Three elephants were electrocuted near Dudhwa Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh when a high tension electric wire fell on them. The 11,000 volt electric wire fell on the elephants when they uprooted an electric pole. The elephants were burnt alive. Forest officials are probing the deaths though, as these elephants had damaged agricultural produce and farmers had been demanding compensation from the government. The elephants will be examined in a post-mortem. … Read More
Final Notification Comes Into Effect in Sigur Elephant Corridor in the Nilgiris
The final public notification has been issued regarding the proposed elephant corridor in the Sigur plateau of the Nilgiris District. Resort owners and private land owners have to vacate and hand over their land to the Collector immediately. Private land owners will be given adequate compensation and those living on government poramboke lands will be given alternative dwelling sites as per the Forest Dwellers Act, 2006. The proposed corridor falls within Sholur, Masinagudy, Hullathy and Kadanad villages.
The public notice … Read More
Forest Department Rescues Leopard from Narmada Canal, Gujarat
A four to five year old leopard was rescued from a Narmada canal in Junagadh district. Villagers from Chelaka village had alerted the department and the leopard was found taking rest in a 2.5 feet radius pipe. After a three hour operation, the forest department succeeded in getting the animal to enter a cage kept at the one end of the pipe. The leopard appears to have travelled from Sasan Forests which are a part of the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary.… Read More
Leopards Poached More Aggressively than Tigers
Six leopards are poached for every tiger that is killed. Leopard skins are in great demand in China. Their bones are also often passed off as tiger cub bones. Leopards are also involved in a lot of man-animal conflicts and are often killed with brutality for straying into human habitations.
In 2010, 180 leopards were killed through poaching whereas the total number killed stands at 328. In the first six months of 2011, there have already been 79 poaching related … Read More
Annual Breeding Season for Estuarine Crocodiles in Orissa
The annual breeding season of Orissa’s estuarine crocodiles has picked up pace. Forest officials have identified 28 nesting sites within the Bhitarkanika National Park in coastal Orissa. The nesting season will extend for another two months. Human interference during this time is causing the reptiles to react violently. Though prohibition has been enforced, settlers near the park often intrude into the dangerous waters. Two human deaths have been reported so far due to crocodile attacks. The victims are usually people … Read More
Regular Crop Raider Tusker Radio-collared in Wayanad, Kerala
A 40-year old tusker, which is said to be a regular crop raider in the Sulthan Bathery area of Wayanad, has been radio collared. The radio collar will help monitor the animals movements and help warn villagers about its movements. Trackers had spotted the animal in the Arakunchi forest and though it tried to evade the trackers, the forest officials kept up the chase and eventually tranquilized the elephant. An expert team then took biometrical measurements of the elephant before … Read More
Kerala Grants Permission to Farmers to Kill Wild Boar
The Kerala cabinet has given special permission to farmers in the state to kill wild boars attacking their crops, under the most stringent of conditions. Permission would have to be applied from the forest officials and the permit will carry strict stipulations. The carcasses should be burnt and not used as meat. Chief Minister Oomen Chandy announced this decision today and said that attacks by wild animals was causing crop loss worth many crores of rupees. … Read More
Kin of Man Trampled by Elephants Receive Rs. 2.5 lakhs as Compensation
The kin of seventy-year old Muniappa of Thinnathur Village in Krishnagiri district will receive Rs. 2.5 lakhs as compensation from the Tamil Nadu Government. He was trampled to death on May 25th. The forest department will provide Rs. 1.5 lakhs and the rest will come from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund. The Government has also directed that crop damage caused by elephants be assessed and compensation provided. The forest department estimates the damage to crops in the financial year 2010-2011 … Read More
Elephant Electrocuted in Garo Hills, Meghalaya
A female elephant was electrocuted inside Jadi elephant reserve in South Garo Hills on Monday, according to a delayed report. The incident took place when one of the elephants in a herd while passing through a jhum cultivation came in contact with an electric line resulting in the death, Kamal Medhi of Samrakshan Trust, an environment protection group, said. A similar incident of elephant electrocution took place in the adjoining area of Jadi in December last year.
Range Forest Officer … Read More
Bandipur Park Boundary
The attached image shows such a stark contrast between protected and unprotected areas in Bandipur Tiger Reserve. Land-use near protected areas like agriculture or development typically sparks human-wildlife conflict.… Read More
Leopard Crossing, Mysore — Mananthavadi Highway, Nagarahole
A leopard tentatively crosses the Mysore – Mananthavadi highway in Nagarahole national park and tiger reserve in Karnataka. Based on the fact that this road passes through an extremely crucial habitat for elephants and tigers and number of tragic roadkills, conservationists filed an application to the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the Supreme Court to close the road to nighttime traffic.
The CEC on 05-05-2008 concluded that no vehicular traffic be permitted between 6pm and 6am apart from other mitigation … Read More
Leopard stoned to death in Hassan District, Karnataka
An injured leopard, which strayed into Lingarasanahalli village near Hassan, died of injuries after people threw stones at it. It was alleged by the villagers that the forest department took almost 3-hours to reach the spot. … Read More
Environment Ministry Guidelines advise against capture and relocation of leopards
The Environment Ministry has issued guidelines to the States for dealing with man-leopard conflicts. The guidelines advise against the capture and relocation of leopards as their homing instinct will bring them back into the area again and cause more problems. These guidelines and others come from the experience in Maharashtra which has brought down the number of leopard encounters significantly in second half of the previous decade. According to Jairam Ramesh, “In India, tigers face a crisis of extinction, and … Read More
Human – Elephant Conflict
In our densely populated subcontinent, elephants and people have had to increasingly share land and resources, leading to frequent and often fatal conflict. How can the government resolve this problem? Janaki Lenin and Raman Sukumar recently submitted a lengthy report on the issue. Here is a gist of the report.
A few facts about elephants in India:
- Only 22 per cent of elephant habitat is found within our protected area network – the remaining elephant range lies outside, in places
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