Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

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Aditya_V
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Aditya_V »

Pranay you should add 4 more elephants who died near Hosur on the Bengaluru Salem line
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Pranay »

http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20130308300406100.htm

Lions of the Gir - and the true heroes behind the conservation success...
Charans, Bharwads, Rabaris, Ahirs and Mers are five communities of the Maldhari tribes and are considered to be the oldest inhabitants of Saurashtra. The majority of the resident Gir Maldharis belong to the former three groups. Charans, or Gadvis, were erstwhile chroniclers and royal bards and are still well known for their rich poetry and traditional music.

Apart from the Maldharis, the “Gir people” are the Siddhis and other mainstream communities living in the fringe villages. The Siddhis are a community that evokes curiosity because of its African features and distinctive culture, which has a blend of traditional Gujarati culture added to it. Its ancestors could have been tradesmen or the members of the entourage of an African consort of the Nawab of Junagadh or the nawab’s specialist team brought especially for lion management. (Three generations of the Nawabs of Junagadh were involved in lion conservation.) Within Gir, the Siddhis can be found in Shirvan village, one of the 14 forest settlements on lease since the time of the nawabs. At present, 97 villages exist in the eco-fragile zone within the five-kilometre boundary of the Gir PA. Agriculture is the chief occupation, and mango, wheat, sugarcane, groundnut, bajra, pulses and cotton are also cultivated. Each house has two or three cows, buffaloes or oxen to meet household needs. Among the many communities settled in these villages, it is the Maldharis who are entirely dependent on animal husbandry.
During my surveys in the past year and meetings with local people, I was delighted by their love of and the pride they took in the lions. When I enquired whether they would like to wish the lions away, the majority were unwilling to do so. They were of the opinion that the forest existed because of the lions and that they would gladly welcome a few more around their village. Although livestock losses have escalated in the past few years, people continue to have a positive attitude towards lions and leopards. It was in the villages near the Greater Gir around Palitana and the coastal habitats, where the presence of lion is a recent phenomenon, that there was a sense of unease and fear. It thus seems that the farther lions disperse from the Gir PA, the less positive may be people’s attitude towards them because of the economic loss and danger they pose.
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Pranay »

http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/ ... the-killer
Spot the Killer
How leopards are hunted as ‘maneaters’ with appalling ease in Uttarakhand
Each time a leopard kills a human, Rawat is one of two men summoned to rid the region of the menace. He operates with a team of three, including a representative of the state’s wildlife department to vouch for the place, time and circumstances under which the dangerous animal is done to death. Rawat boasts of a 100-per cent success rate. This is a claim that gets him plenty of public acclaim in a state that sees about 70 people fall victim to leopards every year, but raises troubling questions about the killing of wild cats with wanton ease.

In a recent instance, Rawat killed a leopardess and her cub (a death he regrets) with what he claims was a single shot of a .315 bore rifle he recently acquired. Locals and officials may have taken his tale at face value, but the fact that the cat and her cub were some hundred yards apart from each other—as he admits— makes it highly implausible.
When summoned to hunt one, Rawat says, he gathers his team, waits for sunset and flashes his powerful lights around, scanning the hills for a reflection in the eyes of a predator in the dark. If he sees two shiny dots next to each other, he beams more light in that direction to confirm the sighting, and then—within a split second—fires a bullet.

Ask what makes him sure that a leopard so sighted is indeed a maneater, and he repeats his post-dusk, pre-dawn logic. Plus, he says, his years of experience have granted him a sort of ‘divine acumen’ to judge at first sight if a leopard is a maneater or not. “I just need three seconds to figure that out in the glare of the light,” he says.
:shock:


Compare this callous massacre of leopards to the way they are handled in say ... Bombay (as in the article i posted earlier)... and it seems that there is nobody wiser to put a halt to this ...
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Pranay »

http://asiatic-lion.blogspot.com/2013/0 ... re-48.html
A dozen people were killed and 48 were injured in leopard attacks in Junagadh district in the last one year.

Forest and environment minister Ganpat Vasava in a written reply to a query from Una MLA Punja Vansh said these figures are till December 31, 2012. He informed the state assembly that for the 12 dead, a compensation of Rs 18 lakh has been paid to the relatives and Rs 97,500 has been disbursed as compensation to the 48 injured persons.

Expressing concern over the instances of leopard attacks, the minister said a rescue team has been formed to attend to the victims whenever an attack takes place. He further said an awareness campaign has been launched in areas where the leopard attacks are more.
Compare this approach to Leopard attacks to the approach in Uttarkhand that i just posted above...
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Surya »

hopefully one day a leopard will make a meal of that rawat char

divine acumen indeed #@$#$#@%
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by RamaY »

Wind-powered water holes for Gir lions
March 18, 2013 at 12:58 pm by admin
Tags: Gir, Renewable Energy, Wildlife
Not just humans, even animals prefer flowing water. The drought-like situation in the Gir area has shown that water holes filled by wind or solar powered pumps attract more animals than those artificially filled by tankers.
Officials said wind and solar powered pumps, do not draw large volumes but draw water slowly. This keeps it fresh and flowing. Sandeep Kumar, deputy conservator of forests, said the use of wind and solar energy is preferred to tankers.
The forest department has now begun a survey for locations suitable for windmills or solar water pumps in the Greater Gir area – Amreli, Porbandar, coastal areas and even Bhavnagar.
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Pranay »

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/lost- ... n/1089911/
Thought extinct for a century, then spotted in Maharashtra in 1997, the forest owlet appears to be on the verge of extinction from the forest where it was rediscovered, say Pune-based bird-lovers who have counted the last remaining samples there — one pair.

Since the rediscovery, it had been spotted in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa too. The researchers, however, stress that it is only for Maharashtra's Toranmal forest that they have past figures to compare the current findings with.

Locally called the duda, the owl is no larger than a human palm. What distinguishes it from other owls is that it is active by day.
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Pranay »

http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=793392
Geckoella Jeyporensis or Jeypore ground gecko, an enigmatic lizard from the Eastern Ghats which was considered extinct, has been rediscovered after 135 years, according to naturalists at the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) here.

This species was recently rediscovered in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, the results of which have been published in journal 'Hamadryad', the product of two years of collaborative work between scientists from Centre for Ecological Sciences (CES), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore; Bombay Natural History Society, Mumbai and Villanova University, USA.

This gecko, a lizard of the family Gekkonidae, is morphologically unique and was known only from a single male specimen collected in 1877 by British Colonel, R H Beddome, from the Jeypore Hills (in Orissa).

Though subsequent efforts were made by researchers, scientists and nature enthusiasts, this species was not seen in the intervening 130 plus years, naturalist Varad Giri told PTI.

The story of the rediscovery began in 2008-2009, when a PhD student at CES, Ishan Agarwal, began working on the genus Geckoella. Ishan was desperate to find this lost species in order to understand more about its evolutionary history, he said.

The first steps toward rediscovering the species involved a lot of homework, poring over the scanty published information on the species, in an effort to retrace the journey Colonel Beddome made in the Eastern Ghats over a century ago, Giri said.

The only clues on the whereabouts of this species were from its original description, which said that this species was collected under a rock in a forest at 4,200 ft on 'Patinghe Hill, Jeypore' in the Eastern Ghats, he said.
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by jamwal »

For 25 years Abdul Kareem has put his protective arms around a rocky hill side- to let it bloom.

It is dark at noon. A thick, wet leaf pile squelches underfoot. Often your way is blocked and you must crawl under branches or take detours. The silence of the forest is sometimes unnerving. Every now and then you are lost and can't tell the way.

Abdul Kareem, in front of you, wends and weaves through the thicket with a proud ease. But then he has been around here - for 25 years, in fact. He has seen the 32 acres of a lateritic hillside grow into this wild forest. He had simply dreamed it, willed it, kept vigil, stood guard, ran a few errands- and the forest happened. And is still happening: it's a work in progress. Abdul Kareem has created and saved forever a piece of wilderness for India.
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Pranay »

http://www.flonnet.com/stories/20130419300713201.htm

Wildlife: A legal home for the buffalo

BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The Asiatic wild buffalo.
The Asiatic wild buffalo (Bubalus arnee) was recently granted a legal home at Kolamarka in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district. A gazette notification from the State government declared 180.72 sq km as a “conservation reserve” under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, to protect wild buffaloes. Soon after, the Maharashtra State Board for Wildlife, under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister, officially cleared a proposal for the reserve.

Listed as endangered in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List, the wild water buffalo, also known as the Asian or Asiatic buffalo, had been practically wiped out from Maharashtra, where it once used to roam free in large numbers. In central India, its population declined by about 80 per cent between 1966 and 1992. In the 1980s there were fewer than 100 in Madhya Pradesh and by 1992 this number dropped to 50. Current estimates put their number at around 200 (or lower) in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.

In other parts of the country, the animal is restricted to Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, where the population is relatively stable. Even then the species is not in the greatest of health, ecologically speaking. Its population globally is fewer than 4,000, about half of them mature animals.

The newly created home is part of a reserve forest in the Kamlapur range under the Sironcha forest division in Gadchiroli district. Around 18 genetically acceptable pure wild buffaloes have been reported in this region. The Asiatic wild buffalo is considered among the most economically important animals, being the progenitor of the domestic buffalo. Though the Kolamarka buffaloes have acceptable genetic purity, elsewhere many have interbred with the domestic buffalo, resulting in a dilution of the strain. This genetic pollution makes it difficult to give an exact figure of the wild buffalo population.

The greatest threat to Bubalus arnee is encroachment of its habitat. But in the Amravati region there is a slight twist in this tale. Kishor Rithe, president of the Satpuda Foundation, says he has heard of naxalites urging local people to save wildlife and the forests. If so, it is one more positive move towards reinstating this majestic animal in its original habitat.
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Sachin »

Leopard caught at Mysore, tranquilised and would soon be taken back to the forest
Excellent operation by folks at Mysore. Rather than imprisoning the leopard in a zoo, they plan to put a chip and then leave it back to the forest, its true home.
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by RamaY »

India deploys drones to save rhinos in Assam state

Indic mind spreading... Humans as "care takers" of nature!

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/6 ... 817977.jpg
India has deployed aerial drones over Kaziranga National Park in Assam state in a bid to protect endangered one-horned rhinos from poachers.

Kaziranga chief NK Vasu said the maiden drone flight on Monday was a "milestone in wildlife protection".

The park is home to two-thirds of the world's one-horned rhino population and also has a large number of elephants, tigers and other wildlife.

In recent months, rhinos have been killed in large numbers by poachers.

Drones and other successful anti-poaching measures have also been used by the WWF in nearby Chitwan National Park in Nepal, where the hunting of one-horned rhinos has been drastically reduced.

Assam 'furore'
"The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was up in the sky for 15 minutes. It landed safely," Mr Vasu said. "We hope this technology will go a long way in effective surveillance of the park."

Assam Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain said this was the first time that drones had been used for wildlife protection anywhere in India.

"The UAVs will deter poachers who will now have to reckon with surveillance from air as well as on ground," Mr Hussain said.

The minister said it would now be possible to keep an eye on the remotest parts of the 480 sq km (185 sq miles) park.

The drones can fly a pre-programmed route at a maximum elevation of 200m (656ft) for up to 90 minutes, officials say.


They are light enough to be launched by hand and will be able to take images of the ground below with a still or video camera, they add.

Twenty-two one-horned rhinos were killed in Kaziranga by poachers last year. :cry:

In the first three years of this month, three months of the year? 16 rhinos have been killed, triggering a furore in Assam where the animal is seen as a symbol of regional pride and is also valued for drawing tourists to the state.

A rhino census in Kaziranga last month said that were about 2,300 of the animals in Kaziranga.

In September, the government ordered India's top federal investigation agency Central Bureau of Investigation to probe a series of attacks on rhinos by suspected poachers during last year's floods in the state.
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by prashanth »

Don't shift tigers from MP to Sariska Reserve - The Hindu
Protesting the proposed move of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to shift few tigers from Madhya Pradesh to Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan to arrest their dwindling population in the desert State, an NGO working for the conservation of big cats, has requested the Centre to intervene in the matter.

In a letter to Union Environment and Forest Minister Jayanti Natrajan, NGO ‘Prayatna’ highlighted documents sourced through RTI stating that NTCA under some political pressure has instructed the Madhya Pradesh government to shift tigers from the State to Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan, terming the move as “very disturbing”.

“We strongly object to the step taken by NTCA and have requested the Union Minister for immediate intervention in the matter as Madhya Pradesh not only lost the coveted tiger State status {to hell with the status, protect the cats first}in the last census to Karnataka , but also it was unable to protect its big cats in the wild, which resulted in poaching/natural death of 16 tigers, including three tigress and two cubs in 2012,” Prayatna Secretary, Ajay Dube told PTI.

Mr. Dube further informed on the basis of RTI, that acting on the NTCA letter dated March 8, referring to its Technical Committee meeting, dated February 27, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Wildlife, Dr. P.K. Shukla has requested the NTCA to take an opinion of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) Dehradun on the issue of shifting tigers from Madhya Pradesh to Sariska.

However, Mr. Dube said that in the light of State losing 16 tigers in just 2012, the forest authorities should have protested the move.

Instead, they have just requested NTCA to take WII’s opinion on the matter, he said.

The NGO also highlighted the fact that in 2010, a tiger was shifted from Ranthambore to Sariska Tiger Reserve to revive the tiger population in it as it had lost all its big cats by 2005, but that tiger named S-1 was killed by poisoning, allegedly by mining mafia and in 2012, a panther was also killed by them.

“There is no guarantee of safety of our tigers in Sariska in such a scenario,” he said, adding “even the then Union Minister for Environment and Forest, Jairam Ramesh had highlighted the issue of illegal mining in Sariska.”
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Pranay »

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home ... 557278.cms
Shift Asiatic lions from Gujarat to Madhya Pradesh: SC to Centre
Dhananjay Mahapatra, TNN | Apr 15, 2013, 05.12 PM IST

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday directed concerned organizations to shift Asiatic lions from Gujarat to Madhya Pradesh. :D

Asiatic lions will now have a second home in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno wildlife sanctuary as the apex court permitted their relocation in limited numbers from Gujarat's Gir forest.

The Supreme Court rejected Narendra Modi government's refusal to allow translocation of lions. The state had said these animals were pride of Gujarat. The court said Asiatic lions were extremely endangered and all efforts against extinction should be tried, including translocation in limited numbers.

The court has also constituted a large expert body to decide the number of lions to be relocated and closely monitor their translocation in Madhya Pradesh.

A bench of Justices KS Radhakrishnan and CK Prasad has given six months time to the wildlife authorities concerned for trans-locating the lions.
:)

Currently, there are around 400 Asiatic lions in Gujarat's Gir sanctuary.

The bench, however, said the introduction of African cheetahs in India from Namibia cannot be allowed, saying preservation of critically endangered native species, like the wild buffalo and the Great Indian Bustard, should be given primacy. {Bittersweet on this one - cannot understand why it has to be "either/or" rather then an "and" - both initiatives can be had at the same time}
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22154756

http://www.ndtv.com/article/cheat-sheet ... eststories
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Pranay »

http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=795416

Details on the rejection of re-introducing cheetahs to India by the Supreme Court...
The court, while quashing the MoEF's proposed Rs 300 crore project to introduce the African cheetah into India, said the ministry "has not conducted any detailed study before passing the order of introducing foreign cheetah to Kuno".

"A detailed scientific study has to be done before introducing a foreign species to India, which has not been done in the instant case," the court said adding NBWL, a statutory board established for the purpose under the Wildlife Protection Act, was also not consulted.
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by RamaY »

Today they released more than 200 of these animals back into forest :D

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/new ... 591528.ece
As you drive through the dusty, dense Kawal Tiger Reserve in Andhra Pradesh’s Adilabad district, it does not take long to hear the jungle’s rhapsody.

Bison, sambar, wild boars and deer can be seen near water bodies, as spotted deer gallop amidst tall teak trees and dry grass.

An initiative undertaken by the World Wild Life Fund and the Andhra Pradesh Forest Department here has come to be a blessing for the animals in the reserve. It provides drinking water using automatic solar pumps.

Regular behavioural patterns of the animals were closely monitored before deciding to install the solar pumps.

As the sun rises and bright rays fall on panels, the submersible pump switches on by itself and shuts off when the sun sets. Each pump evacuates about 30,000 litres of water a day. Of this, 5,000 litres are stored in the overhead tank and the rest flows to the percolation tank. That is where the animals come to drink water.

S. V. Kumar, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, A. V. Joseph, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wild Life Warden, of Andhra Pradesh, travelled into the heart of the forest to commission the solar projects. Joseph told Business Line that the forest reserve has immense potential to become a base for tigers. Now, we have good number of herbivores and small carnivores and occasionally big animals come in here; it won’t be long before visits by bigger ones increase, he said.

VIABLE SINK

It was notified as a tiger reserve in 2012 and is seen as a viable sink for dispersing tigers. The reserve has a corridor linking tiger landscapes such as the Tadoba-Andhari tiger reserve about 100 km in the north, and Indravati tiger reserve, 150 km to the east.

The tiger reservoir is spread over about 900 sq. km., along with a buffer area of about 1,123 sq. km. It has a splendid montage of habitat that supports the rare assemblage of four Indian antelopes — nilgai, chousinga, chinkara and black buck. The forest is also home to nearly 250 species of birds.The forest authorities are enlisting local tribals to serve in the forest, and once the reserve gets popular, it will provide more job opportunities.
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Pranay »

http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 488_1.html
The Supreme Court has allowed the translocation of the Asiatic lions from Gir in Gujarat to the Palpur Kuno sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. Avantika Bhuyan talks to M K Ranjitsinh, chairman, Wildlife Trust of India, about the need for a second home and it suitability

Why has it been decided to shift some of the Asiatic lions to Madhya Pradesh?
Forty years ago too, when I was a member secretary of the Indian Board of Wildlife, a committee had been appointed to look for a second home for the lions outside Gujarat as a safeguard. Having the entire population restricted to Gir and Girnar is risky. What if there was an epidemic or contagion; it could wipe out the entire number. The canine distemper in Tanzania, for example, had led to the death of 400 lions in Serengeti. Moreover, why should the Asiatic lion not be restored to its original habitat? Nearly 125 years ago, lions were found in Madhya Pradesh and before that in Rajasthan. Gradually they got restricted to Gir. The move will benefit Kuno as well. When you shift an animal of such charisma, it has a cascading effect on the entire area. More personnel will have to be appointed which will help in better preservation of the area and of other endangered species. I am a great believer in restoring the apex species as it helps the entire ecosystem.

Is the move adequate to save the Asiatic lion from extinction?
This shift is an additional safeguard; it can't be a substitute for other conservation effort. The Gujarat government will have to continue to protect the main population in Gir. In recent years, the Gujarat government has undertaken considerable conservation efforts. Previously, lions that used to stray out of Gir would run foul of the local people, would get poisoned or get run down by vehicles. The ones that were found would be taken back to Gir. However, in recent years, lions that strayed have been allowed to form colonies outside of Gir and safeguards have been put in place to protect them. In some places, the government has extended the protected area to create a sanctuary. Large-scale recruitment of field staff has also taken place. The chief minister himself is taking a personal interest and that really helps the conservation efforts.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi has said that when the Madhya Pradesh government is unable to protect the tigers in Panna, how will it protect the Asiatic lions? Your thoughts.
Protecting the lions at Kuno will become a prestige issue for the MP government. Media attention will also keep people on their toes. I feel that this is a risk worth taking. The situation in the state is much better now with considerable increase in anti-poaching efforts. In recent times, the number of prey animals has also increased. When there is enough prey for the lion, the animal-human conflict also go down. There has also been an increase in recruitment. The world's attention is focused on Kuno and I think they will be vigilant. There will always be some casualties and conflicts but one needs to extend the geographical limits of the Asiatic lion.

The Supreme Court has, as of now, not allowed the African cheetah from Namibia to be introduced in India.
The cheetah is an animal that we have lost in the past. Very few Asiatic cheetahs are left in Iran. There was a nice piece of habitat which was lying unutilised in Kuno, which, after considerable fieldwork, was found to be suitable for the cheetah. And it's not that the lion and the cheetah can't coexist. If you check Mughal records, some 200 years ago, the lion, cheetah, tiger and leopard used to coexist in one place. However, the Supreme Court feels that priority should be accorded to the Asiatic lion and other endangered species. So I don't think that the reintroduction of the cheetah will happen.
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Aditya_V »

really, Lion and Tiger used to coexist in the same habitat, that is news??
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by prashanth »

1 million trees raised in 5 districts:The Hindu
In a silent afforestation campaign, a private company has successfully raised more than a million trees on private lands in five districts in the State and recorded a survival rate of 90 per cent.
The company approached local panchayat heads to identify farmers owning unproductive lands, where agriculture was not possible. Then the organisation approached them and made them the members.
Thanks to the carbon revenues, the company paid farmers at the rate of Rs 2 per tree till they keep the trees alive. Seventy per cent of net profit from carbon credits gained by farmers’ trees would be paid to them after 20 years. Both the revenue-sharing measures yielded successful results, he said.
The organisation identified more than 10 local species of trees for planting including teak, kumizh, red sanders, mango, neem, tamarind, mahogany, sandalwood, malai vembu and jackfruit, Mr Rexon added.
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by merlin »

There is a new book out by tiger advocate Valmik Thapar, his aunt "historian" Romilla Thapar and a third person whose name I forgot who is an expert in Moghul history or some such. The book argues that the lion and cheetah are imports into India and did not occur naturally. IOW, the Gir lion is not an Asiatic lion but an african one and the "distinctive features" are a result of a genetic bottleneck.

Should turn out to be an interesting read.
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Pranay »

merlin wrote:The book argues that the lion and cheetah are imports into India and did not occur naturally. IOW, the Gir lion is not an Asiatic lion but an african one and the "distinctive features" are a result of a genetic bottleneck.
This kind of reasoning makes me wonder - what's the point behind this? A few years ago someone came up with a theory that the "Bengal" Tigers in Corbett NP were "polluted" with Siberian Tiger blood and that "corrective" measures were needed. Guess he was looking for a full time job somewhere...

Are such endeavors scholarly/scientific?? Or is this to pry out funding for further "research"?

Or is it to label the lion along with the Cheetah (as the Supreme court has done) as non - native species that should be banished to where they came from and not be at the receiving end of official and public indulgence??

Merlin - do post a summary of the conclusions that the three authors come up with. Looking forward to it...
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by merlin »

Pranay wrote: Merlin - do post a summary of the conclusions that the three authors come up with. Looking forward to it...
Still wondering if I should spend the money to buy the book...
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Pranay »

merlin wrote: IOW, the Gir lion is not an Asiatic lion but an african one and the "distinctive features" are a result of a genetic bottleneck.
South Asians are not Asians/Indians but truly Africans - we just look this way due to genetic bottlenecks... :D
merlin wrote:Still wondering if I should spend the money to buy the book...
Merlin - Save your money - With the money thus saved, plant some trees... that will be a greater contribution to the world. Do read the book when it comes to the local library though.... :)
disha
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by disha »

Aditya_V wrote:really, Lion and Tiger used to coexist in the same habitat, that is news??
Different levels of habitats. Sparse dry shrub vs. dense shrub to forest.
Aditya_V
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Aditya_V »

So the Melagiri hills become a sanctury, 60Km from Bengaluru. Good news, lets hope tigers move in thier one day from MM hills
merlin
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by merlin »

Not the entire Melagiris but parts of it. Still awaiting the exact notification with details of the ranges involved. It should be around 400 odd sq. kms not the 1200 + sq. kms. that the Melagiris consist of. Which is good because the other parts have lots of human habitations and are not easily included in a WS.

BTW evidence of tigers on the opposite bank (Cauvery WS, KA side) has been found so they may be able to swim across, who knows?

The proposal for the sanctuary exists from the 60s apparently, just notified now. Just goes to show the glacial pace of change in every area in India.
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Aditya_V »

Thats good, are you there are tigers in Cauvery WS, cause no one who gone to Bheemashwari Fishing camp or any area in Cauvery WS has reported Tigers there. Even WII is silent on Tigers in MM Hills or Erode forest division.

Regarding Melagiri hills you are right, today places like Anchetty have huge human populations, expect for some stretches near the cauvery river the forest is nearly all gone.
merlin
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by merlin »

Aditya_V wrote:Thats good, are you there are tigers in Cauvery WS, cause no one who gone to Bheemashwari Fishing camp or any area in Cauvery WS has reported Tigers there. Even WII is silent on Tigers in MM Hills or Erode forest division.
Apparently there is atleast one - may not be resident but they have seen the pugmarks. This is news from last year so I don't know the current status. May be a wandering one if present.
Aditya V wrote:Regarding Melagiri hills you are right, today places like Anchetty have huge human populations, expect for some stretches near the cauvery river the forest is nearly all gone.
Yes, the Melagiris are fragmented. Along the Cauvery there are forests from Billigundlu to Dabguli, an almost 30 kms stretch. And some forests elsewhere but lots of human population. Will be very interesting to see how these forests change (if they do) after the notification.
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Pranay »

http://www.frontline.in/environment/con ... epage=true
The fight of the Baigas of Madhya Pradesh to regain their traditional rights is also a fight to restore the diversity of their forests and to protect national wealth.
But why were the Baigas putting so much effort into forest protection, at times taking on even the mighty state apparatus? Sukartibai Panchgia and other women of Dhaba, Pondi and Ranjra had a simple answer: “Our livelihoods and the survival of our future generations depend on healthy forests. Water is the biggest benefit, and then there are all the plants we use for medicines and food and fodder and agricultural implements and housing… and the festivals and rituals and… we would be orphaned without forests.” They pointed to the streams running in the forest, the village tank that was full and the wells that had come back to life, making the villages completely self-sufficient in water.
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by RamaY »

'Twenty-six' forest elephants slaughtered in Central Africa :cry:
Men armed with Kalashnikov rifles have massacred 26 elephants in the Dzanga-Ndoki National Park in the Central African Republic, say conservationists.

WWF reported the number of carcasses, quoting its sources in the region.

Concern about what was happening in the park was raised earlier this week when it was said that ivory poachers were using a scientist's observation platform to shoot the animals.

Elephants regularly gather at the Bai, a large clearing, to drink. Since the shooting, no elephants have been seen in the area, WWF reported. :cry:

The Dzanga-Ndoki Park, a World Heritage Site, is located in the south-western corner of the Central African Republic (CAR), where it borders Cameroon and the Republic of Congo.

It is described as a unique habitat for forest elephants in particular.

CAR has witnessed increased levels of violence since the beginning of the year, and conservation groups like WWF withdrew their staff from the Bai are for safety reasons.

On Monday, the conservation group issued a warning that a 17 armed individuals, some with heavy-calibre rifles, had entered the park and was heading for the Bai, known locally as the "village of elephants". By the time the armed men had left, the Bai was said to resemble an "elephant mortuary", WWF said.
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Lalmohan »

if we can create a network of interconnected undisturbed forest corridor areas across the country - or several such - then tigers will recover on their own
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by merlin »

Lalmohan wrote:if we can create a network of interconnected undisturbed forest corridor areas across the country - or several such - then tigers will recover on their own
And what are we actually doing? Busy erasing all corridors so that they remain in name only. Creating islands of forests which will make it impossible for tigers to survive (if they survive poaching and poaching of their prey and blatant attempts to whittle down protected areas).
Pranay
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Pranay »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-22536571
India's tigers are facing extinction owing to a collapse in the variety of their mating partners, say Cardiff University researchers.

They found that 93% of DNA variants found in tigers shot the period of the British Raj were not present in tigers today

Prof Mike Bruford said the genetic diversity needed for the species to survive had been "lost dramatically".

There are fewer than 2,000 tigers left worldwide, 60% in India.

The Cardiff university team collaborated with the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore, India on the research.

They had unprecedented access to the Natural History Museum of London's tiger collection which allowed them to identify the DNA variants in the tigers killed in the British Raj period from 1858 to 1947 but which have disappeared today.

Mechanised trophy hunting reduced the animal's numbers from 40,000 in a mere 100 years.

The territory occupied by the tiger has declined more than 50% during the last three generations and mating now only occurs in 7% of its historical territory.
Prof Bruford of the Cardiff School of Biosciences was one of the research's lead authors.

He said: "We found that genetic diversity has been lost dramatically compared to the Raj tigers and what diversity remains has become much more subdivided into the small (20-120 individual) populations that exist today.

"This is due to loss of habitat and habitat fragmentation, meaning lower population sizes, and the prevention of tigers from dispersing as they once would have, which means their gene pool is no longer mixing across the subcontinent.

Breeding programmes
"This is important because tigers, like all other species, need genetic diversity to survive - especially under climate change - so what diversity remains needs to be managed properly so that the Indian tiger does not become inbred, and retains its capacity to adapt."

Prof Bruford added: "Both conservationists and the Indian government must appreciate that the number of tigers alone is not enough to ensure the species' survival."

"They need to protect the whole spread of forest reserves because many reserves now have their own unique gene combinations, which might be useful for future breeding programmes.

"This study shows that genetic diversity can be lost and a new genetic structure can arise very quickly, if the effects of population collapse and habitat fragmentation are strong enough, so quick action is needed to stymie further demographic loss."

The report Demographic loss, genetic structure and the conservation implications for Indian tigers is published in the Proceedings of The Royal Society journal.
Lalmohan
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Lalmohan »

in the future we will modify stem cells of endangered species and creat artificial genetic diversity... until then...
Pranay
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Pranay »

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asiatic_Li ... on_Project

Comprehensive write-up on Asiatic lion reintroduction initiatives in India...

For those interested - the PHVA (Asiatic Lion Population & Habitat Viability Assessment Report) (Link # 8 - Downloadable PDF) - is a good read.
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Pranay »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cMBM4Xi5Zc

Documentary on Gir National Park...
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Pranay »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKmkpAy3QJI

Translocation of Asiatic Lions - Some questions posed to Dr. Ravi Chellam...
Pranay
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Re: Nature Conservation in India News & Discussion

Post by Pranay »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bw0aG4fvmNE

This must be pretty rare footage - Dhole (Indian Wild Dog)/Elephant face-off & then Dhole/Gaur face-off -

1) for the footage itself 2) Successful kill 3) The number of Dholes filmed together in one pack...
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