Story/place-Tripura
AGARTALA: The mysterious deaths of two leopards and some birds sent the Sepahijala zoo authorities into a tizzy. In the last four days, two leopards and as many as 11 birds of various species including night herons, pond herons, eagles, owls, kites, small cranes and white and black-necked storks have died in the zoo.
Besides the two leopards, another wild cat was found dead in the zoo area. A vulture was also found sick and immediately shifted to the intensive care unit. Vultures are now considered an extremely endangered species.
The wildlife conservator and director of Sepahijala Wildlife Sanctuary, Ajit Bhowmik, confirmed the deaths of the birds and the cats.
"Today, we found one black-necked stork dead," he said, adding that the cause of the deaths could not be ascertained as yet.
Nevertheless, the zoo administration has already quarantined the aviary and other animal enclosures, putting a complete restriction on visitors.
"We have sought help from outside experts. A team of the Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), which is currently engaged in implementing avian flu-related measures in Tripura, would visit the zoo. Central zoo authorities were also informed about the deaths," he said.
"Soon after the incident was reported, some specialist veterinary surgeons conducted autopsies on the dead birds and animals. But the exact cause of the deaths could not be ascertained," said Bhowmik. The carcass would also be sent to the central laboratory for further investigation. However, the zoo administration and wildlife experts confirmed that the deaths were not due to avian flu; the disease has only recently been reported in some parts of the state.
The zoo director said all birds and animals were administered antibiotics and other necessary preventive medicines. The wildlife authorities had also stopped giving poultry feeds' to the birds, as the deaths could well be food-related.
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Monday, March 21, 2011
Bondla zoo's fame enriches forest dept
Story/place-Goa,
AGENCIES | Mar 5, 2011, 12.58am IST
PANAJI: Goa's only zoo, a mini zoological park in the Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary, has posted a health growth in revenue collection with its rising popularity, especially among the students.Data released by the forest department has revealed that 2009-10 saw 87,747 tourists visiting the place, 50 km from here.
Students topped the number of visitors with 23,549 of them arriving in the zoo to have a glimpse of wild animals, birds and also a botanical garden in the sanctuary spread over an area of 8 km. Contrary to popular perception that foreigners visit Goa only to soak on the beaches, a total of 2,261 international tourists visited the place. The department said a revenue of 14.77 lakh was collected in 2009-10 in the form of different fees as against 11.70 lakh netted in 2008-09. The gate fee fetched 10.61 lakh, while renting of cottages and dormitories brought in 3.77 lakh. Money also came from elephant rides and the sale of plants. The zoo is undergoing an upgradation at a cost of 20 crore, most of which has come from the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), a senior department official said.The department officials said the popularity of the zoo shot up recently after a tiger, Rana, and tigress Sandhya were added to the inventory.
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AGENCIES | Mar 5, 2011, 12.58am IST
PANAJI: Goa's only zoo, a mini zoological park in the Bondla Wildlife Sanctuary, has posted a health growth in revenue collection with its rising popularity, especially among the students.Data released by the forest department has revealed that 2009-10 saw 87,747 tourists visiting the place, 50 km from here.
Students topped the number of visitors with 23,549 of them arriving in the zoo to have a glimpse of wild animals, birds and also a botanical garden in the sanctuary spread over an area of 8 km. Contrary to popular perception that foreigners visit Goa only to soak on the beaches, a total of 2,261 international tourists visited the place. The department said a revenue of 14.77 lakh was collected in 2009-10 in the form of different fees as against 11.70 lakh netted in 2008-09. The gate fee fetched 10.61 lakh, while renting of cottages and dormitories brought in 3.77 lakh. Money also came from elephant rides and the sale of plants. The zoo is undergoing an upgradation at a cost of 20 crore, most of which has come from the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), a senior department official said.The department officials said the popularity of the zoo shot up recently after a tiger, Rana, and tigress Sandhya were added to the inventory.
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Stop constructions inside Ranthambore, SC panel tells state
Story/place-Jaipur
Mar 15, 2011,
JAIPUR: The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) constituted by the Supreme Court has directed the state government to bring all such activities to a stop at the Ranthambore National Park that violates the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 or directives of the apex court.
The CEC directive follows a petition filed by Belinda Wright, executive director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India.
In the petition, Wright had alleged that the state forest department has been undertaking massive construction work at the national park which is violative of provisions in the law.
The CEC's directives to S Ahmad, chief secretary, Rajasthan, has also sought a response to the petition from the state government.
The department has already constructed more than 100 small anicuts and 20 ponds. Excavation work is also on for Bhanwardha Dam in the Berdha area with the use of excavator machines and explosives.
Heavy excavator machines and pneumatic drills are being used and blasting conducted for the constructions inside the park and wildlife experts pointed out that these activities are creating immense stress for the wild animals.
"A number of cement anicuts and earth dams have also been constructed around Galai Sagar while the Tambakhan road has been dug out and widened with a JCB machine, apparently to facilitate use of this road by tourist vehicles going to Zone 4," a wildlife activists said.
The Supreme Court in an order dated February 14, 2000, has prohibited any non-forest activity like felling of trees, removal of biomass and miscellaneous construction activity in protected forest areas without prior permission from it.
Wildlife activists feel that the current construction being undertaken inside the park will create disturbance in the natural eco-system of Ranthambore causing irreversible damage.
On the anvil is another anicut at Adi Dagar, beyond Lakardah, in a nullah that runs from Lakardah to Bakola. The area, however, has a number of perennial waterholes that provide water for the wild animals, especially during the critical summer months. This is where the tigress Machali' (T-16) spent the summer of 2010, making its kills around the waterholes.
"All the proposed and execution sites of the construction are breeding areas of tigers. These dams will ruin them completely. If construction begins, tigers will move out from these territories -- something that can be attributed to the wide straying of tigers from the park these days. The flora of this xeric and arid environment when exposed to excess water, which would get collected in these dams, will be damaged. Similarly, the fauna, too, will be affected as the moisture content of the soil will increase which disturbs the burrowing animals largely," an expert said.
However, forest department officials feel that last summer the park was under severe stress due to scarcity of water and it is necessary to build additional water bodies to fight the arid summers becoming tougher by the years due to climate change.
Source-timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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Mar 15, 2011,
JAIPUR: The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) constituted by the Supreme Court has directed the state government to bring all such activities to a stop at the Ranthambore National Park that violates the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 or directives of the apex court.
The CEC directive follows a petition filed by Belinda Wright, executive director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India.
In the petition, Wright had alleged that the state forest department has been undertaking massive construction work at the national park which is violative of provisions in the law.
The CEC's directives to S Ahmad, chief secretary, Rajasthan, has also sought a response to the petition from the state government.
The department has already constructed more than 100 small anicuts and 20 ponds. Excavation work is also on for Bhanwardha Dam in the Berdha area with the use of excavator machines and explosives.
Heavy excavator machines and pneumatic drills are being used and blasting conducted for the constructions inside the park and wildlife experts pointed out that these activities are creating immense stress for the wild animals.
"A number of cement anicuts and earth dams have also been constructed around Galai Sagar while the Tambakhan road has been dug out and widened with a JCB machine, apparently to facilitate use of this road by tourist vehicles going to Zone 4," a wildlife activists said.
The Supreme Court in an order dated February 14, 2000, has prohibited any non-forest activity like felling of trees, removal of biomass and miscellaneous construction activity in protected forest areas without prior permission from it.
Wildlife activists feel that the current construction being undertaken inside the park will create disturbance in the natural eco-system of Ranthambore causing irreversible damage.
On the anvil is another anicut at Adi Dagar, beyond Lakardah, in a nullah that runs from Lakardah to Bakola. The area, however, has a number of perennial waterholes that provide water for the wild animals, especially during the critical summer months. This is where the tigress Machali' (T-16) spent the summer of 2010, making its kills around the waterholes.
"All the proposed and execution sites of the construction are breeding areas of tigers. These dams will ruin them completely. If construction begins, tigers will move out from these territories -- something that can be attributed to the wide straying of tigers from the park these days. The flora of this xeric and arid environment when exposed to excess water, which would get collected in these dams, will be damaged. Similarly, the fauna, too, will be affected as the moisture content of the soil will increase which disturbs the burrowing animals largely," an expert said.
However, forest department officials feel that last summer the park was under severe stress due to scarcity of water and it is necessary to build additional water bodies to fight the arid summers becoming tougher by the years due to climate change.
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Tigress found dead
Story/place-Dehradun
Dehra Dun, Mar 6 (PTI) A tigress was found dead in the jungles of Kaladhungi range in Ramnagar forest division near Jim Corbett National park, an official today said.
The carcass of the tigress, aged between 6-8 years, was noticed by forest guards last evening during patrolling, Divisional Forest Officer of Ramnagar Ravindra Juyal said.
The postmortem has revealed that the tigress had a natural death nearly
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Dehra Dun, Mar 6 (PTI) A tigress was found dead in the jungles of Kaladhungi range in Ramnagar forest division near Jim Corbett National park, an official today said.
The carcass of the tigress, aged between 6-8 years, was noticed by forest guards last evening during patrolling, Divisional Forest Officer of Ramnagar Ravindra Juyal said.
The postmortem has revealed that the tigress had a natural death nearly
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Tiger Census to be released on March 28: Ramesh
story/place-New delhi
18/03/2011
New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI) India''s ''Tiger Census'' will be released on March 28, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh announced today and hoped that the country will be able to report that the big cat''s population is more than the existing figure of 1,411 after the results of the exercise are out.
"It is the most comprehensive census we have done so far and very systematically, involving a large number of people. We are releasing it on March 28," Ramesh said.
The census was carried out by installing cameras at strategic points, like water bodies in the forests, as also in the respective territories of the big cats and a computer analysis was done to collate the data.
The 2007 census had shown a sharp fall in the number of tigers in ''protected areas'' -- reserves, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries -- in 19 states across the country.
According to it, India had only 1,411 wild cats left in its forests.
"I hope that on 28 we will be able to report that tiger population figure of 1,411 in India is infact more than 1,411," Ramesh told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.
However, he expressed concern over the threat to the forest eco-system from multitude of sources, a true representation of the tigers.
"Tiger is a representation of our forest eco-system is under severe threat from our eco-system which is under serious threat from variety of sources, severe threat from poachers, hoteliers, hotels, from mining mafias, from political networks and from people who in made rush of inda becoming the next economic super power," he said.
Ramesh said the government''s endeavour would be to see tigers in the wild rather than in captivity.
"Over 50 per cent of 3500 tigers in the wild are in India and 17,000 are in captivity. We dont want to see tigers in captivity but in wild," he said.
Asked about the rising cases of man-animal conflict in the Corbett National Park, Ramesh expressed hope the Government will be able to solve the problem with the State Government there.
source-news.in.msn.com
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18/03/2011
New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI) India''s ''Tiger Census'' will be released on March 28, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh announced today and hoped that the country will be able to report that the big cat''s population is more than the existing figure of 1,411 after the results of the exercise are out.
"It is the most comprehensive census we have done so far and very systematically, involving a large number of people. We are releasing it on March 28," Ramesh said.
The census was carried out by installing cameras at strategic points, like water bodies in the forests, as also in the respective territories of the big cats and a computer analysis was done to collate the data.
The 2007 census had shown a sharp fall in the number of tigers in ''protected areas'' -- reserves, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries -- in 19 states across the country.
According to it, India had only 1,411 wild cats left in its forests.
"I hope that on 28 we will be able to report that tiger population figure of 1,411 in India is infact more than 1,411," Ramesh told reporters on the sidelines of a function here.
However, he expressed concern over the threat to the forest eco-system from multitude of sources, a true representation of the tigers.
"Tiger is a representation of our forest eco-system is under severe threat from our eco-system which is under serious threat from variety of sources, severe threat from poachers, hoteliers, hotels, from mining mafias, from political networks and from people who in made rush of inda becoming the next economic super power," he said.
Ramesh said the government''s endeavour would be to see tigers in the wild rather than in captivity.
"Over 50 per cent of 3500 tigers in the wild are in India and 17,000 are in captivity. We dont want to see tigers in captivity but in wild," he said.
Asked about the rising cases of man-animal conflict in the Corbett National Park, Ramesh expressed hope the Government will be able to solve the problem with the State Government there.
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Giant Squirrel losing habitat: Expert
Story/place-Pune
Dipannita Das, TNN, Mar 19, 2011, 06.10am IST
PUNE: The endemic Indian Giant Squirrel, which is also the state animal, is losing its habitat in Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary as the tree canopy which this endangered species need, is disappearing due to human interference, and this has added pressure on the forest and the wildlife. This was stated by Renee M Borges, professor at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore.
Borges, who has studied the status, ecology and conservation of the Indian Giant Squirrel in Bhimashankar, was in the city for a two-day workshop on 'Capacity building of forest staff with focus on Indian Giant Squirrel', organised by the forest department (wildlife) on Friday. Borges pointed out that the sanctuary, which has the potential to become a world heritage site, is in a sorry state. "There is no proper garbage disposal system. The sanctuary is littered and is facing pressures from pilgrim tourism because of the Shiva temple located inside the sanctuary," she said. "The Indian Giant Squirrel is a symbol of undisturbed forest. Therefore, a holistic approach is needed to protect them. It needs continuous canopy, so there has to be continuity between two forests. The forest department has to identify the threats and take measures accordingly." According to Borges, the sanctuary has to be protected from human disturbance and measures are needed to reduce the pressure. "The sanctity of the temple has to be maintained. The sanctuary also contains the origin of the Bhima river and its catchment areas. Steps are needed to reduce the pressure on the sacred groves as well." During her talk, Borges narrated how during a field trip, a giant squirrel with her baby and nest was sighted. "These are positive signs that some forest areas are still good for the species. But there is a need to look at the disturbances like poaching. There has to be continuous monitoring inside the forest,'' she said. The Indian Giant Squirrel feeds on certain plant species. Borges stressed that these plant species have to be conserved.
source-timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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Dipannita Das, TNN, Mar 19, 2011, 06.10am IST
PUNE: The endemic Indian Giant Squirrel, which is also the state animal, is losing its habitat in Bhimashankar Wildlife Sanctuary as the tree canopy which this endangered species need, is disappearing due to human interference, and this has added pressure on the forest and the wildlife. This was stated by Renee M Borges, professor at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore.
Borges, who has studied the status, ecology and conservation of the Indian Giant Squirrel in Bhimashankar, was in the city for a two-day workshop on 'Capacity building of forest staff with focus on Indian Giant Squirrel', organised by the forest department (wildlife) on Friday. Borges pointed out that the sanctuary, which has the potential to become a world heritage site, is in a sorry state. "There is no proper garbage disposal system. The sanctuary is littered and is facing pressures from pilgrim tourism because of the Shiva temple located inside the sanctuary," she said. "The Indian Giant Squirrel is a symbol of undisturbed forest. Therefore, a holistic approach is needed to protect them. It needs continuous canopy, so there has to be continuity between two forests. The forest department has to identify the threats and take measures accordingly." According to Borges, the sanctuary has to be protected from human disturbance and measures are needed to reduce the pressure. "The sanctity of the temple has to be maintained. The sanctuary also contains the origin of the Bhima river and its catchment areas. Steps are needed to reduce the pressure on the sacred groves as well." During her talk, Borges narrated how during a field trip, a giant squirrel with her baby and nest was sighted. "These are positive signs that some forest areas are still good for the species. But there is a need to look at the disturbances like poaching. There has to be continuous monitoring inside the forest,'' she said. The Indian Giant Squirrel feeds on certain plant species. Borges stressed that these plant species have to be conserved.
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Number of leopards not certain
Story/place-Chandigarh.
Pankaj Dhiman, Mar 20, 2011
CHANDIGARH: Three months after the Wildlife Institute of India conducted a wildlife census here, the UT forest and wildlife department is still waiting for the final report. Despite a lot of excitement being created about presence of leopards in the area, its veracity can only be determined after the report comes.
According to sources, during the wildlife census in December 2010, a team from WII had also found six leopard pug marks. Since then the UT officials have been trying to get the census report from the WII team but have failed to get it.
Chandigarh forest and wildlife conservator Santosh Kumar said the WII team had submitted a rough draft recently. ''The final report is expected to come this month. It is a long exercise to study the data. We will examine the presence of leopards after seeing the report, he said. Finding the leopard pug marks had encouraged the forest department of Chandigarh and they claimed to have installed around 35 cameras to spot leopards, but sources said they have been managing with only a single camera for the past three months. ''It is very difficult to spot the animals with a single camera. We used to check the clippings after a week but wild animals are so active and do not stay at any particular location. Sometimes we cannot find any useful clipping,'' said a forest worker.
source-timesofindia.indiatimes.com
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Pankaj Dhiman, Mar 20, 2011
CHANDIGARH: Three months after the Wildlife Institute of India conducted a wildlife census here, the UT forest and wildlife department is still waiting for the final report. Despite a lot of excitement being created about presence of leopards in the area, its veracity can only be determined after the report comes.
According to sources, during the wildlife census in December 2010, a team from WII had also found six leopard pug marks. Since then the UT officials have been trying to get the census report from the WII team but have failed to get it.
Chandigarh forest and wildlife conservator Santosh Kumar said the WII team had submitted a rough draft recently. ''The final report is expected to come this month. It is a long exercise to study the data. We will examine the presence of leopards after seeing the report, he said. Finding the leopard pug marks had encouraged the forest department of Chandigarh and they claimed to have installed around 35 cameras to spot leopards, but sources said they have been managing with only a single camera for the past three months. ''It is very difficult to spot the animals with a single camera. We used to check the clippings after a week but wild animals are so active and do not stay at any particular location. Sometimes we cannot find any useful clipping,'' said a forest worker.
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