Did poachers get another tiger?

Forest officials trace bloodstains; Jalgaon villagers claim to have heard cat's painful
roar

THE roar of yet another big cat has been muffled.

One more case of tiger poaching was reported in the state by the forest department in Jalgaon on October 6,
bang in the middle of the Wildlife Week observed from October 2.

Since an eyewitness claimed to have seen poachers kill a big cat, locals in Jalgaon have been on the prowl for the last six days, trying to track down the poachers.

The eyewitness, a teacher and Ayurveda practitioner who claimed to be in the forest looking for medicinal herbs, also said that two cubs had gone missing.

"We received a call from the teacher, informing us about the death," Wildlife Warden of Jalgaon district, Abhay Ujagare, who was the first to reach the spot, told MiD DAY.

"When we reached the spot, all we found was a few bloodstains, but could not trace any other circumstantial evidence."

According to estimates, India has barely 1,411 tigers left. If the latest disappearance of the tiger and two cubs is confirmed, the number would be down to 1,408.

"The eyewitness told us that the poachers killed the tigress and the cubs had gone missing. Locals too said they had heard the tigress' painful roars," said Ujagare.

Happens often

"Such poaching is not rare in Jalgaon where leopards and cheetahs fall prey to poachers," said General Secretary of Khandesh Nature Conservation, Vinod Patil.

Confirming the incident, Deputy Conservator of Forests Sarfaraz Khan said, "Our investigation is going on.

It will be difficult to say anything as we do not have much evidence. Neither the animal's skin nor any other evidence was found at the spot.

All we have is blood samples, which have been sent to Hyderabad for examination. Also, we have found pugmarks at the spot."

National Wildlife Board member Kishore Rithe told MiD DAY that reports of bloodstains collected from the spot were awaited from a laboratory in Hyderabad.

"It is shameful that poaching continues in India despite tigers on the verge of extinction," he said.

"The government needs to zero in on people who get these poachers to commit such crimes.

For a little money, they're killing tigers, which are already extinct in the state," said WWF's interim state director, Dr Goldin Quadros.

1,411
The number of tigers left in India, according to the last tiger census in 2006

http://www.mid-day.com/news/2010/oct/131010-tiger-bloodstains-pugmarks-Jalgaon-Wildlife-Week.htm

Tiger sneaks into bird sanctuary in Rajasthan

A fugitive male tiger on the run after attacking and injuring more than half a dozen persons last week near Mathura Oil Refinery in the neighbouring State of Uttar Pradesh, seemingly sneaked into the bird sanctuary this Sunday.

Now there is a cat among the pigeons and other bird species nesting and breeding in the world famous bird sanctuary Keoladeo National Park (KNP) near Bharatpur in Rajasthan. The intruder in the birds’ paradise, a fugitive male tiger on the run after attacking and injuring more than half a dozen persons last week near Mathura Oil Refinery in the neighbouring State of Uttar Pradesh, seemingly sneaked into the park this Sunday.

The animal, identified as T-7 of Ranthambhore National Park in Rajasthan, was photographed with the help of a camera trap laid on Monday night. The camera trap was laid as the authorities sensed the presence of a big predator in the predominantly herbivore habitat, after the carcass of a big Blue Bull was found on Sunday evening with its rump portion eaten.

“This is the same tiger which had made an appearance in Mathura. Our staff, with the support of the Divisional Forest Officer Mathura have been tracking it ever since,” said Anoop K.R., Field Director of KNP speaking to The Hindu. “After the October 4 incident in Mathura, it moved along the villages of Sajadpur-Gujjar, Soothi, Ikran and Achera for the next four days before vanishing without leaving a trail. However, when on October 10, our staff reported the killing of a Blue Bull we just made an intelligent guess about the likely suspect,” Mr. Anoop noted.

This is the second time in the past one decade a tiger makes its way into the 29 sq km sanctuary, once the wintering ground for Siberian cranes and a World Heritage site of the UNESCO. Back in 1999, a young tigress had entered the park and remained there till 2005 spending six long years till she died. She had a peaceful co-existence with birds and the visitors to the park, smugly feeding on the abundant supply of deer and feral cattle.

“This is an interesting development. It also ceases the worries about the tiger wandering along the Rajasthan-Uttar Pradesh border,” said Parikshit Gautam, director, Freshwater and Wetlands Programme, WWF. “This tiger too can co-exist as the female tiger in the past. After a while, the authorities in Rajasthan can consider the options, including shifting it to Sariska Tiger Reserve if they think it is needed,” Dr. Gautam, who was in Jodhpur to attend the two-day desert bio-diversity meet, noted.

The staff of the KNP, keeping a round-the-clock watch on the big cat, could not spot it with their own eyes yet. “His presence is evident as he made two kills — one of a feral calf and another, a wild boar — the other day. This is an unusual feat considering that predators make one kill and desist from hunting till they consume the flesh,” informed Mr. Anoop on Wednesday. The tiger which was photographed in the Aghapur sector presently is moving in Koladar area, grassland. “It is moving in an area of five kms. The visibility is difficult as the grass is seven feet tall at present,” the Field Director informed.

And life is not exactly the same for visitors to the wetland where birds are busy nesting and breeding in the now inundated park, after the release of water from the Panchna dam last month. There are restrictions in their movement as only the main track is kept open for the public.

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/article828561.ece?homepage=true

Bengal sceptical about canal project passing through forest

The West Bengal Government has expressed reservation over the proposed Sankosh-Teesta canal project which will pass through Buxa Tiger Reserve and other wildlife sancturaries in north Bengal, saying it will cause disturbance to wildlife and damage biodiversity.

"The entire area is part of Eastern Dooars Elephant Reserve and Buxa Tiger Reserve as well as part of Jaldapara and Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuaries. Any disturbance would adversely affect Rhino and Tiger conservation efforts there and cause irreparable damage to biodiversity," Special Chief Conservator of Forest R P Saini said.

Chief wildlife warden of the state S B Mandal said the state government had conveyed its objection to the Union Forest and Environment Ministry about the project's proposed alignment.

Saini, also field director of the Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR), said Union Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh, who had visited north Bengal early this month, assured forest officials that the project would not be allowed through BTR.

Saini said recently a team of the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education wanted to carry out a survey for environment impact assessment in BTR, but it was told by the chief wildlife warden that permission for any kind of survey in national parks and sanctuaries could only be awarded by the Union Environment and Forest Ministry.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Bengal-sceptical-about-canal-project-passing-through-forest/Article1-612240.aspx

Tiger attacks turn honey collector into tiger protector

Supratik Sengupta
Basanti (Sunderbans), Oct 13 (PTI) He survived thrice from the vicious attacks by Royal Bengal Tigers of the Sunderbans, but ironically this experience turned Niranjan Raptan into a crusader for saving the animal and its habitat.
The short-statured forest guide, who is in the profession of a forest guide for more than 30 years now understands what the compulsion is for the tigers to attack humans or raid villages in search of preys which are dwindling in the Sunderbans.
Yet, Raptan, 60 a honey collector, did not wish to become a forest guide not having even the foggiest idea about the calling. It just happened when 42 years back the then forest field director Pranabesh Sanyal broached the idea.
"I naively asked what a forest guide was all about, though because of my deep knowledge of the Sunderbans I had helped quite a number of people find ways about the forest and helped forest officials to recover tiger attack victims," Raptan said.
Now an active campaigner for ''Save Sunderbans'', Raptan, resident of Jameshpur village on the edge of the forest frequented by tigers, has the scientific names of the 84 species of mangrove and mangrove-related plants and 200 species of birds and other denizens on his fingertips.
He regularly guides foreign TV crews and numerous internationally-known photographers into the forest''s deep recesses.
Raptan says he can anticipate movement of animals by sensing the change in wind pattern and had successfully prevented the big cats from having their preys by warning fishermen and honey collectors in advance. .

http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=4453712