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Site description (2004 baseline):

Mount Diavalo and Cuthbert Bay lie on the eastern coast of Middle Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal. These islands have a humid, tropical coastal climate. The islands receive rainfall from both the southwest and northeast monsoon. Maximum precipitation is between May and December, the driest period being between January and April. This site is covered by tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forest.

AVIFAUNA: No work has been done on the avifauna of this site but as most of the forest is intact, it is extremely rich in biodiversity. All the Restricted Range (endemic) species listed by Stattersfield et al. (1998) for the Andaman Endemic Bird Area are found here, except for the Narcondam Hornbill Aceros narcondami, which has not been reported from any island of the Andaman group, and is restricted to Narcondam Island, and the Nicobar Megapode Megapodius nicobariensis which has become extinct in the Andaman Islands. Besides the Restricted Range species, many endemic subspecies of the Andaman Islands are reported from this site.

OTHER KEY FAUNA: Before the introduction of Spotted Deer or Chital Axis axis, there was no large terrestrial mammal in this area. Cheetal is now a fully acclimatized and feral species. Wild Pig Sus scrofa andamanensis was also supposed to have been introduced by the earliest colonisers, and has evolved to merit subspecies rank. The Himalayan Palm Civet Paguma larvata was also brought in by the British in the 19th century, and is now a wild species, doing much damage to native birds. Reticulated Python Python reticulatus and Andaman Water Monitor Varanus salvator andamanensis are natural inhabitants of this IBA. In the sea around this IBA, Olive Ridley Turtle Lepidochelys olivacea, Green Turtle Chelonia mydas, Hawksbill Turtle Eretmochelys imbricata and Leatherback Turtle Dermochelys coriacea are found.

MAIN THREATS: Urbanisation; Road construction; Introduced species such as Chital; Poaching.

Nesting sea turtles are disturbed and their eggs excavated by settlers as well as by dogs for food. Charaching of birds, Andaman Wild Pig and Chital is common. Complete removal of Chital may not be possible, but its population needs to be curbed to allow natural regeneration of the forest. The forests of Andaman Islands evolved without any large herbivore, therefore the long-term impact of Chital would be very harmful (Rauf Ali pers. comm. 2003).

Key contributors: K. Sivakumar and Ravi Sankaran.

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Mount Diavalo and Cuthbert Bay (India). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/mount-diavalo-and-cuthbert-bay-iba-india on 22/11/2024.