Our tenth entry is from Vikias Madhav. He is 13 years old and in 8th grade.  He is enjoys nature and hiking, and he is very passionate about wild life and wildlife photography, which he has included in this post.

The animal world has much interdependency, which can be fascinating to observe. One of the best examples in the wild is the honey guide. The honey guide is a small bird found in Africa, Asia and Australia.  It has its interdependency with many mammals including the honey badger, bear and humans to get its food.  As the name suggests, the bird guides the honey badger or the bear to the comb. Once the comb is disturbed, the bird gets its share of honey without being stung by the bees.

Interdependency happens between vultures and Eagles too.

During the great Himalayan bird count census held in Uttrakhand, I was looking for vultures especially the Lammergeier, finally I spotted one; soon there was a congregation but to my dismay they were all Himalayan Griffon vultures which scavenge on the meaty portion of the carcass. This gave me a clue that there was a carcass, I waited within minutes I saw a magnificent adult Lammergeier soaring. This forages on the marrow of bones and it has a unique technique of getting the marrow out. It carries the bone to a particular height and drops it down on the right rock which can split the bone into pieces thereby exposing the marrow. Soon the King vulture joined the party and the Himalayan Buzzard which is normally seen in high altitudes. I saw the interdependency and connection among Buzzard and various species of vultures and how each got its share of food.

Lammergeier soaring

In the Western Ghats the interdependency involves the entire forest. My observations: the key role is played by the Brown cheeked fulvetta, the dusky stripped squirrel, black hooded Oriole, Malabar giant squirrel, greater racket tailed drongo and the white bellied tree pie. The Brown cheeked fulvetta is one of the most conscious birds in the forest. It makes an alarm call for predators. The dusky striped squirrel on the other hand is a very small vulnerable mammal; to avoid being spotted it hides in bushes.

Malabar Giant Squirrel

The remaining animals tag along on seeing the squirrel or the fulvetta, the Malabar giant squirrel is seen with this group especially near a river as its forages along streams. I have seen the changeable Hawk Eagle prey on the giant squirrels in kabini. The main objective is for food and protection from danger.

Changeable Hawk Eagle

It is never associated with rich biodiversity, the relationships between animals and interdependency amongst animals and ma. Had initiative being taken India would be the only country to have the top four big the world-the tiger, the Asiatic Lion, the common leopard and the extinct Asiatic cheetah. Indian is still losing her beauty due to various reasons. It is up to us Indians to bring about the change and save India’s pristine natural resources.