Nearly 800 pieces of ivory seized in Hong Kong

Customs officers in Hong Kong have reported the seizure of 794 pieces of ivory tusks weighing 1.9 tonnes, concealed inside a shipping container that arrived from Malaysia Monday.

The consignment was declared as products for factory use, but upon examination by officers of the Ports and Maritime Command was found to contain African elephant ivory, concealed by stones.

A 66-year-old man was arrested and follow-up investigations are in progress.

“The authorities in Hong Kong are to be congratulated on this important seizure, but it is now vital to ensure that all leads are followed to track down those responsible along the entire smuggling chain,” said Tom Milliken, Elephant & Rhino Programme Coordinator at wildlife trade network TRAFFIC.

“This looks like another huge consignment of ivory aimed at the Chinese market, only days after the CITES Standing Committee recommended a review of China’s internal ivory trade protocol to determine whether there are possibilities for illicitly sourced ivory to leak into the legal ivory trade system.”

Globally, illicit trade in ivory has been escalating since 2004 and Chinese consumption is considered to be the leading driver behind Africa’s elephant poaching crisis.

This is not the first time Hong Kong has made a large seizure of ivory arriving from Malaysia. In December 2009, 186 pieces of ivory were found inside a container shipped from Malaysia labeled as containing “White Wood”. That shipment originated in Nigeria, but the origins of yesterday’s consignment have not been disclosed.

In 2003, Hong Kong authorities also seized 275 tusks, weighing nearly 2 tonnes, transiting from Malaysia after being illegally exported from Tanzania.

And again, last week, more than 1000 ivory tusks were seized in Zanzibar, Tanzania, apparently en route to Malaysia.

Milliken manages the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS), the illegal ivory trade monitoring system that TRAFFIC runs on behalf of Parties to CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

ETIS holds the details of nearly 17,000 reported ivory and other elephant product seizures that have taken place anywhere in the world since 1989.

A total of 164 ivory seizures have occurred in Hong Kong during this 23-year period, collectively representing over 17 tonnes of elephant ivory.

According to the most recent full analysis of ETIS, published in 2009, “Malaysia has progressively gained prominence in successive ETIS analyses as a transit country for African ivory.”

Malaysia’s Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia issued a statement saying it was highly concerned over last week’s seizure in Zanzibar and had contacted Tanzanian authorities with regard to the case.

“This latest Hong Kong seizure further underscores Malaysia’s role as an intermediary country in the illicit flow of African ivory to Asia,” said Milliken. “It’s time for Malaysia to get tough on international ivory smugglers, who are tarnishing the country’s reputation.”

TRAFFIC is a joint programme of WWF and IUCN.
http://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?201487/Nearly-800-pieces-of-ivory-seized-in-Hong-Kong

Wildlife trade ring busted

New Delhi, Aug. 5: Chhattisgarh police has arrested a man alleged to be the “kingpin” of an extensive network of illegal trade in animal and plant wildlife that extended to other Asian countries, wildlife officials said today after an 18-month cloak-and-dagger operation.

Veeriya Shekhar, a resident of Moreh in Manipur, was detained by immigration authorities at Chennai airport on July 13 while he was trying to flee to Bangkok after India’s Wildlife Crime Control Bureau issued a lookout circular for him, WCCB officers said.

“This is a big catch — and it has come after months of hardcore intelligence on his clandestine activities,” said a senior WCCB officer. “We believe he has been the kingpin of a vast network of trade in tiger and leopard bones, deer antlers, pangolin scales and red sandalwood.”

Pangolin scales are the outer skin layers of an anteater and are in great demand in traditional Chinese medicine, the official said. Red sandalwood, also called red sanders, is an expensive type of wood valued for its quality of timber.

Although India has been exporting red sanders since the 17th century, a burgeoning international demand for the red sanders’ wavy grain quality timber has led to illegal and destructive exploitation of the wild resources.

Earlier this year, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officers from Siliguri had seized 17,290kg of red sanders valued at Rs 1.73 crore in Darjeeling district. The logs concealed under sacks of marble chips were meant for illegal export to Nepal, DRI officers had said.

In a statement issued today, the WCCB has said it considers the arrest of Shekhar as a “crucial breakthrough” in cracking a smuggling ring of red sanders in India and other neighbouring countries, including China, Myanmar and Nepal.

A WCCB officer said information about Shekhar’s role in the smuggling network emerged during the interrogation of persons who had been arrested during a series of seizures over the past 18 months.

After months of investigations, the officer said, the WCCB issued a lookout circular that enabled the immigration officers in Chennai to detain Shekhar. He was subsequently arrested by Chhattisgarh police and moved to Raipur where police have filed a case against him.
Source:http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110806/jsp/nation/story_14343533.jsp

Red sanders king pin arrested

रायपुर चेन्नई एयरपोर्ट पर पकड़े गए अंतरराष्ट्रीय चंदन तस्कर शेखर विरैय्या के मणिपुर के आतंकवादी संगठन केवायकेएल (कांगलेई यमोल कन्ना लूप) से कारोबारी संबंध हैं। मणिपुर-बर्मा और तिब्बत के रास्ते विरैय्या सालों से लाल चंदन की लकड़ियां चीन भेज रहा था।

पुलिस को संदेह है कि अपने इसी ट्रांसपोर्ट चैनल का इस्तेमाल वह नक्सलियों और माफिया गिरोहों को बर्मा-मणिपुर या तिब्बत के रास्ते हथियार और कारतूसों की सप्लाई में भी कर रहा था। इस एंगल से शेखर से पूछताछ भी शुरू हो गई है।

रायपुर में मारा गया ट्रांसपोर्टर राजेश डागर और उसका भाई सत्येंद्र शेखर विरैय्या के लिए काम करते थे। राजेश चंदन की लकड़ियां अपनी ट्रकों में भरकर दिल्ली के रास्ते हिमाचलप्रदेश से मणिपुर तस्करी करता था। मणिपुर के सीमाई गांव मोरे बॉर्डर से लकड़ियों को सीमा पार बर्मा-चीन भेजने में उसे केवायकेएल की मदद मिलती थी। दिल्ली पुलिस के मुताबिक यह आतंकी संगठन हथियारों की सप्लाई में भी लिप्त रहा है। पिछले कुछ समय से मणिपुर में सेना ने अपना दबाव बढ़ाया है। इलाके में कूकी जनजाति के बढ़ते दबदबे ने शेखर के लिए कारोबार करना मुश्किल कर दिया था। इन हालात को देखते हुए गिरोह ने हिमाचलप्रदेश होते हुए तिब्बत के रास्ते चीन तक माल पहुंचाना शुरू कर दिया।

कल देर रात तक पुलिस शेखर से अलग-अलग एंगल से पूछताछ करती रही। विरैय्या की गिरफ्तारी को पुलिस बड़ी सफलता मान रही है। दिल्ली से ही आई वाइल्ड लाइफ क्राइम कंट्रोल ब्यूरो (डब्ल्यूएलसीसीबी) की टीम ने भी शुक्रवार को शेखर से घंटों पूछताछ की। उनके सवालों में भी आतंकी संगठन और नक्सलियों को हथियार सप्लाई से जुड़े मुद्दे शामिल थे।

विरैय्या ने क्यों करवाई राजेश की हत्या? :

राजेश डागर बेवजह रायपुर नहीं आया था। लाल चंदन की लकड़ियों का उसका ज्यादातर कारोबार कर्नाटक से था। पुलिस को शक है कि राजेश ने नक्सलियों से लिंक बना लिया था और अपने ट्रांसपोर्ट नेटवर्क के जरिये ही वह हथियारों की अवैध सप्लाई के धंधे में कूद पड़ा। इंटेलिजेंस ब्यूरो (आईबी) ने भी इस तरह की गतिविधियों के संकेत दिए थे। वह पहले विरैय्या के लिए काम करता था। राजेश और सत्येंद्र के आतंकी गुटों से सीधे संबंध थे। दिल्ली पुलिस के मुताबिक सत्येंद्र इसी आतंकी संगठन के लीडर थुआंग की हत्या का भी मुख्य आरोपी है। पुलिस की जांच कहती है कि राजेश का ट्रांसपोर्टिग को लेकर विरैय्या से विवाद हुआ। तभी विरैय्या ने सत्येंद्र से कहकर उसे मरवा डाला। हालांकि हत्या में अपना हाथ होने की बाद अब तक शेखर नहीं कबूल नहीं की है। लेकिन उसके खिलाफ पुलिस के पास साक्ष्य हैं।

सूत्रों के मुताबिक ऐसा माना जा रहा है कि राजेश नक्सलियों के लिए काम करने लगा था। इसी मामले में विरैय्या भी जुड़ा और चंदन व हथियारों की सप्लाई तस्करी को लेकर विवाद ही राजेश के मौत की वजह बनी होगी।

वीरप्पन के बाद दूसरा तस्कर


कर्नाटक और आंध्रप्रदेश के जंगल में आपरेट करने वाले तस्कर वीरप्पन के एनकाउंटर में मारे जाने के बाद उस इलाके में विरैय्या ने कब्जा कर लिया था। विरैय्या तमिलनाडु और कर्नाटक के जंगलों में तस्करी करता था। वीरप्पन कर्नाटक व आंध्रा के जंगलों में रहकर लकड़ियां वहीं बेचता था, लेकिन विरैय्या का नेटवर्क विदेशों तक फैला हुआ है। दिल्ली की डब्लूएलसीसीबी टीम के पूछताछ में यह स्पष्ट हुआ है कि विरैय्या साउथ से हिमाचल-अरुणाचल प्रदेश के रास्ते बर्मा से चंदन चीन को सप्लाई करता था। इस काम में आतंकी संगठन केवॉयकेएल की भी प्रमुख भूमिका होती थी।

राजेश रायपुर में रहकर भारत के दक्षिण से चीन को चंदन की तस्करी करता था। विरैय्या से उसके विवाद की वजह भी स्पष्ट नहीं हुई है। पुलिस को शक है कि वह आतंकी संगठनों के माध्यम से नक्सलियों को होने वाली हथियार और गोलियों की सप्लाई की अहम कड़ी था। इसकी पड़ताल की जा रही है। दिल्ली की टीम भी कई बिंदुओं पर विरैय्या से पूछताछ कर रही है।
http://www.bhaskar.com/article/CHH-RAI-virayya-suspected-of-collusion-with-the-maoists-2267919.html?OF4=

SAWEN organised training workshop on wildlife crime for South Asian enforcement agencies

Gandhinagar, India, 11th July 2011—Representatives from seven South Asia countries today begin five-days of training on “Strengthening Wildlife Law Enforcement for Wildlife Protection in South Asia” under the aegis of the newly established South Asian Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN).

The meeting at the University of Forensic Sciences, Gandhinagar, Gujarat is the first such training to be organized for SAWEN members on wildlife law enforcement.

Senior-level government officials working in the field of wildlife conservation from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka are attending the programme which has been organized by TRAFFIC with support from the Global Tiger Forum, the Directorate of Forensic Sciences, Govt. of Gujarat and the Gujarat Forest Department.

Participants will receive a comprehensive understanding of the present scenario of wildlife crime and trade in South Asia and its implications for field conservation and be introduced to the modern tools and techniques used in strengthening wildlife law enforcement.

The programme brings together various national and international experts and agencies working in this field to exchange ideas, experiences and knowledge on curbing illegal wildlife trade. This initiative will help further strengthen collaboration amongst various South Asian countries and wildlife law enforcement agencies across the region. .

Speaking at the inaugural session, Hon. Chief Minister, Gujarat, Shri Narendra Modi said: “I welcome all wildlife experts representing various countries to the State of Gujarat. It is high time that the law enforcement agencies’ focus is diverted towards prevention and detection of crimes. Gujarat State has taken a lead in this direction by establishing an important branch called ‘Wildlife Forensics’ at the State Forensic Laboratory. I compliment SAWEN Secretariat for organizing this workshop”.

Shri Balwant Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Govt. of Gujarat said: “Illegal wildlife trade is a serious issue and requires concerted and well co-ordinated action to curb it. The newly formed South Asia Enforcement Network should help in this direction.”

All eight countries of South Asia are members of SAWEN, which was launched at an inter-governmental meeting hosted by the Royal Government of Bhutan in January 2011 in Paro, Bhutan and has a Secretariat based in Nepal.

“The establishment of SAWEN was a very crucial, timely and much needed step forward to institutionalize the collaborative efforts of member nations in controlling wildlife crime in the region. I am especially happy to note that under the SAWEN work plan, the first multi country training programme on Strengthening Wildlife Law Enforcement for Wildlife Protection in South Asia is being held in Gandhinagar,” said Hon. Minister of Environment and Forest, Govt. of India, Shri Jairam Ramesh. “Gujarat has some very good successes to share in this direction.”

Mr Krishna Prasad Acharya, Chief Enforcement Co-ordinator of SAWEN & the Director General, Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Nepal said: “Illegal wildlife trade is a form of trans-national organized crime that threatens many iconic species across the world. National Governments in South Asia recognize this threat and are committed to work together to counter such threats. The establishment of SAWEN is an expression of this commitment. This training programme, the first of its kind under SAWEN, will support our common cause and will surely be the first of many more such collaborative efforts.”

The key resources persons at the training programme include experts from the Gujarat Forensic Sciences University, Central Bureau of Investigation, Financial Intelligence Unit, Govt. of India, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Wildlife Institute of India, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime- South Asia Regional Office and TRAFFIC.

Smuggler from Delhi held for possessing endangered tortoises

PTI | 08:06 PM,Jun 30,2011
Dehra Dun, Jun 30 (PTI) Uttarakhand forest department today recovered three live star tortoises here and arrested two smugglers, including one from Delhi, police today said. Following a tip-off from state anti-poaching cell, a forest department team stopped the accused near the Wadia Institute of Himalayn Geology and recovered live three star tortoises from them, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Meenakshi Joshi said. The star tortoise is an endangered species of tortoise, she added. The accused have been identified as Shivram, a resident of Delhi, and Subodh Chhilwal, belonging to Almora. They have been booked under Wildlife Protection Act
http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/smuggler-from-delhi-held-for-possessing-endangered-tortoises/743592.html

NTCA committee on orphaned tiger cubs

NAGPUR: The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has constituted a three-member committee for examining issues relating to abandoned and orphaned tiger cubs from the wild, so as to explore the feasibility of their in-situ rearing and release in low tiger density habitats. The committee members are Prof PC Tyagi, YV Jhala, both scientists with Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, and SP Yadav, deputy inspector general (DIG) of NTCA as the member convener.

Yadav said that the terms of reference (ToR) of the committee will include country-wide assessment of the wild caught orphaned and abandoned cubs; identification of low density tiger reserves; to give recommendation for rehabilitation of such cubs vis-Ã -vis the NTCA guidelines; to prescribe 'minimum standards' for creation of tiger safaris; and to examine feasibility of ex-situ to in-situ linkage in the context of tiger. The committee will submit its report in 60 days, Yadav said.

MoEF meet on tiger reserves: The ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) has called a meeting of field directors of all tiger reserves at Bandipur in Karnataka. The two-day meet on July 29 and 30, will be inaugurated by union environment and forest minister Jairam Ramesh. All chief wildlife wardens of tiger-bearing states have been told to attend the meeting and make presentations on status of tiger reserves in their states.
Ref:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/NTCA-committee-on-orphaned-tiger-cubs/articleshow/9105095.cms

Airport staff get training to check wildlife smuggling

NEW DELHI: In order to curb wildlife smuggling through airports, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau today started special training of Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) staff, entrusted to scan check-in baggage.

As part of the training exercise for the first batch of about 30 DIAL staff, a team of three senior officials of the national wildlife crime watchdog provided them specific signatures of wildlife articles which can be identified during the scanning process.

"Every wildlife article has some key signatures which can be identified in special scanners used by airport security staff here. So we provided them with such signatures during the session. We also gave our manual to them which carries detailed information of species which are under threat," a WCCB official said.

There are about 300 personnel of DIAL who look after scanning services of check-in baggage at Indira Gandhi International Airport. In the first batch today nearly 30 officials were trained and soon WCCB plans to cover all of them in different session.

Sources said another session for different set of officials has been planned for tomorrow.

"Although no case of wildlife smuggling through airports has come to light in India but in Thailand there have been cases where tiger cubs, star tortoise have been discovered in the light. The training will help the staff to identify such articles during scanning," he said.

WCCB has been carrying out such sensitisation programmes for officials of CISF who look after hand-baggage checking and also of SSB which guards Indo-Nepal border. PTI ABS
http://in.news.yahoo.com/airport-staff-training-check-wildlife-smuggling-102800795.html (Source)

5 convicted in for 31 years in Sariska tiger case

A court today awarded five hunters 31 years of imprisonment under six sections of the Wildlife Protection Act for killing a tigress in Sariska reserve in 2004.

The five, however, will spent altogether seven years in jail as the sentences will run concurrently.

Additional chief judicial magistrate Himankani Gaud sentenced each of the five poachers to 31 years in jail, but they will remain behind bars for seven years.

Gaud also slapped a fine of Rs 1.30 lakh on the five.

The hunters -- Jeevan Ram, Juru, Luru, Ramjan and Taiyab -- had killed the tigress in Akbarpur range of Sariska.
Sourse-PTI

WCCB enlisting volunteers

Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) is enlisting volunteers ready to work with organisation for natural surveillance, capacity building and awareness etc. The application can be submitted by e-mail or by post in the prescribed format available on the Bureau's website.
http://wccb.gov.in/

Meet to curb wildlife trade

PANKAJ SARMA
Guwahati, June 5: The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau has convened a meeting here tomorrow to coordinate enforcement efforts of various government agencies to curb smuggling in wildlife.

The meeting, which will be held at Assam State Zoo, will be attended by senior forest officials of Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, along with top officers of various security forces and enforcement agencies, including the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, BSF, Sashastra Seema Bal, Assam Rifles, customs department and directorate of revenue intelligence, among others.

Officials of railways and postal department were also invited to the meeting, as smugglers often use trains and speed-post parcels to smuggle wildlife items.

Additional director of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, Rina Mitra, the bureau’s regional deputy director (eastern region), Chaturbhuja Behera, and its wildlife inspector, Abhijit Roy Chowdhury, will be present at the meeting.

The bureau is a statutory body constituted by the Centre in 2007 to protect the country’s wildlife.

“The meeting was convened to sensitise the personnel of various agencies on different issues related to wildlife smuggling such as the routes used by the smugglers, to share data on professional poachers and their modus operandi and measures that can be taken up to prevent organised poaching and smuggling of animal parts,” Behera said.

It would also focus on strengthening and ensuring proper implementation of laws at international exit points.

Behera said animal parts like tiger bones, ivory, pangolin scales, rhino horns, deer antlers, lizards, snakes and forest produces such as red sander wood were being smuggled to places like China, Myanmar and other Southeast Asian nations through the Northeast, which was a cause for serious concern.

He said since it was the secondary and not the primary duty of the security forces to control wildlife crimes, they would also try to create awareness among the latter about the nuances of wildlife crime investigations and also about helping state governments in ensuring success in related prosecutions.

“We will try to set up a mechanism to control wildlife crime and bust international wildlife smuggling rackets based in places like Dimapur, Imphal, Moreh and Pallel, among others, in the Northeast and neighbouring countries like Myanmar and China,” Behera said.

Source:http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110606/jsp/northeast/story_14075393.jsp

Nearly 200 tigers fell prey to poaching in last 12 years

Nearly 200 tigers were killed by poachers in and around various forest reserves in the country, in the last 12 years, news that points out the danger that the national animal faces in its habitat.

Besides, 250 wild cats died of natural causes including old age, in fighting, starvation, road and rail accidents, electrocution and weakness during this period.

According to an RTI reply from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, 447 wild cats were reportedly found dead between 1999 and March 2011 in and around a number of natural habitats for tigers, of which 197 were poached.

The ministry also noted that poaching was the major cause behind disappearance of tigers from Sariska and Panna reserves.

“The cases of local extinction of tigers were reported in Sariska, Rajasthan (2005) and Panna, Madhya Pradesh (2008). As reported, poaching of tigers was the major cause of their extinction,” National Tiger Conservation Authority under the MoEF said in reply to an RTI query filed by PTI.

A highest of 36 each tigers were poached in 2001 and 2002, followed by 24 each in 1999 and in 2010, it said. Two tigers were found to be killed in poaching between January and March 17 this year, the reply said.

Whereas 20 wild cats were killed in 2003, 17 in 2009, 10 in 2007, nine each in 2000 and 2008, and five fell prey to hunters in 2006, it said.

The ministry, however, did not give details of action taken reports in the cases of poaching, saying that concerned state governments were the custodian of information.

source:http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/article2079069.ece

Haathi Mere Saathi campaign launched

Reaching out to the people, to improve conservation and welfare prospects of the elephant - India’s National Heritage Animal, the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) in partnership with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) has launched the nationwide Haathi Mere Saathi campaign.

Addressing at the Elephant-8 Ministerial Meeting today in New Delhi, the Minister of State for Environment and Forests (I/C), Shri Jairam Ramesh said that Elephants are so ingrained in Indian culture and traditions, that sometimes, we tend to take the elephant for granted. He said, this public initiative is aimed at increasing awareness among people and developing not just friendship but also companionship between people and elephants. The Minister unveiled the Campaign mascot, logo and website (www.haathimeresaathi.org) on the occasion.

Shri Ramesh said, unlike the tiger, which faces threat of extinction, the elephant faces threats of attrition. The elephant numbers have not increased or decreased drastically, but there is increasing pressure on the elephant habitats and it is a serious concern that we will try and address by involving people in elephant conservation and welfare through this campaign, he added.

The Minister said that one of the recommendations of the Elephant Task Force last year was for India to take a lead in global elephant conservation. This has now become a reality at this E-8 Meet. “The delegates present here represent two-third of the world’s wild elephant population. Later in 2013 we will bring in all the 50 elephant range countries together to deliberate and actively cooperate for elephant conservation and welfare,” the Minister added.

Representing regions with all three species of elephants, the participants included policy makers, conservationists, scientists, historians, art and culture experts among others from India, Botswana, Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Thailand. Discussions covered a wide range of issues categorised under three basic themes Science and Conservation, Management and Conservation, and Cultural and Ethical perspectives of conservation.

Recommended by the Elephant Task Force (ETF) constituted by the Ministry last year, the Campaign to ‘take Gajah (the elephant) to Prajah (the people)’ aims to spread awareness and encourage people’s participation in elephant conservation and welfare.

The Executive Director-WTI and a member of the ETF, Shri Vivek Menon said that Elephants have for ages been a significant icon in Indian culture and traditions and a flagship for Indian forests. However, today, threats to the pachyderms in the wild; and there are welfare concerns for captive elephants. The country’s National Heritage Animal needs its people and the idea behind the Campaign is to mobilise this support.

The Asian elephant is threatened by habitat degradation, conflicts and poaching for ivory. These threats are more intense in India which harbours more than 50% of the world’s Asian elephants, but also struggles to balance its aspirations for development, and people’s welfare, as it strives to secure its natural heritage.

The Additional Director General (Wildlife), Government of India, Shri Jagdish Kishwan said that India has about 25,000 elephants in the wild. Despite this seemingly large number, the elephant, particularly the tuskers, in India is as threatened as the tiger. There are just about 1200 tuskers left in the country. Moreover, elephants being large-bodied have much larger range and resource requirements; destruction of their habitat can have drastic effects on this species, and these cannot be addressed without the people’s participation.

For effective conservation and welfare measures, the Campaign is strategised to evoke companionship with the animal, highlighting the strong cultural, religious and social association of elephants as well as their ecological values.

The Campaign focuses on various target audience groups including locals near elephant habitats, youth, policy makers, among others. It envisions setting up of Gajah centres in elephant landscapes across the country to spread awareness on their plight and invoke people’s participation in addressing the threats to them. It also plans to build capacity of protection and law enforcement agencies at the ground level, and advocate for policies favouring the pachyderms.

Source: PIB
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=72278

Woman sentenced to five years imprisonment for trade in tiger parts

Lakhimpur (Uttar Pradesh), April 8, 2011: Dilipo, a habitual wildlife offender belonging to the Bawaria community, was sentenced to five years and three months of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 50,000 for illegal trade in tiger parts, by the Court of RK Shukla, Chief Judicial Magistrate, Lakhimpur Kheri on Wednesday.

Dilipo was arrested in early 2007, following seizure of tiger parts from Lakhimpur in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Two kgs of tiger meat and bones were seized on January 7, 2007 by the Forest Department authorities. More wildlife articles were recovered a day later. This was followed by the seizure of a leg trap, mobile set, a device used to remove animal nails and a telephone diary from one Kalicharan on January 12. His statement identified Dilipo as one of the accomplices who had sold the skin of the same tiger for Rs 40,00

The conviction was Dilipo's third. The prosecution was assisted by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) advocates Rakesh Kumar Srivastava and Sanjay Kumar Rai.

“This conviction will go a long way as a deterrent to poachers who regularly indulge in wildlife crimes and will send a strong message to the public at large,” said Ramesh Kumar Pandey, Deputy Director - Northern Region, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau.

Dilipo’s first case was in Pilibhit, 25 years ago when she was arrested for illegal hunting, and trading in tiger parts. A few days after the arrest, she absconded and changed her identity adopting the name of Shanti.

The second case was in Katarniaghat when Shanti (aka Dilipo) was arrested in 2005, also related to trade in tiger parts. It was later discovered that she was Dilipo. She was sentenced to nine months of imprisonment as she voluntarily confessed her crime.

The Bawarias are a nomadic community, traditionally bushmeat hunters,” says Jose Louies, Officer-in-Charge, Enforcement Assistance and Law division, WTI. “Presently, using the cover of being wanderers, some members of this community are involved in wildlife trade rackets within the country and also across the Indo-Nepal border. Women are involved as much as the men. There have been ample incidents of wildlife goods being recovered from them, concealed inside articles like plaster-of-paris idols, paintings, etc.”
http://www.wildlifetrustofindia.org/current-news/110408_Woman_sentenced_to_five_years_imprisonment_for_trade_in_tiger_parts.html
Photo(c) Ramesh Pandey

Tiger population in India increases from 1411

India's tiger population on the rise: report
By AFP
Published Saturday, March 26, 2011
India's tiger population has increased for the first time in decades, a newspaper said on Saturday, citing a national tiger census report slated to be released next week.

According to the 2009-10 tiger census report, the number roaming India has jumped to 1,510-1,550 from 1,411 in 2004-05, The Indian Express newspaper said.

The newspaper report came ahead of an international tiger conservation conference due to open on Monday in the Indian capital New Delhi.

India is home to more than half of the world's rapidly dwindling wild tiger population, but its conservation programme, said by the government to be the world's most comprehensive, has been struggling to halt the big cat's decline.

Tiger conservationists welcomed the news and said that the population increase was due to the authorities surveying more areas to conduct the census and creating more tiger reserves.

Tito Joseph, programme director at the Wildlife Protection Society of India, said "the latest census included some of the areas they left out last time because of problems accessing the terrain, like the Sunderbans" which is home to hundreds of tigers.

The Sunderbans mangrove forest straddles the borders of India's West Bengal state and Bangladesh and lies on the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta.

"They have also set up more tiger reserves. In 2004 there were only 28-33 tiger reserves, now there are 39 reserves, so that's obviously helped," Joseph told AFP.

"It's a good strategy, because tigers need space above all, and if you can create inviolate space their numbers will naturally go up," he said.

The current tiger population still remains a long way off the numbers registered in 2002 when some 3,700 tigers were estimated to be alive in the country.

There were estimated to be around 40,000 tigers in India at the time of independence from Britain in 1947.

Authorities across Asia are waging a major battle against poachers and other man-made problems such as destruction of the tigers' habitat due to industrial expansion.

A major poacher trafficking route begins in India and ends in China where tiger parts are highly prized as purported cures for a range of ailments and as aphrodisiacs.

"Tiger skins fetch anywhere around 11,000-21,000 US dollars and bones are sold for about 1,000 US dollars in China," said Rajesh Gopal, chairman of National Tiger Conservation Authority in New Delhi.
Source:http://www.emirates247.com/news/world/india-s-tiger-population-on-the-rise-report-2011-03-26-1.373065#send2friend
(Note: It is the 100th post on my blog, and I am happy to share with you a positive news regarding efforts on Tiger conservation in the country.
Photo credit: Bhagat Singh

Five otter skins seized, two arrested

Shahjahanpur, Jan 24 (PTI) Five otter skins were today seized and two persons were arrested in a joint operation by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau and CBI in this Uttar Pradesh district.

The two persons were arrested from near the Shahjahanpur railway station when they were allegedly trying to sell the skins of the endangered animal.

The value of otter skin is only next to tiger skin, an official said.

Sources said the two arrested were on the radar of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), the nodal agency for dealing with wildlife crimes in the country, for sometime and after obtaining specific intelligence, the duo were arrested with the help of CBI.

The authorities are trying to obtain more information on the source of the skins and their possible customers, they said.

India is home to three species of Otters. These are- Eurasian Otter (Lutra lutra), smooth-coated Otter (Lutra perspicillata) and small-clawed Otter (Aonyx cinereus). PTI ABS NES
http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4835360

Tigress kills man in Uttar Pradesh

Bahraich (Uttar Pradesh), Jan 6 (IANS) A tigress killed an old man near the Katarniaghat forest reserve in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich Thursday, an official said.
'The tigress attacked 60-year-old Shaligram, a resident of Tilhanpurwa, in the sugarcane fields situated around 50 metres away from the forest reserve,' Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) R.K. Singh told IANS.
'The pugmarks spotted near the victim's body indicate that an adult tigress attacked and killed the man,' he added.
According to officials, efforts were on to drive the tiger back to the forest reserve.
According to the last census, Katarniaghat recorded the presence of around 58 tigers.
Bahraich is about 130 km from Lucknow.

http://www.sify.com/news/tigress-kills-man-in-uttar-pradesh-news-national-lbgw4jeegdi.html

Leopard found dead in sanctuary, poacher nabbed

A four-year-old male leopard was found dead in Kishanpur wildlife sanctuary in Lakhimpur Kheri district. The feline was trapped in an iron snare. It appeared to have died after sustaining serious injuries in an effort to free itself from the snare. The forest department and the local police have lodged a joint operation to arrest poachers.

One of the poachers responsible for the leopard’s death was arrested on Monday. But the arrest could not be confirmed.

Local villagers apprised wildlife activist Jaswant Singh Kalair about the leopard having been trapped near Ambargarh area of the sanctuary on Sunday evening.

After getting the information, Singh, along with other forest officials, reached the spot to rescue the leopard.

“We were waiting for the tranquillising team to arrive after arranging a cage for shifting the leopard. But before members of the team could arrive, the leopard died,” said Singh.

After senior forest officials reached the spot, the carcass was sent for a post-mortem examination.

Several incidents of killings of leopards have been reported from Kishanpur sanctuary in the recent past.

Last week, a leopard strayed from a forest area and entered a village in Gorakhpur where it injured several people. Later, it went back into its natural habitat.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Leopard-found-dead-in-sanctuary-poacher-nabbed/Article1-643834.aspx#

Cameras keep eye on snow leopards in Spiti Valley

Shimla, Dec 29 (IANS) The third eye is monitoring the movement of the highly endangered, elusive snow leopard in the cold deserts of Himachal Pradesh. And one of the camera traps has thrown up useful footage - of a pack of dogs attacking and injuring a snow leopard.

With just about 750 snow leopards left in India, the Himachal Pradesh government is using cameras to monitor their movement in Spiti Valley, the state's northernmost part, running parallel to the Tibetan border.


The state's wildlife department, in coordination with Mysore-based non-governmental organisation Nature Conservation Foundation, has installed 20 camera traps (automatic cameras) in Spiti Valley.


One of the cameras captured shots of a pack of dogs attacking a snow leopard. The dogs were abandoned by the pastoral communities that migrate from alpine pastures in summer along with their livestock, chief wildlife warden A.K. Gulati told IANS.


'From this video clip, we came to know that abandoned dogs are also a potential threat to the wild cat. However, in this case, the snow leopard managed to escape with minor injuries on its hind legs,' Gulati said.


According to wildlife experts, the rise in the population of abandoned dogs might pose a threat to the snow leopards' food chain.


'The dogs usually attack in a pack and it's easy for them to hunt even big mammals like the Himalayan blue sheep. This might reduce the prey base of the wild cat,' an expert said.


The snow leopard, a graceful golden-eyed animal with thick fur, padded paws and a long tail, is found in rocky regions at an altitude from 2,700 to 6,000 metres (8,900 ft to 20,000 ft). Himachal has adopted it as its state animal.


Not only is the animal extremely elusive but its cold, inhospitable habitat means very little is known about it. Hence the need for technology.


'Initially, 20 cameras have been installed in a 100 sq km area of Spiti to monitor the movement and behaviour of the snow leopards,' Gulati told IANS.


Each camera costs around Rs.250,000 and is equipped with a sensor that shoots any movement of any animal in its vicinity. Each camera has a battery backup of 25 days.


'Placing a camera is really a herculean task. One has to trudge miles of rugged, cold and inhospitable Himalayan terrain. We have to restrict even the movement of the humans as it might develop fear psychosis in the animal or spoil their habitat,' he said.


The footages also captured some other animals like the Himalayan blue sheep and Asiatic ibex - a wild goat species. Both are important prey for the snow leopard.


He said footage indicated the presence of around 10 snow leopards, but nothing conclusive could be said in the study's early stages.


'Right now, we are not in a position to comment on the exact population of the wild cats in Spiti. But we can only say the area supports an impressive population,' he said.


Apart from Spiti Valley, the wildlife wing also plans to install 20 camera traps in the Pin Valley National Park, the Kibber Wildlife Sanctuary, the Great Himalayan National Park and the Pangi and Bharmour areas of Chamba district, which has a sizeable population of the snow leopard.


Gulati said under the Project Snow Leopard, the state had sent a proposal to the central government to set up a snow leopard research institute in Spiti at a cost of Rs.5.5 crore. He said a major portion of the amount would be spent on improving the habitat of the animal.


The Himachal project is part of the central government's Project Snow Leopard that was launched Jan 20, 2009, as part of efforts to conserve the globally endangered species.


The government had estimated the number of these wild cats to be around 750, but this is the first time an extensive study is being carried out to substantiate the figure.


The project is also operational in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Arunachal Pradesh with support from the Wildlife Institute of India and the Nature Conservation Foundation.

Leopard-human conflict: M'rashtra handles it better

SURAT: The neighbouring state of Maharashtra through a scientific approach and the help of a non-government organisation has been able to bring down the incidents of leopard-human conflict there. The leopard mortality was an issue of concern even for the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) though the subject was not in its domain. In contrast, for the past six years south Gujarat has been witnessing recurrent incidents of human and leopard conflict, but the state's forest department is yet to come out with a concrete plan to arrest the trend. It is still caught up in the age-old techniques either of caging or shooting the leopard.

About 15 people lost their lives since 2005 in leopard attacks in Maharashtra while six have died in the attacks by the big cats in Gujarat's Surat and Tapi districts in the past 40 days alone. Between January to December 2010, 35 leopards were killed in conflict with humans or became victims of poachers in Maharashtra which in the previous year had reported deaths of 48 leopards.

"The decrease in the number of conflicts and in the tally of deaths of leopards is due to the drive carried out by Maharashtra's forest department and our NGO. We requested the forest department to change the pattern to tackle the issue," said Vidya Athrey of Project Waghoba.

She said the need is to understand the big cat instead of just caging it randomly and then releasing it in the wild. Before 2008 about 40 leopards were caught and released in the wild every year in Maharashtra but now this number has come down to 10.

"Caging leopards and then releasing them in the wild make them dangerous for the humans. We have tried to provide a safe environment to the animal in the area where it lives and also worked to change human behaviour slightly," Athrey explained.

"Like in Maharashtra, leopards make their home in the sugarcane farms in Gujarat too. On being caught they come into direct conflict with humans. We are trying to convince Gujarat Government to look at our work in Maharashtra and hope to be involved in Gujarat in controlling the situation," she added. Ends

yagnesh.mehta@timesgroup.com


Read more: Leopard-human conflict: M'rashtra handles it better - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/surat/Leopard-human-conflict-Mrashtra-handles-it-better/articleshow/7180571.cms#ixzz19TxRmk2i