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Thursday, December 10, 2009

Tigers endangered in half of Indian reserves


By Matthias Williams

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Tigers are in a "very, very precarious" state and could disappear altogether in nearly half of India's tiger reserves, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said on Wednesday.

India is a key player in efforts to conserve the dwindling global tiger population, which has plummeted to just a few thousand. Wildlife experts say tigers could be extinct in 20 years.

Illegal poaching, fueled by a thriving trade in tiger parts, and natural habitat loss drove down numbers in India from about 40,000 a century ago to 1,411 at the last count in 2008.

Ramesh said out of 38 government-monitored tiger reserves, 12 were in good condition and nine were satisfactory.

"Seventeen are in a very, very, very precarious state," he said. He did not specify how many tigers were at risk.

"You could have a Panna or a Sariska in any of these 17 at any point of time," he said, referring to two well-known reserves which lost their tiger populations.

A special panel set up by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said in 2006 thousands of villagers inside India's reserves would have to be relocated to protect tigers from poachers and smugglers.

Poaching is very profitable and poor villagers often help poachers in return for much-needed cash, while villagers also often cut down forests where tigers live to use as farmland.

Although the government has paid compensation to uprooted families, Ramesh said they were sometimes moved to underdeveloped areas where they were not able to make a proper living.

"We have to relocate 100,000 from these 38 reserves if we are to save the tiger," he told reporters.

"Only about 3,000 have been relocated so far. "It is not enough to give them money. We also have to provide livelihood security for them," Ramesh said.

India must also strengthen policing along its borders with Nepal and Myanmar to control the illegal trade in animal parts, Ramesh said. New Delhi also wants China to phase out tiger farms, which it says operate in violation of international agreements and fuel demand in India.

The international police organization Interpol estimates illegal wildlife trade may be worth more than $20 billion a year.

Tiger parts are often used in Chinese medicine, where conservationists say everything from whiskers to eyes and bones are used. Tiger fur is also highly valued.

Ramesh said he had recently rejected a proposed coal mining project in a tiger reserve.


http://in.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idINTRE5B81OX20091209?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

Ban on mining a boon for tiger reserve

PATNA: Excessive human interference in the forest areas has often been cited as one of the main reason behind the adverse affect on wildlife.
Bihar's Valmiki sanctuary Wildlife Sanctuary, from which the Valmiki Nagar Tiger Reserve has been carved out, has shown how check on human interference can do wonders to wildlife.

This pertains to ban on mining of stones from the bed of the Pandai river, which flows through the sanctuary. Thanks to the Supreme Court directive in the T N Godavarman Thirumalpad vs Union of India case, mining from the river bed was completely banned after 2002.

Since the ban was made effective senev years back, the area along the bank of river Pandai has witnessed many changes. The most notable among them has been re-appearance of green cover.

"Earlier, the whole area used to wear a barren look as hundreds of tractors used to make rounds to carry stoned quarried from the river bed. Moreover, the ban has also resulted in disappearance of stone crushers from the areas nearby," said Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) assistant manager Samir Sinha.

Echoing Sinha's views, a forest department official said, "The ban has proved to a boon for the wildlife."

The return of natural flora has ushered in many positive changes.

It has given the wildlife a broader habitat manifested by movement of prey species in the grassy banks of the river. And availability of prey base along the river banks and undisturbed river bed has given the predators a bigger range to move around in an area spread over about 65 sq km east of Pandai river.

"Earlier, the movement of tigers was restricted to the west of the river. Now they are visible even beyond the eastern bank of the river," Sinha said.

The icing on the cake, of course, is presence of migratory birds in and around the river. Flock of black storks and lesser adjutant now visit the area during winter.

There are, however, two aspects which the forest department is yet to address __ declaring eco-sensitive zone and including the rehabilitated area in core/critical area of the Tiger reserve.

"As soon as the Supreme Court pronounces its stand on the eco-sensitive zone, we'll start the process of notifying areas which should fall under the zone," Bihar chief wildlife warden Bashir Ahmed Khan said.

He said, "The process of delineating the core/critical area of the tiger reserve is underway and it is likely to take another six months to finalise things."

Tiger poacher convicted to 3 years rigorous imprisonment - TOI

NEW DELHI: A court in Khatima, Udham Singh Nagar district of Uttarakhand had sentenced notorious tiger poacher Birbal alias Totha Ram. to three years rigorous imprisonment and fine of rupess 10,000 in connection with the seizure of 12ft long tiger skin on August 2004.

The staff of Terai East Forest Division, Uttarakhand with the assistance of Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) had arrested bawariya poacher Totha Ram with a tiger skin from Banbasa in 2004. Closed inspection of the skin showed that animal was shot and 16 bullet marks were found on the skin. A case under Wildlife Protection Act 1972 was registered at Khatima range.

After close examination of the case Civil Judge, Mr. Kuldeep Sharma had awarded sentence to Totha Ram. Recently he was again caught with antlers, tiger trap and other poaching tools when he was on bail in tiger skin case.

“Conviction rate in wildlife cases are very low, sentencing of a poacher like Totha Ram will make a difference. Uttarakhand Forest Department had done a commendable job” said, Belinda Wright, executive director of WPSI.

Bawariya poaching gangs are active in different parts of the county, recently his sister Dilpo was convicted to five years rigorous imprisonment by a court in Pilibhit, Uttar Pradesh, for a 1992 tiger case. She had earlier been convicted in November 2005, by a court in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, for carrying the skin and bones of a tiger that was killed at Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary in February 2005.