Union Minster of State for Environment and Forests, Mr. Jairam Ramesh, announced that a Western Ghats Ecology Authority (WGEA) will be setup shortly. After being notified, the body is expected to identify places to be declared “no development areas” in the 51 districts of six states that form a part of the Western Ghats. Nine such authorities have been setup under the Environment Protection Act (EPA). He disagreed with suggestions that the previous authorities were toothless. Mr. Jairam Ramesh was … Read More
Human – Tiger conflict: Cause, Consequence and Mitigation
Dr. K Ullas Karanth, Senior Scientist, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Dr. Rajesh Gopal, Member Secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) explain how conflict between humans and tigers can be reduced.
Wherever wild tiger populations survive and come into contact with landscapes dominated by humans, they pose a threat by preying on livestock, and, less commonly, on people. In most parts of India, people are remarkably tolerant of wildlife damage compared with elsewhere in the world, but sometimes, in … Read More
Madhya Pradesh plans Great Indian Bustard conservation along the lines of Desert National Park
The state of Madhya Pradesh is planning on increasing conservation activities around the Great Indian Bustard (GIB). The state has lost all the GIBs from the Karera sanctuary in Shivpuri and is left to preserve only a handful in Ghatigaon sanctuary (Gwalior). Chief Wildlife Warden HS Pabla closely monitored the conservation of the GIB in Desert National Park on his recent visit to Rajasthan, which is protecting around 100-150 GIBs. Only eight GIBs have been spotted in the last census … Read More
Human-Elephant Conflict and its Mitigation: Q&A with Sanjay Gubbi
Is human–elephant conflict on the rise?
Yes, it seems to be. We have failed to reduce crop depredation loss and injury to human life, which has made people living around wildlife habitats more hostile towards conservation.
As a consequence, there has been a constant increase in the retaliatory killing of elephants. In Karnataka alone 16 elephants were killed in 2006–07, 46 in 2008–09 and 41 in 2009–10. The compensation paid by the Karnataka Forest Department for loss to life and … Read More
India Proposes New Strategies to Conserve Elephants
This was published in Oryx, February 2011.
India is home to a population of c. 26,000 Asian elephant Elephas maximus over an area of c. 110,000 km2. Currently 65,000 km2 of this area is declared as 32 Elephant Reserves across Protected Areas (30%), Reserved Forests (40%) and private lands (30%). Securing this landscape for the elephant is a challenging task in a country that has an expanding economy and over a billion people competing for space, some of it with … Read More
Bird Haven Threatened by Builders in Dadri, Noida
Dadri in Greater Noida is now home to a bird species that is rarely seen in the Indian subcontinent — the Bristled Grassbird. Bird watchers have not only spotted breeding grounds of the rare bird but also managed to capture the sight of their breeding on camera for the first time.
Enthusiasts from Delhi, Noida and adjoining areas have recorded the presence of over 220 species of rare migratory and resident birds in the wetlands of Bil Akbarpur village.
But … Read More
Gir Sanctuary Roads to be Closed During Nights
The Gujarat forest and environment department has banned entry of vehicles on the roads passing through Gir National Park and Sanctuary, the last abode of Asiatic Lions, at night.
The move by the forest department will give a much needed relief to the wildlife in the Gir as about 10 important roads pass through the sanctuary. This step will decrease the risk of accident to animals and also save it from disturbance and noise pollution.… Read More
40 new mining leases granted near Sariska
JAIPUR: The beauty of the Aravalli-flanked Sariska Reserve may soon be a thing of past with Rajasthan government granting 40 new mining leases in the eco-sensitive zone, something that’ll leave the area pock-marked with quarries and pose a threat to an ambitious tiger rehab project.
The government sanctioned the leases on Tuesday on a plea that Aravalli range, where stone mining had been sanctioned, had contours less than 100 feet, which is not considered as a hill as per state … Read More
Camera trapping reveals wildlife rarely seen in Pilibhit
The Pilibhit Territorial Forest Division forests are spread over an area of 700 sq. km. They are a part of the Terai Arc landscape that stretches for over 800 km between the Rivers Yamuna in the west and Baghmati in the east (click image at bottom). Pilibhit’s forests are strategically located in the landscape and connect India’s Dudhwa Tiger Reserve and Nepal’s Suklaphanta National Park through the Lagga Bagga forests. This forest division is in the process of being declared … Read More
Growing Elephant Deaths in Orissa Raise Alarm
BHUBANESWAR: In the last 19 years in Orissa, 231 elephants fell victim to poachers while 166 were killed in accidents and 173 more died from natural causes, says a wildlife NGO. While the government gives more conservative estimates, experts say there is enough cause for alarm.
Biswajit Mohanty, secretary of NGO Wildlife Society of Orissa , who gave IANS the figures, said at least 155 of the elephants died due to electrocution in over 10 years.
“Immediate measures are required … Read More
Railways and West Bengal govt. to declare Railway stretch as ‘elephant corridor’
The Railways and the Wildlife officials of both the West Bengal government and Centre today unanimously agreed to declare the entire 164-km stretch between Siliguri and Alipurdiar on the North East Frontier Railway as an “elephant corridor” and put a speed restriction of 45 kmph on all the trains – day and night.
Both the sides formulated and agreed on a number of other steps to prevent recurrence of such animal dashing by speeding trains, official sources said.
On Wednesday … Read More
Seven elephants die after speeding train hits herd
Incident once again raises questions over movement of trains along the elephant corridor.
Seven elephants of a herd died after being hit by a goods train in the Banarhat area of Jalpaiguri district (West Bengal) on Wednesday night.
While four were killed on the spot, the rest died on Thursday. The dead include a sub-adult and two juvenile elephants, Divisional Forest Officer (Wild Life II) Sumita Ghatak told The Hindu over telephone.
The incident has once again raised questions over … Read More
The Elephant Task Force Report — A Critique by Sanjay Gubbi
With an estimated 26,000 elephants India is home to half the world’s population of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). These pachyderms are spread over a geographical area of about 110,000 sq km, sixty percent of which have been declared as 32 Elephant Reserves (ER).
A different concept from the conventional Protected Areas (PAs), ERs consist of a mixture of land categories. PAs (30%), Reserved Forests (40%) and private lands (30%) form the land tenure of ERs. Securing this landscape in pursuit … Read More
Another elephant electrocuted in Orissa
Notwithstanding the “elephantine” efforts proposed by the Project Elephant in its elaborate report ‘Gajah’ to secure the future of jumbos in the country, “elephanticides” continue in Odisha. In the latest incident, two elephants died in the State — one due to electrocution and the other shot dead by suspected poachers — in the wee hours on Monday.
Official sources in the State forest department confirmed the killing of two tuskers, of which one had been electrocuted at Hindol in Dhenkanal … Read More
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