BHOPAL: Come December and two tiger princesses will make a 450 km journey from Madhya Pradesh's Kanha National Park to their new home in the picturesque Panna forests as part of a plan to boost the big cat's numbers there, said officials.
The tigresses, one four years old and the other five-and-a-half, will be put in two cages after they are tranquilised on the day of their journey Dec 5 and then transported in trucks to Panna National Park.
"Dec 5 has been fixed to bring two tigresses. According to their health they would be kept in special areas within the Panna reserve," VS Parihar, deputy director of Panna Tiger Reserve, said.
A team of veterinarians and forest officials will accompany the big cats and the translocation will be completed in about 10 hours, said officials.
Spread across more than 500 sq km, the Panna National Park has already made its preparations to welcome the Kanha princesses. Two veterinarians have already been appointed to monitor the big cats' health in Panna.
The Kanha and Panna national parks are two of the six tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh. The 1,945 sq km Kanha park was set up in 1955. According to a census in 2006, Kanha had about 90-130 tigers.
Panna, created in 1981, currently has three adult tigers and two cubs. A tigress, which had been earlier translocated from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, also in Madhya Pradesh, to Panna, has mated and given birth to four cubs there in March this year. Unfortunately, two cubs went missing and are feared dead.
Now two more are set to join them in Panna.
"A close vigil is being kept on the health of the tigresses and the preparation to shift them is almost complete," said S.K. Mohanty, deputy director of Kanha National Park.
Three other tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh are Pench, Satpura and Sanjay Dhubri.
The forest department has recently initiated a process in Panna to relocate some 16 villages around the reserve.
Srinivas Murthy, field director of Panna Tiger Reserve, said: "So far 13 (villages) are under process of relocation.
"We will try to relocate the rest of the villages soon. Barring the 2006 incident in which villagers had given poison to the animals, no such conflict has been evident."
In 2008, a tiger census report revealed that India had just about 1,400 tigers. The results of a new census launched countrywide in January are awaited.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tiger shot dead in Assam
Morigaon: Even as Asian countries meet in Russia to discuss ways to save the tiger, a Royal Bengal Tiger was shot dead by police on Tuesday after it killed a woman and mauled another sub-inspector at Nagabandha in Morigaon district in Assam.
The tiger, which swam across the Bhramhaputra from Orang National Park in Udalguri district to take shelter between Morigaon and Nagaon districts, killed a 38-year-old woman, police said.
When sub-inspector Tilak Chandra Bora and his team went to nab the tiger, it pounced on him in a paddy field, injuring the policeman critically, they added.
The tiger was finally shot dead to save the sub-inspector.
Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/tiger-shot-dead-in-assam-68203?cp
The tiger, which swam across the Bhramhaputra from Orang National Park in Udalguri district to take shelter between Morigaon and Nagaon districts, killed a 38-year-old woman, police said.
When sub-inspector Tilak Chandra Bora and his team went to nab the tiger, it pounced on him in a paddy field, injuring the policeman critically, they added.
The tiger was finally shot dead to save the sub-inspector.
Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/tiger-shot-dead-in-assam-68203?cp
Tiger death: Forest guard suspended in Sariska
A forest guard at Alwar's Sariska Tiger Sanctuary has been suspended by the Rajasthan government following the death of a tiger, officials said today.
"The guard Ramgopal was found guilty of dereliction of duty following which he was suspended recently," they said.
The government has so far suspended four personnel in the case of the tiger's death and transferred one official.
The carcass of "ST-1" was found by a forest department team in Sariska sanctuary on November 14.
"The guard Ramgopal was found guilty of dereliction of duty following which he was suspended recently," they said.
The government has so far suspended four personnel in the case of the tiger's death and transferred one official.
The carcass of "ST-1" was found by a forest department team in Sariska sanctuary on November 14.
Tigers vanishing, pooja continues in Uttara Kannada villages
Tue, 23 Nov 2010 - 19:59:00S.O. News Service |
Karwar: Tiger worship is century old tradition in many parts of Uttara Kannada district. This practice is still in vogue at Kanasgiri village near here and elsewhere in the district.
The pooja is held every year during the Hind month of 'Karteeka'. It was held at Kanasgiri on Friday evening. Each family brings an earthen pot painted with the tigers' face on it to nearby forest and keeps it on a particular place on the day of pooja. Various dishes are offered to the Tiger God on the occasion.
According to Deepak Naik, president of Yuvaka Sangha of the village, earlier the villagers used to carry the earthen idol of tiger for pooja. Since the past two decades this practice has been stopped. Instead the pots are worshipped.
The elders in the village recollect that the village was surrounded by thick forest around 50-60 years ago the forest was a natural habitat for tigers. Many villagers had noticed tigers roaming freely in the forest. But indiscriminate hunting and denudation for forest resulted in depletion of tiger population. According to them the cattle, grazing in the forest, used to be the easy target for the tigers. It was in this context tiger worship started on the belief that tigers would be pleased wit the worship and stop killing the cattle.
According retired chief mineral economist, hunting of tigers in the jungles of Uttara Kannada district was a pastime and a fun for royal families and the British. Joida forest area had thick tiger population then, Mining activity in Joida taluk also was responsible for the depletion of tiger population, he says.
If at all a few tigers still exist in the forest region of the district, the villagers, who worship tiger should be complimented, he said.
If at all a few tigers still exist in the forest region of the district, the villagers, who worship tiger should be complimented, he said.
In Sirsi, Siddapur and Yellapur taluks, one can find the statues of tigers in the thick forest. The villagers from surrounding areas offer pooja in those places once in a year.
Karwar: Tiger worship is century old tradition in many parts of Uttara Kannada district. This practice is still in vogue at Kanasgiri village near here and elsewhere in the district.
The pooja is held every year during the Hind month of 'Karteeka'. It was held at Kanasgiri on Friday evening. Each family brings an earthen pot painted with the tigers' face on it to nearby forest and keeps it on a particular place on the day of pooja. Various dishes are offered to the Tiger God on the occasion.
According to Deepak Naik, president of Yuvaka Sangha of the village, earlier the villagers used to carry the earthen idol of tiger for pooja. Since the past two decades this practice has been stopped. Instead the pots are worshipped.
The elders in the village recollect that the village was surrounded by thick forest around 50-60 years ago the forest was a natural habitat for tigers. Many villagers had noticed tigers roaming freely in the forest. But indiscriminate hunting and denudation for forest resulted in depletion of tiger population. According to them the cattle, grazing in the forest, used to be the easy target for the tigers. It was in this context tiger worship started on the belief that tigers would be pleased wit the worship and stop killing the cattle.
According retired chief mineral economist, hunting of tigers in the jungles of Uttara Kannada district was a pastime and a fun for royal families and the British. Joida forest area had thick tiger population then, Mining activity in Joida taluk also was responsible for the depletion of tiger population, he says.
If at all a few tigers still exist in the forest region of the district, the villagers, who worship tiger should be complimented, he said.
If at all a few tigers still exist in the forest region of the district, the villagers, who worship tiger should be complimented, he said.
In Sirsi, Siddapur and Yellapur taluks, one can find the statues of tigers in the thick forest. The villagers from surrounding areas offer pooja in those places once in a year.
Tiger skins, bones fetch $5 mn annually in black market
St. Petersburg, Nov 23 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Poachers sell about 150 tiger skins every year and the annual turnover of tiger skins and bones in the black market across the globe is some $5 million, a UN official has said.
'150 tiger skins and 150 kg of tiger bones are sold on the black market annually. In 2009, one (tiger) skin cost $20,000 and a kg of bones - $1,200,' said Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of United Nations office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The wild cats have been steadily pushed to the verge of extinction by poaching, illegal trade, and habitat loss, Fedotov said. About 150 tigers are killed by poachers every year, which is about 5 percent of world's tiger population.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) plans to spend $85 million in the next five years on programmes aimed at restoring the global tiger population, WWF head James Leape said at the International Tiger Conservation Forum Monday.
According to the WWF, about 3,200 tigers are left worldwide. A century ago, there were some 100,000 wild tigers across Asia and the Russian Far East.
The International Tiger Conservation Forum, hosted by the northwestern Russian city of St. Petersburg running Nov 21-24, is discussing a plan to double the animal's population in 12 years, which will require up to $350 million from the international community.
Keshav Varma, the director of the World Bank's Global Tiger Initiative (GTI), called on the international community Monday to donate more money to save the tigers.
'150 tiger skins and 150 kg of tiger bones are sold on the black market annually. In 2009, one (tiger) skin cost $20,000 and a kg of bones - $1,200,' said Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of United Nations office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The wild cats have been steadily pushed to the verge of extinction by poaching, illegal trade, and habitat loss, Fedotov said. About 150 tigers are killed by poachers every year, which is about 5 percent of world's tiger population.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) plans to spend $85 million in the next five years on programmes aimed at restoring the global tiger population, WWF head James Leape said at the International Tiger Conservation Forum Monday.
According to the WWF, about 3,200 tigers are left worldwide. A century ago, there were some 100,000 wild tigers across Asia and the Russian Far East.
The International Tiger Conservation Forum, hosted by the northwestern Russian city of St. Petersburg running Nov 21-24, is discussing a plan to double the animal's population in 12 years, which will require up to $350 million from the international community.
Keshav Varma, the director of the World Bank's Global Tiger Initiative (GTI), called on the international community Monday to donate more money to save the tigers.
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