The ecological implications of plastic pollution on ecosystem processes and human beings are well known. Increasing use of single-use plastic, poor waste management, lack of recycling, and fragmentation of plastic have made it ubiquitous, posing a grave threat to species across trophic levels. Over 1500 species ranging from invertebrates to vertebrates are impacted by plastic pollution. Globally, plastic in marine environments has been reported extensively whereas terrestrial ecosystems have remained understudied. The effects of plastic pollution are alarming, resulting in … Read More
Tiger Cubs with Plastic Bucket, Corbett Tiger Reserve, Uttarakhand
Three sub-adult tigers (Panthera tigris) in the Dhikala range of Corbett Tiger Reserve, Uttarakhand were seen playing with and biting into a large plastic bucket in the Ramganga River.
Even though the use of plastic is banned in tiger reserves, the problem of plastic pollution persists. In this instance, park officials suspect that this bucket was likely disposed of from one of the villages along the river. This highlights the need for a better solid-waste management system in … Read More
Hydroelectric Dams in the Himalayas – A Risk Not Worth Taking
On July 11th, 2020, Mint, an Indian business newspaper, carried a centrepiece titled, “The Big Himalayan Earthquake Is Coming”. This story quoted several scientific studies that warned of the risks posed to cities, towns, and hundreds of villages in the Himalayan region from a future earthquake that has been predicted with a high degree of certainty. The seismological research supporting the key premise of this article is impeccable, has been subject to examination, validation, and peer-review, and therefore … Read More
Forest Birds Decline in Response to Land Use Change in the Western Himalaya
The Western Himalaya is a biologically diverse region, harboring rich flora and fauna, including numerous regional endemics. At a time of expanding threats from infrastructure development, over-exploitation and vegetation changes, it is necessary to study human impacts at micro and landscape scales. Currently, there are very few systematic studies that attempt to understand how native Himalayan fauna respond to human-caused habitat changes.
My colleagues and I have been studying birds in the banj oak-dominated (Quercus leucotrichophora) forests in … Read More
Tigers with Plastic, Corbett Tiger Reserve
I saw these 2 sub-adult tiger cubs playing with a plastic bucket / drum that was floating on the Ranganga in the heart of Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR). This was around 4pm on 30th Jan, 2020, near Sambhar road in the Dhikala zone. I handed over the images to the forest department.
According to an article published by the Times News Network (TNN), the park director mentioned, “A group of tourists have given us some pictures where a tigress … Read More
Birds, Forests and Development in Himalayan Oak Forests: A Study in Progress
The Himalayas are a biologically diverse region within India owing to their elevational range and geographic location. Apart from essential ecosystem services that they provide to the Gangetic Plains, Himalayan forests protect a large number of endemic species and support extensive tourism activities.
During the last few decades, however, Himalayan forests have become degraded and fragmented due to various economic pressures. It is necessary to understand how human-created disturbance is impacting Himalayan fauna, given the recent spurt in road-widening, construction, … Read More
Living with Leopards: Making Sense of it for the Media
“Leopard changes spots, strikes fear” blazed the headline of a leading daily in Dehradun. This, even as we were travelling to the interiors of Uttarakhand, to Tehri and Pauri, to conduct media workshops for sensitizing the “fourth estate”.
The Uttarakhand Forest Department, with support from WCS-India, and Titli Trust, Dehradun, has initiated pilot programs in Tehri and Pauri in Uttarakhand, to mitigate the leopard conflict; one of the most serious human-wildlife conflicts in this pristine hill state. The pilots include … Read More
Village Dog Feeding on Barking Deer, Mussoorie, Uttarakhand
It is no surprise that Mussoorie is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Uttarakhand, yet it harbours a wide range of wildlife. In my recent visit to Mussoorie on April 2015, I was quite excited to see many of Himalayan winged wonders amidst the buzzing Mall Road and the overcrowded streets. On one of our walks to reach Cloud’s End Forest Resort through a small village called Hathipaon we stumbled upon a healthy village dog feeding on a … Read More
Leopards in Crisis — Learnings for Uttarakhand
Not a month goes by without newspaper reports about the attack by a leopard or a tiger on humans in Uttarakhand, followed by days of reporting of the hunt for the cat, and invariably, ending with the capture or death of the unfortunate animal. In December 2016, the Uttarakhand High Court passed an order that leopards and tigers that have been declared man-eaters should not be killed, but should, instead, be tranquilized and translocated to another forest. While the order … Read More
Large Trees are Critical for Conserving Woodpecker Abundance and Diversity in Sub-Himalayan Forests
Study: Habitat determinants of woodpecker abundance and species richness in sub-Himalayan dipterocarp forests of northwest India.
Authors: Raman Kumar, Ghazala Shahabuddin & Ajith Kumar Journal: Acta Ornithologica 49: 243-256. Published 2014.
Summary
Birds are highly sensitive to changes in habitat caused by human activity. Habitat change may be manifested in the structural elements of habitat (such as density and size of both live and dead trees), or its composition (i.e. tree species profile), which may translate into alteration in quality … Read More
Declaring Wildlife as Vermin — Legalising Hunting?
Uttarakhand, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh have had – in recent months – notifications issued by the Central Government stating that select species of wildlife have been declared as vermin in specified areas. In other words for a specified period, in these areas, the wild pig in Uttarakhand, wild pig and Nilgai in Bihar and Rhesus Macaque in Himachal Pradesh are shifted to schedule five of the Wildlife Protection Act. Besides, Maharashtra and Telangana have had culling orders issued by the … Read More
India’s Newest Bird Conservation Reserve Opens In Uttarakhand
A version of this article appeared as “Bird Paradise” in the April 2015 edition of National Geographic Traveller magazine.
The Himalayan Quail was last reported in 1876 in the vicinity of Nainital, and there are many zealous ornithologists who nurse the hope that the quail may still lurk somewhere in these environs; like the forest owlet, believed to be extinct, but rediscovered in 1997 after 113 years in Melghat Tiger Reserve.
Hope got another chance, with the forests in Nainital … Read More
Yellow-rumped Honeyguide, Kedarnath, Uttarakhand
The Yellow-rumped Honeyguide (Indicator xanthonotus) is a sparrow-sized bird found in the Himalayas of India, Pakistan, Bhutan and Nepal and is a resident breeder. It is rare and is easily overlooked due to its inconspicuous behaviour and colouration. This particular individual is a female, and was found near a village at 2100m in the Kedarnath Wildlife division, Uttarakhand. She was perched on a leafless tree and hawking insects. Five individuals, three males and two females were seen at 1900m on … Read More
Eurasian Woodcock, Kedarnath, Uttarakhand
The Eurasian Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) is a large migratory wader found throughout Eurasia. It breeds in the high latitudes of Europe and Asia and between 2000m and 3600m in the Himalayas. Although there are many winter records of these birds from all over peninsular India, especially the western ghats, there are few records of this species over wintering in its breeding range. While doing a bird survey in the Kedarnath Wildlife Division in January 2014, I flushed this bird while … Read More
Photographers Disturbing Elephants, Corbett
A bunch of photographers in safari vehicles were getting very close to a herd of elephants that were bathing in the Ramganga in Dhikala, Corbett Tiger Reserve. There were calves in the herd and the elephants were visibly agitated at the proximity of the jeeps.
The poor elephants huddled together in a row, waiting for the vehicles to move so they could cross. Probably wanting dramatic close-ups, the jeeps gave no room for the elephants to cross. The nervous elephants … Read More
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