The body of a nine year old tiger was found in the Terrai forest near Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand.
The tiger’s death has been related to natural reasons, mainly old age problems. "It is a male tiger and there is no sign of outer injury or marks on its body. It is an old tiger. We will conduct the postmortem today and then we will tell what really happened," said Nishant Verma, a forest official.
"The first instance here is that its paws are all torn and there are cracks in it. Also his claws are not sharp and are very blunt. It seems to be an old tiger and so there is the possibility of a natural death," Verma pointed out. Once the final results of the post mortem are revealed, the final reason of the death can be ascertained.
This is the third tiger that died at Corbett National Park within a fortnight. A pregnant tigress was found dead on 25th January and foresters shot dead a man-eater tiger on 27th January.
This year the Corbett National Park will celebrate its platinum jubilee year. The park named after hunter turned conservationist, Jim Corbett is one of the oldest National Parks in the country and has also been declared as Corebtt Tiger Reserve under Project Tiger of the Central Government.
Though celebrations for the platinum jubilee began in January with the introduction of a Special Tiger Protection Force for the big cats, most of the functions and programmes are scheduled to be held in March 2011.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Kudremukh for tigers, says Jairam
BANGALORE: Union environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh is on the warpath again, but this time he could well find an army of supporters in Karnataka for his initiative. He wants the Kudremukh National Park, 350km from Bangalore in Chikmagalur district, to be made a tiger reserve.
In a letter to chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, the minister, who hails from Chikmagalur district, said by doing this, the park's biodiversity can be saved from future mining threats. He has asked the government to send him a proposal under Section 38V of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, to declare the park a tiger reserve.
To buttress his suggestion, Ramesh said the area is biologically significant for notification as a tiger reserve since it's located amid other good tiger areas in the Malnad-Mysore landscape. In the last all-India tiger population estimate, the Kudremukh-Bhadra landscape has one of the three distinct tiger populations in Karnataka which extends up to the Bhimasankar area in Maharashtra. Independent surveys conducted by Bangalore-based Centre for Wildlife Studies have also found that the area could potentially support a viable tiger population.
The Kudremukh Iron Ore Company, which had been operating in the area, has been closed down following a final judgment of the Supreme Court in 2002 and all major operations stand legally terminated since December 2005. Some machinery and infrastructure still remains and needs to be removed. Ramesh said there are several small revenue enclaves within the park and people don't have access to employment opportunities and also suffer due to man-animal conflict. There were reports that around 450 families have requested the state government for relocation and 12 of them have been moved last year.
In a letter to chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, the minister, who hails from Chikmagalur district, said by doing this, the park's biodiversity can be saved from future mining threats. He has asked the government to send him a proposal under Section 38V of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, to declare the park a tiger reserve.
To buttress his suggestion, Ramesh said the area is biologically significant for notification as a tiger reserve since it's located amid other good tiger areas in the Malnad-Mysore landscape. In the last all-India tiger population estimate, the Kudremukh-Bhadra landscape has one of the three distinct tiger populations in Karnataka which extends up to the Bhimasankar area in Maharashtra. Independent surveys conducted by Bangalore-based Centre for Wildlife Studies have also found that the area could potentially support a viable tiger population.
The Kudremukh Iron Ore Company, which had been operating in the area, has been closed down following a final judgment of the Supreme Court in 2002 and all major operations stand legally terminated since December 2005. Some machinery and infrastructure still remains and needs to be removed. Ramesh said there are several small revenue enclaves within the park and people don't have access to employment opportunities and also suffer due to man-animal conflict. There were reports that around 450 families have requested the state government for relocation and 12 of them have been moved last year.
3 of 6 WWF volunteers freed
Three volunteers, all women, of the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF), who were among the six abducted by combat uniform-clad gunmen on Sunday from the Manas Tiger Reserve, were released on Tuesday night. Three men are still being held captive.
Kokrajhar Superintendent of Police P.K. Dutta told The Hindu that the three women were released around 6.15 p.m. in the Bengtol area of Chirang district. Efforts were on to secure the safe release of the other three captives.
The WWF-India on Tuesday issued an appeal for the immediate and safe release of its volunteers: “These young volunteers were part of the WWF team carrying out tiger habitat occupancy surveys in the area. These young and committed individuals were working towards helping to conserve the important biodiversity of the area for the larger benefit of the local community, the State and the region.”
Kokrajhar Superintendent of Police P.K. Dutta told The Hindu that the three women were released around 6.15 p.m. in the Bengtol area of Chirang district. Efforts were on to secure the safe release of the other three captives.
The WWF-India on Tuesday issued an appeal for the immediate and safe release of its volunteers: “These young volunteers were part of the WWF team carrying out tiger habitat occupancy surveys in the area. These young and committed individuals were working towards helping to conserve the important biodiversity of the area for the larger benefit of the local community, the State and the region.”
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