Stiffer penalties to curb wildlife crime

India has proposed to slap stiffer penalties to curb wildlife crime and illicit trade, but experts said these would still be insufficient deterrents.

The environment ministry, in a draft amendment of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, has proposed that fines for offences against critical or most endangered species be hiked 20 times. Illegal trade in these species and offences in national parks and sanctuaries would entail a fine of at least Rs25 lakh. An offence in a tiger sanctuary would carry a maximum penalty of Rs50 lakh the first time and Rs75 lakh for repeat offenders. Jail terms would be hiked to five-seven years, from three-seven years.

Conservationists say higher fines and jail terms are not the right way to rein in wildlife crime.

“The whole thrust of the changes has been to increase penalty provision. But in real life, there is an inverse relationship between increase in penalty and conviction rate,” said Ritwick Dutta, an environment lawyer. “At present, offences against endangered tigers already invite a three-year sentence. Has it worked?”

He added that in the 30 years of the Act, no one has been convicted for seven years. Actor Salman Khan, who was convicted of hunting black buck, a critical species, got away with a Rs5,000 fine.

“A deterrent works only when there is awareness, which is quite low. It is not the severity, but the certainty of the punishment which matters, which is a deterrent,” Dutta said.

Samir Sinha, head of TRAFFIC, a non-profit body that monitors wildlife trade, also said penalties alone would not deter crimes.

“After all these years of experience, my sense is that higher penalty should also be combined with higher probability of people getting caught. Unless delivery mechanism is strengthened, this won’t be effective. Wildlife trade has to be made less lucrative,” he said.

Tribal rights activists are disconcerted by the proposed amendments for a different reason.

“The penalties are extremely high and so is the potential for abuse. A large number of tribals are slapped with false and petty cases every year,” said Shankar Gopalakrishnan, secretary, Campaign for Survival and Dignity, a tribal rights activist group. “Without recognizing that and without any reference to the Forest Rights Act in the amendments, it doesn’t bode well.”

One of the ministry’s amendments to the law seeks to broaden research in conservation sciences. It proposes that the government promote independent scientific research and frame comprehensive rules and procedures for it.

“Indian wildlife research is not where it should be because of the forest department, which controls all permits and research. This is definitely very positive,” said Raghu Chundawat, a wildlife scientist.

“The forest department’s role should be limited to (the) Act and not on what kind of research should be done,” he said. “This is not private property.”

http://www.livemint.com/2010/06/24214603/Stiffer-penalties-to-curb-wild.html?atype=tp

'Won’t force villagers out of tiger reserves'

Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh on Thursday said there would be no forceful relocation of villagers from the 39 tiger reserves in the country even if the process takes a decade to complete.

Around 48,000 families are to be relocated from the core tiger areas for which the Centre has provided Rs 600 crore. The relocation is, however, moving slowly due to resistance from the villagers.

“The villagers have to be relocated to protect tigers," Ramesh told forest officials and NGO representatives from tiger reserves around the country. “For that, the villagers will have to be convinced that the deal being offered is good.”

Most forest officials are convinced the deal being offered is beneficial both for tigers and villagers. “Around 70 per cent of villagers in Sariska and Ranthambore have agreed to move out of core tiger areas,” said R.N. Mehrotra, Chief Conservator of Forest, Rajasthan.

Although Rajasthan is ahead of other states in the relocation process, finding land to resettle the villagers is still a challenge for the state government. Most of the NGOs representatives at the two-day national consultation on relocation said there was no transparency in implementation of the process. “The guidelines for relocation have not been provided in local languages. In most cases, it is in either English or Hindi,” said a NGO representative.

But Sariska, which lost all its tigers in 2004, has been able to relocate most of the villagers and is ready to get a tiger couple by mid-July.

“As soon as there is soon rain, we will relocate the tigers from Ranthambore,” Mehrotra said.HT Correspondent

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Won-t-force-villagers-out-of-tiger-reserves/Article1-562764.aspx

Good news from Palamau: Tiger count now up to six

A report prepared by the Hyderabad Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has ascertained the exact number of tigers in the Palamau Tiger Reserve, Jharkhand, to be six.

The report was based on DNA analysis of scat samples collected from inside the reserve area of 1026 sq km, between June 2008 and July 2009.

The samples were from Mahuadhand, Brawagarha, Baresand and Betla areas of the reserve, which are considered a Naxal stronghold.

In fact, the wildlife department had approached CCMB to conduct the DNA analysis after the Wildlife Institute of India did not find any sign of tigers in the survey carried out in 2008. Also there had been no tiger sighting in the reserve since 2007. In this backdrop, the findings of the CCMB have generated hope among the environmentalists that the big cat is not extinct here.

“Three incidents of poaching and six incidents of Naxal violence were reported between 2006 and 2009. The need of the hour is to reclaim the reserve from the hold of poachers and Naxals,” said Ashok Bhagat, who is associated with Van Rakhsha Samiti, Palamau.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Good-news-from-Palamau--Tiger-count-now-up-to-six/637778

CBI probe ordered into seizure of tiger parts in Guwahati

The government has ordered a CBI probe into the seizure of 20 kg of tiger parts and skeletons worth Rs 5 crore from Guwhati airport, which were allegedly meant for flourishing traditional medicine market in China and Far East Asia.

Environment and Forest Minister Jairam Ramesh has directed a CBI investigation while expressing concern that Guwhati in the Northeast has become a major hub for smugglers to tranship wildlife products to neighbouring countries, as indicated by frequent seizures.

Rajesh Gopal, member secretary of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), said, "It is a serious issue having national and international ramifications. CBI has been asked to probe into backward and forward linkages thread-bare in the case."

Since the seizure was made by the Customs Department, the Centre considered the case fit for CBI investigation instead of handing it over to Assam government.

The huge haul of tiger parts recently as well also a few months ago from the airport has put a question mark on the country-wide conservation measures being initiated to save the big cat in forests.

"Untill the poachers are reined in and demand for tiger parts is curbed, the big cats in forests would remain vulnerable, notwithstanding various steps taken for its safety.

"This is perhaps the biggest seizure of tiger parts in recent times," Gopal added.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/CBI-probe-ordered-into-seizure-of-tiger-parts-in-Guwahati/Article1-562115.aspx

Tiger kills man in Uttar Pradesh

A tiger killed a man in a village adjoining a forest area in Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh, an official said Thursday.

The partially eaten body of Bulakiram, 55, was recovered Wednesday evening from the fields on the outskirts of Akora village, which is near Deuriya area of the Pilibhit forest reserve.

'Pugmarks found at the site indicate that the man was attacked by a male, adult tiger,' said Divisional Forest Officer V.K. Singh.

'Significantly, the Deuriya area of the forest reserve is not considered as tigers' territory. Field investigations carried out following the incident now indicate that two tigers are present in Deuriya,' Singh told IANS over telephone from Pilibhit, some 250 km from Lucknow.

Bulakiram had left his house Tuesday to collect wood and had been missing since then.

It's the third such incident in the district in the last two months.

As per the last census, Pilibhit forest reserve was home to 36 tigers.

http://sify.com/news/tiger-kills-man-in-uttar-pradesh-news-national-kgylabibihg.html

Big cat was a tourist puller at Tadoba this summer

NAGPUR: Notwithstanding the scorching summer heat, wild life lovers and tourists made a beeline this summer at the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in Chandrapur breaching previous highs of daily gate entries.

The TATR field office recorded a phenomenal 40% rise in the tourist-flow at Tadoba in 2009-10 over the previous year, with more than a lakh visitors generating a revenue of Rs26.86 lakh on account of the entry fee. What's more, officials say, even in a particularly warm summer, the number of tourists flooding TATR actually shot up in April and May, all because of the certainty in
sighting of tigers this time around.

More than 30,000 tourists flooded Tadoba in April and May 2010 at an average 578 tourists entering the reserve every day in more than 80 vehicles. The 2008-09 fiscal saw 68,183 tourists enter TATR, while the 2009-10-season drew in 103,693 tourists, almost a three-fold rise as compared to 2002-03-season when only 30,951 tourists came to the pristine forests of Tadoba, according to the TATR field office data.

Officials say the TATR is becoming popular across the country now. The private and government-run resorts around Tadoba also did a brisk business this season, they said.

“Because of easy sightings of tigers, tourist flow increased this year,” Sanjay Thakare, the TATR field director said. “Liberal publicity in the media too helped fuel the tourist interest and curiosity.”

The summer followed one of the worst meteorological droughts this year, and the wild animals in the Tadoba forests were mainly dependent on the man-made water holes, officials said.

The increased tourist flow came with some obvious problems though. Tourists, say forest officials, are not sufficiently educated in the dos and don’ts of forest tourism. “They forget that it’s not recreational; you are actually disturbing the wild life if you create a ruckus and noise in their territory,” Thakare said.

There were incidents when officials had to fine and warn some tourists to behave inside Tadoba.

Top forest officials and wild life conservationists in Chandrapur are of the view that there should be restrictions in the tourist movement in the TATR, which remains one of the important tiger conservation foci of the authorities. For some reasons, unlike other national parks and sanctuaries that remain closed for tourists during monsoon, the TATR is kept open for tourists during the four rainy months.

“Tourism for us is a secondary issue,” an official said. “Our priority is conservation but people forget that and instead complain that we stop them from going in. But if we don’t conservation efforts will suffer.”

http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_big-cat-was-a-tourist-puller-at-tadoba-this-summer_1399872

Now, solar lamps near tiger reserve

PATNA: Residents of Khairahni and Majuraha villages located near Harnatar range of Bihar’s Valmiki Tiger Reserve are set to enjoy brighter evenings. Courtesy, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), these villagers would soon have access to solar lanterns which they can hire at nominal rates.

TERI under its ‘Lighting a billion lives’ has decided to set up solar charging points in the said villages with each point to have 60 solar lanterns which villagers could hire.

One from among villagers would be given the responsibility of running the charging points which would also provide facility for mobile charging. While part of the income from these points would be used for maintenance work, the remaining work would be given to the person who would run these charging points, TERI research associate Jarnail Singh, who is looking after the project being implemented in many tiger reserves across the country, told TOI over phone on Tuesday.

TERI has entered into agreement with different organisations working in these tiger reserves, for implementing the project, and in case of Valmiki, it has roped in services of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) for implementing the project.

“This project is going to be very helpful in reducing incidents of man-animal conflict as the bright light of solar lanterns, which would be used by the villagers, would work as deterrent for wild animals as these animals avoid coming close to bright light,” WTI assistant manager Samir Kumar Sinha said.

He said provision of light during evening hours would also allow villagers to use their evening hours in productive work, which in turn, would help reduce their dependence on forest.

TERI also plans to use this project as a means of awareness generation for conserving flora and fauna among residents living in and around tiger reserves. Those manning the solar charging points, who would be called ‘Prakash Dut’, would be trained for this purpose, Singh said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/Now-solar-lamps-near-tiger-reserve/articleshow/6080571.cms

Pench guards burn tiger cub’s carcass

Even before the controversy over the recent killing of a tigress in the Bandhavgarh tiger reserve of Madhya Pradesh had died down, the shocking incident of burning of a tiger cub’s carcass in Pench tiger reserve has come to light from the State.

Four tiger pads have been recovered and three forest chowkidars with the Chairman of the Eco-development Society (constituted by the Forest department) have been arrested under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The incident has been confirmed by the Chief Conservator of Forests, in-charge of territorial Chindwara circle, G Krishnamurthy.

The sources told The Pioneer that a tigress was seen moving with her three cubs in the reserve for past few months. But, since last month, one cub was found missing. “We had no clue as to what had happened to the six-month-old predator, however it was learnt that the latter had died and the carcass burnt to wipe out any evidence,” they said.

Shockingly, the heinous act was allegedly committed by the very protectors of the reserve — the three chowkidars and the Chairman of the local committee. But before burning the body, they chopped off the pad/feet of the cub. Shockingly, the pads were to be used for performing certain tantrik ritual, which they believed would make them wealthy.

Nitin Desai, Environmentalist and Central India Director of Wild Life Protection Society of India, has expressed shock, saying, “How could the Forest department get hoodwinked like this? The cub dies, its carcass burnt, the pads chopped off and that too by its own men and the authorities do not seem to be aware, when all these were happening?”

Confirming the incident, Krishnamurthy said the department has recovered some bones and part of the tiger skin from the burnt remains. He, however, said that the animal had “died a natural death due to weakness”.

Sources said department officials during their patrolling found the cub near a water body away from its mother. Noting its critical condition, the officials had directed the chowkidars to keep a watch on the animal. However, after two days, they reported that the cub was no longer there and that it had been taken back by its mother.

The officials got wind of the incident after a priest had been called by the chowkidars to their camp to perform a tantrik ritual using cub pads, said the CCF.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/264283/Pench-guards-burn-tiger-cub’s-carcass.html

Proved: Siblings sent to mate in Sariska

Almost a year after the Hindustan Times expose (Rajasthan govt sent tiger siblings to repopulate Sariska, June 29, 2009), a National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) report has finally admitted that DNA tests conducted by Bangalore-based National Centre of Biological Sciences (NCBS) found the big cats to be siblings.

The HT investigation exposed how, between June 2008 and February 2009, two sisters and their half-brother were picked up arbitrarily from Ranthambore and sent to Sariska. Siblings often find it difficult to breed and when they do, it leads to acute inbreeding depression. In spite of regular mating, the Sariska tigers have so far failed to breed.

This January, the NTCA ordered DNA tests on tigers of Ranthambore and Sariska, to ascertain breeding compatibility before shifting any more of them and commissioned a field study by Aparajita Datta, member, NTCA, and AJT Johnsingh, former professor, Wildlife Institute of India.

Referring to the Hindustan Times investigation in their report submitted earlier this month, Datta and Johnsingh observed: "The media report is correct in saying the genetic analysis should have been conducted prior translocation to assess the relatedness of the animals when establishing a new population."

The report further noted: "From the three scat samples meant to be of the three different individual tigers now in Sariska…male and female have been found to be highly related suggesting that they are…siblings."

Rajasthan forest department has all along claimed that the two Sariska tigresses were half-siblings born to the same mother but the male tiger sent to Sariska was unrelated to them.

Meanwhile, though NCBS received scat sample for DNA tests from Ranthambhore only last week, the NTCA has decided to translocate two big cats that have moved out of the national park to adjoining under-protected forests.

“The scientific studies will continue but we need to urgently shift these two tigers -- a male in Kela Devi sanctuary and a female near Kota. Their future is anyway uncertain in these disturbed forests and they will get a second chance in Sariska," said Dr Rajesh Gopal, member-secretary, NTCA.

However, as Sariska is scheduled to receive its fourth tiger on July 4, after a 15 month moratorium, the state forest officials are again looking to take the easy way out.

"The NTCA plan is commendable. But the field officers have been trying to tranquilize those two tigers for quite some time without success. Wary, now they are seeking to widen their options by randomly targeting easy tigers from inside the national park," said Fateh Singh Rathore, ex-conservator, Ranthambhore.

An agency report on Sunday quoted a senior state forest official as saying that NTCA-appointed experts Datta and Johnsingh had submitted a list of 10 probable tigers in Ranthambore, of which two would be picked for translocation. "As only two tigers have to be shifted, the wide choice of ten tigers would prevent a delay in executing the big cat relocation plan," the official was quoted anonymously.

However, the report submitted by Datta and Johnsingh noted that the state forest officials themselves furnished a list of 9-12 tigers they deemed fit for relocation. The experts explicitly pointed out that they were "unable to comment on the suitability of most of these animals" and that there was "limited scientific information available…to make decisions based on objective scientific criteria".

Their report, therefore, recommended capturing only the two animals outside the national park and warned against selecting any other individual without determining their (genetic) relatedness.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Proved-Siblings-sent-to-mate-in-Sariska/Article1-561269.aspx

Haul raises spectre of tiger poaching in NE

Guwahati, June 21: Forest officials in the Northeast are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping that the upcoming tiger census will throw up a larger count of the big cats.

The 2005-08 estimate had pegged the tiger population in Assam at 70.

Sources said though there was no confirmed case of poaching of tigers in Assam, the situation in the Northeast’s other tiger reserves was not that too rosy.

Three tiger reserves in the region have been graded as “poor”. These are the ones at Manas in Assam, Dampa in Mizoram and Namdapha in Arunachal Pradesh.

Tiger reserves at Kaziranga in Assam and Pakke in Arunachal Pradesh have earned “good” status tag while the one in Nameri in Assam has been graded “satisfactory”.

The grading is done by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

The latest haul of tiger bones by the customs has aggravated fear that the tigers are being hunted. Guwahati customs recently seized 10.2kg skulls and bones of full-grown tigers.

“There is some network and support in the protected area but once out, the tigers are at risk,” Rajesh Gopal, a member secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, told this correspondent.

“Once they stray out from Kaziranga to Karbi Anglong, all animals face threats,” Firoz Ahmed of Aaranyak, an NGO, said. During floods, many animals seek refuge in the highlands in Karbi Anglong and adjacent reserve forests like Panbari, Bagser and Kukurakata close to the park’s boundary.

Chief wildlife warden, Assam, Suresh Chand, said there had not been any instance of confirmed tiger poaching in the state.

The executive director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India, Belinda Wright, said there was admiration for the authorities of Kaziranga for the protection measures initiated by them, but little could be done when the animals venture out of the safe zones.

“Tiger poaching is done surreptitiously and it is difficult to track the people who are in this trade,” Wright says, adding that one must not forget Sariska and Panna national parks. In a recent incident of straying, a tiger was spotted in Upper Assam after killing two persons. It was later rehabilitated in Manas National Park.

An official of Kaziranga National Park said: “It is not easy for the poachers to target tigers here unlike the rhinos. The thick grasses of the national park are a deterrent.”

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100622/jsp/northeast/story_12590476.jsp

400 families to be relocated from Corbett tiger reserve

The government has granted Rs. 25 crore for relocating 181 Gujjar families from the core regions of the Corbett Tiger Reserve.

Over a period of time, a total of 400 families would be relocated to avoid man-animal conflicts in the reserve, a release by the Ministry of Environment and Forests said.

The government also planned to set up an Indira Gandhi Interpretation and Learning Centre near the reserve at a cost of Rs. 5 crore by the end of next year, it said.

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/national/article477855.ece#

Bihar skips save-tiger meet

PATNA: Bihar government, it appears, gives a damn to issues concerning wildlife. Had it not been the case, the government would not have chosen to skip the three-day meeting convened by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to review the tiger protection strategy.

On April 10, NTCA officials discussed the issue with forest officials of northern and north-eastern states. Central region states' forest officials shared their views on April 11 and on the last day on April 12, it was the turn of those coming from the southern states.

The meeting assumes significance for Bihar as its only tiger reserve, the Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR), has seen a gradual decline in the number of big cats since it came into existence in 1989-90. At the time of its creation, it was home to an estimated 81 tigers. The figure came down to 53 in 1997. According to the latest census conducted in 2006, VTR has between seven to 13 tigers only. A suspected case of poisoning of a tiger was reported from the reserve as early as last month.

"All the other sixteen states, which have one or more tiger reserves, sent their representatives but Bihar didn't," an NTCA official, preferring anonymity, told TOI over phone on Monday. He said the matter would be taken up with the state government.

When contacted, Bihar's environment and forest department principal secretary Jayaram Lal Meena told TOI the chief wildlife warden (CWW) and the director of VTR did seek permission for attending the meeting. "The permission could not be granted due to unavoidable reasons," Meena said and added while the CWW was changed just few days before the meeting, the application of VTR's project director could not be processed in time.

He, however, said the state would be in constant touch with the NTCA to seek guidelines for improving the condition of the reserve.

NTCA too appears to be in a collaborative mood. "We would send the outcome of the deliberations to the state so that it could be used for the Valmiki reserve," he said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Patna/State-skips-save-tiger-meet/articleshow/6069158.cms

Sariska to get two more tigers in July

JAIPUR: The roar of the tiger is all set to get louder at Sariska Tiger Reserve with the Centre finally approving relocation of two more tigers from Ranthambore National Park. The relocation of the big cats — one male and a female — is likely to take place on July 4.

According to forest officials, though the tentative dates for the relocation has been fixed for July 4, attempts for the same will begin from July 1 itself.

Sariska, as of now, has two female and a male tiger which were airlifted from Ranthambore between July 2008 and early 2009. However, further relocation attempts were put on hold after a few wildlife experts expressed fears that relocating the big cats without testing the genes to see if they belong to the same family might prove disastrous.

“An expert team comprising Aparajita Dutta from the National Wildlife Conservation Trust and AJT John Singh, former professor of the Wildlife Trust of India, has been camping at Ranthambore since long. In fact, it is in response to a letter written by Dutta on the rising pressure in Ranthambore due to the increasing population of big cats that the Centre has finally agreed to relocate transient tigers from there to Sariska,” said Ram Lal Jat, forest minister.

Officials of the state forest department said that DNA testing will continue alongside with relocation as it takes a lot of time. “The scats have been collected and sent for DNA testing. In this relocation, our prime objective would be to shift the two tigers which have strayed out of Ranthambore to Kota and Kailadevi. But in case we fail to locate them on that day, we will shift other identified tigers,” said an official.

Two tigers — a female, T-37 and a male, T-47 — had strayed away from the Ranthambore reserve earlier this year and have refused to come back so far. Forest officials have been maintaining a watch on them and trying to bring them back to the reserve. .

“We will try to shift distant animals so as not to affect the gene pool but even if the relocated animals are related in any way, we will try to correct it by relocating tigers from some other zone sometime later. There is, however, no question of incompatibility as the tigers from Ranthambore to be relocated are healthy,” he said. So far, nearly 10 tigers have been identified in the Ranthambore reserve for relocation, of which two will be chosen on that day.

Meanwhile, permissions like that for the use of a helicopter for airlifting the tiger have already been taken and researchers from Wildlife Institute of India and state forest department are camping in Sariska, keeping a track of identified tigers.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Jaipur/Sariska-to-get-two-more-tigers-in-July/articleshow/6073185.cms

NTCA, state officials to visit Tiroda

NAGPUR: Finally, Tiroda could see some hectic activities. A six-member joint committee of top state officials and National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) will visit Tiroda on June 22 to inspect 163.84 hectare forest land proposed to be diverted for Adani Power Maharashtra Limited (APML) for its power plant.

NTCA, a statutory body under the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), has expressed concern over diversion of the forest land as it forms the corridor between 257 sq km Pench Tiger Reserve in Nagpur and 152 sq km Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary in Gondia. The panel will study the impact of land diversion on wildlife, particularly tigers.

NTCA will be represented by wildlife conservationist Kishor Rithe. On the direction of P B Gangopadhyay, additional director general of forests (forest conservation), chief wildlife warden, A K Joshi constituted a committee under him on June 11.

The other members of the panel are chief conservator of forests (CCF) for wildlife, Nandkishore, as member-secretary; CCF for Nagpur territorial circle, Krishna Mohan; deputy conservator of Gondia, Mukesh Ganatra and Prafulla Bhamburkar of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) as members. A meeting will also be held to discuss the issue at Bhandara at 10 am. The visit will follow thereafter.

Two separate offences - one on May 16 and another on June 4 - have already been registered by Tiroda RFO against Adani Power for violating the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) 1980 by digging huge trenches in survey number 163 in Mendipur, in the proposed forest land sought by Adani. However, permission has not been granted to divert the land as it forms part of the tiger corridor.

The APML was granted environment clearance for setting up a 1,320 mw (660mw x 2) coal-based thermal power project in Tiroda on May 29, 2008. The proposal was exempted from public hearing as it is located in the MIDC area. However, while according environmental clearance to the project, one of the conditions was to submit a plan for conservation of fauna reported in the study area. This was to be done in consultation with the wildlife department within three months and was to be implemented effectively.
Shockingly, the plan has not been submitted even after the lapse of 15 months. The company agreed to follow the condition only after August 14, 2009, that too because of CCF (Central), Bhopal, A K Rana’s visit to Nagpur.

Documents sought under the RTI Act show that APML had applied for expansion of another 660 mw project for which another 192 hectare land was needed. Of this, 163.84 hectare is forest land. The MoEF on September 10, 2008, prescribed terms of reference (TOR) for preparing the draft EIA report for the expansion project.

The conditions of the TOR include whether the project is within ten kilometre of the sanctuary or falls in the migratory route; details of flora and fauna duly authenticated to be followed by a conservation plan. The company submitted a conservation plan, but CCF (wildlife) has picked up many flaws in it saying it was prepared without studying the impact area. The CCF (territorial), Nagpur, has already submitted the APML expansion project falls within the ten kilometre of the Nagzira sanctuary.

“Since phase I and phase II are located at the same place, the impact of these projects in the study area and subsequent mitigative measures need to be studied taking them together along with the further expansion of the power project. Unless the environmental clearance is accorded to the said project, forest clearance under the FCA should also be kept in abeyance,” the report submitted to chief wildlife warden by the CCF states.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Nagpur/NTCA-state-officials-to-visit-Tiroda/articleshow/6073237.cms

Tiger bones and pangolin scales seized in Assam

Guwahati, Jun 20 (PTI) Around 10 kg of tiger bones and 500 kg of pangolin scales, worth crores of rupees, were seized from Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport here in the past few days, forest officials said today.

Custom department's sleuths seized a consignment of over 300 kg of pangolin scales last night, they said.

On June 17, two bags containing ten kg of tiger bones and nearly 200 kg of pangolin scales were seized from the airport, they said, adding two persons have been arrested in this connection.

Both the consignments were meant to be sent to West Imphal via Dimapur.

The value of pangolin scale is estimated to be around Rs 70,000 per kg, while ten gms of tiger bone fetches about USD 200 in the international market, customs department officials said.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/729695_Tiger-bones-and-pangolin-scales-seized-in-Assam

Full-grown tiger skeletal seized in Guwahati

A full-grown tiger skeletal and pangolin scales worth Rs.2 crore meant to be smuggled to China was seized from Assam's international airport, a senior official said here Friday. The products were intercepted Wednesday and Thursday in two separate consignments sent from Dimapur in Nagaland to Guwahati through government-owned postal service. 'The consignments -- 320 kg of Pangolin scales and a tiger skeleton -- were booked in Dimapur and sent through the Railway Mail Service to Guwahati. It was meant to be sent to Imphal (in Manipur) by an Air India flight,' North East Customs Commissioner S.R. Baruah told IANS. He said the consignments were all neatly packed in cartons and wrapped in multiple layers of Hessian clothes. Baruah said the packets, according to intelligence inputs, were meant to be smuggled to Myanmar from Manipur and finally into China. 'Tiger bones are largely smuggled to China for use in traditional medicines, fashion and high-end products,' Belinda Wright of the Wildlife Protection Society of India told IANS over telephone from New Delhi. She said most of the wildlife animals were smuggled out to China through Jaigaon in West Bengal via eastern Nepal. 'There is a 'good density of tigers' in Kaziranga Park (Assam) and Pakke Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh but no proper survey of tiger population in the northeast has been conducted,' Wright said. A kilo of Pangolin scale is worth about Rs.60,000 while a gram of crushed Tiger bone costs almost Rs.1,000 in the international market. The modus operandi used by the smugglers has made the customs authorities to work out its strategy afresh.

http://sify.com/news/full-grown-tiger-skeletal-seized-in-guwahati-news-national-kgstEehbhjc.html

No African safari in tiger parks

NEW DELHI: The Union environment and forest ministry has rejected a move by the tourism lobby to turn parts of tiger reserves and reserved forests into exclusive enclaves for high-end tourism.

The environment and forest ministry has decided to nip the proposal in the bud, which emanated from Madhya Pradesh, with the tourism lobby asking that a patch of forest reserve be handed over to them to run as a South Africa-style safari where rich tourists can be catered. While the Madhya Pradesh government forest department had supported the proposal pushed by a group of tour companies — Travel Operators for Tigers — the union ministry has rejected it.

The tourism lobby was keen to go beyond the one case of Madhya Pradesh and wanted a policy change to assist such exclusive enclaves in forest areas all over the country. They had demanded a national experts conference on the issue to promoted their proposal. That too, the union environment and forests ministry has refused to entertain.

Sources in the ministry said that the existing wildlife protection regulations do not provide for such commercial activities in the name of conservation so it had rejected the MP proposal as well as the demand to hold consultations on a policy change.

The pressure from the tourism lobby to open up forests to the lucrative ‘wildlife tourism’ comes even after PM Manmohan Singh, as chair of the National Board for Wildlife, had written to select states asking that the chief ministers intervene to reduce tourism pressure on high profile tiger reserves.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/No-African-safari-in-tiger-parks/articleshow/6056948.cms

VTR plans awareness tour for villagers

PATNA: Having lost a tiger and a leopard in incidents of man-animal confrontation in the recent past, officials of Bihar's Valmiki Tiger Reserve (VTR) are working out a plan to make locals aware about the importance of preserving the wild animals.

For this, they have decided to take a group of villagers, to be selected from amongst members of 87 eco development committees functioning in the villages located in the vicinity of VTR, either to the Jim Corbett or Kanha Tiger Reserve.

The villagers, during their visit to either of these two tiger reserves, would be shown that how the forest and wild animals have become a major source of income for locals. Both these tiger reserves attract a large number of tourists every year which leads to pumping of crores of rupees in the local economy.

"We intend to send a group of about two dozen local villagers on the exposure visit so that they could themselves be witness to the fact that how the reserve can be a very good means of livelihood for them and that too without damaging the flora and fauna of the VTR," reserve director J P Gupta told TOI. He added that a proposal in this regard would soon be sent to the state government for approval.

As has been the trend in the past, the locals have been largely dependent on the forest resources for their livelihood. This has been a matter of concern because this dependence has adversely affected the conservation and protection moves in and around the VTR. So much so, that in some extreme cases villagers have even taken recourse to retaliatory measures against the wild animals treating them as a threat to their and their's cattle lives.

"The exposure visit to other tiger reserves where locals are earning healthy sums due to promotion of eco-tourism would certainly help in overcoming such feelings and also help in inculcating a feeling of responsibility among locals towards protecting the forest and wild animals," Gupta said.

The VTR director said a group of reserve's field personnel from the rank of forest guards to range officers would also be sent on such exposure visits.

"Protection measures taken by field personnel of other tiger reserves and their role as facilitators for tourists visiting the reserves are the two main aspects we want our field personnel to learn during the exposure visit," he said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Patna/VTR-plans-awareness-tour-for-villagers/articleshow/6052665.cms

Judge's securitymen flout forest rules

NAGPUR:In an unprecedented incident, policemen escorting a judge of Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court were imposed a fine of Rs 500 each for going wild in Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary in Gondia district on Sunday. Sources said Justice R M Borde and his wife were on a visit to Nagzira on Sunday.

As per norms, Borde was granted security by Gondia and Bhandara district police. Before starting for morning forest safari, Borde had strictly asked securitymen to stay back at ‘Nilay' guest house where he was putting up. After Borde and his wife left in a forest department vehicle, the securitymen defied his orders and went for a safari of their own in their vehicles. Around 9 am, the cops in two Tata Sumo vehicles sighted a male tiger between ‘Nilay' and water hole number one.

The tiger was hardly 60 feet away from the road Eyewitnesses said the cops were so excited by this that some of them got out of their vehicles and headed towards the animal. Some tourists in other vehicles following them asked the cops to get back, but they did not listen. A section of tourists told TOI, some policemen also hurled stones at the tiger. Disturbed, the tiger disappeared from the spot. The 10 policemen included driver of Justice Borde.

Under the Wildlife Protection Act (WPA) 1972, firearms are strictly prohibited inside the protected area. Authorised guides are compulsory with each vehicle and one cannot get down from vehicles except at designated places. Violation of these rules invites prosecution under the Act. The securitymen were not accompanied by any guide, it is learnt.

Spotlight on tigers makes poachers shift to leopards

With the dwindling tiger population, poachers are increasingly on the prowl for the country’s other big cat. And if figures are anything to go by, the leopard will soon beat the tiger in the extinction race.

More than 70 leopards were killed across the country in the first three months of this year. And as many as 290 leopards were killed last year, nearly twice as many as the 157 in 2008 according to records available with the Wildlife Protection Society of India.

But wildlifers said the figure could be higher. Some say that up to 500 leopards are killed yearly in India, which has an estimated population of around 8,000 leopards.

“Poachers have shifted focus to leopards because they are near-perfect substitutes for tigers’s body parts,” said wildlife activist Jaswant Singh Kalair.

In UP, for example, poaching has not been restricted to a single region. Dudhwa National Park and its extended territories are the most affected.

Wildlife activists have demanded a dedicated conservation programme — on the lines of Project Tiger — for leopards. But so far, forest authorities have not taken any initiative.

“Like Project Tiger, a dedicated conservation programme for leopards is a must. Poaching of leopards needs to be checked to ensure they don’t face extinction,” said another activist.

A leopard skin sells for Rs 25,000 in the local black market. In big cities, the price goes up to Rs 50,000 and in the international market, it can fetch Rs 100,000.

Poison deaths

Nearly 30 leopards have died in Maharashtra this year, most of them by drinking water poisoned by villagers to “punish” the cats for wandering into human habitations. The human-animal conflict has dented efforts of authorities working for protection of the species in the state.

Fifteen deaths were reported in Vidarbha, mostly from the forests of Chandrapur and Gadchiroli. Four leopards were killed in Buldhana district in the last two weeks.

With its habitat degraded, the leopard wanders into human settlements and attacks cattle, dogs, goats and sometimes even humans. This results in outraged villagers bludgeoning the animal to death.

Wildlife activists insist on the need to educate villagers. “We are conducting awareness programmes in the forest villages to minimise the conflict,” said A.K. Joshi, state wildlife warden and principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife).

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Spotlight-on-tigers-makes-poachers-shift-to-leopards/Article1-556027.aspx