Vedanthangal, India’s Oldest Bird Sanctuary, in Danger

Leave a Comment

Background

Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary is a small, but important, protected area in Chengalpattu district, South of Chennai. It is the oldest waterfowl sanctuary in India and is home to more than 40,000 birds every winter, including many migrants and numerous rare species. A 1998 Government Order (GO MS 199) declared this lake area (73 acres / 29 ha) and a five-kilometre radius surrounding it a wildlife sanctuary under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

In March this year, the Tamil Nadu … Read More

Polling for Pakke 2020 — Please help Pakke Tiger Reserve Pick its Best Images!

-  Photo Feature, -  Photos, -  Picture of the Week Leave a Comment

We are in our fourth year of Polling for Pakke, an initiative where people vote for their favourite camera trapping images based on which forest department staff are then given prizes. So far more than 1000 voters have helped pick the best camera trap images from Pakke Tiger Reserve. Our voters have included the head of Arunachal Forest Department Force, scientists such as Dr. George Schaller and the widow of Karo Tayem, who won the 1st prize in the first … Read More

Conservation Status of Dholes (Asiatic Wild Dogs) in Northeast India

-  Announcements, -  Articles Leave a Comment

Dholes or Asiatic wild dogs (Cuon alpinis) are among the least-studied large carnivores in the world. The IUCN Red List assessment (2015) categorizes the dhole as an Endangered species. With fewer than 2,500 mature individuals remaining in the wild – across 11 countries in South and Southeast Asia – the dhole may be facing a crisis far more severe than the tiger or elephant. India has the highest dhole population in the world, in three key landscapes: the Western Ghats, … Read More

Carnivores as Co-owners of our Lands

-  Announcements Leave a Comment

Among the range of attributes that represent India is the little-known, seldom-acknowledged diversity of carnivore species it harbors. The country has 23% of the world’s terrestrial carnivore species. While popular discourse typically links large carnivores to forested reserves or large inviolate spaces, many of India’s carnivore species have historically shared spaces and adapted to using human modified landscapes. A recent study by researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society-India, Centre for Wildlife Studies, Foundation for Ecological Research And Learning, University of … Read More

Addressing the Elephant in South Bengal

-  Announcements, -  Articles Leave a Comment

Harvest season has ceased to be a time of festivities for the rice-growing farming communities living in West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia districts of South Bengal. Due to their geographical location adjoining the dense forests of Jharkhand and Odisha, these districts attract herds of elephants that migrate during this season to raid crops after nightfall. These incidents threaten both life and livelihood. According to S. Kulandaivel, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Urban Recreation Forestry Division and a former Divisional Forest Officer, … Read More

When Humans are Curious to Know the Spotted Cat

Leave a Comment

Nashik district’s Niphad taluk is situated on the fertile banks of the Godavari River. Agriculture is the main occupation here, with sugarcane the major cash crop, grown along with food crops such as wheat, grapes, jowar and other vegetables. Livestock-rearing also contributes a major part to the local economy. In this productive landscape, where human density is fairly high, jackals, hyenas, jungle cats, civets, and leopards also co-exist, as there is water, prey, and shelter.

Some communities like Warali, Mahadeo … Read More

Polling for Pakke 2019 — Please help Pakke Tiger Reserve pick its best images!

-  Photo Feature, -  Photos, -  Picture of the Week Leave a Comment

Every year the Pakke Tiger Reserve Forest Department holds a prize distribution ceremony for the best camera trap images and also gives prizes to the most sincere staff in the reserve. For this we team up with Conservation India to hold this public voting contest as a unique form of outreach to help motivate our staff on the ground. This year as well our team has compiled notable camera trap photographs where staff patrolled the forests and never left their … Read More

Janata Waghoba: A Story of People and Leopards in Rural Maharashtra

-  Announcements, -  Articles Leave a Comment

The Northern Western Ghats, also known as the Sahyadris, are home to many species of flora and fauna. The area is one of the richest biodiversity hotspots in the world, as well as the origin of important rivers like the Godavari, Kaveri, Krishna, Thamiraparani and Tungabhadra. The part of Maharashtra state which has been flanked by the Ghats on the west is known as Western Maharashtra.

Junnar and Sangamner talukas in Pune and Ahmednagar Districts respectively, which are interspersed with … Read More

Pakke: From Darkness into Light

-  Announcements, -  Articles Leave a Comment

Tana Tapi is in a tough spot. He has the enormous task of protecting 862 sq. km of mostly inaccessible, and difficult eastern Himalayan wilderness. His job is made more difficult by the fact that some of the people that log and hunt inside these forests belong to the same community as him, the Nyishi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh. This general area bordering Assam is also one of India’s deforestation hotspots where logging networks are fuelled by larger market forces … Read More

Wildlife Tourism in India — New Challenges for Park Management

-  Announcements, -  Articles, -  Featured Article Leave a Comment

Wildlife or Nature-based tourism is growing in many countries across the world including India. Krithi K. Karanth and Ruth DeFries examine trends and practices in wildlife tourism for ten parks across India. These are results of their study from the forthcoming paper in the journal, Conservation Letters.

Study Sites in India

Ten parks were selected across India – Ranthambore, Sariska, Pench, Kanha, Anshi-Dandeli, Bhadra, Nagarahole, Bandipur, Periyar and Mudumalai. These protected areas vary in tourist numbers, access to cities, and … Read More

A Moment in the Life of a Forest Guard

-  Photos, -  Picture of the Week 1 Comment

Frontline staff — Forest Guards and Watchers — are the most vital link in the forest protection chain, but they are also the most neglected. They are lauded as “our unsung heroes” in media articles, and, occasionally, one or two a year are given awards at glittering ceremonies. But their lot on the ground remains the same year after year.  While more and more posts that suck up tax payer money are created at the top echelons of state Forest … Read More

Elephant Rescue, Valparai

-  Photos, -  Picture of the Week Leave a Comment

It was that time of the year again, when elephants slowly started marking their presence. Like every year, there were incidents of households getting hit here and there, thankfully, nothing major though. What is always interesting to note every year is the consistency they maintain in terms of their movement patterns, and also in the damage sites they choose! Early that morning I decided to take off from my daily routine in front of my Macbook’s hypnotizing screen. I went … Read More

Forest Officer Found in Possession of Elephant Tusks – Demand Action!

-  News Leave a Comment

Bangalore-based conservation NGO, Wildlife First, has written to the Chief Wildlife Warden of Karnataka demanding immediate action against a senior officer of the Karnataka Forest Department who was found in possession of elephant tusks in his house. The Central Bureau of Investigation found the tusks during an anti-corruption raid. Wildlife First’s letter to the Chief Wildlife Warden is attached for viewing.

Those who are concerned about this are encouraged to email the Chief Wildlife Warden requesting that immediate action be … Read More

Dhole and Indian Wolf, Debrigarh, Odisha

-  Photos, -  Picture of the Week Leave a Comment

Debrigarh wildlife sanctuary in Western Odisha must currently be one of the very few PAs in the country where dholes and wolves co-exist! Interestingly, sporadic reports in March 2013 by frontline staff seem to indicate that the lone male wolf, which made its appearance about a month back, has been hanging around near the pack of dholes. In fact, the RFO could see them interacting in close proximity for extended periods of time — feigning charges, scent marking, etc.

The … Read More