JAIPUR: There could be more than one tiger on the prowl in Rajasthan and neighbouring states from the Ranthambore National Park. The suspicion came after forest officials on Sunday discovered the carcass of a blue bull in Bharatpur. On a closer examination, not only tiger pug marks were discovered from the place, the kill resembled that by a tiger.
Adding to the confusion about the number of tigers out of Ranthambore park is the reported sighting of fresh tiger pug marks in Madhya Pradesh close to Dholpur border. The discovery of the pug marks in Madhya Pradesh has forced authorities to think that the tiger spotted in Mathura was not Mohan' as believed earlier. Mohan has strayed away from Ranthambore about six months back.
"What seems now is that a second tiger had strayed away from Ranthambore sanctuary through Ganteshwarkho to Kailadevi to Band Baretha in Bharatpur and then to Mathura in Uttar Pradesh. This could be the tiger that had attacked ranger Daulat Singh Shaktawat on August 20 on the periphery of Ranthambore. After the attack, no effort was made to reign it in the sanctuary. This tiger, after migrating to Bharatpur may have sneaked into Mathura, travelling through the dense Bajra fields. But there is no certainty on this unless we get a picture of the tiger at Bharatpur," said Rajpal Singh, member, state wildlife board.
To end the confusion, forest officials have now fixed camera traps in and around Bharatpur where the carcass was discovered. "We have pictures of all the tigers in Ranthambore. Only after getting a picture of the tiger in Bharatpur through the trap camera that will we will be certain if this is Mohan or the one that was present near the Mathura refinery was or if it is a third tiger on the prowl," he added.
Meanwhile, efforts of a joint team of forest officials from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and a team from the Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun had failed to track the tiger in Mathura and with no reports of any fresh attacks from Mathura, it is being assumed that the Mathura tiger is on its way back to Ranthambore.
When contacted, RS Shekhawat, DFO, Ranthambore said that pug marks of Mohan has been traced in Madhya Pradesh. "This seems a second tiger that had made into Mathura from Ranthambore and is now at Bharatpur," he said. Shekhawat was also part of the team from Rajasthan that was tracking the tiger in Mathura. However, the DFO could not clarify whether a third tiger has strayed away from the sanctuary.
"It is very difficult to maintain a daily count of tigers in any sanctuary. Sometimes it may be months before it is discovered that a tiger has strayed away from a sanctuary," said an official.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Confusion-over-count-of-tigers-on-prowl-as-pug-marks-spotted-in-Bharatpur/articleshow/6732636.cms
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Illegal mining threatens Sariska
JAIPUR: Despite crores being spent in the name of conservation and Project Tiger, illegal mining activity is back in full gear in the protected area of Sariska Wildlife Sanctuary.
"Rampant mining is going on at Jaisinghpura, Malana, Goverdhanpura, Palpura and Jamwa Ramgarh, in spite of the Supreme Court's 1991 order banning mining in the area. After SC's order, 215 mines were closed. But recently, some of them have restarted activity in the middle of the sanctuary," said Rajender Singh, the waterman of Rajasthan, whose NGO Tarun Bharat Sangh had filed the writ petition in the apex court.
Singh added that these villages fall in the protected area and are a rich reservoir of dolomite. "Nearly 30-40 mines have begun operation again, some of them run by leading names in the industry," he said. According to Singh, mining had picked up in Project Tiger area's buffer zones and was causing irreparable damage to tiger habitat and the sanctuary's ecosystem. "Mine owners' money and muscle power has made officials and politicians turn a blind eye to the illegal activity," said Singh who claimed he was attacked thrice by the mining mafia.
Confirming Singh's statement, Delhi-based Tarun Kanti Bose, who has done extensive research on mining in Rajasthan, said, "While public sector mines remain closed as per the apex court's ruling, many mines in the unorganized sector have again started mining marble in the belt, which has good deposits."
In villages like Tilwad and Tilwadi in Alwar, marble mining operations are taking place right in the middle of the villages on private agricultural land. Many large landholders in the villages are today keen on selling their agricultural land as they are getting high returns for it, he said. "Mining is expanding rapidly in an area which has some of the most fertile lands with plenty of water," said Tarun.
Tarun said in all the big mines operating in Sariska, local people seem to be playing the roles of contractors and middlemen. They are also employed as cashiers and administrators. "Ranges in Sariska are covered with densely forested slopes, home to the tiger and other wildlife and an entire ecosystem. But it is fast dwindling with mining and other commercial activity," he said.
"Rampant mining is going on at Jaisinghpura, Malana, Goverdhanpura, Palpura and Jamwa Ramgarh, in spite of the Supreme Court's 1991 order banning mining in the area. After SC's order, 215 mines were closed. But recently, some of them have restarted activity in the middle of the sanctuary," said Rajender Singh, the waterman of Rajasthan, whose NGO Tarun Bharat Sangh had filed the writ petition in the apex court.
Singh added that these villages fall in the protected area and are a rich reservoir of dolomite. "Nearly 30-40 mines have begun operation again, some of them run by leading names in the industry," he said. According to Singh, mining had picked up in Project Tiger area's buffer zones and was causing irreparable damage to tiger habitat and the sanctuary's ecosystem. "Mine owners' money and muscle power has made officials and politicians turn a blind eye to the illegal activity," said Singh who claimed he was attacked thrice by the mining mafia.
Confirming Singh's statement, Delhi-based Tarun Kanti Bose, who has done extensive research on mining in Rajasthan, said, "While public sector mines remain closed as per the apex court's ruling, many mines in the unorganized sector have again started mining marble in the belt, which has good deposits."
In villages like Tilwad and Tilwadi in Alwar, marble mining operations are taking place right in the middle of the villages on private agricultural land. Many large landholders in the villages are today keen on selling their agricultural land as they are getting high returns for it, he said. "Mining is expanding rapidly in an area which has some of the most fertile lands with plenty of water," said Tarun.
Tarun said in all the big mines operating in Sariska, local people seem to be playing the roles of contractors and middlemen. They are also employed as cashiers and administrators. "Ranges in Sariska are covered with densely forested slopes, home to the tiger and other wildlife and an entire ecosystem. But it is fast dwindling with mining and other commercial activity," he said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/pollution/Illegal-mining-threatens-Sariska-/articleshow/6732997.cms
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