Kerala govt runs into tiger panel

The Kerala government has filed a petition in the Supreme Court opposing a ban on night traffic on stretches of two National Highways that pass through Karnataka’s Bandipur tiger reserve.

Following reports of tigers, deer and elephants being run over by vehicles, the Karnataka High Court in March ordered stopping of night traffic on NH 212 and NH 67. Resulting from the order, traffic has been banned between 9 pm and 6 am over 13 km of NH 212 and 20 km of NH 67.

In its appeal, Kerala has called Karnataka’s stand as “smacking of romantic notions and myopic”, arguing the ban will “seriously” impact the state’s economy. Interestingly, among the suggestions the Kerala government has offered as alternatives to the ban are: a convoy of vehicles from the forest department can accompany commercial trucks at night or a new elevated road that can be made on pillars.

The issue now promises to snowball as the National Tiger Conservation Authority is set to become a party and oppose the petition. The Authority, helmed by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, has decided to oppose the petition in the apex court. “This is an issue of all kinds of animals dying because of traffic through the tiger reserve. This is one of the best areas that we have. We have decided to appeal against this (petition) in the Supreme Court,” said Rajesh Gopal, Member Secretary, National Tiger Conservation Authority.

While Kerala has said in its petition that the ban on night traffic on the two highways will lead to discomfort of lakhs of people in that state and would also affect the vegetable market there, wildlife activists said there are existing routes which create a diversion of 30-40 km which should instead be used.

Nightmare for tourists as tigress enters lodge

GOSABA (SOUTH 24-PARGANAS): They had gone there for a taste of the Sunderbans: mangrove jungles, surging tides and maybe, a whiff of wildlife. When they returned on Sunday, they had lived through a nightmare, their picture postcard holiday marred by a close encounter with the Bengal tiger — right inside the Sajnekhali Tourist Lodge.

Four tourists were at the lodge, a popular haunt of visitors, when a full-grown tigress, reportedly being chased by two tigers in heat, jumped over the boundary fence of the forest department complex twice in the space of 24 hours.

The animal was finally tranquillised on Sunday morning, but not before it had run amok inside the compound, its roars sending the tourists and the handful of forest staffers running for cover. Apart from the lodge, the complex houses a forest office and quarters.

As the tourists stayed trapped, fear of the tigress kept boats away from the Sajnekhali jetty on Saturday. The quartet was sent back on Sunday on a boat that had come with drinking water.

The lodge is currently being renovated and a section of forest officials felt the construction work triggered the breach. According to them, a pile of rubble had been placed just outside the boundary fence. The 9 ft-high barrier is enough to keep tigers out. But the rubble lowered this critical hei-ght, with the tiger climbing atop the rubble heap, before jumping into the compound.

Sunderban Tiger Reser-ve deputy field director Ri-cha Dwibedi said: "It seems to have climbed atop the rubble and leaped inside."

But West Bengal Forest Development Corporation MD PBN Rao claimed he did not know how the breach took place. "I have no information if rubble was kept outside the fence. I'll have to ask my manager at the spot for details."

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Kolkata-/Nightmare-for-tourists-as-tigress-enters-lodge/articleshow/6099922.cms

Wildlife rangers rescue tiger cub in Jim Corbett National Park

2010-06-27 23:30:00

Wildlife Rangers of the famed Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand have lent a healing touch to an orphaned and injured tiger cub. In the course of their routine patrolling of the area, the wildlife wardens spotted a striped tiger cub in a pitiable situation and picked it up for treatment by the veterinarians. "We found a tiger cub which is about 15 to 20 days old. The tiger has injuries near its tail and on its back. The tiger had insects sticking to its body," said Gangashwer Pandey, Director of Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve Park. The injured cub would be released back into its natural habitat after undergoing complete treatment and till then it will stay under the care of the Forest Department. (ANI)

Fisherman killed by tiger in Sunderban Reserve Canning (WB):

Fisherman killed by tiger in Sunderban Reserve

Canning (WB): A fisherman was killed by a tiger while another tigress was captured after it strayed into the Sajnekhali office campus of Sunderban Tiger Reserve. About 10 fishermen had ventured from Basanti area into the Sunderban jungles ten days ago. They entered the Tiger Reserve's Core Area when one of them Dilip Baidya was attacked by a tiger on Saturday. The tiger was chased away by other fishermen but Baidya succumbed to his injuries. In a separate incident, a tigress entered the Sajnekhali Tiger campus on Saturday evening. The animal was again spotted on Sunday on the campus. The tigress was later tranquilised and then put in a cage.

Sariska may see two more tigers this rainy season

JAIPUR: Call them monsoon tigers, for this time round too the rainy season will mark the arrival of tigers in Sariska. As soon as the season's first showers lash the slopes of the mighty Aravallis, another pair of wild tigers would be shifted to Sariska Tiger Reserve from Ranthambhore National Park. The twosome—a male and a female—would join the group of one male and two females which have already made the Sariska woods their home since the first ever tiger re-location in the country two years ago.

“The temperature has to come down. We cannot release the tigers if the temperature is above 40 degrees C. The ideal situation to carry out the exercise is the rainy season,” says the Chief Wildlife Warden of Rajasthan, R. N. Mehrotra.

“Now that the Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests has given clearance for another round of re-location, we have started the preparations. It can happen some time in the first fortnight of July,” Mr. Mehrotra reveals.

Environmentalists and tiger lovers are happy about the end to the impasse over tiger-shifting as after an unsavoury controversy over the wisdom of bringing together the tigers from the same gene pool the National Tiger Conservation Authority had started acting tough on the issue. Though still positive about the re-introduction of the tiger population in Sariska – after the reserve lost all its tigers some time in 2004-05-- the Authority had asked the State forest officials to catch the young tigers which have been straying outside the Ranthambhore Park.

The change in the attitude of both the Authority and Union Minister Jairam Ramesh appears to be due partly to a recent report from environmentalist Aparajita Datta of the Mysore-based National Conservation Foundation which termed the attempt to catch the tigers outside the Park “difficult” due to their elusive nature as well as the tough terrain they are stalking. Ms. Datta, also a member of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, suggested depending on the knowledge of the field staff as the basis for the selection of the “suitable pair”.

“She has recommended the selection of a pair from the 10-odd young tigers identified by us already. They have to be young, transient in nature and unsettled,” says Mr. Mehrotra. As far as possible the attempt would be to carry out the genetic analysis of the chosen tigers so that the new ones are not related to the three tigers already in Sariska.

The first tiger—a male—was airlifted from Ranthambhore and released in Sariska on June 28, 2008. The second, a female, was moved to the new area through the same process in July the same year. The third, another female feline, was flown in in February 2009. All three have lived happily since then but the only complaint seems to be that there are no little ones snorting around even when the couple re-located to the Panna tiger reserve in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh much later has multiplied.

Though dates are not official yet, July 4 could be an ideal day to watch out for the tiger to burn bright in Sariska once again!

http://www.hindu.com/2010/06/27/stories/2010062757810100.htm

Simlipal reserve: Poachers’ haven, foresters’ shame

The controversy over elephant deaths in Simlipal Tiger reserve in Odisha has deepened further with the discovery of three more carcasses — two of these charred, another in a decomposed state. While, in a report, a team set up by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has confirmed seven jumbo deaths, information is coming in about possible deaths of at least eight more pachyderms.

The Pioneer had reported on the series of jumbo deaths on June 2, following which the NTCA had ordered a probe into the incident by a two-member committee. Accord-ing to sources, the recently-submitted report mentions of seven confirmed deaths of tuskers in the reserve.

However, sources said this is not the end of the story. “Three more carcasses, including charred bones of two jumbos and decomposed carcass of another, were found.”

Their samples have been brought from the area, informed the sources. “There is definite evidence of at least seven-eight more deaths,” they asserted.

The sources also confirmed having sighted at least 50 chulhas in the core area, near Jodapal, which were estimated to have been used in cooking meals for at least 300 persons. Bones of sambar, bison and barking deer have also been found there.

Meanwhile, Field Director of the reserve, HS Upadhyay, told The Pioneer that a team, comprising Deputy Field Director VR Das, Assistant Conservator DK Samal and informers, found several bones in the forest. But he added these bones could not be said to be parts of the three carcasses. “They need to be examined thoroughly,” he said.

Upadhyay said the team would visit the forest next week once again, to check out for more such carcasses and maintained that the department is in full control of the situation with senior officers undertaking frequent visits to reserve areas.

However, others don’t agree with Upadhyay’s contention that the situation was under control. “How much is the forest department in the know of things happening in the reserve?” questioned an expert. “If such a situation continues, Simlipal may also be destined to go the Sariska way.”

The most disturbing factor, according to experts, is that though it is a tiger reserve, but there seems to be little or no response from the forest department on elephant deaths. They claim that it was left for the independent teams of wildlife activists and enthusiasts to venture into the deep and scout out information and reports, which often forces the department to act.

The sources further pointed out that the three revenue villages in the core area are proving to be major threats to the wildlife there. “They are keen to be relocated from the forests, but the department unfortunately does not seem to be as much interested,” they regretted.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/265581/Simlipal-reserve-Poachers’-haven-foresters’-shame.html

Stress on better tiger protection steps in Assam

GUWAHATI, June 27 – Proactive action on the part of the Forest Department could place Assam in the forefront of the tigerconservation programme in the country. This would be possible due to the advantages that the state already possesses, which include a stable and growing population of the highly protected species.

A well-placed source in the Forest Department told The Assam Tribune that there was a need for “more focused thinking and intervention” to protect the tiger, which has a sizeable population in Kaziranga and few other protected areas. He favoured a policy that embraced more areas in the state where the presence of tigers was documented by independent observers.

There are reports which indicate that apart from tigers being located in Kaziranga, Manas and Nameri, the range of the animal extends into a number of eeserve forests in Assam and adjoining states. In total, the state could now possess a tiger population hovering around 180.

Dr Bibhab Talukdar of the biodiversity conservation group Aaranyak acknowledging the presence of the tiger in reserved forests said that better protection was required in those areas to ensure the survival of the animals. “I would say that the time has come to treat those reserved forests in a different way. It would be seriously limiting if we treat those merely as sources of timber,” he remarked.

Dr Talukdar pointed out that the net of tiger conservation should extend to other areas including parts of eastern Assam and some sand bars close to Kaziranga where the presence of the big cat has been located.

“While tigers are being surveyed in key protected areas, there are other areas where the animal’s presence has also been proved. Any serious conservation programme concerning the species must take into account those areas where monitoring is yet to take place,” he noted.

He was of the view that there was a dispersed population of tigers in areas across Assam, which has never been documented. “There is a genuine need for a scientific study to know about this population,” he asserted. Experts are of the belief that nearly 50 animals could be scattered in parts of the state, which are not within any protected area.

http://www.assamtribune.com/scripts/detailsnew.asp?id=jun2810/city07