Kawal Sanctuary notified as Tiger Reserve

Express News Service HYDERABAD: Much to the delight of animal-lovers and environmentalists, the state government on Tuesday notified the Kawal Wildlife Sanctuary in Adilabad district as Tiger Reserve. About 893 sqkm of the wildlife sanctuary has been notified as core area, while another 1,123 sqkm area has been declared buffer zone for the tiger reserve. Each tiger reserve has a core area where no development activity is allowed and the buffer zone also has restrictions on the developmental works. Though the Centre gave its nod for the tiger reserve in June last year, it was delayed due to various reasons. Kawal is the 42nd tiger reserve in the country. By declaring Kawal a tiger reserve, the government expects an increase in the number of tigers, especially in central Indian landscape. Currently, the wildlife sanctuary has about 20 tigers as per an unofficial count. India's tiger population has increased from 1,411 in 2006 to 1,706 in 2010 but their habitat area shrunk by about 22 per cent. With the earning of 'Tiger reserve' tag, the Kawal Sanctuary will be provided more funds through the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to help Kawal grow as a tiger habitat. Better security will be provided to bring down poaching and felling of trees that would help in improving herbivorous population leading to better tiger breeding. The main objective for the declaration of Kawal Tiger Reserve is ''to protect, restore, manage and maintain representative biodiversity of Deccan plateau of Sahyadri Mountain Ranges along with ecological processes and conservation of wild gene pool with a focus on Tiger." Kawal Tiger Reserve represents the typical floral and fauna of the Deccan Plateau. The reserve with dense Teak (Tectona grandis) and bamboo (Dendrocalmus strictus) forests is enriched with 673 other species of plants. It is also abode for a variety of wild animals including 23 insect species, 10 species of amphibians, 34 reptile species, 267 bird species and 75 species of mammals like Royal Bengal Tiger, Gaur, wild dog and Sloth bear. http://ibnlive.in.com/news/kawal-sanctuary-notified-as-tiger-reserve/247688-60-114.html

Madhya Pradesh: a decade full of tiger deaths and just two convictions?

MAHIM PRATAP SINGH A view of the Panna Tiger Reserve. File photo: R. Sreenivasa Murthy Madhya Pradesh, once famous as the “tiger state”, lost 453 tigers over the last decade. And how many culprits did the state government manage to bring to book? Just two. Recently accessed documents reveal only two cases of tiger poaching reached the logical conclusion of conviction. Sample the facts: according to the tiger conservation programme “Project Tiger”, the tiger population in Madhya Pradesh in 2001-02 stood at 710. However, the 2011 tiger census revealed there were only 257 tigers left in the State's six tiger reserves — Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Panna, Bori-Satpura, Sanjay Dubri, and Pench. This means the State lost 453 tigers between 2001 and 2011. Yet, the State forest department could manage only two convictions during this period, as of March 2012. According to information accessed by wildlife activist Ajay Dube under the Right to Information act, two cases of tiger poaching were punished with three years rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs. 10,000 each. While one of the cases was from the Umaria forest division that covers the Bandhavgarh tiger reserve, the other was from the Sehora division covering the Kanha Tiger Reserve. Besides the two convictions for tiger poaching, the forest department got three convictions for the poaching of four leopards in three separate cases. The decadal decline in the big cat population in the state is alarming. At 453, it is almost half the number of tigers lost globally (1069) over the last decade (2000 to 2010), according to a recent report by TRAFFIC international, a wildlife trade monitoring network (http://www.traffic.org/species-reports/traffic_species_mammals60.pdf) “The prosecution is so weak that poachers have no fear of the law and they know that they would eventually get away,” says wildlife activist Ajay Dube. Last year's census figures resulted in Madhya Pradesh losing the “Tiger state” sobriquet to Karnataka, which recorded over 300 big cats. Madhya Pradesh's tiger conservation efforts were exposed for the first time in 2009, when it was suddenly revealed that Panna, one of the State's premier tiger reserves, had lost its entire big cat population. Later, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan faced fire from conservationists after he announced there would be no buffer zone for the Panna Tiger Reserve and that the proposed Ratapani Tiger Reserve would not be established as both developments would cause the displacement of a large number of people. However, official sources have repeatedly confirmed to The Hindu that both developments were being delayed to protect the interests of the powerful mining lobby in the two regions. Further doubts on the State's conservation efforts were cast by a confidential report of the Panna Tiger Reserve's field director, who claimed forest officials were acting in collusion with poachers, thus maintaining a consistent threat to the revival of tiger population in the reserve. http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/article3287696.ece

Tiger carcass found 10 days after death

HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times Dehradun, April 08, 2012 Forest officials recovered the carcass of a 10-year-old male tiger at the Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand on Sunday. The carcass, which seemed to be around 10 days old, was found near a drain in the Bijrani Range of the national park. Wildlife activists have accused Corbett officials of negligence and questioned the reserve’s patrolling operations. “The tiger carcass was lying near Savalde drain for 10 days and no one came to know about it. Such carelessness could have proved profitable for animal part smugglers,” said Rajendra Agarwal, state head of Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), a Delhi-based NGO. The tiger’s body parts were intact and a post-mortem carried out according to National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) protocol confirmed it was a natural death. “The possibility of poaching has been ruled out,” CK Kavidayal, deputy director the reserve, told HT. http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/Uttarakhand/Tiger-carcass-found-10-days-after-death/Article1-837559.aspx

SC orders states to notify tiger reserve buffer zone in 3 months

TNN | Apr 4, 2012, 02.15AM IST NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the state governments to demarcate and notify buffer zone around each tiger reserves within three months, an order that would regulate commercialization of revenue land around these tiger habitats to help preserve the endangered species. A bench of Justices Dalveer Bhandari and Dipak Misra passed this order after the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) informed that about 15 tiger reserves were yet to have the benefit of buffer zone to be notified by the state governments under the Wild Life (Protection) Act. The Act defines buffer zone as the area peripheral to the critical tiger habitat or core area providing supplementary habitat for dispersing tigers, besides offering scope for co-existence of human activity. The limits of the buffer/ peripheral areas are to be determined on the basis of scientific and objective criteria in consultation with the Gram Sabha and an Expert Committee constituted for the purpose. A petition by conservationist Ajay Dubey had demanded removal commercial tourism activities out of core or critical tiger habitat in the tiger reserves. The bench felt the purpose would be served by asking the states to compulsorily declare the "core" and "buffer" areas. Though many states had complied with the core area notification, the buffer zone notification was missing in key tiger reserves of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Bihar. Issuing notice to the defaulting states, the bench said, "We direct all concerned states to notify the buffer/peripheral area as required under the Act as expeditiously as possible and in all event within a period of three months." The erring tiger reserves included Ranthambore (Rajasthan), Panna (Madhya Pradesh), Sariska (Rajasthan), Dudhwa (Uttar Pradesh), Palamau (Jharkhand), Anamalai, Mudumalai and Kalakad-Mudanthurai (Tamil Nadu), Nagarhole (Karnataka), Sahyadri (Maharashtra), Valmiki (Bihar), and Pakke (Arunachal Pradesh). The Court noted that an expert committee of NTCA under the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) is expected to submit a report on framing of guidelines relating to eco-tourism in and around tiger reserves. The committee is expected to cover issues related to restrictions on tourism-related activities to be carried out in the buffer areas while keeping core tiger habitat "inviolate". NTCA's advocate Wasim A Quadri said the committee would submit a report by May 16. The matter was posted for hearing next on July 10. Welcoming the SC order, senior advocate Raj Panjwani, who was assisting as amicus curiae, said it would go a long way in protection and preservation of tiger reserves. By this order, the states were required to delineate the fringe/buffer area around the core zones of tiger reserves, and submit a tiger conservation plan as required under Section 38V of the Wild Life Protection Amendment Act, 2006, to ensure wildlife conservation while addressing the livelihood issues of local people. The buffer zone constituted of fringe areas of tiger reserve up to a radial distance of 10 km, which had in the past witnessed large scale construction of hotels, mass tourism, and night safaris - all disturbing the roaming of wild animals at night in search of corridors. The National Tiger Conservation Authority had said that the fringe areas had corridor value and their ecological sustainability was important to prevent the area from becoming ecological sinks on account of overuse of resources and unwise land use. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/developmental-issues/SC-orders-states-to-notify-tiger-reserve-buffer-zone-in-3-months/articleshow/12525438.cms

Camera trapping reveals 35 species in Namdhapa Sanctuary

Last Updated: Wednesday, April 04, 2012, 13:04 0 Tags: Namdhapa Sanctuary, Tiger reserve, Arunachal Pradesh Itanagar: Despite unabated poaching of tigers in the Namdapha Wildlife Sanctuary & Tiger Reserve in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh, a recent camera trapping exercise has revealed existence of 35 species of various animals, including tigers and leopards. The exercise was carried out by a Guwahati-based NGO Aaranyak with the logistic support provided by the NWSTR from the first week of February to March 29 last for a detailed report on tigers and their prey base animals, field director S J Jongsam said in a report. Four camp sites at Happy Valley, Hornbill Farm base with base camp at Deban were set up inside the Tiger Reserve for the purpose. Eighty cameras were installed on multiple locations in the reserve identified as potential tiger habitats covering almost 25 per cent of the total geographical area of the Tiger Reserve. “The consistent efforts of the team finally paid off when cameras sighted tiger pugmarks. Thirteen scat samples, thought to be of tiger origin, have been sent for an analysis to the genetic laboratory of Aaranyak at Guwahati,” Jongsam disclosed. The entire observation drill cost around Rs 19 lakh, which included procurement of stationeries, camp equipment, ration and payment of wages to porters who were engaged for transportation of material to the various base camps, Jongsam said. The camera trapping exercise did not go smoothly, though. On several occasions the frontline staff and members of Aaranyak were fired upon at Bulbulia and Kodboi areas and their base camps destroyed by suspected poachers. One of the major threats faced by the authorities is the organised poaching of tigers by 84 Lisu families living in the core area of the reserve. They were suspected to have fired upon a high level team led by PCCF (wildlife & biodiversity) J L Singh on February 28, besides recovery of a few iron-made Burmese traps set up all along the routes that had pug marks of tigers. They were also suspected to have stolen 24 memory cards and eight of the 80 cameras set up on a 300 square km area, Jongsam said. Jongsam said that in order to tackle the activities of miscreants and poachers and to save the tiger population and its prey base, a well-equipped and regular Tiger Protection Force is essential for the park. The reserve, having nearly 2000 sq km of area, has only about 60 employees to administer, monitor and protect it. Capacity building and equipment upgradation continue to remain key concerns of the reserve's management. Namdapha, one of India’s major biosphere reserves and a national park, came under Project Tiger in 1983 and is spread over 1,985 sq kms with a core area of 1,808 sq kms. It is the only reserve in India that is home to four big cats. The 2010 tiger census which had projected only 25 tigers 11 in NWSTR and 14 in Pakke Tiger Reserve (PTR) in East Kameng district has partially changed with PTR already recording 17 individual big cats till the last count. PTI

Lineman injured in tiger attack

TNN | Apr 3, 2012, 05.48AM IST BAHRAICH: A lineman was injured in tiger attack while clearing the signal line at Murtiha railway station under Katarniaghat wildlife sanctuary. He was admitted to railway hospital. Reporteldy Gokul Express down train number 15316 was about to arrive at Murtiha railway station from Mathura. Lineman Rauf Ahmad (56) with his colleague Jagdamba was going to the west end of the railway station to clear the signal. Jagdamba stopped in the midway for some reason while Rauf went ahead meanwhile a tiger came out of the forest and attacked on Rauf. The train also arrived there and the tiger fled to forest after hearing the horn of the train. Assistant station master Noorul Hasan was informed and Rauf was admitted to railway hospital Gonda by Gokul Express. His condition was stated to be serious. Forest ranger of Murtiha range PL Rai said that the attack of tigers was confirmed on the basis of pug marks and the injured Rauf would be provided financial relief by the forest department. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/allahabad/Lineman-injured-in-tiger-attack/articleshow/12512987.cms

Foresters beaten up by villagers in Sariska

TNN | Apr 3, 2012, 05.44AM IST ALWAR/JAIPUR: The Sariska Tiger Reserve continued to be at the receiving end of villagers agitation for the fifth day on Monday. While the gate to the reserve and resorts near it remained shut for visitors, at least four foresters were beaten by a mob of these villagers near Nangalheri under the Talvriksh range. This despite the fact that a majority of the people, protesting under the banner of the Bharatia Kisan Union, had shifted their focus to the collectorate in Alwar. Nearly 200 persons on Monday gathered near Roopbas, and after a meeting, took out a procession to the collectorate in Alwar. The gathering included a number of villagers from the periphery of the forests. They were demanding rights for registration of villagers' land and a repair of the state highway passing through the reserve. The protestors later met Alwar collector Ashutosh A.T. However, with the collector unable to meet their demands, some of the protestors decided to stay at the collectorate for the night while the remaining ones continued with their protest at the reserve. Their demands are something that has to be addressed by the Centre. The Section 20 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 prevents registration of land within forest areas and there are guidelines set by the Supreme Court that has to be complied with before the road can be repaired," said the collector. As per the orders of the Supreme Court on state highway number 13, between Bhartrahari and Thanagazi, plying of commercial vehicles is to be stopped totally and other vehicles can ply only from sunset to sunrise. Along with this, plying of all vehicles has to be stopped on state highway number 29A between Sariska and Tehla via Kalighati before any repair on the above road sections. However, the forest authorites tried to execute this order for commercial vehicles in 2009 but could not succeed due to opposition by locals. Since then the traffic has been going on unrestricted and the roads have worn out. "None of the issues that the villagers are demanding is in our hands. For registration of land, the law has to be changed. And so it is useless that the villagers protest in this manner and block the gates to the reserve inconveniencing tourists to it. Most unreasonable is the fact that four of my people were beaten up. We are lodging an FIR in this regard," said RS Shekhawat, field director, Sariska. But be that as it may, Bhupat Baliya, who is leading the agitation, warned, "If our demands are not met we will soon bring in supporters of the union from Uttar Pradesh and intensify our stir." http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Foresters-beaten-up-by-villagers-in-Sariska/articleshow/12512944.cms

Salinity of river makes Royal Bengal tiger lose its sheen and weight

TAGS: Salinity of river makes Royal Bengal tiger lose sheen | India | Sunderban delta | West Bengal | Kolkata | South 24 Parganas district | Bangladesh A Royal Bengal tiger that had strayed being relocated to the Sunderbans. Excess of salt is bad for your health and for India's national animal as well. The once regal Royal Bengal tiger is losing its sheen - literally. And the salinity of the river water in West Bengal's Sunderban delta, which has been its home for centuries, is to be blamed for this. Recent observations by state wildlife experts have revealed serious physiological changes in this endangered cat, considered Bengal's pride. These include weight loss, shrinking size and fading lustre. Experts believe this is because of climatic change and increased salinity in the water. While the average weight of an adult Royal Bengal tiger in other parts of India is over 180kg, in the Sunderban region it has fallen to around 110kg. And it hasn't just lost weight. The length of a Sunderban tiger has come down from over 9 feet to about 8 feet. "We have noticed a huge difference in the weight of an adult Sunderban tiger as compared to other parts of the country," Pranabesh Sanyal, a retired director of the reserve forest, said. "The lustre of its coat is also fading because of the increased salinity in the river water," Sanyal, who has been working on the tiger habitation in the mangrove forest since the early 1980s, added. In 2010, the state forest department had managed to trap and weigh six tigers after they had sneaked into human habitation. The weight of all six tigers was found to be between 100 and 110kg. The tiger's weight loss is being attributed to its consumption of saline water as the number of fresh water ponds inside the core area of Sunderbans has gone down drastically because of rising salinity. Currently, the average salinity in Sunderbans is more than 21 parts per thousand (ppt), which touches 25 ppt during winter. Experts claim that the salinity level in the mangrove forest has increased 15 per cent in the last two decades. Food shortage is believed to be another reason for this weight loss. "Due to the shortage of natural fodder, a tiger has to spend more time trying to catch its prey. We have noticed a significant migration of tigers from the core area to the buffer zones because of the unavailability of food," Sanyal said. The unique feature of the Sunderban tiger is that it can swim. Located in Kolkata's neighbouring South 24 Parganas district, the Sunderbans is part of the world's largest delta formed at the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna. It is spread over a vast area of 4,262 sq km with a major portion lying in Bangladesh. The deltaic belt, which houses a vast tract of forest and saltwater swamp, is located in the lower part of the Ganges. It extends 260km along the Bay of Bengal from the Hooghly river estuary in India to the Meghna river in Bangladesh. Shanki Ranjan Banerjee, an honorary director of Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), also thinks food shortage to be one of the major reasons that the Royal Bengal tiger is losing its weight. "The tigers in the Sunderban delta are facing a shortage of natural fodder. Over a period of time we have also noticed that it is losing weight. It is also shrinking in size and losing its lustre," Banerjee said. He urged the West Bengal government to address this food shortage. "According to the records available with the World Wildlife Fund, there seemed to be very few tigers left in the Sunderbans. That means there should be enough number of boars and deer for the tigers to feed on," Banerjee added. But the reality seems to be far from truth. "I remember an interesting incident that dates back to 2009, when a Royal Bengal tiger ate a cobra and died in Netidhopani village of the Sunderbans. The post-mortem revealed that the tiger had died of snake venom. It happened only because of food shortage," Banerjee pointed out. Experts urged the West Bengal government to set up fresh water ponds inside the core area of the Sunderbans to stop tigers from drinking saline water. Currently, there is only one fresh water pond in the forest area. They feel the government should also encourage wild boar farming in the mangrove forests so that the tigers can get their food easily and don't have to wander into human habitation. Sources said there was a wild boar farm at Jharkhali village in the late 1980s. But it had to be closed down by the state forest department because of inept handling. With West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee busy making life difficult for the UPA government at the Centre, one wonders whether she would have time for the tigers. Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/salinity-river-royal-bengal-tiger-lose-sheen-weight/1/182549.html http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/salinity-river-royal-bengal-tiger-lose-sheen-weight/1/182549.html

Tiger tracking renewed after minister’s nudge

Express news service Posted: Apr 02, 2012 at 0323 hrs IST Lucknow The forest department is renewing its efforts to tranquilise a tiger in the Rehmankheda jungles near Lucknow, following instructions from Minister of State for Zoological Garden Shiv Pratap Yadav. While department officials are arranging for more equipment and help for the operation, experts are worried about the pressure the haste might exert on the beast. The officials are also in a dilemma over the best strategy to capture the big cat, which has been roaming in the forest for the past three months but without hurting humans. Yadav had visited the forest on Thursday and seen the tiger. According to a government press release Yadav had said that the people involved in the operation were not fully trained. He ordered officials to arrange for the required equipment to capture the tiger as soon as possible. The forest department is planning to call two more elephants from Dudhwa National Park to track the tiger. “We have asked for two more elephants so that the three teams, which are taking turns for round-the-clock surveillance in the forest, will have one elephant each,” said J S Asthana, Chief Wildlife Warden, UP. As of now, only one elephant in being used to traverse the forest. “We are also trying to rope in another expert from the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, but he is busy with another operation,” he said. Before this, the department had already called Nawab Shafath Ali Khan, the hunter who killed the Faizabad tigress in 2009 when she turned maneater, as well as K L Purohit, Assistant Director of Nandan Kanan Zoological Park, Orissa, for the operation but to no avail. Experts believe that three elephants might create pressure on the tiger, which has been living peacefully in the forest. This may prove detrimental as the tiger may venture out to human habitat. The department is also planning to add two more rope nets to trap the beast. The team has just one rope net, apart from three cages for the beast. “The rope net can cover a larger area, can be easily be shifted,” said a forest official. The caging, otherwise, tends to hurt the animal and makes it impossible for their returned to their original habitat. http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/tiger-tracking-renewed-after-ministers-nudge/931465/

Closed for outsiders, but minister latest visitor at tiger territory

TNN Mar 31, 2012, 03.37AM IST LUCKNOW: The tiger-tracking operation in Rahmankhera is at a stage where it has to get more concentrated and intensive. However, the presence of a minister and his entourage can always hamper the already sluggish momentum of the operation. Shiv Pratap Yadav, minister of state for zoological parks, UP, had visited Rahmankhera on Thursday. He was accompanied by his entourage too. The pictures taken at the spot show minister mounted on an elephant, with his men and tracking team, combing the area. A day after, even forest officials sound clueless as to what made the minister visit the spot, which the department has kept closed for 'outsiders'. Besides, nobody in the forest department is sure if he has the charge of wildlife. "He might have been sent by the CM," is only what highly-placed sources in the UP forest department could say about his visit. "He is a minister and can't be questioned," said sources, but at the same time, they do not deny that the spot should have least disturbance. The efforts to tranquilise and trap the tiger have been on in Rahmankhera for the last three months now. From January 9 till now, the tracking team, comprising forest officers and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) personnel, has been missing every opportunity to either tranquilise or trap the tiger. The only good thing about the entire operation is that tiger has become localised around the campus of Central Institute of Subtropical Horticulture (CISH). However, VIP visits like the one on Thursday could drive the tiger away from the spot, a possibility that forest department officials do not deny. Such visits in the area will hamper the success of the operation. The minister is still an 'outsider' to the operation, and considering that he has no expertise in wildlife, his presence at ground zero can jeopardise the safety of the humans as well as the feline. If sources are to be believed, there were shots fired in the air on Thursday to turn the tiger away from the spot where minister was present. So far, the forest department has not even allowed the staff and scientists of CISH to go close to the area where it conducts the combing operation, despite the fact that it has been hampering the work at the institute. Even the wildlife experts who have been offering help to the department in safely trapping the tiger have been kept away from the spot. But ministerial visits, even the sources in the department agree, are difficult to keep off. "In such a situation like this, if anything goes amiss, it's the tiger which will be shot down," said one of the wildlife experts, wishing not to be quoted. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-31/lucknow/31266971_1_tiger-forest-ministerial-visits

Glaring shortcomings noticed in tiger sanctuaries

Vijay Pinjarkar, TNN Mar 30, 2012, 01.42AM IST NAGPUR: Under criticism for its passive role post-inauguration, regional office of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in Nagpur is now steadily coming up. Initially set up to look after 15 tiger reserves in four states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, the Nagpur office is at present handling more than 50% tiger reserves in the country. "Of the 41 tiger reserves in India, Nagpur is looking after 25 in 10 states," said Ravikiran Govekar, assistant inspector general (AIG). As there is no official posted in Guwahati regional office yet, the 10 tiger reserves in Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam are also being looked after by city office. Nagpur NTCA office was opened by then union environment minister Jairam Ramesh and chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on April 27, 2011. The regional offices in Guwahati and Bengaluru were also opened during the same time. While opening office at Nagpur, Ramesh had promised that an inspector general (IG) would be in place along with ministerial staff of eight persons in three months but the staff has still not been appointed. "Some applications for IG's post have been received and screening process is on," said Govekar. However, he adds, lack of staff doesn't mean NTCA office here is dormant. Since July 2011, of the 25 reserves, Govekar has visited 17 and submitted evaluation reports to NTCA at Delhi. "It's very hectic and I'm out on official tours for almost 27 days in a month," says Govekar. As per norms, an AIG is required to make at least three supervisory visits in a year to each tiger reserve. The visits are basically to look into protection initiatives, surveillance, rate of wildlife crime, status of prey and predators, implementation of centrally sponsored scheme (CSS), staff position, relocation of villages, and monitor annual plan of operations (APO). Strategically, all problem reserves like Sahyadri in Maharashtra, Udanti and Indravati in Chhattisgarh and Similipal in Odisha were taken up. The visits have led to discovery of an array of good and bad management practices. During a visit to Sahyadri in October-November last, bauxite mining was observed just 800 metres from the reserve's boundary. There were two-wheelers moving inside the reserve. NTCA higher-ups have taken a serious note of these violations. Tiger reserve visits have no more remained joy tours and from the feedback of Nagpur office, NTCA at Delhi has been writing to chief wildlife wardens of the states about shortcomings and need to rectify them. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-30/nagpur/31260602_1_tiger-reserves-national-tiger-conservation-authority-tiger-sanctuaries

MP gets ready to regain lost TIGER STATE tag

SUNDAY, 01 APRIL 2012 23:56 ZAFAR ALAM KHAN HITS: 186 Good news for wildlife lovers! The tiger population in Madhya Pradesh is on rise. This central State, which is striving hard to regain its lost 'tiger State' tag, is full of reports of tiger cub births from all its corners. This has raised hopes that it would soon acquire its lost honour. There have been reports of tiger cub births from various national parks, tiger reserves and other places in the State. There are reports of over five dozen tiger cub births in the State since the last tiger census took place in 2011. The most amazing report came from the State capital where a tigress was spotted with her two cubs in Kerwa Forest on March 27 this year. It seems as if Mother Nature, too, has showered Madhya Pradesh with its blessings since it lost its label of 'tiger State' last year. After reports of tiger cub births from Panna Tiger Reserve, Kanha Tiger Reserve and Pench Tiger Reserve, good news came from unexpected quarters, the State capital where a tigress was seen roaming with her two cubs earlier this week. There have been reports of over five dozen tiger cub births from various national parks, tiger reserves and other places of the State after the last tiger census took place in 2011. Amazingly, a tigress was spotted with her two cubs in the Kerwa Forest area near the State capital, a senior forest official said. The photograph of the tigress with her two cubs was captured through the camera-trap method, Chief Conservator Forest (CCF), Bhopal Circle, SS Rajput, said, adding that some forest officials have seen the tigress with her two cubs. "Though the tigress remained elusive, images of the two cubs have been captured on cameras installed in the jungles to locate the tigress and a tiger that have frequently strayed in the area," he added. The cubs are about two-and-a-half months old. Forest officials spotted pugmarks of the cubs and the tigress around a week ago in the forests near Kerwa. Subsequently, the officials got the photos of the two cubs. Since last year, the tigress has made the Kerwa forest area her territory. It probably arrived here from the nearby Ratapani forest range, the department sources said. Rajput said that a male tiger was also roaming there and its pugmarks were also spotted in the area. Sometime back, the staff of the National Judicial Academy also saw a tiger on their campus after which an alert was sounded. Signboards were put up at various places in the forest to warn people about the presence of a tiger in the surrounding areas. It appears that the off-springs arrived after these two big cats mated probably in the month of September last year, Rajput said. The cubs are nearly two-and-a-half months old and healthy, the CCF added. Meanwhile, the Panna Reserve of the State that gained notoriety for the mysterious disappearance of its big cats is also home to tiger cubs once again, rejoicing in the success of its unique translocation experiment to revive their population. "The tiger reserve has a dozen cubs and five adult tigers since the launch of an experiment involving breeding of translocated wild cats and rehabilitation of orphaned cubs," Panna Tiger Reserve director RS Murthy said. The reserve has four female and one male tigers and all of them have adjusted well to their new environment. The number of tiger cubs in other reserves across the State is also rising. At present, Kanha Tiger Reserve has 21-23 tiger cubs while the Pench Tiger Reserve boasts of having another 21 or more. "We have 21-23 tiger cubs in different age groups wandering with their mothers in the forest," Kanha Tiger Reserve director JS Chouhan said. Kanha now has nearly 70 or more tigers in the wild, as per official figures. Pench Tiger Reserve director Alok Kumar said that in the year 2010-11, nearly 21 tiger cubs were sighted by the forest staff in different zones of the reserve. They are in the age group of 5-6 months to over one year, Kumar said. A tiger is normally considered adult when it attains the age of two-and-a-half years and also when it starts living away from its mother. The last tiger census of Madhya Pradesh stood at 257 while in Karnataka the count was 300 following which the central State lost its coveted 'tiger State' status to the southern counterpart. Madhya Pradesh objected to the figures released by the Wildlife Institute of India and National Tiger Conservation Authority after which the big cats were again recounted in Kanha tiger reserve, a senior forest official said. In order to find out the exact number of tigers in the country, the NTCA has decided to conduct tiger census every year in the tiger reserves and in other forest areas every four years, the official said. The State has Pench, Panna, Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Satpuda and Sanjay Dubri tiger reserves. After the last tiger census in 2011, the population of big cat was estimated at 1,706 in the country. According to the census, the tiger population in Madhya Pradesh dropped to 257 from 300 in 2006. There was a 12 per cent rise in the number of big cats in the country in 2011 but Madhya Pradesh lost its 'tiger State' status to Karnataka. A forest official said, "The decline in the tiger population of the State was mainly due to the loss of 24 tigers allegedly due to poaching in Panna tiger reserve which had as many striped animals in the year 2006." He also said that Kanha Tiger Reserve, too, lost more than 25 tigers. In 2006, it had 89 tigers which has now dipped to 60, according to the latest census. "But now with reports of tiger cub births coming in from various parts of the State, we are sure that very soon the State would regain its lost status," he added. The last tiger census report released on March 28 last year stated that the striped animal population has risen to 1,707 from 1,411 in 2006. A forest official said if only 50 per cent of these cubs survive Madhya Pradesh would surely be a tiger State again. Ministerspeak! Madhya Pradesh Forest Minister Sartaj Singh said that the State is and would remain a tiger State. "The census conducted by the Centre was faulty. We did not go with that and conducted our own census the findings of which could not be disclosed, this being not an official census, but we are confident that we are still a tiger State," Singh told Viva City. "After the next census, we would officially regain the tiger State tag as we have the most tigers in the country. Moreover, reports of tiger cubs births in large numbers from different parts of the State would further the cause," Singh said. http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhopal/54430-mp-gets-ready-to-regain-lost-tiger-state-tag.html

Resorts, forest dept incur losses as Sariska remains closed

TNN | Apr 2, 2012, 05.21AM IST JAIPUR: The Sariska Tiger Reserve wore a deserted look on Sunday as few tourists who turned up for sight seeing had to leave disappointed after protesting villagers didn't allow them to enter the reserve. The five day-long protest by farmers against relocation of villages from the periphery of the reserve area has hit the hospitality industry hard. The resorts around the reserve are receiving frantic mails and calls from tourists cancelling their trips. Angry villagers have even blocked the entrance to prominent hotels by placing piles of wood and stones. Unlike other Sundays when the reserve witnesses high footfall, this Sunday not a single tourist could visit the jungle. Many tourists who overstayed hoping the agitation would be called off are now planning to leave. "We are incurring huge losses daily. Forget about advance bookings, we are running below capacity now," said an official of Hotel Tiger Den. Forest department too has been facing the heat. "On weekends, the forest attracts over 1500 visitors everyday. Under the current scenario, we are losing out on large revenue," said R S Shekhawat, field director, Sariska Tiger Reserve. The entry fee for a foreign tourist is Rs 400, while for an Indian it is Rs 50. "Since the authorities turned a deaf ear to our demands, this is the only way left to shake them. We will not allow tourist entry till our demands are not met," said Bhupat Balyan, group leader. The villagers have demanded suspension of relocation and withdrawal of a ban on purchase or sale of their land. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/Resorts-forest-dept-incur-losses-as-Sariska-remains-closed/articleshow/12499349.cms

Sighting of tiger sparks excitement

P. OPPILI “It was getting dark slowly and suddenly a roar was heard close by” It was an unexpected encounter last week for D. Abdullah, a Chennai-based software engineer, when he went to participate in a tiger census at the Grizzled Giant Squirrel Sanctuary at Srivilliputhur. He sighted a tigress along with two of her cubs. Sharing his experience on participating in the census, Mr. Abdullah said that he along with his friend Rahamadullah from Salem went to Srivilliputhur on March 23. On the first day, wildlife officials imparted training on how to conduct the census, the points to be noted, direct sighting and indirect sighting and related information. On the first day, the team with which Mr. Abdullah went for census did not see much. On the second day in the evening the team saw fresh tiger scat in one of the ranges in the Sanctuary. “Around 6.40 p.m. we followed the fresh scat, which led us to a water pool. It was getting dark slowly and suddenly a roar was heard close by. We realised that it was a tiger, which was heading close to the pool. Immediately, all the members in the team hid behind a rock.” The team was totally excited on seeing the tigress waiting to enter the waterbody. “The tigress, instead of entering the pool looked at the team members. But, we had to run away from the place as suddenly, a couple of wild elephants had come closer to the waterbody to drink water.” Shekhar Kumar Niraj, Conservator of Forests, Virudhunagar Circle, said the team, which sighted the tigress had lifted the pug mark of the animal in a plaster of Paris mould. So far there is no record of direct sighting of a tiger in the Srivilliputhur forests. With the new sighting, the authorities are planning to declare the area a tiger reserve. The Srivilliputhur Forest division is surrounded by Meghamalai in Theni Forest division on one side, Periyar Tiger Reserve, Thekkady in Kerala and Sivagiri and Puliangudi forest ranges, a portion of the Tirunelveli forest division on other sides. All these areas have to be integrated, Dr. Niraj said adding that the tiger sighting clearly indicated the availability of ecologically healthy prey base. Staff Reporter writes from Tirunelveli: The much-awaited tiger census in the Kalakkad – Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve in the Western Ghats of the district, which is likely to house around 15 big cats as per the previous survey's inference, commenced on Thursday. A total of 105 teams, each comprising volunteers and forest personnel, have been sent inside the jungles for the four-day exercise. After collecting relevant information, the enumerators will come out of the forest on April 1. To enlighten and explain to the enumerators the steps involved in tiger census, the officials conducted a training session at held at Thiruvalluvar College, Papanasam on Wednesday. A team of officials trained 185 participants from Chennai, Coimbatore, Salem and other places on direct and indirect sighting techniques during the training session. http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article3263501.ece

Closed for outsiders, but minister latest visitor at tiger territory

TNN Mar 31, 2012, 03.37AM IST LUCKNOW: The tiger-tracking operation in Rahmankhera is at a stage where it has to get more concentrated and intensive. However, the presence of a minister and his entourage can always hamper the already sluggish momentum of the operation. Shiv Pratap Yadav, minister of state for zoological parks, UP, had visited Rahmankhera on Thursday. He was accompanied by his entourage too. The pictures taken at the spot show minister mounted on an elephant, with his men and tracking team, combing the area. A day after, even forest officials sound clueless as to what made the minister visit the spot, which the department has kept closed for 'outsiders'. Besides, nobody in the forest department is sure if he has the charge of wildlife. "He might have been sent by the CM," is only what highly-placed sources in the UP forest department could say about his visit. "He is a minister and can't be questioned," said sources, but at the same time, they do not deny that the spot should have least disturbance. The efforts to tranquilise and trap the tiger have been on in Rahmankhera for the last three months now. From January 9 till now, the tracking team, comprising forest officers and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) personnel, has been missing every opportunity to either tranquilise or trap the tiger. The only good thing about the entire operation is that tiger has become localised around the campus of Central Institute of Subtropical Horticulture (CISH). However, VIP visits like the one on Thursday could drive the tiger away from the spot, a possibility that forest department officials do not deny. Such visits in the area will hamper the success of the operation. The minister is still an 'outsider' to the operation, and considering that he has no expertise in wildlife, his presence at ground zero can jeopardise the safety of the humans as well as the feline. If sources are to be believed, there were shots fired in the air on Thursday to turn the tiger away from the spot where minister was present. So far, the forest department has not even allowed the staff and scientists of CISH to go close to the area where it conducts the combing operation, despite the fact that it has been hampering the work at the institute. Even the wildlife experts who have been offering help to the department in safely trapping the tiger have been kept away from the spot. But ministerial visits, even the sources in the department agree, are difficult to keep off. "In such a situation like this, if anything goes amiss, it's the tiger which will be shot down," said one of the wildlife experts, wishing not to be quoted. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-31/lucknow/31266971_1_tiger-forest-ministerial-visits

Glaring shortcomings noticed in tiger sanctuaries

Vijay Pinjarkar, TNN Mar 30, 2012, 01.42AM IST NAGPUR: Under criticism for its passive role post-inauguration, regional office of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in Nagpur is now steadily coming up. Initially set up to look after 15 tiger reserves in four states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha, the Nagpur office is at present handling more than 50% tiger reserves in the country. "Of the 41 tiger reserves in India, Nagpur is looking after 25 in 10 states," said Ravikiran Govekar, assistant inspector general (AIG). As there is no official posted in Guwahati regional office yet, the 10 tiger reserves in Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal and Assam are also being looked after by city office. Nagpur NTCA office was opened by then union environment minister Jairam Ramesh and chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on April 27, 2011. The regional offices in Guwahati and Bengaluru were also opened during the same time. While opening office at Nagpur, Ramesh had promised that an inspector general (IG) would be in place along with ministerial staff of eight persons in three months but the staff has still not been appointed. "Some applications for IG's post have been received and screening process is on," said Govekar. However, he adds, lack of staff doesn't mean NTCA office here is dormant. Since July 2011, of the 25 reserves, Govekar has visited 17 and submitted evaluation reports to NTCA at Delhi. "It's very hectic and I'm out on official tours for almost 27 days in a month," says Govekar. As per norms, an AIG is required to make at least three supervisory visits in a year to each tiger reserve. The visits are basically to look into protection initiatives, surveillance, rate of wildlife crime, status of prey and predators, implementation of centrally sponsored scheme (CSS), staff position, relocation of villages, and monitor annual plan of operations (APO). Strategically, all problem reserves like Sahyadri in Maharashtra, Udanti and Indravati in Chhattisgarh and Similipal in Odisha were taken up. The visits have led to discovery of an array of good and bad management practices. During a visit to Sahyadri in October-November last, bauxite mining was observed just 800 metres from the reserve's boundary. There were two-wheelers moving inside the reserve. NTCA higher-ups have taken a serious note of these violations. Tiger reserve visits have no more remained joy tours and from the feedback of Nagpur office, NTCA at Delhi has been writing to chief wildlife wardens of the states about shortcomings and need to rectify them. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-30/nagpur/31260602_1_tiger-reserves-national-tiger-conservation-authority-tiger-sanctuaries

Tiger trapped in coffee estate, freed in forest

E.M. MANOJ The Hindu The released tiger bounds away into the Dottakulasi area of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. Photo: V.D. Mohandas The five-year-old male had spread panic at Krishnagiri in Kerala's Wayanad district A five-year-old male tiger that spread panic at Krishnagiri, near Meenangadi in Kerala's Wayanad district, was trapped by Forest and Wildlife Department officials in a coffee plantation on Monday. It was described by officials as a rare event in the region. A team laid a trap on Saturday evening following reports of the predator having killed a domestic animal in a hamlet inside coffee plantations on the fringes of the Chethalayath forest range under the forest division a few days ago. The forest personnel, led by P. Dhaneshkumar, Divisional Forest Officer, South Wayanad Forest Division, put the remains of a wild boar, which had been killed by the animal two days ago, in the cage as bait. The animal walked into the trap around 4 a.m. and was at once shifted with the cage to the Kurichyad forest range under the Wayanad Wild Life Sanctuary (WWLS), nearly 35 km away, using a tractor. During the journey, officials sprayed water on the animal to protect it from the hot weather. It was released at Dottakulasi in the Vandikkadavu section at 11.30 a.m. under the supervision of top forest officials. One official told The Hindu after the operation that the animal might have come from the Kurichyad range. Sunilkumar, Warden, Wayanad Wild Life Sanctuary, said the area where the animal was released had an abundant prey population. A veterinarian examined the animal and declared it to be healthy, apart from an injury on its forehead. High tiger density Wayanad, which has a wildlife sanctuary, is one segment of a forest complex in the Western Ghats landscape that boasts a high tiger density. Nagarahole and Mudumalai are other parts of this unit. The National Tiger Conservation Authority estimated the tiger abundance in the contiguous zone covered by the three protected territories at 382 in 2010, up from 267 in 2006. At four tigers per hundred sq. km, this entire zone spanning three States has a high tiger density. In the context of human-animal conflicts, tiger biologists K. Ullas Karanth and Rajesh Gopal say in a review article titled “An ecology-based policy framework for human-tiger coexistence in India,” that given the pattern of human population densities and clumped distribution of tigers, the area affected is very small; conflict zones cover less than one per cent of the country's geographical area and an even smaller fraction of the population. Understanding the causative factors is therefore important. They also point out that livestock depredation by tigers (which prey on them due to a declining natural prey base) and the desire among the affected villagers to retaliate is exploited by poachers, who distribute traps and poison and make offers to buy body parts. In the case of Wayanad, the episode has ended in capture and re-release into the wild. The process of translocating captured tigers is not without its share of problems, the authors say in the article. They point out that the older cats may be unable to survive, some may suffer injury in the capturing process and become unfit for survival, while others may introduce violent competition with resident tigers in the relocated territory. http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/kerala/article3240036.ece

Foresters spot 'mystery cat' in Sunderbans

Subhro Niyogi & Krishnendu Bandyopadhyay, TNN Mar 22, 2012, 08.35AM IST (The Sunderbans is the only tiger reserve in India where leopards have never been seen. Its Bangladeshi side reported the last sighting of a leopard in 1931.) KOLKATA: The deeper you go into the Sunderbans, the more mysterious it is. The camera traps that have snapped 18 Bengal tigers outside the core area of the mangrove forests also captured two photos of a never-before seen cat. It could be another species altogether, a eureka moment for conservationists and wildlife enthusiasts. Forest officers scanning through a bunch of pictures of the wild stopped in their tracks when they came across a small, black cat with a long tail. Nothing of the sort had been seen in decades of documentation and exploration in the Sunderbans. The Sunderbans is the only tiger reserve in India where leopards have never been seen. Its Bangladeshi side reported the last sighting of a leopard in 1931. The cat spotted in the camera traps is bigger than a wild cat and smaller than a leopard, say sources. It's not yet known whether it's a new species but forest officials believe it is a melanistic leopard-cat , a rarity in the animal world. In leopards, two genes determine whether the animal's colour will be yellow with black spots or completely black. The black panther gets its colour from the black recessive gene. "We have never seen any animal like this in the Sunderbans . Apart from the 18 tigers, scores of other cats, including jungle and fishing cats, were found during the exercise, which was done outside the reserve area for the first time. Most of them were expected till we came upon two sightings of a black cat with a long tail," said Sunderbans Biosphere Reserve director Pradeep Vyas. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-22/kolkata/31224282_1_leopard-cat-black-cat-wild-cat

A tale of two tiger reserves

SUNNY SEBASTIAN After Panna's successful rewilding, Sariska is sanguine First there was the Sariska debacle in which all the tigers were found missing in the reserve in Rajasthan's Alwar district sometime in 2004-05. Then there was similar misfortune in Madhya Pradesh's Panna Tiger Reserve in February 2009 — the wild cats became extinct there. Sariska led the way soon by reintroducing tigers under a recovery plan with the support of the National Tiger Conservation Authority in June 2008. Panna followed suit in March 2009. It reintroduced one female each from Bhandavgarh and Kanha. Thereafter, it appears, both the reserves charted their own journeys. The Panna experiment turned out to be a big success. The 576-sq.km reserve, spread over Panna and Chattarpur districts eof Madhya Pradesh, soon became home to a flourishing population of big cats. The reserve, 25 km from Khajuraho, once ravaged by problems, has now 12 tiger cubs, besides the five adults brought in as part of the reintroduction. And that gives Sariska, the leader, a complex, for its three tigresses are yet to give a litter. The tale of the two reserves came in for comparison this weekend at Alwar when the main protagonists of the tiger reintroduction process got together to discuss the rebuilding of Sariska. “Where there is a will there is a way,” said R. Sreenivasa Murthy, Field Director in the Panna Tiger Reserve, giving a presentation on tiger relocation and their successful breeding. The Panna story included the truancy of the lone male, which apparently showed “homing” instincts to repeatedly move in the direction of Pench — it had to be brought back with the help of 70-strong forest staff and four elephants for a second time. The Panna experiment did not stop at just reintroduction. The park authorities opened a new chapter in conservation by introducing two orphaned female cubs to the reserve in March 2011. They were the litters of a collared tigress that got killed in a fight with another in Kanha in May 2005. They were picked up and hand-reared for one-and-half years to be released into an enclosure in Kanha. “The Panna team met with success in the rewilding of the tiger. One of them, T4, delivered cubs in November 2011,” said Mr. Murthy. Mr. Murthy and H.S. Pabla, who retired last year as the Chief Wildlife Warden of Madhya Pradesh, said they did their part and left the rest to the tigers. “In Sariska, females ST2 and ST3, showed signs of pregnancy but no litters were produced. The cause of not breeding is not known,” said K. Sankar, scientist with the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun, who has been part of the Sariska experiment. “There appears to be no disturbance to the tigers. The prey density is one of the best in the country. However, the human habitation inside the park surely is an obstacle. In fact, the Sariska tigers have only 50 sq.km in the 882-sq.km reserve for themselves.” While some experts, including Sunayan Sharma, president of the Sariska Tiger Foundation, which organised the workshop, felt that the radio collars around their necks might be hampering the breeding, others emphatically dismissed it as inconsequential. “There is no connection between the radio collar and breeding,” said Dr. Sankar. “We have consulted the NTCA and they are of the opinion that collars cannot be the reason,” said U.M. Sahai, Head of the Forest Force, Rajasthan. What made all the difference in Panna? “I have no explanation why tigers are not breeding in Sariska and they do in Panna,” said Mr. Pabla. His suggestion to the Rajasthan authorities in this connection included introduction of breeding tigresses — instead of virgins — and not to have too many males around. Mr. Murthy said the presence of elephants in Panna was of great help to tigers. Moreover, Panna had an advantage of not having any village inside. Raghuveer Singh Shekhawat, Field Director, Sariska Tiger Reserve, is confident of a breakthrough in the reserve. “What is all this fuss about litters? We need to leave certain [things] for the tigers to decide,” said Samir Sinha, author and head of TRAFFIC India. http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article3019496.ece

Rahmankhera stray tiger shouldn’t be killed, says NTCA

TNN Mar 21, 2012, 04.21AM IST LUCKNOW: The National Tiger Conservation Authority on Tuesday asked the officials of the forest department to ensure that the safety of the stray tiger in Rahmankhera on the outskirts of the city is not jeopardised under any circumstances. Member-secretary, NTCA, Rajesh Gopal visited Rahmankhera after the department wrote to NTCA for help. "Today, I sent a fax to the department telling that under no circumstances should the life of the tiger be threatened," said Gopal. NTCA, meanwhile, has already sent a new team of experts to handle the tiger-operation. "The best thing is that this tiger is localised, and department has been able to keep it localised," he added. The forest department has written to the authority, last week, about its constraints. While, some of the officers who had been handling the operation at Rahmankhera have come back, others are doing nothing more than the customary combing. And, in the last more than two months of the operation, department has also spent quite an amount. On the other hand, wildlife enthusiasts of the city got together, on Tuesday, to discuss ways about saving the stray tiger. The feline had strayed out of Kheri forest in January. The enthusiasts, as part of a non-government organisation Tiger and Terrain have also assisted the department in the operation, in the start. But later, though they offered to help the department, the officers did not show willingness to involve them. The group, however, expressed concern over the safety of the tiger and the way entire operation has been handled. On the other hand, wildlife enthusiasts of the city got together, on Tuesday, to discuss ways about saving the stray tiger. http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-03-21/lucknow/31219510_1_stray-tiger-kheri-forest-ntca