree Celsius.” 

Research spanning regions

The plains of Raichur are home to the ‘Big Four’ – cobra, Russell’s viper, krait and saw-scaled vipers. “This apart, we have recorded the presence of bridal snakes and others,” he says. There needs to be more scientific study on the species in the region, he adds, as their habitats are under threat.

While more research work is now being undertaken in the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats and its shadow areas, experts say that similar attention is not being provided towards the grasslands or the Deccan Plateau.

Sachin Gowda, a seasoned herper from Tumakuru, says given the challenging nature of research in the vast plain land,  not many researchers take up scientific study here. “In the last four years, we have described five new species of snakes – Indian egg-eating snake (2019), stout sand snake, Deccan’s wolf snake (2020), Condanarus snake (2021) and Calamaria’s reed snake (2022) in and around Tumakuru,” he says. 

Herpetologists were earlier unaware of the presence of these snakes in the region, he adds. “It was during our regular herping activities that we stumbled upon these snakes. Now, more scientists are coming forward to study them.”