Part of one of the Biodiversity Hotspots of the world namely the Western Ghats lies in Goa. The forest cover of Goa is about 1424 sq.kms. Goa’s State animal is the Gaur (Indian bison) and state bird is the Ruby Throated Yellow Bulbul (aka Black Crested Bulbul). The state tree of Goa is the Matti (Terminalia eliptica). The state of Goa has one national park namely Mollem National Park and six wildlife sanctuaries which include Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary, Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary, Cotigao Wildlife Sanctuary, Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary, Netravali Wildlife Sanctuary, one bird Sanctuary namely the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary located on the island of Chorao. There are various wildlife images from Goa through various philatelic materials such as picture postcards, permanent pictorial cancelation, special covers, etc.
Two Picture Postcards on Indian Ocean Humpback Dolphins were released by the Department of Posts, Goa Postal Division.
The Indian giant squirrel or Malabar giant squirrel (Ratufa indica) is a large multi-coloured tree squirrel species endemic to forests and woodlands in India. It is a diurnal, arboreal, and mainly herbivorous squirrel. It is one of the largest squirrels with a head and body length of 25-50 cm, a tail which is about the same size or somewhat longer and a weight of about 1.5-2.0 kg, although rarely reaches to 3 kg.
The rufous babbler (Argya subrufa) is an endemic species of bird found in the Western Ghats of southern India of the family Leiothrichidae It is dark brown and long tailed, and is usually seen foraging in noisy groups along open hillsides with a mixture of grass, bracken and forest
The square-tailed bulbul (Hypsipetes ganeesa) is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found in south-western India and Sri Lanka. It was previously classified as a subspecies of the black bulbul.
The white-bellied blue flycatcher (Cyornis pallidipes) is a small passerine bird in the flycatcher family Muscicapidae. It is endemic to the Western Ghats (including the Nilgiris) of southwest India. Males are dark blue with a lighter shade of blue on the brow and have a greyish white belly. Females have a rufous breast, a white face and olive grey above.
The gaur (Bos gaurus), also known as the Indian bison, is a bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia, and has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986. The global population was estimated at a maximum of 21,000 mature individuals in 2016, with the majority of those existing in India. It is the largest species among the wild cattle and the Bovidae. The domesticated form of the gaur is called gayal (Bos frontalis) or mithun. It is the state animal of the state of Goa.
Idea malabarica, the Malabar tree nymph, is a large butterfly found in peninsular India that belongs to the danaid group of the family Nymphalidae. It is found in forest clearings and above the forest canopy. It is the state Butterfly of Goa. This Picture Postcard has an Augumented Reality facility too in its cancelation.
A special cover on the Olive Ridley Turtles which hatch their eggs in the various beaches in Goa. A couple of beaches in Goa are natural habitats for Olive Ridley turtles, and are the best spots to witness this phenomenon. The popular beaches are Morjim in North Goa, while Galgibaga (sometimes called Turtle Beach), Agonda and Talpona are located in South Goa. These beaches were notified for protecting and facilitating turtle nesting in the 1990s.
Twenty-three species of snakes are found in Goa including non-poisonous and few venomous snakes.
(The writer is a Chief Scientist (Retd), National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa.)