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Thursday, September 24, 2009
8yr old caught Poaching tiger!
Times of India reports a boy and his grand mother caught around the Valmiki national park in Bihar waiting for a tiger to walk into a metal trap laid by them. The duo apparently belong to a tribe of hunters most famous of whom goes by the name of Dhariya who is in jail for a poaching case. According to forest officials quoted in the report the entire family is involved in poaching and smuggling along the Indo-Nepal border and is key to preventing trade in banned wildlife parts.
Melghat tiger reserve conflict symbolic of botched up conservation efforts
The Indian express reports villagers around Melghat Tiger reserve in Maharashtra pressurizing politicians to allow cattle grazing inside the park despite it being a notified tiger sanctuary. With elections in the state around the corner, public servants are caught in a bind. After Maharasthra recently signed a tripartite agreement with Centre and NTCA for conservation of tiger reserves, cattle grazing inside reserves which hitherto attracted a penalty has been made a punishable offence and the forest director has made accountable to prevent it. Officers are hence caught in a bin, with politicians on one hand pressurizing them to allow villagers to use the park whereas the new law makes them accountable for such illegal acitivities. The conflicts also highlights the poor planning underneath tiger conservation plans in India. Villagers have been living around the area for generations and to suddenly ask them to discontinue activities linked to earning their livelihood without providing any alternate means of sustenance is criminal negligence. With the centre having cleared a lucrative resettlement package for each family to be relocated, Melghat park officials would be well advised to quickly implement it rather than let the issue simmer and reach a flash point. For the recently formed committee under NTCA tasked to evaluate conservation efforts inside sanctuaries, proper resettlement of villagers should be a priority area.
Another tiger cub found abandoned in Tadoba
Days after two cubs were caught by wildlife officials apparently after having lost their mother to poachers,wildlife officials trapped another 3rd cub around the same area in Tadoba reports The Indian Express. The story also quotes wildlife officials having seen pugmarks of a big tiger around the area where the 3rd cub was caught indicating the mother's presence there till recently. DNA samples are being sent for examination to verify if the three cubs are siblings. As this blog posted yesterday,NTCa officials have sent a detailed set of guidelines to the park director for immediate action to prevent any further loss of tigers.
Works starts on Pilibhit Tiger reserve creation
The Times of India reports initiation of work with regards to creation of Pilibhit tiger reserve. Creation of the park was notified last year. With Dudhwa & Corbett being the other tiger reserves in the region addition of Pilibhit could turn out to be an important milestone in preserving the nothern population of Indian tigers.
Work on new tiger reserve may start by year end
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