Assessment Results
Raorchestes jayarami
Jayaram's Bush Frog
Order:
Anura
Family:
Rhacophoridae
Synonym(s):
Philautus jayarami, Pseudophilautus jayarami
Assessed for:
India
on:
27 Oct 2020
by:
AArk/ASG India Assessment Workshop
Authors:
Rajkumar K.P. and Seshadri K.S.
IUCN Global Red List:
Not Evaluated (NE)
National Red List:
(not assessed)
Distribution:
India
Evolutionary Distinctiveness score:
20.67545673
Recommended Conservation Actions:
Additional Comments:
| Question # | Short Name | Question Text | Response | Comments |
| 1 | Extinction risk | Current IUCN Red List category. [Data obtained from the IUCN Red List.] | Endangered (EN) | |
| 2 | Possibly extinct | Is there a strong possibility that this species might be extinct in the wild? | No / unlikely | |
| 3 | Phylogenetic significance | The taxon’s Evolutionary Distinctiveness (ED) score, as generated by the ZSL EDGE program. (These data are not editable by Assessors). | ED value 20 - 50 | |
| 4 | Protected habitat | Is a population of at least 50% of the individuals of the taxon included within a well-managed or reliably protected area or areas? | No / unlikely | This species is known from Andiparai shola in Valparai, Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu state, and it also has been found in Vagaman, Pereyar and Munnar in the Idukki district and in Kaikatti-Nelliyampathi, Palakkad district, both in Kerala state, India (Biju and Bossuyt 2009, S.D. Biju pers. comm. January 2011, S.D. Biju pers. comm. February 2014). It occurs in Periyar Tiger Reserve and Mathikettan Shola National Park (Rajkumar KP, pers. comm. October 2020), and Anamalai Sanctuary, however, most of its population is outside protected areas, in private and forest lands owned by the government (S.D. Biju pers. comm. December 2010). It is likely that the species will occur between known localities (Rajkumar KP, pers. comm. October 2020). It occurs from 600 to 1,800 m asl. |
| 5 | Habitat for reintroduction, conservation translocation or supplementation | Does enough well-managed and reliably protected habitat exist, either within or outside of currently protected areas that is suitable for conservation translocation, including population restoration or conservation introduction? | Yes / probably | |
| 6 | Previous reintroductions | Have reintroduction or translocation attempts been made in the past for this species? | No | |
| 7 | In situ conservation activities | Are any in situ conservation actions currently in place for this species? (Only required if a Red List Assessment has not been completed, or if new actions have been implemented since the last Red List Assessment. (Information from the Conservation Actions section of the Red List assessment should be reviewed and considered when answering this question.). | No / unlikely | It occurs in Anamalai Sanctuary, however, most of its population is outside protected areas, in private and forest lands owned by the government (S.D. Biju pers. comm. December 2010). It is also found in Periyar Tiger Reserve and Mathikettan Shola National Park (Rajkumar KP, pers. comm. October 2020). |
| 8 | In situ conservation activities | Are additional in situ conservation actions required to help conserve this species in the wild (e.g. habitat restoration and/or protection, control of invasive species, national legislation etc.)? | Yes / probably | Improved habitat protection is a priority for this frog (S.D. Biju pers. comm. September 2010). |
| 9 | In situ research | Is additional in situ research required to better understand the species, e.g. distribution, population trends, natural history etc.? | Yes | Further research is required on its distribution, its dispersal between habitat fragments ,and the effects of climate change and Bd. Population monitoring is also recommended. |
| 10 | Threat mitigation | Are the threats facing the taxon, including any new and emerging threats not considered in the IUCN Red List, potentially reversible? | Threats unlikely to be reversed in time to prevent further decline / extinction | The species has been found in tea plantations in Valparai and Munnar (Rajkumar K.P. and Vishnupriya Sankararaman, pers. comm. October 2020). Continuing habitat loss due to small and large-scale agriculture (tea, orange, cardamom and other crops) and logging are threats affecting the species' habitat (S.D. Biju pers. comm. December 2010, S.D. Biju pers. comm. January 2011, Rajkumar KP, pers. comm. October 2020). In particular, potentially suitable breeding habitat is continuously being destroyed in Kaikatti-Nelliyampathi (S.D. Biju pers. comm. May 2011). Tourism is also affecting this species in Vagaman (S.D. Biju pers. comm. January 2011). There is an annual pilgrimage involving millions of people in Periyar Tiger Reserve where the same area of grassland is burnt every year as a place for pilgrims to sit (Rajkumar K.P. pers. comm, October 2020), this is likely to be highly detrimental. Climate change could be a threat in the future as it might cause habitat shifting (Rajkumar KP, pers. comm. October 2020). Bd has been confirmed in the genus but it is not known if it is a threat (Seshadri KS, pers. comm. October 2020). |
| 11 | Over-collection from the wild | Is the taxon suffering from collection within its natural range, either for food, for the pet trade or for any other reason, which threatens the species’ continued persistence in the wild? | No / unlikely | |
| 12 | Population recovery | Is the known population of this species in the wild large enough to recover naturally, without ex situ intervention if threats are mitigated? | Yes / probably | It is now infrequently encountered compared to what it used to be in 2004, when it used to be common in the geographical localities where it was found (S.D. Biju pers. comm. January 2011). Thus, this species' population is presumed to be declining (S.D. Biju pers. comm. January 2011) and considered to be severely fragmented given that it has a patchy distribution, all individuals are in three small and relatively isolated populations and its dispersal capacity is believed to be low due to its habitat specialization. It is locally abundant where it is found (Rajkumar K.P., pers. comm. October 2020). |
| 13 | Action plans | Does an Action Plan for the species already exist, or is one currently being developed? | No | |
| 14 | Biological distinctiveness | Does the taxon exhibit a distinctive reproductive mode, behaviour, aspect of morphology or physiology, within the Order to which it belongs (e.g. Anura, Passeriformes etc.)? | No aspect of biology known to be exceptional | |
| 15 | Cultural/socio-economic importance | Does the taxon have a special human cultural value (e.g. as a national or regional symbol, in a historic context, featuring in traditional stories) or economic value (e.g. food, traditional medicine, tourism) within its natural range or in a wider global context? | Yes | Used as medicine for coughs, as general medicine for children and as amulets for children who do not speak or walk well (Kanagavel et al. 2020). |
| 16 | Scientific importance | Is the species vital to current or planned research other than species-specific ecology/biology/conservation within the Order to which it belongs (e.g. Anura, Passeriformes etc.) e.g. human medicine, climate change, environmental pollutants and conservation science? | No research dependent on this species | |
| 17 | Ex situ research | Does conserving this species (or closely related species) in situ depend upon research that can be most easily carried out ex situ? | No | |
| 18 | Ex situ conservation activities | Is any ex situ research or other ex situ conservation action currently in place for this species? (Information from the Conservation Actions section of the Red List assessment should be reviewed and considered when answering this question.) | No / unlikely | |
| 19 | Husbandry analog required | If an ex situ rescue program is recommended for this species, would an analog species be required to develop husbandry protocols first? | No / unlikely | |
| 20 | Husbandry analog | Do the biological and ecological attributes of this species make it suitable for developing husbandry regimes for more threatened related species? i.e. could this species be used in captivity to help to develop husbandry and breeding protocols which could be used for a similar, but more endangered species at a later stage? | No | |
| 21 | Captive breeding | Has this species been successfully bred and/or maintained in captivity? | Not held in captivity to date | |
| 22 | Conservation education/ecotourism potential | Is the species especially diurnal, active or colourful, or is there an interesting or unusual aspect of its ecology that make it particularly suitable to be an educational ambassador for conservation of the species in the range country, either in zoos or aquariums or within ecotourism activities? | Yes | It is quite a pretty species and so could potentially be used for education purposes (Rajkumar KP, pers. comm. October 2020). |
| 23 | Mandate | Is there an existing conservation mandate recommending the ex situ conservation of this taxon? | No | |
| 24 | Range State approval | If an ex situ initiative was proposed for this species, would it be supported (and approved) by the range State (either within the range State or out-of-country ex situ)? | Yes / probably | |
| 25 | Founder specimens | Are sufficient animals of the taxon available or potentially available (from wild or captive sources) to initiate an ex situ program, if one was recommended? | Yes / probably | |
| 26 | Taxonomic status | Has a complete taxonomic analysis of the species in the wild been carried out, to fully understand the functional unit you wish to conserve (i.e. have species limits been determined)? | Yes |
Citation:
Rajkumar K.P. and Seshadri K.S. 2020. Conservation Needs Assessment for Raorchestes jayarami, India
(AArk/ASG India Assessment Workshop).
https://conservationneeds.org/assessment/5676
Accessed 03 Apr 2025
