Of the mangroves of India and two swimmers in two unique ecosystems

Two locales. Two unique animals. Both living in terrains that are one of its kind, uniquely. One inland and the other in the world’s most densely populated delta. Both excellent swimmers. One, a herbivore – and the other, a deadly carnivore. Interestingly, their habitats are mangroves, the interface between the sea and land, where trees grow in saline or brackish water.

Can you guess which animals and places are we talking about? Well, another clue! The inland mangrove is in western India, while the other is a delta formed by the confluence of Ganga, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers of India and Bangladesh.

The two places are the mangroves of Shravan Kavadia and Guneri in Bhuj, Gujarat, and the Sundarban Mangrove Forest in eastern India. The two animals are Kharai Camels – the only type of camels that can swim, and Royal Bengal Tigers that can cross the tidal rivers and stalk amidst the dense mangroves.

So, let’s go to the first place. This is in the Rann of Kutch, about 100 kilometres from the Arabian Sea. The mangroves of Shravan Kavadia and Guneri, called Bet in local parlance, are sacred forests for the Rabari, Jat and Maldhari tribes. They know that without the mangroves their camels will perish.

The story of the Rann of Kutch inland mangroves goes back about two millennia, when there was a shallow sea here. Tectonic shifts lifted the land, and the sea moved 100-150 km away. So how did the mangroves trees, that need saline water to grow, propagate despite being far away from the sea! That’s the unique part – there are water capillaries running from the sea to these lands that bring saline water, helping the mangrove seeds to reproduce.

This part of the Rann of Kutch is not all semi-arid. Each year, the monsoon brings happy news for the people. Water accumulates in the depressions of the land, forming islands that remain land locked for the next eight months. That’s when you see hundreds of brown and slim Kharai Camels swimming to the mangrove islands for food — munching the leaves and grass and drinking the rainwater that accumulates in these troughs.

The camels splash about in the water, herded by their keepers, the Maldharis, the Jats. Rabaris, who also herd cattle. When the land dries out, the camels eat Khariyo, a perennial grass that survive in the salt marshes – and their dung spreading the seeds, forming a symbiotic relationship.

These mangroves are also home to the Neel Gai (Blue Bull), Chinkara deer, wild boar, jackals (Indian fox), hare, etc. Winter and a good rainfall bring thousands of migratory cranes, and birds facing the threat of extinction — the Lesser Florican and Houbara Bustard. These mangroves have survived the wrath of times as they are one of the most important sacred groves or temple forests – an area where no one damages these Avicennia trees, the lifeline of Kharai Camels.

From the west coast, let us now travel to the Sunderban Mangrove Forests in the east. Here abounds the story of Bon Bibi – the Forest Goddess who protects honey collectors and fishermen from the dreaded Royal Bengal tiger that can swim and silently hunt its prey.

This is the world’s largest mangrove ecosystem — spread over 20,400 square kilometres of delta land in West Bengal (India) to Bangladesh. The name Sunderban comes from Sundari (Heritiera fomes) mangrove tree which, sadly, is now on the verge of extinction.

Found in abundance a few decades ago, it has fallen prey to man’s greed for timber, rise in salinity of water, and climate change (increase in sea water temperature). These tall hardy trees grow up to 60 feet and are six feet in girth – takes 3-4 persons to span the trunk.

The Royal Bengal Tiger, keystone species of this region, is smaller in size than its cousins of the mainland. Unlike other feline species, they are expert swimmers, can survive on saline water, and hunt in the tidal waters as well as on swamps and mangroves. They prey primarily on chital, wild boar, and macaque.

The dwindling Sundari trees have made way for Dhundul, Passur, Kankra, Gewa, etc.  In fact, Sunderban has 26 of the 50 mangrove species found in the world.

The area is rich is flora and fauna. There are rare species like the Flying Fox and Pangolin, and various kinds of snakes. The forest is also rich in bird life — the brown-winged kingfishers, masked finfoots, white-bellied sea eagles and grey-headed fish eagles.

Exotic species like the Olive Ridley turtle, Hawksbill turtle, saltwater crocodile, South Asian River dolphin, chameleon, Asian water monitor are found too. Fish and amphibians in the Sundarbans include sawfish, butter fish, electric ray, common carp, and many more.

Two landscapes…two animals that can swim — in two parts of the same country and nowhere else. Isn’t India amazing!

• Mangroves are shock absorbers of the coastline – shielding the land from high tides, tsunamis, cyclones, and super cyclones.
• The stilt roots are like anchor, protecting the soil from being washed away. The porous roots help in filtering and preventing harmful sediment and saltwater to reach coral reefs. The leaves store fresh water, which the animals eat to quench their thirst.
• Some mangroves grow pencil-like roots that stick up out of the dense, wet ground like snorkels. These breathing tubes, called pneumatophores, allow mangroves to cope with daily flooding of the tides – absorbing water and releasing them when need be.
• Rich in biodiversity, the mangroves act as habitats for wildlife.
• The fruits, seeds and seedlings of mangrove plants float in the brackish seawater to a new area. The seedlings embed in the soil and quickly, grows additional roots. Within a decade the roots spread, and an entire thicket spring up. Land area increases. Mud collects around the web of mangrove roots and helps build shallow mudflats. From the journey of a single seed, a rich ecosystem is born.

The world’s total mangrove area is approximately 18.15 million hectares. India has about 500,000 hectares of mangrove wetlands.

The mangroves of Gujarat (22.55%) are the second largest after the Sunderbans (46.39%) in the Indian part.