| |||
 | |||
Friday, March 12, 2010
Another tiger dead, this time in Bihar
Fortnight before tiger death, govt cleared relocation
JAIPUR: Barely a fortnight before the death of two tiger cubs on the outskirts of Ranthambore national park, the ministry of forest and environment had given permission for the relocation of 'straying' tigers from the park.
Rajesh Gopal, director of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), said, "The ministry of environment and forests has written a letter to the chief minister of Rajasthan in this context."
Sunita Narain: Getting to the 1,412th tiger
Only 1,411 tigers are left. So says the latest advertisement campaign of a new telecom company and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). It is powerful. It plays to our emotions. But it does not tell us what is being done, or should be done about it. It does not tell us how we, the consuming class, can be part of the solution to protect the tiger.
The reason is simple. One must gloss over the bitter, inconvenient truth that India cannot have more than 1,411 tigers — the figure is the mid-range of the last census — unless one imagines conservation differently, very differently. In fact, if there are these many tigers, that’s amazing. Forget more.
Let me explain what I have learnt from some reputed wildlife experts in the country: Tigers are territorial. They literally need land to roam. With the birth of a new male tiger, this search starts. Either the old tiger gives way or the new male tiger looks for a new ground. But where is that ground? All around our parks, forests are destroyed. People who live in areas adjoining tiger reserves resent this animal, which kills their cattle. They have no use for the reserve forest, which protects the herbivores and the wild boars that eat their growing crop. They get nothing in return for living around tiger land. They want no tigers on their land.
First phase of tiger census in the Sunderbans completed
The first phase of the tiger census, which included collection of signage and direct sightings of the big cats, in the Sunderbans was completed on Tuesday, although officials said that it would probably take a year to obtain estimates of the population.
“The first phase that began on March 4 went off smoothly and has shown some positive signs as there were a number of direct sightings,” Pradeep Vyas, director of the Sunderban Biosphere Reserve said.
“I personally observed three tigers during the field study,” said Raju Das, joint-director of the reserve.
The data collected by the 35 teams on the field is yet to be collated. It will take about two months to process the data collected after which it will be sent to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) where it will be analysed. The third phase of the project involves the setting up of camera traps and radio-collars, Mr. Vayas said.
http://beta.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/article228879.ece
Radio collar fitted to Sunderbans tigress falls off
KOLKATA: Animal instinct seems to have won over human intervention in one particular case as a pair of tigers detached the radio-collar fastened onto a tigress less than two weeks ago by officials of the State's forest department as part of the ongoing tiger census.
The abandoned, fully functional radio-collar was found in fairly good condition in the Pirakhali forest area of the reserve on Thursday.
“For the last three days we had stopped receiving the satellite signal from the tigress so we went into the forest area to investigate. By tracing the collar via an antenna we found that it had had fallen off,” said Subrat Mukherjee, field director of the Sunderban Tiger Reserve (STR).
The collar will be fastened to another animal after the nuts and bolts have been changed, Mr. Mukherjee added.
So far, radio collars have been fastened to two tigresses as a part of the tiger census.
The project, for which the reserve paid Rs. 35 lakh to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), involves the tagging of 8 tigers within the reserve that will be monitored for about a year by experts of the institute and officials of the forest department.
While the instance of a radio collar falling off is not uncommon (there have been 17 such incidents all over the country), concerns have been raised about the success of the initiative in the Sunderbans.
In December 2007, a tigress was fitted with a radio collar which stopped functioning in just over three months, after the animal had roamed an area of 35 sq km. Although the cause of the malfunction could not be ascertained, it is speculated that a “saline water shock” could be responsible.
http://www.hindu.com/2010/03/12/stories/2010031260322000.htm
No irregularities in Kerala tiger census: Minister
Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 11 (PTI) Kerala Government today termed allegations of irregularities in the ongoing tiger census, especially in the Idukki and Ernakulam forest regions of the state, as completely "baseless".
The presence of tiger in Mankulam, Pooyamkutty, Malayatour, Thatekkad and Neriyamangalam in Idukki and Ernakulam forest regions had been recorded in the datasheet during the first phase of census itself, state Forest Minister Binoy Viswam told the state Assembly.
The census was conducted scientificaly under the leadership of Periyar Foundation and Wild Life Institute of India (WWI), Dehradun, Viswam said.
Raising the issue as a submission, Congress leader V D Sateeshan alleged that incidents of tiger presence in these regions were deliberately omitted from the records to help the forest encroachers and tourist resorts.
The encroachers and resort owners apprehend restriction in their activities if the area came under the ambit of tiger habitat, he said.
The presence of tiger in Mankulam, Pooyamkutty, Malayatour, Thatekkad and Neriyamangalam in Idukki and Ernakulam forest regions had been recorded in the datasheet during the first phase of census itself, state Forest Minister Binoy Viswam told the state Assembly.
The census was conducted scientificaly under the leadership of Periyar Foundation and Wild Life Institute of India (WWI), Dehradun, Viswam said.
Raising the issue as a submission, Congress leader V D Sateeshan alleged that incidents of tiger presence in these regions were deliberately omitted from the records to help the forest encroachers and tourist resorts.
The encroachers and resort owners apprehend restriction in their activities if the area came under the ambit of tiger habitat, he said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)