Personnel of the Assam Rifles intercepted a taxi trying to dodge a military checkpost at Chandel in Manipur and found 301 kg of Pangolin Shells, a skin and skulls of leopards and 19 kg of bones of other rare animals. The driver of the vehicle was a resident of Moreh, a border town in Chandel, which is infamous for being a corridor for animal organ smuggling to South East Asia. The Assam Rifles also found 2,32,000 pills that were being … Read More
Private airlines used for smuggling of animal parts
An RTI query filed with the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) by Governance Now, has revealed that Jet Airways and Kingfisher airlines have been used in the past to smuggle wildlife body parts to the North-eastern states. The issue has come up in a meeting of the special coordination committee on Wildlife Crime and Union Minister of Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh has asked the WCCB officials to take up the issue systematically. The airlines have denied the charge and … 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
Arrest of six wildlife poachers operating in Corbett and Rajaji National Parks
Six poachers operating out of Uttarakhand and active in Corbett and Rajaji National Parks have been arrested by a joint operation between Police and the Uttarakhand Forest department. Leopard pelts, big cat bones, ivory and firearms have been seized. The arrests include habitual offenders and one among them admitted to supplying a tiger skin and bones of three tigers to a man in Dharchula last year. Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) points out that a poaching nexus of Gujjars … Read More
Nine arrested near Coimbatore for possession of skins of a Tiger and five Leopards
An undercover officer from the Forest Department was shown the skins of a Tiger and five leopards (including a black panther) in Pollachi, by a man named Jailani who demanded five crores. The officer was from a team of plainclothes Forest department officials, who were acting on a tip off. After the skin traders ultimately agreed to sell all the skins for a sum of one crore, the officer told them he had to consult with his friends, after which … Read More
Fresh water turtle survey by the Zoological Survey of India to support conservation efforts
Turtle populations all over India have declined significantly in the last few decades. A variety of human activities are direct and indirect factors attributed to the decline. Six out of twelve species found in the Ganga are deemed endangered and categorised so Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Yet the population of turtles has plunged drastically primarily due to over exploitation, activities along the rivers, waste disposal and habitat loss. Poaching and smuggling of turtles are another … Read More
Elephant Calf Roadkill, NH-212, Bandipur 2003
Two highways pass through Bandipur Tiger Reserve. NH-67 (Gundlupet-Ooty Road) and NH-212 (Gundlupet-Sultan Batthery Road) and both those highways experience heavy traffic. The traffic on NH-67 is typically tourist traffic from Karnataka to the hill resort of Ooty, while on NH 212 there is heavy passenger and truck traffic plying to northern Kerala.
Due to speeding vehicles several animals mostly chital, nocturnal animals such as civets, black-naped hare, mouse deer were killed in large numbers. Roadkills shockingly included the illustrated … Read More
Wild India’s Grim Reapers — Interview with Belinda Wright, WPSI
In an interview to CI, Belinda Wright, Executive Director, Wildlife Protection Society of India, talks to Prerna Singh Bindra about the growing illegal trade in wildlife.
Belinda Wright, tiger conservationist and wildlife campaigner, is the Founder and Executive Director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI). Born in Kolkata, she has spent her entire life working with wildlife in India. She was a internationally renowned wildlife photographer and Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker before turning to full time … Read More
Man held near Ranthambore while trying to sell panther skin
The Karauli police have recovered a panther skin and arrested a villager who wanted to sell it. The police are trying to find out how the accused got it but are not ruling out the possibility of poaching.
On a tip-off by NGO Tiger Watch, the Baran police arrested Hari Gujjar, a resident of Nibhera village near Keladevi Sanctuary.… Read More
Restricting Human Activity
How can wildlife be conserved in India? At first appearance, simply eliminating all pressures on wildlife should be enough. But, is this at all realistic?
Two important forces – subsistence and commerce – drive India’s wildlife declines. Take any wildlife habitat. To the local user, its subsistence potential reigns paramount. To the entrepreneur, its development potential. To the conservationist, its intrinsic ecological potential. All are important, and none can be trifled with.
However, here I proceed under the premise that … Read More
Leopard Runover by Truck on Bangalore NICE Road
A leopard was run over by a heavy vehicle on the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) Road, connecting Bannerghatta Road and Kanakapura Road. It shows how much the urban sprawl have begun infringing on wildlife habitat. Forest officials and the Bannerghatta police, who visited the spot visit in the morning, said that the leopard sustained head injuries and died on the spot. The forests urban department which has ordered a probe is in the process of identifying the vehicle from … Read More
Pesticide ban call for around India’s Kaziranga park
Forestry officials in the north-east Indian state of Assam have demanded the creation of a no-pesticide zone around the famous Kaziranga game sanctuary after the alleged poison-related deaths of two pregnant elephants and other animals near tea estates. … Read More
Dead Great Barbets For Sale In Nagaland
Hunting birds in Nagaland is rampant and is totally accepted as part of daily life. Here, four dead barbets (for Rs. 600) hang in a roadside hotel between Dimapur and Kohima. Tribals hunt for the pot as well as for commercial reasons (like in this case). In the last couple of years, campaigns by the government of Nagaland has reduced incidence of bush meat found in markets.… Read More
Leader of a tiger poaching gang arrested near Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve
CHANDRAPUR: Mul police have finally nabbed the long absconding kingpin of the poachers gang busted by forest officials around one-and-half years back in Bhadrawati tehsil. Accused Shalik Gedam was picked up from Doni village in Mul tehsil and has been sent into MCR. Forest officials are likely to seek his custody after cops produce him before Bhadrawati court on Monday.
Notably, sleuths of Bhadrawati forest range had busted a poachers gang in March 2009. The first breakthrough came thanks to … Read More
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