Bandhavgarh “Tigress was killed by Reserve vehicle ”

NEW DELHI: Who killed the Bandhavgarh tigress? While wildlife officials blamed tourist vehicles, tourists and locals are now pointing the finger at the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve's officials themselves. Locals and tourists say it was an official vehicle of the Reserve that originally hit the eight-year-old lactating tigress as she was attempting to cross the road and reach her three cubs early on the morning of May 19.

Tourist vehicles spotted the injured tigress and informed the Reserve officials. They say it finally died when she charged a vehicle of the Reserve that was sent out to investigate. Two tourists say they were harassed by officials to put the blame on their own driver.

On May 25, three Reserve officials, including an assistant director and two rangers, were suspended, according to National Tiger Conservation Authority director Rajesh Gopal. He refused to comment on who was responsible for the death, saying an enquiry was on.

Earlier reports from Wildlife Department officials and the Reserve authorities suggested several contradictory reasons for the death, including a territorial fight and a wire snare. Finally, after a post-mortem showed internal injuries caused by the impact of a hard, blunt object, the Reserve's field director said he suspected collision with a tourist vehicle. Rumours also suggested that a relative of a Madhya Pradesh Minister was involved.

Jainandni Rathore and her husband Vikramaditya Singh of Jaipur were among the first tourists at the scene, accompanied by their experienced driver and a guide. When they arrived at the water hole at 6.10 a.m., they found two other tourist vehicles already present. Together, they watched the tigress drooping near the water.

“She looked very angry and distressed…she seemed aggressive and was acting abnormally. So our driver suggested that we back off. Within seconds, she suddenly took off and came charging at us…we rushed away. I was really shook up and just wanted to get out of there, but the driver said we should stop and inform officials at the central point,” she says.

The driver also warned off other tourist vehicles heading towards the site and then informed forest rangers, who closed the route. With permission, Ms. Rathore and her husband then left the park and returned to their hotel. “Less than an hour after we reached the room, we were told two forest officials came to meet us. We thought they may want to pacify us, but they were very aggressive.”

The two officials were assistant director R.P. Pandey and range officer J.N. Shukla — both of whom were suspended — who had come to get a statement.

“They tried to pressure us to say it was our driver's mistake. Why should I tell a lie when he is innocent? In fact, I am only alive because of my driver's quick thinking,” Ms. Rathore says.

“They even threatened my husband and asked if he was driving the jeep. If we had been at fault, why would we take the trouble to come and report the tigress' condition to the authorities?”

Ms. Rathore says the officials repeatedly harassed them and came for their statement three or four times. However, when they went to complain to the director, they found their statement conveniently missing. In fact, a statement copy was only delivered to them the night before they left Bandhavgarh on May 24.

‘Animal was already hit'

Dhruv Singh — a Bandhavgarh resident representing a community organisation called Jan Sabha who was present at the post-mortem and witnessed parts of the investigation — says the tourists' information was only taken into account after a senior Mumbai police officer in one of the other vehicles submitted his statement.

Since the tigress was hit before the tourist vehicles arrived, and since only Reserve vehicles are allowed into the park before 6 a.m., investigations are now focussed around Reserve officials.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/27/stories/2010052762991300.htm

2 more tigers in Sariska by June

May 26: Two more tigers are being relocated to Sariska from the Ranthambore tiger reserve in the third week of June. Rajesh Gopal, member secretary of National Tiger Conservation Authority, pointed out that the next round of relocation, which will have a male tiger, should come as a boost to revive the tiger population in this sanctuary.
The earlier relocation had the tiger mate with the tigresses but that did not result in any pregnancy.
A wildlife official pointed out that there was a possibility that the earlier male tiger brought to Sariska may have had a low sperm count. But the relocation process received a boost when a translocated tigress for the first time gave birth to three cubs in Panna reserve.

http://www.asianage.com/india/3-bandhavgarh-officials-suspended-cover-017

3 Bandhavgarh Officials Suspended For Cover-Up

Three forest officers have been suspended for allegedly attempting to cover up the killing of a 30-month-old tigress which died in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh on May 19.

The tigress was crossing a road in the reserve along with her three cubs on the night of May 18 when a forest department jeep with SDO R.C. Pandey sitting in it allegedly hit it.
Without attending to the injured tigress, the officer scrambled back to his home and reported the matter to range officers Lalit Pandey and J.N. Shukla. The trio allegedly misinformed their boss, reserve field director C.K. Patil, that the tigress had been wounded by a tourist vehicle or else sustained internal injuries in a fight with another tigress over territorial rights.
The injured animal was, however, spotted at 6 am next morning by a group of tourists amongst whom was a senior police official belonging to the Maharashtra cadre who took photographs of the animal.
All the three forest officers tried putting the blame on the tourist jeep for hitting the tigress and may have succeeded in this ploy were it not for the intervention of the tell-tale photographs taken by the police official.
The local Bandhavgarh population, which is heavily dependent on tourism for their livelihood, also pressured Patil to have the forest department vehicles checked by forensic experts.
Environmentalist Dhruv Singh from Bandhavgarh told this reporter on the phone, “Patil agreed to have the vehicles checked and when he realised his own officials were involved in a cover up, he suspended them immediately.”
Mr Pandey has been accused of financial bungling and had been served with a transfer order. Mr Patil has ruled out the possibility of the tigress having been hit by the tourists jeep in the reserve.
Before the feline died, it entered a water body in Tala range, Mr Patil said, adding there was no external injury mark on the tigress’ body.
He said the post-mortem of tigress will be done as per the guidelines.

http://www.asianage.com/india/3-bandhavgarh-officials-suspended-cover-017

12 get three yrs RI for poaching tigers

LUCKNOW: In a judgment that will go a long way in wildlife protection in UP, Allahabad additional district judge S N Agnihotri on Tuesday awarded 12 poachers three-year rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 10,000 each under Section 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. Ten of these poachers, who belong to Katni in Madhya Pradesh, are women.

Two men, Insatt and Sushil, and 10 women, including Mirsana, Sarojini, Sukhchain, Suhana, Rafeli, Meenabai, Juhi Chawla, Kiloran, Rango and Chillo , were arrested in December 2007 in Allahabad along with four traders by a team of police and Special Task Force led by Civil Lines CO Arvind Chaturvedi . The police were assisted by the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI). All the 12 poachers belonged to the Bahelia caste and three tiger skins and 75 kg of tiger bones were seized from them.

Giving this information, Tito Joseph of WPSI told TOI: ‘‘ The court had separated the cases of Bahelia poachers and traders’’ . ‘‘ All the 12 poachers did not get bail and were lodged in jail since December 2007,’’ added lawyer Ved Prakash Mishra.

Forest department officials believe that Bawaria and Bahelia poachers are major threat to tigers in the region. Kala Sona, Black Mushroom, Kasturi, Chivi, Kumbh Boda and Safeda are just some of the code words that these poachers use to mislead the police.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Lucknow/12-get-three-yrs-RI-for-poaching-tigers-/articleshow/5975323.cms

DNA analysis to nail lie on tiger counts

Exaggerated tiger counts presented by forest officials all across the country can be nailed.

Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species, a part of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad has a foolproof method to know not only the number of tigers in a tiger reserve but their genetic diversity and number of male and female tigers.

The lab has developed the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) technology that allows one to examine even miniscule amounts of DNA present in faecal samples of tigers. It would expose the exaggerated tiger counts presented by forest officials all across the country.

The technology is 99.9 per cent accurate. The forest officials will only have to collect tigers’ faecal from the tiger reserves and send it to the CCMB for DNA analysis. The centre is even willing to send its scientist to tiger reserves to train forest officials how to collect tigers’ faecal.

The PCR technology can also easily differentiate between male and female tigers apart from providing the exact count to the big cats in tiger reserves.

It is also the only scientific method available all across the globe that can also point out if there is any genetic inbreeding of tigers in a particular tiger reserve.

If there is any such problem then the CCMB can ask the state government of that particular tiger reserve to import tigers from other reserves to solve the problem.

Former director of CCMB Dr Lalji Singh and his team members have developed this technology and wants to introduce it in all tiger reserves in the country.

“We have successfully carried out the pilot study with faecal samples of tigers collected from two tiger reserves to estimate tiger population in 2006,” says Dr Singh.

“It is the technology of the future. The pugmark and camera trap methods have inherent drawbacks. For carrying out tiger census the DNA technology can also be used with the pugmark and camera trap methods,” he adds.

So why the forest officials have not adopted the PCR technology to estimate tiger population?

“We are not getting full cooperation. Only some states are cooperating. To save tigers we need cooperation from all states,” says Dr Singh.

“All over Europe and some states in US are using the PCR technology for carrying out census of wild animals,” Dr Singh adds.

We can help the states that are not cooperating. We can send our staff there to collect tigers’ faecal. The states can even send the samples through courier or we can also collect, Dr Singh stated.

Scientist and wildlife experts say the states are shying away from carrying out the tiger census through the DNA analysis because it would expose tall claims about tiger population in their respective states.

“Figures about tiger count in almost all the states including Uttar Pradesh are exaggerated. If actual numbers are quoted then the forest officials will be exposed,” said a senior scientist.

For how long the states would manipulate with tiger count and put into jeopardy the survival of our national animal.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/DNA-analysis-to-nail-lie-on-tiger-counts/Article1-548437.aspx

Rajasthan to dig ponds in water-starved sanctuaries

Rajasthan will construct small dams and ponds in its water-starved wildlife sanctuaries - a move that could also stop animals from straying into nearby villages in search of the precious resource.

“In the first phase we would spend Rs.410 million (Rs.41 crore) on the construction of 85 such waterbodies inside Sariska, Ranthambore and Sawai Mansingh sanctuaries,” a senior forest official told IANS.

“In the next phase, all other sanctuaries and parks would be covered under the scheme. A sum of Rs.3-4 billion (Rs.300-400 crore) is expected to be incurred on this,” he said.

The forest department would identify places where these water bodies are to be constructed and later the water resource department would construct them, the official said.

The water bodies are expected to be constructed by November.

India's desert state boasts of two tiger projects, one bird sanctuary and 25 wildlife sanctuaries. These protected areas offer great eco-tourism opportunities for both domestic and foreign tourists.

With the rise in mercury levels, several small water reservoirs have become parched while others are on the brink of drying up. Though the forest department claims to have put a plan in place for proper water supply through tankers and tube wells, animal rights activists were not fully convinced.

“Some of the wildlife reserves and parks are facing an acute water shortage this summer,” said Babulal Jaju, the state in-charge of the NGO People for Animals (PFA).

He said the measures adopted by the state government have been few. “This plan of constructing anicuts and ponds is good, provided it is taken up seriously by the forest department,” Mr. Jaju said.

The situation is really bad in the Dara Wildlife Sanctuary near Kota in Rajasthan. The anicut and small ponds here have completely dried up, forcing wild animals to search for water in villages.

“This situation is really bad. We are now always in danger as wild animals, including panthers, have started coming to our villages in search of water,” said Nanuram, a resident of Laximipura village close to the Dara Wildlife Sanctuary area.

There has been a rise in cases of panthers straying into villages, he said. Recently a panther was beaten to death in Bhojipura village near here.

Similarly, incidents of bears straying into human habitations in Jalore district, in southwest Rajasthan, have shown an increase in the recent past.

The Keoladeo Bird sanctuary in Bharatpur, not far from Agra, is also facing a water crisis which has already taken its toll on the turnout of the winged migratory visitors.

The sanctuary was a favourite destination for a variety of rare birds from India and abroad. A large part of the water bodies in the sanctuary have turned into dry land. The entire area had been receiving scanty rainfall for the last couple of years.

http://beta.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/article438198.ece

Acute water shortage in Uttarakhand's Corbett Reserve

Ramnagar (Uttarakhand), May 25 (ANI): The Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand is facing acute water shortage, as natural sources of water have dried up on account of the rising temperature.

The authorities here have made arrangements to meet the water requirements of the wildlife, by bringing water through tankers and putting it in water pits.

"The main purpose of making water holes at regular distance, as the animals are spread along the entire forest area. So, it makes easy for them. There was a pipe for supply of water," said B. L. Bhatt, Range Officer, Corbett Tiger Reserve.

"But nowadays, even the source has dried up, so there is no water. That's why we are using tankers," he added.

Tankers are needed eight to nine times in a day.

"In all, there are 16 water holes. Due to scarcity of water, we come here and provide water through tankers at least eight to nine times a day," said Veer Singh, a forester. (ANI)

http://news.oneindia.in/2010/05/25/acutewater-shortage-in-uttarakhands-corbettreserve.html

Captured Royal Bengal tigers released into forest

Barasat (WB), May 25 (PTI) Two Royal Bengal tigers which strayed into villages near the Sundarbans have been released into deep jungles by the forest department, officials said today.

The Forest department captured a tigress last night after it strayed into a village at Hingalganj, adjacent to the Sunderbans in North 24-Parganas district.

It was released today into the Baghmara forest deep into the Sunderbans, the officials said.

On Thursday, a tiger had entered Shamsernagar village after swimming across the two-km wide Raimangal river. It killed livestock before being trapped by the Forest department staff the next day.

It was released into the deep forests on Saturday, they said.

Forest officials said tigers had been regularly entering human habitations ever since cyclone Aila wrought havoc in the Sunderbans.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/667722_Captured-Royal-Bengal-tigers-released-into-forest

Tigress in the death of three officers suspended

Bhopal. Bandhavgarh National Park tigress was killed on Wednesday in the case of three officers have been suspended. Authorities suspended an SDO and includes two Range Officers.

Forest Minister Sartaj Singh, while confirming that the suspension of three officers and Range Officer J. N. Pandey, SDO RP Shukla and Lalit Pande are included. He said the three officers were not around the day of the event. Nor did he cooperate in investigating the incident. That's why they were prima facie guilty of negligence has been suspended.

Here, one of the suspended officials said on condition of anonymity that they were made scapegoats. The purpose of the Department of high - profile individuals have to save, whose name has come up at the event. The day they were Mone incident field, the tigress was he who had the seizure. So to tell them absent from the area are beyond understanding.

http://www.bhaskar.com/article/MP-BPL-three-officials-suspended-in-tigress-death-case-1000270.html?sms_ss=facebook

Tigers attack human habitations

Attacks on human habitations, cattle and domestic animals by tigers of the Sunderbans have seen unprecedented rise since the past few months owing to drastic reduction of forest areas and dwindling numbers of prey for the great cats.

Royal Bengal tigers are often seen invading the villages across the river in both North and South 24 Parganas districts while the residents of Samshernagar village under Hingalganj police station in the North as well as Jemspur and Anpur villages of the South reported attacks of the Royal Bengal tigers, which killed several cattle, including cows, goats and sheep after entering the cattle sheds of a number of houses.

A tiger entered Samshernagar village during two successive nights and killed as many as ten cattle from four cattle sheds on May 22 night. Another tiger entered the village on May 21 night crossing Kundekhali canal of the Jhingakhali range of the Sunderbans and killed four goats, of which one was taken away by the tiger to the forest, locals said.

Incidentally, beat officers of the forest department were in a dilemma in finding a way out to prevent tigers from entering the inhabited areas. They suggested the local Panchayat and the villagers to erect strong fencing. The beat officials also suggested to arrange for night guards in this case.

On the other hand, Jemspur village of South 24 Parganas saw a full grown Royal Bengal tiger killing at least four cattle, including a dog, after entering a cattle shed of a villager during late evening.

As the villagers chased the tiger, it fled from Jemspur to Anpur village, where it also killed a few cattle. The forest officials were also called for help by the villagers. Finally the beast was caught yesterday morning. It was later sedated and brought to the Anpur beat house from where it will be released in the forest after fixing a radio collar as was done for a couple of tigers, which were caught from Chhotomollkhali and Netidhopani villages in South district.

Forest department officials have blamed the man-animal conflict to the degradation of the ecosystem following dwindling of the Sunderban forest area, which was posing a danger to the endangered animals' survival as the number of their prey had reduced considerably.

http://samaylive.com/english/regional/676464745.html

Huge funds spent, but PTR fails to save even a single tiger

A whopping sum of Rs. 2,774.699 lakh was spent between 2007 and 2009 for tiger conservation in Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR), but the big cat population declined and came to a naught in the reserve by 2009.

The tiger population declined to an estimated number of 15 to 32 in 2006 in the reserve. In 2007, the tiger population was 35 in PTR, the document acquired under the RTI Act by Ajay Dubey, secretary of Prayatna Environment Action Group, said.

The tiger census, carried out by Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehra Dun in 2006, found that there were 15 to 32 tigers in the reserve. WII carried the tiger census with the help of camera trap method, the document said.

Following reports of the Panna being bereft of tiger population in 2009, the WII again carried a camera trap census. Following that, in April 2009, the special investigation team of the Centre declared that there was no tiger in the reserve, the document said.

Before 2006, the tiger census were carried out by pug mark methodology annually and according to it there were 25, 28, 31, 33, 33, 34 and 35 tigers in Panna in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 respectively, the documents said.

Meanwhile, a tigress out of the two translocated tigers has given birth to three cubs in Panna.

After Panna became devoid of big cat population, two tigresses, one from Bandhavgarh and another from Kanha, besides a male tiger from Pench, were shifted to Panna to revive the tiger population.

Keywords: Panna Reserve, Tiger, PTR, environment, Wildlife Institute of India

http://beta.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/article436322.ece#

Jairam softens stand on mining in tiger homes

Minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh has constituted a committee to "examine the proposals of mining, infrastructure development and industries vis-Ã -vis tiger conservation".

Sources said the move was aimed at shifting the onus of hard and difficult decisions on to non-political and technical persons. "Jairam has been criticised for taking technical decisions based on his own impressions. He is also facing the political consequences of these decisions.

When decisions are made based on technical-committee recommendations, nobody can object," a source said.

About 17 mining proposals in the buffer zones of tiger reserves will be studied and approved by the committee, comprising four members of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

The team will visit sites and hold consultations with the locals before submitting a report to the Centre within a month, an order issued by the ministry said.

The mining proposals to be studied are in the buffer zones of tiger reserves, including Tadoba-Andhari and Chandoli National Park in Maharashtra, Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh and the Gundla Brameswaram wildlife sanctuary in Andhra Pradesh.

Several of these proposals are for Chindwara, the constituency of roads and highways minister Kamal Nath, whom Jairam had angered by stopping the widening of a highway that passes through the Pench tiger reserve.

Jairam also cancelled permission for coal mining in the buffer zone of Tadoba-Andhari tiger reserve in Maharashtra.

This put him in the crosshairs of civil aviation minister Praful Patel. The proposed mine was to supply coal to a power project in Patel's constituency in Gondia district.

But a Jairam who relished such confrontation appears to have disappeared, especially since he was rapped by his "only friend" in the cabinet, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, for criticising India's security measures in China. Also, with his Rajya Sabha term nearing an end, Jairam is said to be working on his conciliatory skills to ensure re-election.

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/98592/India/Jairam+softens+stand+on+mining+in+tiger+homes.html

New action plan for Project Tiger in AP

HYDERABAD: The Critical Tiger Habitat (CTH) in the Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve (NSTR) now has a twin. Though developed at different times, it was discovered recently that Gundla Brahmeswara Wildlife Sanctuary (GBMWS), in fact, is a conjoined twin of the famous NSTR. Hence, the government came up with a declaration that GBM should actually be considered the extended core of the NSTR.

Spread over five districts connecting all the three geographical regions of the state, NSTR boasts of roughly 70 tigers. On the other hand, GBMWS, that controls the most dense part of the Nallamalla forest, has about 12 big cats. The two are connected by a wide corridor. The government order, which is in the process of being published as a gazette notification soon, is the result of behind-the-scene developments taking place for the past several years.

Before becoming NSTR in 1983, the place covering the catchment areas of Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam dams was first declared a sanctuary, the Nagarjunsagar Srisailam Wildlife Sanctuary (NSWLS). Later, with the objective of protecting tigers in the area more efficiently, the status of the sanctuary was upgraded to a 'tiger reserve'. This is the only tiger reserve of in the state in which 23 per cent of the total area is forest land.

The birth of GBMWLS took place much later, in 1998. The area under the sanctuary is rich and diverse in flora and fauna. While there are well known species of trees like teak, boswellia and terminalia, bamboo etc. There are numerous plants, shrubs and herbs that await scientific categorization and preservation. The animal world is equally rich there with sloth bear, wild dog, hyena, jungle cat, langur, bonnet monkey, sambar, nilgai, chowsingha, chinkara, mouse deer, monitor lizard, marsh crocodile and python etc. found in abundance. Topping the list are, of course, the tigers and panthers. "The forest is free of human habitation and, at most places, too dense to be accessed even on foot," DFO Tulasi Rao said.

Since the 3,568 square km NSTR came into being, the forest department has been pestered with claims on land in the Nagarjunasagar area of the tiger reserve. Ideally, a tiger reserve should be free from human habitation. But NSTR has considerable number of tribals, especially Lambada population, in the Sagar catchment area.

According to some estimates, the number of Lambadas, Chenchus and others in the area has risen to about 30,000. Many of these people have also been given title books on their claims under the Tribal Act.

Rao said an expert committee set up on the advice of the central government found that the Sagar area has become porous with hardly any tiger population. Therefore, the committee felt 1,000 sq km in Sagar should be delineated from the NSTR. This 1000 sq km would not form part of the CTH, meaning the area is not vital for the survival and growth of tiger population. But at the same time, the area would continue to play a decisive role for the protection of hydrological and other natural heritage. Hence, it would remain within the boundaries of NSTR and considered part of the sanctuary, Chief Wildlife Warden Hitesh Malhotra explained.

He said some six years ago, the forest department had sent a proposal to the Centre to convert the 1196 sq km GBMWLS into a tiger reserve. The government of India suggested that instead of making GBMWLS an independent tiger reserve, it could be connected with NSTR and the entire sanctuary be considered an extended core of tiger habitat. Malhotra summed up the situation by saying that while about 1000 sq km from the NSTR is taken out from CTH, 1196 sq km of GBM has been added. The area of the two sanctuaries together now adds up to 4,763 sq km while within this boundary the CTH for tiger would be 3,763 sq km.

With this new development, the forest department has begun working out a fresh management plan for the core one and core two of the tiger reserve together. The core two or GBMWLS would be brought under the Project Director, Tiger, of NSTR and he would be given more assistant conservators (forests), range officers and other staff to jointly manage the two cores. The objective would be to manage Project Tiger better with improved results, Malhotra said

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Hyderabad/New-action-plan-for-Project-Tiger/articleshow/5966737.cms

Dead Bandhavgarh tigress hit by tourist jeep?

BHOPAL: A tigress, which died in Bandhavgarh tiger reserve four days ago was possibly hit by a tourist jeep, officials said here on Saturday after autopsy showed that she succumbed to internal injuries.

The feline did not die due a territorial fight as was assumed earlier, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) representative A B Shrivastava said.

"It died of a liver rupture following which blood rushed to her abdomen after being hit by some blunt object," he
said. The tigress, which has three cubs, died on Wednesday in the Tala range of the reserve.

"We are of the view that a tourist vehicle had hit the tigress after which she died," Badhavgarh tiger reserve field director C K Patil said, adding the animal was 10 years old. "We are investigating the case."

Patil added that around eight tourist vehicles had entered Tala range on May 19.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Dead-tigress-hit-by-tourist-jeep/articleshow/5964146.cms

Did Bandhavgarh tiger choke to death?

NAGPUR: Tiger conservation took a hit on Tuesday when one death was reported inside the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, 475 kms from Nagpur.

This is the 18th tiger death in India since January and comes at a time when census readings are being studied to check if the tally of 1411 from the count four years ago has gone up or down. The new figure will be announced by the Wildlife Institute of India in October this year.

The incident took place at 10am in Zurzura in Tala Range of the reserve. There are conflicting claims not only about the reasons of death but also of the tiger's sex.

Some tourists from Nagpur told TOI that the tiger had died due to suffocation after its neck got entangled in a wire snare which may have been put by villagers to trap herbivores. Others claimed the tiger was hit by a tourist vehicle and died due to injuries.

Forest officials, however, rule out both the possibilities and are giving a completely different view.

CK Patil, field director & conservator of forests at Bandhavgarh, feels that the tiger – a male according to him — could have died in a territorial fight. He denied that it was injured and attacked tourists' vehicles.
Patil was also emphatic that the tiger did not have had wire snares on its neck.

Contradicting his boss' claims, JN Shukla, the Tala range forest officer (RFO), told TOI the dead animal was a three-year-old female and there were no external injury marks on its body. This clearly indicates that the tiger did not die in a territorial fight as is being claimed by Patil.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Did-Bandhavgarh-tiger-choke-to-death/articleshow/5951666.cms

Award Categories (as discussed) # MEDIA CATEGORIES: 1) Best Brand Integration on Radio Use of radio as a medium by any brand in its pl

NEW DELHI: The environment ministry has formed a panel to examine the impact of 17 projects, relating to mining and infrastructure development, on conservation of tiger.

The four-member committee of former National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) chief P K Sen and NTCA members Prakash Murlidhar Amte, Samar Singh and Urmila Pingle will submit its report within a month.

“The proposals include mining, infrastructure developments and industries projects falling in the buffer and corridor areas of tiger reserves in Tadoba landscape, Bandhavgarh landscape, Kanha landscape, Kanha-Pench corridor and Satpura-Pench corridor of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh,” said NTCA DIG S P Yadav.

Seven of the projects are in the Chindwara district, which is represented by roads minister Kamal Nath. These projects, which are mostly in the mining sector, came up for environmental clearance in April. The committee is expected to examine the proposals in terms of its impact on tiger conservation and submit its recommendation based on which clearance will be given.

Among the projects that will have to await clearance is the Mandla Underground project of Jaiprakash Associates in Chindwara, four coal mine projects of the Western Coalfields Ltd also in Chindwara. There are two coal-based thermal projects in the Umaria district, a 300 MW coal based project in Chandrapur and a 1980 MW thermal power project in Katni will also be studies by this committee before clearance is given.

Environment minister Jairam Ramesh has on several occasion made it clear that his ministry would not okay projects that would adversely impact natural reserves and the environment. Mr Ramesh has stressed that his job was to implement the Environment Protection Act, 1986; the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, and the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, in a “transparent and professional” manner.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics/nation/Panel-to-study-impact-of-mining-and-core-sector-projects-on-tigers/articleshow/5951387.cms

Tiger kills honey collector

Sundarbans (WB), May 19 (PTI) A man, who went to collect honey with fellow villagers, was today killed by a tiger at Pirkhali jungle in Sundarbans mangrove forest.

"Sujan Singh of Kultali died this morning when the tiger attacked him when he alongwith other villagers entered the reserve forest to collect honey," Field Director of Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, Subrat Mukherjee told PTI.

He said the body has been recovered from the forest area and sent for post-mortem.

Other members of the group are safe, officials said.

Vehicle entry fee likely at Sariska, Ranthambore

JAIPUR: The Sariska and Ranthambore Tiger Conservation Foundation has decided to introduce an entry fee on all the vehicles passing through the tiger reserve to generate income.

The decision came at the first meeting of the governing body of the foundation held on Tuesday. The meeting was presided over by forest minister Ramlal Jat.

Presently, devotees coming to the Pandupole temple on Tuesdays and Saturdays are given free entry into the park. However, it was decided that except the local vehicles (registered in Alwar district), all other vehicles would have to pay an entry fee from now onwards.

It was also decided that in order to meet the administrative expenditure of the registration of the tourist vehicles and training of the nature guides, a 5% handling charges would be set apart from the payment of the vehicle owners and nature guides to the foundation.

The meeting also decided that keeping 2008-09 as the base year, the foundation would receive 50% of the extra income generated from the park. Besides, the foundation would be eligible for grant or financial assistance from domestic and foreign organisations. This is apart from the financial grants and assistance from the state and Central governments.

Jat appreciated the work of the boundary wall of the Ranthambore and Sariska carried out under the MNREGS and said permanent roads would also be constructed under the scheme in the area. He said the foundation was constituted to promote eco-tourism and bio- diversity and systematic and planned development.

Jat said the foundation would work for the socio-economic development of the people of the area and would ensure that the local people as the stakeholders. This is an important aspect as so long as the local people are the stake-holders, they would care for the animals. Besides, he said the foundation has to find avenues for generating revenue for the upkeep and development of the area.

The meeting was attended by principal secretaries V S Singh (forest and environment) and Usha Sharma (tourism), who emphasised the need for the preparation of an operation manual, chief wildlife conservator R N Mehrotra, principal conservator of forests Abhijeet Ghosh, foundation member Allauddin Ahmed, MLA, and other officials.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5947194.cms

Ranthambore Villagers who poisoned tiger cubs released as officials fail to file charges

JAIPUR: A local court in Sawai Madhopur has released two villagers, accused of killing two 17-month-old tiger cubs, on bail after forest authorities could not file a chargesheet against them within 60 days.

The two villagers had poisoned the cubs on the outskirts of Ranthambore Tiger Reserve after the big cats killed their goats. Ram Khiladi Gujjar and Mukesh Gujjar of Tadla Khet village, on the outskirts of the reserve, were released by the court last Friday. The two were arrested on March 8, the day the cubs were found dead.

"Forest officials are responsible for not filing the chargesheet even as they had all the details. The forensic lab report had confirmed a case of poisoning; the goats' carcasses were found on the spot; and the shop from where the pesticide was identified," said Fateh Singh, vice-chairman, Tiger Watch, an NGO, in Ranthambore. "This will send a wrong message to the villagers who may take such grievous crimes lightly," added Fateh Singh.

The killing of tiger cubs had sent shock waves across the country and the state forest department acted swiftly by arresting the two accused. "We didn't file the chargesheet as third accused Narsi Gujjar is absconding," explained RS Shekhawat, deputy field director, Ranthambore Tiger Reserve.

Sources in legal circles point out that killing a tiger is a non-bailable offence. However, as per a Supreme Court verdict, if the chargesheet is not filed in such cases within the stipulated 60 days or 90 days as the case may be, the accused can be released on bail.

"The time period for filing the chargesheet varies from crime to crime. In this case, it was 60 days but the authorities mistook it for 90 days and did not file the chargesheet," said a government counsel.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Jaipur/Villagers-who-poisoned-tiger-cubs-released-as-officials-fail-to-file-charges/articleshow/5942865.cms

Highway threat to wildlife on National Highway 6

A drive in the fast lane on Nation Highway 6 is turning out to be a threat for wildlife. Stretches on this highway form a part of crucial wildlife and tiger corridor that connects the Nagzira Sanctuary and the Navegaon National Park in Maharashtra. Stretching it to four lanes has spelt disaster for the animals.

On either side of National Highway 6, are forests that play a crucial role in the tiger's habitat. In fact, the four-laning project of NH-6 has meant a lot of trees have been cut, and in many places it's already a 4-lane highway.

Under the Forest Conservation Act, cutting trees in protected areas requires permission from the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

To date, no sanction has been sought, but work on the highway is continuing at top speed.

And here's why: In a report submitted in 2008, the deputy conservator of forests has claimed that the highway project is beyond the 10 kilometres safe radius around parks and sanctuaries. But the fact is that the Nawegaon National Park's boundary is within two to three kilometres of the highway.

Violations such as these have only made matters worse in an area that is crucial for tiger survival.

"I have seen a sambhar and a cheetal crushed under a truck's tyres. The best way to deal with this problem right now is to build underpasses for wildlife. At least animals will have some space to cross over from one side to another without any trouble," said Mukund Dhurve from the Satpuda Foundation.

"We have always tried to balance wildlife and development needs. We are looking into the possibility of building underpasses for animals," said Brijeshwar Singh, Chairman, National Highway Authority of India.

Despite a report by the chief conservator of forests which demands a solution to the problem, little has been done on the ground. The matter has now gone to the Supreme Court. Meanwhile, for the animals, this has become yet another battle for survival.

http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/highway-threat-to-wildlife-on-national-highway-6-25942.php?u=0849