First record of Ombrana sikimensis (Jerdon, 1870) (Anura: Dicroglossidae) from the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, with comments on its use and conservation status

We report the discovery of the Sikkim Frog, Ombrana sikimensis from Central Bhutan's Zhemgang district, in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. The frog which was found residing in a clean perennial stream is used by the local human population for consumption. It is supposed to heal stomach related ailments. This record will help Bhutan understand the use and importance of the species and help in prioritizing conservation

Ethnobotanical knowledge of local communities of Bumdeling Wildlife Sanctuary, Trashiyangtse, Bhutan

447-452This paper discusses the ethnobotanical knowledge of the three ethnic groups, viz. Sharchogpa, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Zalakha speaking people and the Bhutanese of Tibetan origin, that inhabit the wildlife sanctuary. Of the 165 ethnobotanical species used by the communities, 67 are used for treating different diseases while 98 are used for woodcrafts, handicraft, vegetables, fodder, fibres, dying clothes and making tea, etc. <span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-IN;mso-fareast-language: EN-IN">Ericaceae with 16 species was found to be the most used plant family. Ophiocordyceps sinensis [Berk.] Sacc., was found next most useful to locals as the main source of cash income for the upland dwellers. </span

Distribution of Cantor's Kukri snake Oligodon cyclurus (Cantor, 1839) (Squamata: colubridae) in Bhutan

This paper provides the distribution and morphometric measurements, along with locality information, of Oligodon cyclurus in Bhutan through the study of five specimen n=5 collected from 2016 to 2021. As a Least Concern (LC) species that is little known in the locality, the species faces threats from the community. The study suggests that awareness campaigns for local people, especially the younger generation, on the role of Oligodon cyclurus' in the ecosystem must be conducted in order to protect the species. Further studies about its distribution pattern, population status, and molecular identity are direly needed

Status of Amphibian Studies and Conservation in Bhutan

The Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan, referred to as ‘Drukyul’, or the Land of the Thunder Dragon, by the Bhutanese is a small (area: 38,394 km2 , or slightly larger than Switzerland) landlocked nation, situated between China (Tibet) and India, straddling the southern slopes of the eastern Himalayas. The Kingdom has an eastwest extent of about 300 km and a north-south extent of 170 km, and comprises mostly evergreen forest-clad mountains. The country has a long (470 km) border with Tibet (China’s Xizang Autonomous Region) to the north and northwest and a longer combined one (605 km) with the Indian state of Sikkim to the west, Poschim Banga (formerly, West Bengal) to the southwest, Assam to the south and southeast, and Arunachal Pradesh to the east. Sikkim, a tiny state of the Indian union separates Bhutan from Nepal, while Poschim Banga separates it from Bangladesh. The traditional border with Tibet follows the Chumbi valley watershed in the northwest and the crest of the Himalayas in the north while the border with India in the south is dictated by a treaty with British India in the Nineteenth Century; that frontier essentially follows the contours made by the Himalayan foothills with the plains. The border with Tibet is traditional, following the watershed of the Chumbi Valley in the northwest and the crest of the Himalayas in the north. Estimates of forest cover in the Kingdom vary from about 81% (Anonymous 2011), to 55% (Meyfroidt and Lambin 2010). According to the latter source, closed or partially closed forests account for 22% of Bhutan, and about seven percent is under permanent snow and glaciers. About three percent is cultivated or consists of agricultural land, while another four percent is counted as meadows and pastures. The rest of the land is either barren, rocky, or scrubland (Anonymous 2012)

Moneses uniflora (Ericaceae): A new record to Bhutan

Moneses uniflora (L.) A. Gray, commonly called Single Delight, a single member of the genus Moneses was observed twice by the authors in June 2015 and July 2018 on the ridges of Chelela, Paro, Bhutan at an altitude of 3430 m asl. The species could be identified by its short petiole, slender rhizome and five spreading slightly rumpled white petals. A new record for Bhutan, this paper describes the locality of the species along with other field observations

First record of Maskey's Burrowing Frog, Sphaerotheca maskeyi (Schleich and Anders, 1998) from Bhutan

We report the first record of Maskey's Burrowing Frog, Sphaerotheca maskeyi (Schleich and Anders 1998) in Bhutan based on diagnostic morphological features such as the crepe-like (finely wrinkled) dorsal surface without warts, folds or tubercles with uniform colouration; the tibiotarsal articulation touching the tympanum; an inner metatarsal tubercle distinctly longer than the first toe; smooth skin on throat and breast where it is granular between axilla and groin; no outer metatarsal and tibiotarsal tubercles. Our record of S. maskeyi at Yangpelthang, Norgaygang, Samtse District represents the eastern-most observation of the species, ca. 453 km east of its type locality, Chitwan, Nepal and is the first record for Bhutan. It was recorded at an elevation of 380 metres above sea level on the foothills of the mid-Bhutan Himalayan mountains, well away from the protected area system of Bhutan but not far from the Indian border of West Bengal State’s Jalpaiguri District. This species is listed as Least Concerned by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN). However, in Bhutan the species warrants detailed inventory and conservation interventions since it is recorded for the first time from just one location and that too from an area outside the protected area network

First confirmed record of caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) from the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan

The world currently recognizes 214 species of Caecilians (Amphibia: Gymnophiona) most of which occur in the wet tropics and some adjacent subtropical regions. Of the ten-family classification known, three occur in Asia, viz. Chikilidae (endemic to northeast India, Indotyphlidae (India's Western and Eastern Ghats) and Ichthyophiidae. However, until this report, there were no confirmed reports of any caecilian species from Bhutan, although their presence has been assumed likely given their occurrence in adjacent countries. This report provides the first confirmed report of caecilians in Bhutan with work to identify the species to be carried on later with further research

Predation by the wolfsnake Lycodon aulicus (Linnaeus, 1758) on the house gecko Hemidactylus frenatus Duméril &amp; Bibron, 1836 in Tsirang District, Kingdom of Bhutan

Wolfsnakes, genus Lycodon Fitzinger, 1826, are known to prey upon rodents and frogs (Fritts, 1993), and they may even endanger the survival of bird species (Khamcha and Gale, 2020). However, their biggest impact as a predator is most likely on the broad variety of lizards they consume, including house geckos, skinks, and agamids (Fritts, 1993; Pauwels et al., 2005; Vogel et al., 2009; Zhang and Wang, 2014). Lycodon aulicus (Linnaeus, 1758) in particular is known to feed on common house geckos (Daniel, 2002; Jackson and Fritts, 2004) and, consequently, it may frequently be seen in and around residential buildings where these prey species are most commonly encountered (Shroff, 2016)

Presumed combat behavior in Greater Black Kraits, Bungarus niger Wall 1908, in Trongsa, Bhutan

The Greater Black Krait (Bungarus niger), one of five species of kraits that occur in Bhutan, is a slender, terrestrial, shy and inoffensive, venomous snake that is primarily nocturnal but can be encountered occasionally during the day. This species occurs in northeastern India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan (Uetz et al. 2020)

Employing citizen science to understand amphibian and reptile diversity and distribution in the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan

In the absence of systematic research institutions and local or long-term resident systematists added by Buddhist culture that discourages lethal sampling of animals, scientific collections are particularly sparse in Bhutan. Consequently, less charismatic taxa such as the reptile and amphibian fauna of Bhutan, including the Eastern-Himalayas, are poorly known. Citizen science was employed to better understand the occupancy and distribution of reptile and amphibian fauna in Bhutan. Using a dedicated amphibian and reptile Facebook group, we gathered 929 species records from 235 individuals between May 2014 and December 2019. Of the participants 70% were foresters, 10% were members of the general public, 6% were school teachers, 6% were college students, 5% were non-forester civil servants, and 3% were tour guides. Citizen scientists submitted records for 99 species of snakes, 70 species of amphibians, 87 species of lizards and 5 species of testudines. Of these, 70% of the records extended the published range of the species in Bhutan, and more than 48 species were new records for Bhutan. Our study demonstrates the potential of citizen science in developing countries with poorly documented fauna