Trinidadian published in multi-lingual world magazine

Anthropologist Dr Kumar Mahabir has published an article in a multi-lingual international magazine.

The magazine, India Perspectives, has been published by the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi. A new edition of the magazine is published every month in English, French, Spanish, Arabic, Urdu, Hindi, Portuguese, Russian, Bahasa Indonesia and German.

It is perhaps the first time that a Trinidadian has been published in this widely-circulated magazine that is distributed free of charge all over the world. The publication is available locally through the Indian High Commission in St Clair.

The article on animals from India in the Caribbean appears on pages 29 to 31 in the latest edition of the magazine (Vol 17. No 2) under the caption, "Caribbean: Home to Fauna from India."

Mahabir has certainly filled a gap in the zoology and historiography of the region. Before the appearance of his article, no focused research has been published on animals and birds from India in the West Indies.  

Mahabir notes that animals were brought on the same ship with labourers who were imported to work on the sugarcane plantations after the abolition of slavery. Large lop-eared goats, for instance, were the survivors of the ship Lapwing which was wrecked near Barbados on its way to Guyana.

In his article, Mahabir notes that though domesticated cattle was first brought to the Americas by Columbus on his second voyage, the Zebu cattle (Bos indicus) was brought to the West Indies by the British in the 1860s.



In 1905 and 1908 during Indentureship, 30 Jafarabadi Indian water buffaloes ("bhaisa") were brought to Trinidad in the Tacarigua sugar estate to replace the cattle herds (Zebu and Brahman breeds) which were infected with tuberculosis.



The small mongoose was imported from India (sometimes through London) to Jamaica and Trinidad around 1872. It (Herpestes auropunctatus) was brought to control rats that infested the sugar cane plantations which caused tremendous losses in revenue.



Mahabir research also shows that in 1872, Indian goats were bought from vessels to England, and about the same time, they were brought to the West Indies to be milked for the children of immigrant labourers on the ships.



He found that Rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) were released in islands near Puerto Rico in the 1960s, and later in Florida.



Very few birds from India were brought to the Caribbean, and none could have flown over the vast oceans. The most widely distributed is the Peafowl (Pavo cristatus).


Another bird that is native to India and found in the Caribbean is the Hill Myna (Gracula religiosa). It is also called "The Talking Myna" because it has the surprising ability to mimic human speech, bird calls, and other sounds. There are other birds like the Red Avadavat (Amandava amandava) ("Strawberry Finch"), Warbling Silverbill (Lonchura malabarica) ("Indian Silverbill"), Nutmeg Mannikin (Lonchura punctulata) "Spice Finch"), ant the Chestnut Mannikin (Lonchura malacca) ("Black-headed Nun"). These birds were introduced to Puerto Rico (in the 1960s) Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, Martinique and Guadeloupe. It is likely that they escaped or were released from cages.




Dr Kumar Mahabir

President, Association of Caribbean Anthropologists (ACA)

Swami Avenue, Don Miguel Road  San Juan, Trinidad and Tobago  West Indies.

Tel:  (868) 674-6008  Tel/fax: (868) 675-7707   Cellular (868) 756-4961 E-mail:

 mahab@tstt.net.tt

April 1, 2004