KOLKATA: Controversy has again struck the Sunderbans. This time, a ten-year-old male tiger caught from Dobanki seven days back is bearing the brunt.
The radio collar fitted to the tiger stopped functioning about three months back, but it is yet to be removed. Experts said the collar had badly choked the tiger`s neck and it could not eat properly. The tiger is now at Alipore Zoo.
But two principal chief conservators of forests are speaking in conflicting voices. While S B Mondal, PCCF (wildlife) said that he had given instruction to remove the collar, PCCF and head of forest force Atanu Raha said it won`t be removed unless the tiger comes to a state when it can be tranquillized. Though Raha said the tiger had gained weight in past few days, he could not say if the big cat could be tranquillized.
"If the collar is defunct, what`s the use of it?" asked wildlife conservationist Valmik Thapar. Koustubh Sharma of International Snow Leopard Trust said: "If you can`t monitor the cat, what`s the use? Tranquillizing tigers for radio collaring has an ethical and financial bearing. If the tiger has been caught again, either the defunct collar should be removed, or replaced with a new one before releasing it in the wild." Biswajit Roy Chowdhury of Nature Environment and Wildlife Society said that since the tiger had been kept in a cage, it`s not difficult to remove the collar. "Their numbers are already dwindling, why put another life at risk for a collar?" he asked.
Y V Jhala of Wildlife Institute of India said new collars are available with WII in the state. "The tiger was radio collared at Netadhopani and gave signals for almost 11 months. If the collar is defunct, forest officials should have contacted us, " he said.
Thapar said bringing an animal to zoo is a bad decision. "Unless a tiger turns man-eater, it should not be brought to zoo. The department should observe the big cats in local camps so that it can be reintroduced to the wild fast." He called for a review on the malfunctioning of radio collars. "Some incidents have been reported from Ranthambore and Kanha." Radio collars were blamed for tiger deaths in Panna in 2009. A research programme in Bangladeshi Sunderbans by Adam Barlow had to be suspended after the death of two tigers were reported in 2006 after being radio collared. Alipore Zoo director Raju Das said that they were observing the tiger and plans were on to remove the collar in a couple of days.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Radio-collar-chokes-big-cat/articleshow/8012936.cms
Monday, April 18, 2011
Govt announces two billion rupees for tiger relocation
Panna, April 17 (ANI): India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on Saturday announced two billion rupees for village relocation programmes in Madhya Pradesh for establishing buffer zones in tiger reserves across the country. Speaking to mediapersons while on a tour in the reserve, Ramesh said that the ministry would financially assist the state, even as he expressed his discontentment over the Ken-Betwa river linking project saying it would destroy the Panna Tiger Reserve
http://www.indiablooms.com/VideoDetails/videoDetails170411f.php
http://www.indiablooms.com/VideoDetails/videoDetails170411f.php
Pilibhit forest division may get special package TNN
LUCKNOW: After the national tiger census-2010 identified Pilibhit forest division as a promising area for tigers, good times might set in for the division. The division may get a special package for development from the forest department.
The tiger census-2010 report has observed that tiger population is increasing in the protected area and outside. Moyar-Singur-Satyamangalam, Ramnagar and Pilibhit regions have been specifically mentioned in the report.
After being identified as one of the promising areas for tigers, the division might get special infrastructural package. Sources said that a proposal seeking special package has been prepared but refused to divulge on the facilities that have been asked for. "It is only after department agrees to it that anything can be said," said sources.
On the other hand, efforts to set up a new tiger reserve in Pilibhit are underway. Pilibhit division spreads over 712 sq km area. It has five ranges under it, Diuria, Mala, Mahof, Haripur and Barahi. The census this year has shown 112 tigers present in Dudhwa-Lakhimpur-Pilibhit-Katarniaghat belt.
In the last census, as many as 95 tigers were counted in this belt. This time, there has been an increase. Since report has already stated that tigers in Pilibhit are increasing, contribution of the division in the increase in number of tigers in the belt can not be ruled out.
Meanwhile, at the time of the census exercise in the division in May, some rare wildlife species were also found in the division like leopard cats and four-horned antelopes. Thus, making it an important division in respect of wildlife.
On the other hand, the division is also seeing a spurt in incidents of man-animal conflict. In the start of this month, there have been two incidents in which men were left injured in attack by wild animals. On April 2, a 28-year old man was attacked and injured by a leopard in Haripur range.
While the department provided for the treatment of the man and released compensation to him, another man was left injured in an attack by a tiger in Diuria range two days later. The package, therefore, will also help the division overcome these difficulties.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Pilibhit-forest-division-may-get-special-package/articleshow/8009467.cms
The tiger census-2010 report has observed that tiger population is increasing in the protected area and outside. Moyar-Singur-Satyamangalam, Ramnagar and Pilibhit regions have been specifically mentioned in the report.
After being identified as one of the promising areas for tigers, the division might get special infrastructural package. Sources said that a proposal seeking special package has been prepared but refused to divulge on the facilities that have been asked for. "It is only after department agrees to it that anything can be said," said sources.
On the other hand, efforts to set up a new tiger reserve in Pilibhit are underway. Pilibhit division spreads over 712 sq km area. It has five ranges under it, Diuria, Mala, Mahof, Haripur and Barahi. The census this year has shown 112 tigers present in Dudhwa-Lakhimpur-Pilibhit-Katarniaghat belt.
In the last census, as many as 95 tigers were counted in this belt. This time, there has been an increase. Since report has already stated that tigers in Pilibhit are increasing, contribution of the division in the increase in number of tigers in the belt can not be ruled out.
Meanwhile, at the time of the census exercise in the division in May, some rare wildlife species were also found in the division like leopard cats and four-horned antelopes. Thus, making it an important division in respect of wildlife.
On the other hand, the division is also seeing a spurt in incidents of man-animal conflict. In the start of this month, there have been two incidents in which men were left injured in attack by wild animals. On April 2, a 28-year old man was attacked and injured by a leopard in Haripur range.
While the department provided for the treatment of the man and released compensation to him, another man was left injured in an attack by a tiger in Diuria range two days later. The package, therefore, will also help the division overcome these difficulties.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Pilibhit-forest-division-may-get-special-package/articleshow/8009467.cms
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)