Where worlds collide

I had been in Nepal last week and got opportunity to meet my old friend Tariq who is the leader of WWF-Eastern Himalaya Conservation Project stationed at Nepal. He gave me a brouchure which was worth reading and to know the potential of this lesser known and difficult landscape including North Eastern Indian Part. The most important part of the reading material is the compilation of the almost 300 new species and their relevant references as annexure. The PDF version of the brochure is available on net, the link of the same is mentioned below. Small pieces of excerpts have also been shared.

At least 353 new species have beendiscovered in the Eastern Himalayasbetween 1998 and 2008, equating toan average of 35 new species findsevery year for the last 10 years. Thediscoveries include 242 plants, 16amphibians, 16 reptiles, 14 fish, 2birds and 2 mammals, and at least 61new invertebrates.

The Eastern Himalayas is at the crossroads of two continental platesrepresented by the lowland Indo-Malayan Realm and to the north, the elevatedPalearctic Realm. The meeting of these worlds has created one of thebiologically richest areas on Earth. Spanning Bhutan, the north-eastern Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, North Bengaland Sikkim, the far north of Myanmar (Burma), Nepal and Tibet, the region includes four ofthe Global 200 ecoregions, critical landscapes of international biological importance. TheHimalayas are home to an estimated 10,000 plant species, 300 mammal species, 977 birdspecies, 176 reptiles, 105 amphibians and 269 freshwater fish. The region also has the highestdensity of the Bengal tiger and is the last bastion for the charismatic greater one-horned rhino.Even today the rugged, and largely inaccessible landscape of the Eastern Himalayas, hides thereal extent of the region’s biodiversity, with extraordinary new species continuing to bediscovered year-on-year. Between 1998 and 2008, at least 353 new species have beendiscovered in the Eastern Himalayas, 35 new species finds on average every year for the last10 years .The extent of the new species finds place the Eastern Himalayas on a par with more wellknownbiological hotspots such as Borneo.This report celebrates these unique and fascinating species discoveries. It also highlights themany vital habitats that face growing pressures as a consequence of unsustainabledevelopment in the region. Despite protection efforts, in the last half-century, this area ofSouth Asia has faced a wave of pressures as a result of population growth and the increasingdemand for commodities by global and regional markets. The host of threats include forestdestruction as a result of unsustainable and illegal logging, agriculture, unsustainable fuelwood collection, overgrazing by domestic livestock, illegal poaching and wildlife trade,mining, pollution, hydropower development, and poorly planned infrastructure. The region isalso among the most vulnerable to global climate change, which will amplify the impacts ofthese threats.Only 25% of the original habitats in the region remain intact. For the unique species of theEastern Himalayas, this means that today 163 are considered globally threatened.

No mountain range on Earth can match the awe-inspiring Himalayas. Hometo all of the world’s highest peaks, many standing above 8,000m, they includethe tallest, the formidable Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) at 8,848m. Their storyis one of fascination and intrigue, which continues to captivate the world.The 3,000km-long Himalayan mountain range, “abode of snow” in Sanskrit, was born from amassive tectonic collision 40-50 million years ago. The energy dissipated by the monumentalmeeting of India and Eurasia was far-reaching and shaped many of Asia’s most distinctivegeographical features, including the formation of the Tibetan Plateau; the highest on Earth.Even today, the relentless movement of the plates continues to push the Himalayas furtherskyward.The Eastern Himalayas spanning Bhutan, the north-eastern Indian states of ArunachalPradesh, Assam, North Bengal and Sikkim, the far north of Myanmar (Burma), Nepal andTibet forms a wall that separates the lowlands of the Indian subcontinent from the high, dryTibetan Plateau. Climatic variability and altitudinal gradation have forged the region intoAsia’s land of contrasts, encompassing some of nature’s most magnificent spaces, from theworld’s highest mountains and several of the world’s deepest gorges, to subtropical jungles,temperate forests, tall grasslands, savannas and rich alpine meadows.A myriad of cultures and faiths including Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and animists, havelived closely with the natural environments of the Eastern Himalayas for millennia. Many ofthese communities live in isolation; their customs, lifestyles and livelihoods have been shapedby their environment, and they remain deeply dependent on the resources nature provides.Where worlds collideA global biodiversity hotspot1, the Eastern Himalayas is one of the biologically richest areason Earth. Because the region sits at the biogeographical crossroads of two continental plates,it contains an incredible wealth of biodiversity from both worlds. The Indo-Malayan Realmin the lowlands of the Eastern Himalayas is home to Asian elephants, clouded leopards, wildwater buffalo, gaur, hornbills, cobras and geckos. The elevated Palearctic Realm to the northincludes the snow leopard, red pandas, black bears, wolf, golden langurs and a diverseassemblage of alpine ungulates, like takins.The Eastern Himalayas hotspot2 includes four Global 200 ecoregions3, critical landscapes ofinternational biological importance, four World Heritage sites, two Endemic Bird Areas4, andseveral global centres for plant diversity5. The Himalayas harbour a staggering 10,000 plantspecies, from tropical to temperate, from alpine to tundra; 300 mammal species, 977 birdspecies, 176 reptiles, 105 amphibians and 269 types of freshwater fish6. A third of all plantsand reptiles are endemicI, as are 40% of all amphibians7.The world’s northernmost tropical rainforests can be found in the Eastern Himalayas8 andnearly half of the flowering plants9 and bird species known from India10. The plant life ofArunachal Pradesh is considered among the most diverse in the world, ranking second only toSumatra in Indonesia and greater than Borneo, Brazil and Papua New Guinea11.Importantly, the region comprises 17 landscapes for the Bengal tiger12, Asia’s largestcarnivore, with the densest population of Bengal tigers in the world. The Eastern Himalayasare also the last bastion for the charismatic greater one-horned rhino, which once enjoyed arange spanning the entire length of the Himalaya foothills, from Pakistan to Myanmar13 butare now restricted to a few corners of India, Bhutan and Nepal.People and wildlife form a rich mosaic of life stretching across a remarkable and unparalleled.

(Source:http://www.worldwildlife.org/what/wherewework/easternhimalayas/WWFBinaryitem13235.pdf

Deer overrun by speeding train

STAFF WRITER 14:44 HRS IST

Bahraich (UP) Aug 20 (PTI) A spotted deer was overrun by a train near Dudhwa-Katarniyaghat national park here.

The deer was overrun by a passenger train near Bichiya railway station here yesterday, District Forest Officer (Katarniyaghat) R K Singh said today.

An FIR under the Wildlife Protection Act was lodged against the train driver and guard, he said.

Singh said railway authorities had issued directions to trains to slow down while passing through four sectors of Katarniyaghat region but it is not being followed.

Last year, a tiger was overrun by a train near here.

Meanwhile, the representative of the WWF Project Officer Dabir Hasan has taken strong exception over the incident and said that senior officials of WWF will meet the Railway minister on the issue.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/238905_Deer-overrun-by-speeding-train

Tiger farms undermining conservation efforts

Debbie Banks

30th July, 2009

Tigers breed well in captivity, so why not just farm them behind bars to satisfy those with a taste for tiger bone wine? Debbie Banks from the Environmental Investigation Agency explains why relaxing the rules would be a disaster

Tiger cubs suckling on pigs. Sounds bizarre, but that is how tiger farms in Thailand and China are turning tigresses into a baby-making machines to supply the ever-hungry market for tiger parts.



Wean a tigress’ cubs off her prematurely and she will quickly come back in to oestrus. A successful tigress in the wild may raise a litter of up to four cubs to adulthood every two and half to three years. At a tiger farm in Thailand, a tigress can have at least one litter a year. 



Some facilities are up front about their motivations. They claim their objective is simply to have the single largest collection of tigers, with cages crowded with young tigers. 

In China however, a sinister series of events has been unfolding. There are believed to be over 5000 tigers in captivity across China, and one of the biggest operations has approximately 1300 tigers.

The company behind the farm launched its operations in 1986 to supply the medicinal trade, but continued breeding tigers beyond 1993, despite the introduction of China’s domestic tiger trade ban. They were speculating - and banking - on the ban being temporary.

It must be said that China’s domestic tiger trade ban has made a vital contribution to international efforts to save the wild tiger. Without it, and the accompanying awareness and outreach efforts, the demand for wild tigers would be far worse than it is. Now is not the time to take the foot off the gas: efforts to improve enforcement and send a clear message to potential consumers must be sustained.

Unfortunately, business interests are hijacking the tiger conservation agenda, calling for the relaxation of the trade ban so they can flood the market with farmed tiger parts. The logic behind such a move is that since tigers breed well in captivity, farming them is an economical solution to satisfying demand whilst alleviating pressure on the wild tiger.

It’s a flawed logic that rests on simplistic assumptions about the complex nature and dynamics of the illegal trade in tigers and other Asian big cats. Assumptions are made about the motivations of those involved in the trade, the costs of the trade, the scale and type of consumer demand. They are then all plugged in to economic models and squirted out the other side as gospel. What the followers of this faith have failed to acknowledge is that their version of events does not hold true in the real world, and the risks of carrying on with this experiment are enormous.

The market the tiger farmers want to exploit is not the traditional medicine market, rather it is the luxury high-end market for tiger bone wine. In fact some businessmen are so keen they have already been found in breach of Chinese law, illegally selling tiger bone wine in tiger-shaped bottles and in one case, selling tiger meat. EIA and others have found tiger bone wine being marketed both as a general tonic and as the gift that wins promotions and seals deals.

On top of this, EIA has repeatedly sought clarification from the Chinese government over a flawed registration scheme that would appear to allow the labelling and sale of farmed tiger and leopard skins.

The markets for tiger bone wine and tiger skins are potentially massive; this is not just about reigniting an old demand, it’s about stimulating a new, diffuse and poorly understood one.

The very existence of these farms, and the persistent lobbying of the business community is a distraction that deflates and undermines real tiger conservation efforts. We’re being asked to believe that those who have already dabbled in illegal trade have a real interest in limiting their market and that the enforcement authorities, which have failed to stop them so far, will be able to regulate a legal trade to prevent the laundering of poached tiger parts. It’s hard to swallow.

In June 2007, the international community spoke with one voice: it declared that tigers should not be bred for any trade in their parts and derivatives. Parties at the 14th meeting of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), adopted a decision to phase out commercial tiger farms.

The move was championed by the governments of tiger range states such as India, Nepal, Russia and Bhutan, all desperately appealing to the international community to remove the tiger farm threat once and for all. Two years on however, those countries with tiger farms have failed to provide any evidence of progress.

This was the subject of discussion at the recent meeting of the CITES Standing Committee, the body that monitors CITES management and implementation. India, the EU, the USA, Iran, and Australia all expressed concern and supported calls for a second deadline by which relevant countries report on steps taken to implement the Decision. The World Bank weighed in, their lead economists having reviewed and debunked the theories the pro-tiger trade movement have relied upon.

Progress will be assessed again at the main CITES meeting in March 2010, the next Chinese Year of the Tiger. Will China, in the interests of the wild tiger, send a strong and clear message by fulfilling the CITES Resolutions and Decisions to phase out farms, consolidate and destroy stockpiles of tiger parts and derivatives and invest in more effective enforcement?

In the meantime, India took the opportunity at Standing Committee to remind us all of the greater ecological and cultural significance of the tiger, how it represents the very forests that mitigate climate change, secure water and deliver other ecosystem services. How the wild tiger is not just a commodity that can be treated in isolation.

EIA firmly believes there is much more that can be done to combat the illegal trade in wild tigers and other Asian big cats. With increased financial and political commitment, governments can adopt more targeted, intelligence-led efforts to disrupt the criminal networks that control the trade between range, transit and consumer countries.

In so doing, we bring far greater benefits, not just to the survival of the wild tiger, but also to all other endangered species.

Debbie Banks is lead campaigner at the Environmental Investigation Agency

http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/other_comments/295015/tiger_farms_undermining_conservation_efforts.html

(Note: This article had published before standing committee (CITES) meeting held last month in Geneva. Regulation of tiger farming particularly was one of the important issued in CITES meeting.-Ramesh Pandey)

66 tigers dead in 8 months

Avijit Ghosh, TNN 21 August 2009, 03:38am IST

NEW DELHI: Tiger deaths continue at an alarming rate. Statistics collated from different parts of India by a prominent wildlife NGO show that
between January 1 and August 19 this year, at least 66 tigers lost their lives. Of these, 23 died due to poaching. The list includes seizures of skins, bones, claws, skeletons, canines and paws by police and wildlife authorities during this period. The remaining 43 died of a variety of reasons such as infighting, old age, tiger-human conflict, accidents and disease, according to statistics provided by Wildlife Protection Society of India. "In the last few months, Uttarakhand in the north and Karnataka in the south have recorded particularly high numbers of tiger deaths, which illustrates that the problem exists throughout the country," says Belinda Wright of WPSI. One incident occurred near Pataur area in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh where a tigress was found dead on Tuesday. "It could be a case of poisoning. But right now we can't say for sure. The samples have been sent to the forensic lab in Sagar and to the veterinary college, Jabalpur," says S K Patil, field director of the reserve. The tigress had three cubs. "Two have been spotted. We are trying to trace the third," says Patil. National tiger census figures released in Jan 2008 showed a mere 1,411 tigers alive as compared to 3,508 in 1997, a drastic drop of 60%. K Ullas Karanth, Bangalore-based senior conservation scientist, says decline of tigers since 1990s can be attributed to "the collapse of field protection and patrolling." This, he says, is fallout of "a mission drift in forest department" which has moved away from its "core task of protection, towards eco-development, needless habitat modifications and such other distractions." He also points out that both tigers and prey are being poached where field protection has collapsed. "In areas where these protective measures are still reasonably in place tigers are doing okay. The key issue is not just poaching of tigers, even more important is the issue of their prey species being hunted out. There are vast extents of forests in India where tigers are absent not because of direct poaching, but because their prey has been hunted out," Karanth says.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/environment/flora-fauna/66-tigers-dead-in-8-months/articleshow/4917094.cms

Wildlife crime control detectives unearth poaching ring

Tags: New Delhi
(Source: IANS)Published: Mon, 10 Aug 2009 at 19:20 IST
New Delhi: The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) has been looking into the interstate and international ramifications of two recent incidents of seizure of tiger skin and arrest of certain poachers, a government spokesperson said here Monday. A few days ago, Sasashtra Seema Bal (SSB) personnel had intercepted a man while attempting to smuggle out two tiger skins and large quantity of bones across the India-Nepal border. A team from WCCB of the Ministry of Environment and Forests unearthed important interstate and international linkages pertaining to the attempted smuggling, the spokesperson said. They are working closely with enforcement agencies of at least three States to unearth the dynamics of the illegal trade activity and the kingpins involved in the poaching. The spokesperson said WCCB is also coordinating with Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Himachal Pradesh governments on the linkages of a notorious smuggling kingpin who has been recently nabbed by Rajasthan Forest Department. It is also working in close coordination with Karnataka police after a tiger skin was seized recently near Bandipur. In its efforts to pursue the links and the poachers, WCCB is pooling in professional forensic and other technical capacity available with various agencies to ensure effective prosecution, the spokesperson added.

http://www.samaylive.com/news/wildlife-crime-control-detectives-unearth-poaching-ring/645603.html

http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=51733

Wildlife smugglers get creative

Thursday, 06 Aug, 2009 | 01:06 PM PST |

A shipment of snakes from South America arrived in the US with the right permits, but customs officers found that most of them had died. It turned out that the snakes were full of condoms stuffed with cocaine. –File Photo

GENEVA: To slip their illegal cargo through customs, wildlife smugglers still use traditional methods like bribery and threats but can also go creative — like hiding live geckos in their underpants.

John Sellar, chief enforcement officer at CITES, the UN agency against illegal wildlife trade, gave several examples.

The Bad

Caviar might add a touch of class to the average dinner table, but it might have gotten there thanks to prostitution, bribery and death threats orchestrated by the Russian mafia.

Sellar said the ‘crime’ starts with the poaching of sturgeon from the Caspian Sea and the processing of caviar.

In one instance, the delicacy was then smuggled into a Middle Eastern country where officials were offered cash bribes or prostitutes or, if they did not comply, given death threats to issue genuine CITES documents for the illegal caviar.

‘With the documents, the caviar then enters national markets as genuine certified caviar,’ said Sellar.

Once the caviar is certified as legal, the trade helps the mafia to launder their money.

The Ugly

Criminals have been caught smuggling animals such as beetles or snakes with proper CITES documentation, but using them as drug mules.

Sellar pointed to a case where a crate of beetles were found dead at customs. ‘Officials thought initially that they must have been smuggled for collectors, but they were all stuffed with amphetamines,’ he explained.

In another case, a shipment of snakes from South America arrived in the United States with the right permits, but US customs officers found that most of them had died.

It turned out that the snakes were full of condoms stuffed with cocaine, Sellar said.
If that shipment had passed through, the criminals would have made money in several ways — not only the drugs, but also the snakes would have earned a tidy sum, dead or alive, said Sellar.

Alive, they could have been sold to collectors; dead, they could have been offloaded for their skins, he explained.

And the downright bizarre

Some individuals who want to bring rare birds across a border sometimes smuggle in eggs before they have hatched, said Sellar.

‘You will get men and women with special constructed vests with eggs,’ he said. ‘There are women smuggling eggs in their bras or men smuggling live lizards and geckos in their underpants.’

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/sci-tech/14-wildlife-smugglers-get-creative-zj-07

Chinatown tiger remedies seized

Chinatown is home to many traditional medicine shops Medicines made from endangered animals including leopards and tigers were seized when police swooped on a shop in Chinatown, central London. The Metropolitan Police's wildlife crime unit raided the undisclosed shop on the day a legal loophole was closed. Traders had previously been able to claim products came from countries with few wildlife crime laws - and it was hard to prove the goods' true origins. But now medicines from rare species are illegal wherever they come from. 'Profiting from killing' Police seized over 200 products during the raid on the shop on Tuesday. Det Con David Flint said: "Most traditional Chinese medicines are not made from endangered species and can be sold legally. "However, a small number of products do contain these ingredients, and it is these products that have an impact on wild populations." He continued: "To meet this demand, poachers and traffickers will continue to profit from killing and supplying animals from other parts of the world, and the future of some of our most endangered species will be at risk." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/8196328.stm

This may be the last time you see a tiger

Neelam Raaj, TNN 9 August 2009, 01:27am IST

Tiger country is losing its stripes, surely, and not slowly enough. From an estimated 40,000 big cats in India a century ago, the number may be down to just 1,300 and falling. Soon, Kipling’s Jungle Book may be all that we have of Sher Khan. The next time, President Bill Clinton comes visiting, there may be no ‘Bamboo Ram’ or his cubs to spot. The mighty Royal Bengal Tiger is in trouble. The latest blow was the Panna reserve’s admission last month that it has lost all of its 24 tigers. It was a repeat of the 2005 Sariska story, though there were warning signs this time round.

The tiger tragedy is being played out everywhere. Namdapha (Arunachal Pradesh) had 12 tigers in 2006 but has not had a single sighting this year. Ditto Buxa (West Bengal), which also had 12 tigers. Dampa (Mizoram) may have only two tigers left. Indravati in Chhattisgarh has been taken over by Maoist rebels. The situation is bad in Palamau in Jharkhand and Simplipal in Orissa. In MP’s Kanha reserve, one of the best tiger habitats, there have been six unexplained tiger deaths since November 2008.

The conservation story is back to square one — or rather the 1970s, when Project Tiger was launched and the numbers stood at 1,827. Forty years and millions of rupees later, numbers rose, only to drop to an all-time low. The last tiger census in 2006 put numbers at 1,411. Since then, nearly a 100 have died. What’s killing the Indian tiger?

Hunting the hunter

Tiger numbers may be falling but not the price on its head. In the international market, a tiger pelt goes for $10,000, a bowl of tiger penis soup (said to improve sexual prowess) for $320 and a single claw for $20. It’s estimated that a single specimen — ground down and separated into various medicines — earns roughly $50,000. China’s rising affluence has meant greater demand for tiger parts. “It’s the traditional Chinese medicine market that's driving demand,” says Belinda Wright of the Wildlife Protection Society of India. For poachers, who use Nepal as a transit route to China, the big cat is big business.

Squeezed for space

In the name of development, forests are being cleared to build roads and human encroachment is eroding buffer zones, reducing the animals’ habitat and food supply. “Tiger reserves take up just 2% of India’s landmass. All we need to do is make is those 35,000 sq km inviolate,” says P K Sen, founder-director of Project Tiger. Easier said than done. In 2006, a new law granted tribals legal right to forest land. Thousands of people flooded into the forests, elbowing out wildlife. But the government also declared that the Act did not mean ‘Critical Tiger Habitats’. Rs 50 crore was also set aside for a Tiger Protection Force.

Toothless force

The budget for tiger protection has gone up but the green army tasked with saving the big cat has neither the equipment nor the training for the job. Forest guards, wielding lathis or .315 rifles have to take on poachers armed with automatics. “There are huge vacancies in their ranks and most of them are old since there has been no recruitment for 20 years,” says Ashok Kumar of the Wildlife Trust of India. Range officers get no training in wildlife enforcement. “They are not well-versed in legal procedures and 90% of the cases against poachers fail to stand up in court,” says Kumar.

Too many Centres of power

Better co-ordination between the Centre and states could save many a tiger: that’s the consensus among conservationists. “Funds are required but what is even more urgently needed is the two working in tandem,” says Wright. She cites Panna as an example. The Madhya Pradesh authorities ignored warnings by a Central team.

Tourist trap

Today, tigers are prisoners of human intruders. At night, they are wary of poachers. By day, there are camera-clicking tourists. “Irresponsible tourism can pose a big problem for the tiger,” says Sen. But the good news is that the National Tiger Conservation Authority has now barred visitors from breeding areas.

So is it too late?

“Bagh Bachao, Jungle Bachao, Bharat Bachao” is the rallying cry of tiger NGOs. Some experts worry that the small population makes the future of the tiger scientifically unviable, others are optimistic. Until now, the big cat has always been extraordinarily adaptable and resilient. “All a tiger needs,” says Kumar, “is a little bit of cover, some water and some prey.”

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/sunday-toi/special-report/This-may-be-the-last-time-you-see-a-tiger/articleshow/4872542.cms

French woman dies in Gudalur jungle after jumbo attack

Shantha Thiagarajan, TNN 15 August 2009, 02:31am ISTGUDALUR (NILGIRIS District): A trek into the wild turned tragic for two French tourists in Gudalur, Nilgiris district, when an elephant attacked them on Friday. While Annie Delyotal (65) died on the spot, her son, Frederick (39), escaped with minor injuries.

The duo, residents of Isle-sur-Marne in northeastern France, arrived in Bangalore on August 11. They checked into a jungle resort at Bokkapuram village, near Masinagudi, about 12km from the Mudumalai tiger reserve, on Thursday.

As they were interested in watching wildlife, they headed into the jungles in a jeep with two employees of the Blue Valley Jungle resort, where they were staying, around 6.30am on Friday. On their way to Vibuthi Malai, which is flanked by the Singara and Avaralla reserve forests, the group noticed a herd of elephants, including three calves. The tourists immediately started taking photographs.

Angered by the camera flash, a mother elephant and a calf charged towards the jeep. The mother elephant hit Annie with its trunk, killing her on the spot. Frederick, who tried to rescue her, suffered injuries.

The guides fled to the resort and informed the manager. Other employees were sent to the attack site, and they took Frederick and his mother's body to the Gudalur government hospital.

Frederick, who was discharged from the hospital after being treated for minor injuries, left for Bangalore in the evening. He said he would fly back to Paris with the body of his mother.

Forest officials said the elephant had not trampled the tourists, and had only lashed out with its trunk. The woman could have died of shock, said Gudalur DSP V Kumaresan, who is probing into the incident. The police have taken the resort staff who accompanied the tourists George and Raju into custody.

About 30 resorts have sprouted near the Mudumalai reserve, and they lure tourists with promises of night safaris. Jeeps from several resorts drive into the jungles in violation of the rules of the Forest department, disturbing wildlife and putting the lives of tourists in peril, wildlife activists alleged.

The Blue Valley Jungle Resort in Bokkapuram has been functioning for more than 12 years. But R Natesan, assistant director of town panchayat, said it was illegal as the buildings had been constructed by obtaining approval from the local panchayat for constructing a house. The resort, spread out over more than an acre, is situated on patta land that comes under the Tamil Nadu Preservation of Private Forest Act (TNPPF).

N Soundarapandian, district forest officer, north division, said any patta land coming under the Act should be preserved and no construction or even cultivation activities were permitted. "When the department is arranging safe and proper safaris, it is sad that some tourists are lured by the promises of these resorts," he said.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/chennai/French-woman-dies-in-Gudalur-jungle-after-jumbo-attack/articleshow/4895533.cms

Leopard kills 4 year old in Katerniaghat Division

(Source: IANS) LUCKNOW - A four-year-old boy was dragged into a forest and killed by a leopard in Behraich district of Uttar Pradesh and his body was found Sunday, an official said.

The incident took place late Saturday in the Mulara village of Behraich on the outskirts of the Katarniya Ghat Wildlife Sanctuary. A forest official said Vishal was out of his hut when the leopard attacked and dragged him inside the jungle.

The semi-eaten body was found near a canal Sunday morning. Forest officials are combing the area to spot the leopard and the villagers have been asked to remain cautious,” district forest official R.K. Singh told IANS.

“An immediate relief of Rs.3,000 has been given to the family and as per state government rules, and the family will also be provided a further relief of Rs.25,000,” he added.

According to the forest official, this is the first such leopard attack this year.

http://blog.taragana.com/n/leopard-kills-four-year-old-in-uttar-pradesh-141030/

121 Breeding Tigers Estimated To Be Found In Nepal

Kathmandu, Nepal – The first ever overall nation-wide estimate of the tiger population brought a positive ray of hope among conservationists. The figures announced by the Nepal Government's Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) shows the presence of 121 (100 – 194) breeding tigers in the wild within the four protected areas of Nepal. The 2008 tiger population estimate was jointly implemented by the DNPWC, Department of Forests (DOF), WWF, National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) with support from Save The Tiger Fund (STF), WWF-US, WWF-UK, WWF International and US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).The 2008 nation-wide tiger population was initiated on 15 November 2009 in the Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) of Nepal both inside and outside the protected areas of Nepal. [TAL encompasses the Terai region of Nepal and into tiger range states across the border into India.]"To obtain reliable population estimates of wide ranging species like the tiger, it is important to undertake the survey simultaneously in all potential habitats," says Dr. Rinjan Shrestha, Conservation Biologist with WWF Nepal. Previous studies had been undertaken in different time periods and at different spatial scales."To derive information on both abundance and distribution of tigers, the current survey employed two methods - Camera Trapping method inside the protected areas and Habitat Occupancy survey both inside and outside the protected areas."According to WWF Global Tiger Network Initiative, the wild tiger population is at a tipping point. Tigers are experiencing a range collapse, occupying 40 per cent less habitat than was estimated just one decade ago. The estimated number of tigers in important range countries is frighteningly low, with a recent government census suggesting there may be as few as 1,300 tigers left in India, the species' stronghold. And tigers are facing an epidemic of poaching and habitat loss across their range.The main reason for the decline of tiger populations has been attributed to poaching and illegal trade. This is linked to the illegal international trade in tiger parts and derivatives (skin, bones, meat in some cases although not reported in Nepal) and use in traditional Chinese Medicines (TCM). Apart from these, sporadic cases of retaliatory killing from irate communities have been reported. Other important reasons of tiger population decline are habitat shrinkage and fragmentation due to human intervention, loss/decline of prey species."The tiger numbers have increased in Chitwan but decreased in Bardia and Shuklaphanta," said Mr. Anil Manandhar, Country Representative, WWF Nepal."In spite of the decade long insurgency, encroachment, poaching and illegal trade, the present numbers is a positive sign, but we can't remain unworried. The declining numbers in western Nepal has posed more challenges, needing a concerted effort to save this charismatic endangered species focusing on anti-poaching and illegal wildlife trade."The Government of Nepal has approved and launched the 'Tiger conservation Action Plan 2008- 2012'. A comprehensive management plan has been devised in which the target is to increase the population of tigers by 10 per cent within the first 5 year period of the plan implementation."Tigers can not be saved by the effort of a single individual or a single organization," said Mr. Gopal Prasad Upadhyay, Director General, DNPWC. "The transboundary relation with India needs to be strengthened further and all organizations should work together to conserve tigers."http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090727135537.htm

(Note: The tiger population in a tiger ranging country like India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Indonesia, Combodia, Thailand etc. indicates the health of the forests and ecological units of that country. Tiger is an umbrella species, symbolic species, flagship species... placed at the top of the ecological pyramid. If the tiger are wiped out means the forests will also go in due course of time or that will become 'green desert' as said by Valmik Thapar in an interview recently. How does it sound 1000 tigers left in India and 100 in Nepal? It is humiliating and discouraging. Would it be possible to convince the society about the meaning of these headlines? As a common human being of this county I ask these questions from myself only...Ramesh Pandey)

Just 1,000 tigers left in India

By Gill CharltonPublished: 8:00AM BST 18 Jul 2009, Telegraph,UK.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/5850187/Just-1000-tigers-left-in-India.html

Only a year ago there were calculated to be 24 tigers in the park, one of India’s 27 tiger reserves.
A century ago, India had about 40,000 tigers. By 1988, as a result of extensive hunting and poaching, there were just 4,500 left. Now the true figure is probably 1,000.
Panna, located near Khajuraho, is the second reserve in which there are now no tigers. Sariska National Park in Rajasthan lost all its tigers in 2005.
The decline is said to be largely down to poachers serving an insatiable demand for tiger bones, claws and skin in China, Taiwan and Korea, where they are used in traditional medicine. Other factors include electric fences erected by farmers, illegal logging and fights between male tigers over diminishing territory.
Several years ago I visited the forests of Bandhavgarh National Park, a few hours’ drive from Panna in remote Madhya Pradesh . The park contains about 45 tigers and offers the best chance in the world of seeing these kings of the jungle in the wild.
I saw six different tigers, including a magnificent young male. I followed through the jungle on the back of an elephant as the tiger marked his range. Eventually he strolled right up to us and dropped at our feet. It was a moving experience – his black-striped pelt was beautiful, so shiny and silken, his paws were huge, the size of dinner plates, and his large yellow eyes seemed to look straight through us. He was too young to fear, too old to be shy. Now he may be dead.
Even at relatively well-run Bandhavgarh there has been poaching. Just before my visit a gang had been caught with seven tiger skins. I was told that the men involved were from Tamil Nadu in the south and that they had struck – with local help – on the orders of a Nepalese-based gang.
It was said that the villager who led the poachers to the tigers was paid £100 for his services – a sum it is hard to resist in what is one of the poorest parts of rural India.
An official government census of the tiger population in all India’s reserves is being carried out this October; the results could make very sad reading.

(Note: This is the 'new number' given to the tiger population in India by the conservationists and international media. Earlier it was said that there had been 40,000 tigers in the country which declined to 1400 in 2007 as per the camera trap method estimation jointly done by NTCA and WII. Now it is said that there had been 1,00,000 tigers in India centuries back which has now come down to 1000. Is it true that only 1000 tigers are left in a vast country with 23% of total geographical area under forests. Only 1000 tigers left in our wilderness including tiger reserves??? It sounds frightening. It is more frightening when some people guess it even lesser. Are we going to loose all our tigers in wilderness in the next coming decade? This situation is extremely challenging. Efforts are continuously made from all possible quarters, but there is something missing... perhaps the spirit.....spirit to save 'our tigers'..........one of the most fascinating flagship species of 'our country'............our 'national animal'. It is a war like situation, as I strongly feel now and then...........but do we really have warriors??--Ramesh Pandey)

Forest dept relieved as master poacher is behind the bars

The department is relieved after the conviction of a poacher by a Pilibhit court in a tiger poaching case of 1992. The five-year sentence and a fine of Rs 25,000 to Dalipo (55) has given hope to the department and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) that the activities of her gang would now be curbed.
The accused was caught with tiger skin and bones. During investigation, her name had also cropped up in trading tiger skins to notorious trader in wildlife products, Sansar Chand.
Dalipo’s gang, comprising mostly her relatives and locals, operated in the pretext of beggars and vendors. They would live on the border of tiger sanctuaries in makeshift huts. The gang was active mainly in Pilibhit, Pithoragarh and Lakhimpur Kheri.
Her brother Tota Ram had figured during investigation in a tiger poaching case in East Terai division of Uttarakhand in 2004-05. Cases of tiger poaching have also been registered against her son and daughter-in-law.
“The gang, operating as poachers, carriers and traders of tiger skin, bones, has been active for at least 30 years before it caught our attention in 2005,” said a senior WCCB official.
A native of Haryana, Dalipo was caught in 2005 with a tiger skin and skeleton. But she and her nine co-accused had got away with a sentence of only nine months.
Dalipo has been found involved in four cases of tiger poaching. In 2007-08, iron traps were found from her in possession in Mehrosa. A tiger skin was seized from her in Kishanpur in 2006-07.

Link:http://www.indianexpress.com/news/forest-dept-relieved-as-master-poacher-is-behind-the-bars/487926/

Katerniaghat echoed in Rajya Sabha

Here is a good news for all who love a place called Katerniaghat. It is also a good news for all who believe that hard work speaks louder than words and for them also who wish that such lesser known marvels must get their recognition before getting wiped out from the wildlife scene.

The day before yesterday there were variety of news stories in Indian dailies like 'depleting tiger population', 're-introduction of Cheetah or 'Say cheese-Cheetah is being imported' and so on and so forth. Actually the hon. MOS, MoEF, Mr Jairam Ramesh had remarkably replied the queries of the hon Members of Parliament during calling attention motion in Rajya Sabha on 07.07.09. The motion was called by hon Member of Parliament Mr Rajiv Pratap Rudy on depleting tiger population in the country.

Yesterday one of my friend informed me that during the motion some hon member took the name of Katerniaghat for its revival and good tiger population in the area. And it was unbelievably true. The hon Member of Parliament and renowned media personality Mr Chandan Mitra (Editor The Pioneer, New Delhi) mentioned the success story of restoration of Katerniaghat while narrating the plight of tiger reserves of our country.

The Katerniaght finally figured out as one of important tiger areas. We; out team worked hard for almost four years to revitalize the area. It was our team work that payed finally and the tiger population got revamped.

It is very interesting to share that it took me almost one year to sight a tiger in Katerniaghat in 2005, staff took another year to sight tigers in their beats and ranges and visitors could locate tigers only third year onwards in the sanctuary. Our surveillance technique to monitor tigers and leopards on day to day basis worked remarkably well. It got institutionalised in the division afterward. It helped in strategising protection measures in the area. The breeding of tigers started from the first year itself after getting stress free habitat and subsequently every year3-4 tigers bred successfully.

I could take a photograph in which three tigers (mother and two sub adult cubs) were walking on bandha. That was probably the first ever photograph of tiger family in Katerniaghat. The poaching was controlled by mainly arresting 16 Bawarias including queenpin Dilipo and dreaded Dariya and not allowing them to come out from jail till conviction. Fighting against all odds we worked like bhoot, day and night and we could see jungle smiling, swinging and dancing.

Mr Chandan Mitra said"good example of a complete regeneration is a sanctuary called Kathaniya Ghat in UP, where at one stage it had been devastated by the maoists from Nepal but today, it has been regenerated and the tiger population has returned".

It is a great compliments for us. I remember it is said that beauty is in the eyes of beholder. No doubt such compliment is a reward for our team who worked day and night to fight against all odds (including 3 big dharnas, many FIRs, complaints, attacks and rumors). My all team members who did remarkable job during that time and were instrumental in arresting around 250 accused in almost 4 years time are here with me to share this compliments. I know how much time, energy and labour it takes to take an accused on judicial remand when the competent court is 70-100 Km away from the remote jungle. And then opposing bail, most of the time in session court also and finally filing complaints and fighting to get them convicted. It is tough job for the forest staff who has lot many other works to do. I remember one of the mafia after 'Operation Trishul' filed 19 writ petition in high court to get back the seized timber (11 trucks of teak and khair wood).

The successful natural breeding of Gharials (2005 to 2008), revival of swamp deer, increase in prey base were other symptoms of healing. There are other such remarks given by like AJT John Singh, PK Sen, Dr Asad Rahmani, Rom Whittaker, Ravi Singh, Bivash Pandav, Raja CKP Singh, Neeraj Srivastava, Rupak De, and other wildlife experts who had seen Katerniaghat earlier and can simply visualise and compare the changes in their subsequent visits. Thanks to all who encouraged us for our good works. There was always great support from our PCCFs and CWLWs. Some of our media friend were generous enough to give us lots of space from local to national level.

I left Katerniaghat on 17th July 2008 and has yet to complete one year in Delhi on deputation to GoI, but still feel a strong bondage with that area, which is unique in its nature. I say Katerniaghat is like Banaras, it takes time to understand it.

Recently one of my friend Sanjay Kumar could get photograph of 3 tigers together in Katerniaghat range. Tigers breeding is on and this year some of the females have given birth to cubs. Now they are coming out with them.

The problem which is cropping up there is of 'pressure' in two of the buffer ranges and two adjoining ranges of the sanctuary. The Katerniaghat and Nishangada range has still great potential to accommodate increasing tiger population.

The challenge is to keep the area healthier and better, because it takes too much time to revive an area, but when it start sliding down it takes no time to ruin the whole castle. There are many examples of it.

I wish all the best for Katerniaghat and for my team who worked there with me for those four years.

Wildlife panel seizes 70 birds

New Delhi 24 June:Illegal trade of protected birds continue unabated in the city with the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) officials seizing 70 live birds including parrots and munias meant for sale.Alexandrian parrots and black headed munias were seized from a locked room of a rented house in Daryaganj area in central Delhi, WCCB official Ramesh Pandey said.However, no arrest has been made in this connection."On the basis of an information, a raid was conducted by a WCCB team with assistance from local police. The team led by WCCB inspector Aarti Singh found the room, where the birds were kept, locked and the owners had no clue about the tenants to whom they had rented out the rooms," Pandey said.During investigation, it was found that two minor boys living nearby were employed by the accused to feed the birds.
- (Agencies)
Jun 24, 2009

http://news.chennaionline.com/newsitem.aspx?NEWSID=90860304-f041-4ad2-b4ec-eaa399149af7&CATEGORYNAME=NATL

Illegal pet trade thrives

23 Jun 2009, 1317 hrs IST, PTI (Archana Jyoti)
NEW DELHI: They may not abound in numbers but exist they do in many cities, doing good business with local as well as foreign clientele, most of it illegally. Waking up to this menace of pet shops operating illegally, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) has now asked the state governments to chalk out a policy to register dealers engaged in pet trade, selling domestic birds and animals across the country. "We have asked the chief wildlife wardens of all the states and civic agencies to regulate the dealers involved in the business of selling domestic animals and birds," says Ramesh Pandey, a senior official with WCCB. He knows better. Just a few months ago, the Bureau had unearthed an illegal pet trade racket and seized four live Indian Tent turtles from Gurgaon and arrested a person in this connection. The accused, Rittin Mehrotra, a resident of Dhankot in Gurgaon, was allegedly running his pet business for many years. The WCCB officials came to know that some of his pets allegedly included exotic and endangered species which are protected under Indian law. Indian Tent turtle are listed in the schedule one of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Being small and having very beautiful shells, they are traded as pets in the country as well as in the international market. Besides, turtles, the enforcement official said much of the pet trade is dominated by reptiles and exotic birds and an increasing trend exists to meet the demand of specialist collectors for some of the world's rarest species. In the garb of selling muniyas which are allowed for trade under law, the dealers are making the protected species such as Straw-headed Bulbul Pycnonotus zeylanicus, Palm Cockatoo Probosciger atterrimus, tortoises and freshwater turtles (Indian Star Tortoise Geochelone elegans, and the Pignosed Turtle Carretochelys insculpta), snakes or lizards, available to customers at exorbitant prices. The global demand is huge and hence trade is flourishing, threatening the renowned biodiversity hotspots in South-east Asia - as well as rising demand from countries within South-east Asia for endemic species from Africa, South America and Australasia. A report by Traffic International, the wildlife trade monitoring network, dwells in detail how freshwater turtles and tortoises in Southeast Asia is fuelling rampant illegal trade in the pet markets of Indonesia. Terming the trend as a serious threat to the wildlife, Sameer Sinha from Traffic India said, "The pet trade is mostly in unorganised sector with no guidelines and regulations. Since wildlife trade is not allowed under Wildlife Protection Act, the civic agencies can register the pet dealers under Shops and Eastablishment Act to ensure a comprehensive policy. WCCB move is welcome in this direction." All the enforcement agencies should have the list of such dealers so that their activities are under scanner and can also also act as a deterrent, he added. Ashok Kumar, Vice-Chairman of Wildlife Trust of India added, "in the garb of pet trade, several threatened and endemic species are being smuggled outside and in the country. Various districts of Uttar Pradesh have become the hub of dealers engaged in sale and purchase of birds and turtles while authorities such as railways and police are just sleeping over the matter, Kumar added. "It's time we understood and recognised that all wildlife are protected species and buying them and keeping them without permission is illegal. Anybody who spots a turtle in a shop must immediately report this. Thousands of Starred Tortoises are smuggled out of India to be kept as pets. Their shells are also used to make ashtrays and trays," Kartick Satyanarayan, member, advisory board, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, said.

Link:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Illegal-pet-trade-thrives-/articleshow/4691680.cms

E-Legal Trade In Endangered Species

In the virtual bazar beyond the pale of law, PRERNA SINGH BINDRA traps the illegal traders of wildlife
IT’S SIMPLE, buying peacocks on India’s newest market place for the booming illegal trade in wildlife — cyberspace. It took me just half-a-day; some browsing on the Internet and one phone call to be offered India’s national bird. Adults, and chicks, as many as required. This was through a classified ad website, www.adpost.com, which, among its vast menu, lists ads offering birds for sale, mainly ‘legal’ exotic birds. But that’s only for the public eye, a cover. The real deals are made over through private email and chatrooms. I picked on just one such dealer, Kanpur-based, who had advertised on the site. Within a few hours I — as a potential client — had in my inbox pictures of the birds “I can go ahead and provide”, including Alexandrian and plum-headed parakeets, the trade of which is banned under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Plus a pair of peacock chicks, and a mature male, protected as a Schedule I species, which means they have the same legal cover as the tiger. For all that it matters — available, as they are, at the click of a mouse, from the many dealers trawling their wild ware over the Internet. Another one up for grabs is the star tortoise, also a protected and endemic species, with traders from Chennai “willing to have bulk order of Indian star tortoise”, at $500 per piece on a UK-based website, to those offering a “four Indian star tortoise for sale for good price. Plz write back,” in chatrooms.
The scale of the crime is much wider as a seizure in Meerut on August 26 proved. This is the first conclusive evidence of cyberrun wildlife trade in India that materialised out of months of online tracking by a Delhi-based NGO, the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). The introduction with the dealer, Jeevan Thakur, was first made through an Orkut chat room. While talk was on for various rare and endemic species, the final deal was struck — through a false email id, fangsofmumba@yahoo.com, to be precise — for peacocks and hill mynas, both falling under Schedule I of the WPA. There was another prize catch — an albino civet cat — also protected by law. Civets are relatively common. This one, being an albino, was rare — if only for the purposes of the market, and the deal, after much bargaining, was arrived at Rs 2.35 lakh. Apparently Thakur had a customer from Dubai who offered Rs 5 lakh, but he preferred to sell in India.
The extent of Thakur’s trade was revealed when his cyber history was investigated — he used online social networks and ads to meet with potential customers, spread across India, the Middle East, Far Eastern countries and Europe. Other destinations where he smuggled wildlife are still being investigated. His booty of illegal menagerie included rare mammals like the slender loris, giant squirrels (primarily for the pet trade) and spiny-tailed lizards (its oil is used for aphrodisiacs). Birds were Thakur’s forte — Shaheen and peregrine falcons, golden orioles, peacocks, parakeets, sunbirds, barbets — you name it, Thakur made it available. Owls have a good market, especially the great horned owl, which fetches a huge price. One trader had even specified the weight he wanted; “1. 5 lakhs for a 3.5 kilos owl (live) for voodoo purpose.” According to Ashok Kumar, vice chairman, WTI, Thakur, and his brother Akash, also an accused in the Meerut case, have been in the business for at least a decade. Emails dating to 2003 reveal that Akash offered a decoy customer, besides endangered birds, python, and the critically endangered female clouded leopard.
“It may sound horrific, but the known cases represent little more than the proverbial tip of the iceberg — so tremendous is the scope of the web, and so little do we know about it, especially in India. There has been no study or survey, unlike in the US, and Europe — which reveals that everything is available on the Internet. Though impossible to quantify, there is no denying that the illegal wildlife trade on the Internet is alive, and growing by the minute,” says BK Sharma, who was formerly attached to the Wildlife Crime unit of the CBI.
While little is known of the extent of the wild web trade in the country, there is intelligence information mainly from overseas official agencies that ivory from South India, and shahtoosh shawls from Kashmir and Delhi are being peddled on the Internet.
This is also an indicator of the change in the profile of the trader — a new generation of tech-savvy peddlers is overtaking the traditional trader who conducted his shady business in the bylanes of old towns or in stuffy backrooms of bird markets in various towns. The market has changed from a ‘physical’ entity to a ‘virtual’ one — hence, more difficult to identify or control. One example being, the sale of a tiger skin that went unnoticed in 2002 on the website baazee.com, (the skin was touted as the world’s largest, up for $1 million) until a story appeared on a news website.
I did a quick browse to find what was on offer online — rare butterflies, beetles, birds, tortoise, turtles, monkeys, rhino horns and ivory artefacts; the last were found on sale on eBay, some claim to be ‘pre-ban’. But an International Fund for Animal Welfare report in 2007 revealed that at least 90 percent of all investigated ivory listings on eBay were legally suspect.
Internationally, illegal wildlife trade is measured at over $25 billion annually, and the virtual world has just widened the market further. To just get an idea of the size of the market, IFAW found more than 9,000 wild animals or products — from live chimpanzees to ivory tusks — for sale in chat rooms and on legitimate trading sites over a one-week period.
THE VOLUME of trade has an ominous impact on India’s wildlife, for this is primarily a source country, the suppliers in this murky business. The product — be it a tortoise or a monkey or cobra skins — may be auctioned online by a dealer based in, say, China or the US, or any part of the world, but it may well have been sourced from India. Take the recent case of two Czech nationals who were accused of unauthorised collecting of rare and protected insect species from the Singhalila National Park in West Bengal. It is reported that they routinely used the Internet to sell their ‘collection’.
The single-most important factor fuelling the wildlife trade on the Internet is anonymity. Most sellers use fake names and addresses and change their email identities frequently. Communications and deals that begin in open fora later shifts to emails, chatrooms, discussion boards etc., making identifying and tracking of the persons responsible a difficult, if not almost impossible, task.
And with negligible web patrolling, endangered species are under the hammer in the virtual world, for sale to the highest bidder — dead or alive. •
From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 5, Issue 37, Dated Sept 20, 2008

http://www.tehelka.com/story_main40.asp?filename=Ne200908E-LegalTrade.asp

Minister spots the tiger, clears aircraft and sensors for Corbett

Neha Sinha Posted: Tuesday , Jun 16, 2009 at 0413 hrs IST(Indian Express)

CORBETT: Years ago, he went to Periyar tiger reserve in Kerala, Sunderbans tiger reserve in West Bengal and Ranthambhore tiger reserve in Rajasthan, but he couldn’t spot a tiger. Then after taking Independent charge as Minister for Environment and Forests, one of the first official trips Jairam Ramesh made was to the Bhadra tiger reserve in Karnataka to see India’s most famous animal. But the tiger eluded him again. Last Saturday, the Minister got his wish — he saw two tigresses in the Corbett tiger reserve.
So it was appropriate that he cleared an ambitious plan for Corbett in Uttarakhand, on the lines never seen before for tiger conservation. He is now working to get Corbett its very own microlight aircraft for surveillance and monitoring, along with a net of motion sensors. Technology, the Minister says, gives a “psychological edge” over poachers.
“Most of the world’s tigers are here in India,” said Ramesh. “If we need to get ahead of poachers, we need to think out of the box. And whatever innovations we do, we have to start here at Corbett, which is like the Taj Mahal of India’s tiger reserves. This place has most of India’s tigers,” he told The Indian Express.
He has now cleared a Rs 8.5-crore Comprehensive Security Plan for Corbett, which will pan out over the next six years. “This is a big area and mobility is a problem. The microlight aircraft will be used for surveillance and also during times of emergency. We need connectivity and mobility which such an aircraft can bring. Apart from Corbett, we also will bring in this aircraft at the Namdapha tiger reserve in Arunachal Pradesh, which suffers from lack of connectivity,” he said.
The sensors all over the reserve will monitor movement, especially in areas used for illegal entry and exit by poachers. These were part of the security plan for Corbett proposed by the Uttarakhand Forest Department which has been cleared by the Ministry. Corbett, as per the 2007 All India Tiger Estimation, has the maximum tigers in the world — between 160-200 in the 1,000-square-km landscape. Funds are also being moved for a new museum for Corbett in Ramnagar.
On his visit, Ramesh interacted with Van Gujjars, a community traditionally living in the forest, but after a 2006 Amendment to the Wildlife Protection Act now being moved out of the reserve with a compensation package. In the last Budget, then Finance Minister P Chidambaram announced a Rs 50 crore one-time budgetary allocation for a Special Tiger Protection Force (TPF), which would set up a battalion to protect and patrol tiger reserves.
Ramesh is now looking at making a change to include Van Gujjars. A tiger reserve like Corbett is slated to have around 110 men as part of the TPF. “The TPF has been envisaged as a police force but conservation has to be site-specific. Thrusting outsiders or an armed, uniformed force will not always work. Only when local people are given an economic stake in conservation will our policies work. The Van Gujjars I have met are able-bodied, they know the ways of the forest. They should be the first to be part of the TPF.” The Minister has also asked for 181 Van Gujjar families to be moved out of Corbett tiger reserve in the next two months.
Meanwhile, tiger-spotting remains Ramesh’s favourite part. He spotted his first tigers on Saturday atop an elephant in Corbett’s core area — a tigress with her sub-adult cub. “You could say I spotted a tigress and a half. The sub-adult tigress was rather excitable but the mother was very peaceful. This is a great moment.”

Ref :http://www.indianexpress.com/news/minister-spots-the-tiger-clears-aircraft-and-sensors-for-corbett/477246/0

Tigress found dead in Nagarhole Tiger Reserve

MYSORE: Close on the heels of the forest department officials seizing tiger skin at Mangala near Gundulpet, a tigress was found dead in Nagarhole national park on Thursday. The carcass of the tigress was examined by veterinarians, who have concluded that the wild cat died due to natural reasons. There are no external marks on the animal either, Nagarhole DCF D Yatish Kumar said. The carcass was noticed by the forest guards on patrol in Antarasanthe range of the tiger reserve. The DCF and ACF visited the spot and inspected the site. The animal is believed to be 12 years old. This is the second case of tiger death reported from Nagarhole-Bandipur tiger reserves in recent times. A month ago, the forest officials seized the skin of a tiger skin, which was suspected to have been poached inside the Bandipur national park.

(Note: From the November 2008 the incidents of tiger deaths and recoveries of tiger carcass started in the major tiger reserves of the country. More than 10 tigers died un-naturally in Kaziranga, 6 in Kanha, 3-4 in Corbett, 2-3 in Ranthambhore, similarly it happend in other tiger reserves also. Most of the deaths were concluded as natural deaths or due to infighting. The post-mortem were done hastily and finally the carcass were burnt in most of the cases, consequently the NTCA has issued a comprehensive guideline for the preliminary examination of the dead tiger by an expert team including a veterinarian and the disposal mechanism of the tiger carcass.

What do these deaths indicate? Has sensitivity to take tiger deaths seriously been drastically gone down in the field? Are the reserves lacking the required 'spirit' of tiger conservation in the present situation ?

Even after some good news relating tiger breeding in Ranthambhore and some other tiger reserves and tiger re-locations excercises in Sariska and Panna, the recent deaths of the tigers and the above raised questions have demoralised the conservationists and all those who really wish to see the tiger alive in our country for generations to come. Still we have time and I do hope for the best.-Ramesh Pandey)

News Reference: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mysore/Tigress-found-dead/articleshow/4622616.cms