Orissa expects fair tiger census!

The annual Tiger enumeration is set to commence in March
and this time around, camera trap technique will not be the only method to be
used to count the big cats.


The last enumeration at Similipal where camera trap methodology was used
and yielded in a low count had led to a huge uproar. Orissa lodged a protest
with National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and some other states too
joined in.

This seems to promote NTCA and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) to adopt a
more comprehensive methodology.

In fact, state heads of wildlife wings met at Corbett National Park last week
and discussed the matter threadbare.

According to Chief Wildlife Warden PN Padhi, camera trap will be part of the
enumeration methodology but not the only one. While GPS techniques would
also be used to get a clearer view of the entire exercise, conventional
methods of pug mark will be assessed too.

“The methodology will factor in prey base, predator population, tree felling
indices while using the latest technology like camera trap.

This will give a holistic view of not just the big cat population but also of the
ecosystems where the enumeration will be carried out,” Padhi said.

Orissa had certain reasons to worry about the methodology WII used last time
at Similipal. While the conventional pug mark census in 2004 had pegged tiger
population at a whopping 132 (which critics say is way too high for the park),
the 2006-08 method (when camera trap was used) put the cat count at 45 in
the entire State. For Similipal, it was just 20.

The Wildlife Wing then objected to the census result saying the cameras used
were too few in number and their coverage area was not a proper sample of
the entire tiger park.

The new methodology, Padhi hopes, would yield indices which can compare
with each and give a correct representation of tiger population in the State.

In fact, the NTCA and WII have prepared comprehensive guidelines for forest
field staff who will carry out the enumeration unlike last time when the WII
had deputed the census teams.

“Since the guidelines are in English and Hindi, we are translating them to Oriya
to be circulated among field officials for necessary training.

We hope to start the enumeration by the first half of March,” said the Chief
Wildlife Warden.

News source _The New Indian Express dated 21.2.2010

Courtesy_Biswajit Mohanty

Four tigers found dead in less than a month, within a triangular patch of
about 40 sq km in the heart of one of India’s best reserves. Natural deaths?
Infighting? Poaching? With the media rife with speculation, Open cuts
through the clutter to find some answers.

To understand the fuss about four dead tigers in Corbett tiger reserve in
one month—when 66 deaths were reported across India last year—consider the
larger picture. When India’s tiger count is at an all-time low of 1,411,
Corbett stands out as a rare success story where the numbers have been
steadily on the rise. From 137 in 2001 to 164 in 2007, a thriving stock
makes Corbett, at the Himalayan foothills in Uttarakhand, north India’s most
densely populated tiger forest.

So four deaths in quick succession in the heart of the reserve have
triggered panic: are we losing one of the few remaining strongholds of the
national animal?

With so many tigers at Corbett, four natural deaths in one month is very
much a possibility. But each of the four carcasses had something or the
other unusual about them, making the forest authorities edgy and fuelling
speculation of poaching in the media.

When a delayed transfer of the viscera to Bellary’s Indian Veterinary
Research Institute spoiled any chance of conclusive analyses, rumblings of
foul play just got louder.

THE CASE

Four tigers died one after the other dead-deep inside the Corbett core
within 31 days in December and January.

»The first casualty, an eight-year-old male, was reported on 13 December
near Mota Sal, a giant tree that serves as a landmark near Dhikala Chaur
(grassland).

»The second victim was an 11-year old tigress, found by the Ramganga river
close to Sarpduli rest house on 16 December.

»The third carcass was that of a four-year-old male, found on 5 January in
Phuli Chaur near Dhikala tourist complex.

»The fourth death was reported on 12 January when beat guards found a
six-year-old tiger dead near Gaujra chowki at the edge of the Dhikala range.

Of the four cases, the third appears to be the simplest. The young male was
the victim of a territorial fight, possibly over a kill that was found
half-consumed nearby. The tiger carcass had sharp canine wounds and the paw
pads had traces of fur that came off the other tiger during the tussle. To
bury speculation, a large male tiger showed up graciously during the spot
funeral, possibly in honour of its vanquished rival.

The second death raised eyebrows as a shoe sole was found in the stomach of
the tigress. It is not unusual to find garbage by the riverside, washed down
from villages upstream Ramganga, and the old tigress, too hungry and unable
to hunt, was probably attracted by the leathery smell of a wet shoe and
chewed it up. The undigested sole remained in her tummy and may or may not
have hastened her imminent end.

One may dismiss speculation of foul play in these two cases: the young male
found on Phuli Chaur was just unlucky, as death from in-fighting is common
in the wild; few animals survive long enough to die of old age like the
Sarpduli tigress. But the other two deaths—the first and the fourth—do raise
uncomfortable questions.

Tigers can live up to 12 years in the wild. There was no injury mark
whatsoever on the eight-year-old male found dead near Mota Sal; it is anyway
unlikely for such a mature tiger in its prime to have got into a territorial
fight with an equal adversary. Typically, mature tigers take on
inexperienced youngsters or an old weakling, the results of which would be
rather obvious.

Reliable sources say the internal organs of the tiger had “small
blister-like eruptions” on them. The tiger defecated while dying, possibly
because of muscle relaxation or stress or intestinal trauma—but the sample
was not tested. The officials claimed that the robust male died due to
“respiratory and cardio-vascular problems”.

The fourth carcass at Gaujra, however, bore tell-tale signs. The tiger had
retched before dying and the post-mortem revealed enough indications of
poison in its visceral organs. While the official jury is still out, even
the top forest bosses present at the spot agree that the tiger was poisoned.

THE MYSTERY

The hushed consensus about poisoning in the fourth case revived doubts over
the first casualty, the eight-year-old male whose death many felt was not
satisfactorily explained.

The tiger that was poisoned at Gaujra was found at the edge of the Ramganga
reservoir. Poison dehydrates animals and they try to reach the nearest water
body. But the first tiger found dead at Mota Sal, though not too far from
the other bank of the reservoir, was not exactly close to it. However,
animals when poisoned also try to avoid the sun and heat. Since the carcass
was found under a clump of trees, only yards away from the Dhikala
grassland, it is possible that the tiger drank at the reservoir and crossed
the open grassland (about 2 km) and lay down to die in the cool, shaded
forest.

As crows fly, the distance between the spots where the first and fourth
carcasses were found is less than 5 km. Though the Ramganga reservoir lies
in between, lack of rain last monsoon has shrunk the stretch of water, and
it would not have been impossible for even a poisoned tiger to swim across.

Could there be other tigers poisoned to death in this area that went
unnoticed? Tiger carcasses rot quickly and are often scavenged upon by
hyenas and jackals, so it may not be possible to discover each and every
carcass.

The Corbett management admits as much. But be it one, two or more, tigers
are evidently being poisoned in Corbett.

Of course, tiger killings are not unprecedented in Corbett. In 1998, a
tigress and three cubs died after feeding on a poisoned cattle carcass near
Jamun village in the Kalagarh division. Only last year, a decomposed carcass
was found in Dhela range in March. In 2008, a tiger was found dead in Jhirna
range and was disposed of in a hurry. In 2007, a tiger was camera-trapped
with a deep snare-wound on its neck and was subsequently found dead. In
2006, a tiger was shot dead barely 7 km from the Corbett boundary by
poachers in the Terai West division.

But all these incidents happened in the peripheral forests of Corbett. This
time round, the killing zone is at the core of the reserve. How are poachers
getting there? Why are they risking going so far in when they can easily
target tigers at the periphery?

What is the motive, since poisoned tigers wander away and make it impossible
to retrieve the carcass for skin, bones etc.? If these are revenge killings,
who can possibly have anything against tigers in the Corbett core, far away
from human habitation? Or is the Corbett management or someone higher up the
real target?

FINDING ANSWERS

The forest staff obviously has the best access to these tigers. Those who
man the two canteens—one with Kumaun Vikas Mandal and another run
privately—also stay at Dhikala. Then, there are the tourist guides and
drivers who enter the Corbett tiger reserve’s core zone on a daily basis.

Following a hunt, a tiger consumes part of the kill and hides the rest to
come back later for a second meal. Those looking to poison the kill,
therefore, must know the forest well and have free access to get there
before the tiger returns to it. Canteen workers do not know the forest so
well. Accompanied by tourists and bound by timetables, guides lack the
necessary access. And there are no opposing lobbies in the Corbett forest
management to trigger sabotage by the staff.

The rumour mill at Ramnagar, though, is circulating two conspiracy theories,
woven around two “aggrieved insiders”. Buddi Kala, who ran the private
canteen at Dhikala since pre-Project Tiger days, was ousted this year
through an open tender that awarded the contract to small-time BJP
functionaries from Ramnagar. Jaswant Singh Pradhan, who has been in Corbett
since 1993 as a guide and then as a trainer, wanted to replace honorary
warden Brijendra Singh, a conservationist close to the Gandhi family, but
failed.

Kala, now the head of Dogudda village council near Kotdwar, does not even
care to discuss “the angle”, but the staff at Dhikala vouch for him as “a
family member”. He would never harm the forest, they say, since “the
sympathy of the department” was with him during his fight to retain the
canteen contract.

Pradhan, too, seems too busy with his flourishing hotel business. “As a
local person who understands Corbett, I felt I qualified for the warden’s
post. But it was up to the government. Everyone knows I have always helped
the (forest) department,” he says. A family friend adds that Pradhan’s sons
are also doing well for themselves as guides at Corbett.

Brijendra Singh himself finds the sabotage theory rather imaginative. “I
wouldn’t be the honorary warden if the BJP government did not want me to. I
have never compromised Corbett’s interests. Some local elements may resent
some of my tough stands, but I doubt if any of them would target the
tigers,” he says.

Since nobody seems to have any motive to kill tigers in Corbett’s core, the
investigation narrows down to the final and usual suspect: local Gujjars.
While much of Corbett is free of any human settlement, 20-25 Gujjar families
camp in five different areas of the Kalagarh range along the boundary of the
core zone. One of these settlements is at Gaujra, where the fourth tiger was
found dead. The forest officials grilled the head of this extended Gujjar
family (complete with his four wives and 22 sons), and made him dig up a cow
kill he had recently buried to “discourage the tiger”.

The cow carcass “did not appear poisoned” and Gujjars got the
benefit-of-doubt given their lack of motive. Explains Heera Singh Karmiyal,
range officer, Dhikala: “These Gujjars are here for many years. Sometimes,
their buffaloes enter the core area and we fine them. But that has been the
only point of friction. There is no history of these Gujjars targeting
tigers because tigers rarely take their buffaloes.”

Due to their size and close-knit herds, buffaloes are not quite the
favourite with tigers in a forest with an abundant prey base. Cows, on the
other hand, are the easiest to hunt. But Gujjars, Karmiyal points out, do
not rear cows and have no reason to count the kills as a loss.

But if Gujjars do not keep cows, how come cows are being killed deep inside
the forest? A site visit to Gaujra revealed dozens of cows grazing alongside
a few horses that Gujjars keep for transporting milk. The forest staff
promptly explained the lot as feral cows—animals abandoned by villagers.
Gujjars also maintained that they had nothing to do with the cows.

Reliable sources at Dhikala, however, confirmed that the presence of cows at
Gaujra is a recent phenomenon, and the first few animals were spotted
possibly just a year ago. But what has triggered this sudden influx of cows?

Soon after coming to power, the BJP government in Uttarakhand replaced the
Uttar Pradesh Prevention of Cow Slaughter Act, 1955, with the stringent Cow
Protection Act, 2007. Apparently, aimed at checking illegal smuggling of
cows across India’s eastern borders, the new law banned cow slaughter and
imposed tough regulations on the transport and sale of cows. It became
almost impossible to sell off non-milch cows even in Uttar Pradesh’s grey
markets.

Though the 2007 Act also prohibits abandoning cows, cattle owners soon
started setting their unproductive cows free. Villages around Rathuadhab
found it convenient to send their cows to Gujjars inside forests. Local
sources claim that Gujjars occasionally charge small amounts per cow to
allow the animal in. But that is not the real incentive. When some of these
cows breed inside the forest, their foster-owner Gujjars sell calves back to
the villagers at price discounts ranging from 30 to 50 per cent of the
market rate.

Last week, at least seven calves were spotted at Gaujra. No doubt, it has
become a source of easy money for Gujjars in the area. This new found stake
in abandoned cows could be the missing motive for poisoning tigers.

SECURING CORBETT

With the onset of summer every year, a number of Gujjars from up north move
in with buffaloes to join their brethren inside the reserve and make the
best use of the Ramganga reservoir. This summer is going to be particularly
tough due to scanty rainfall last monsoon. The Corbett management is
anticipating a strong influx. With these Gujjars, fresh herds of abandoned
cows will also move in towards the Corbett core, lure more tigers and, in
turn, trigger retribution.

This potential crisis can be averted if the park management implements a
longstanding plan for relocating Gujjar families outside Corbett. A forested
site near Haridwar has been procured, but the law requires the state
government to notify an equal area under the Forest Protection Act. Since
much of Uttarakhand is already designated as ‘protected forests’, the state
wants an exemption on this. Many believe it will be wise to accord the state
a waiver to fast-track the rehabilitation process. The Centre offers up to
Rs 10 lakh per relocated family, and the forest department has Rs 2 crore
idling from funds earlier sanctioned by the Uttarakhand government to
implement its Gujjar Relocation Plan.

In the long term, however, removal of abandoned cows or rehabilitation of
Gujjars will not be enough to secure the future of the tiger in Corbett.
There are other equally or even more critical factors—like increasing
man-animal conflict and mindless tourism pressure—that are threatening this
reserve. But to be able to focus on stakeholders along the reserve boundary,
the authorities must secure the heart of Corbett first. With just a couple
of months to a dry summer, time is not on their side.

Article by -Jay Mazoomdaar

Courtesy_Open Magazine

Tiger released with radio collar at Sundarbans

The Tigress trapped at Sonaga village near Gosaba in the Sunderbans on Monday was released at Storekhali forest near Netidhopani on Wednesday afternoon. It was fitted with a radio collar before being released. Forest officials confirmed that the gadget is sending signals properly.

The imported gadget has been provided by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehra Dun, and the institute will get coded information about the movement of the tigress every two hours via satellite.

The big cat was tranquillized on Wednesday to fit it with the radio collar. It was taken to Storekhali forest after veterinary doctors declared it fit.

In the Storekhali forest, the density of hental plant is comparatively less than other local forests. Forest officials pointed out that it would help the big cat go deep inside the forest and also confirmed that it could get adequate food here as the forest has a healthy population of wild boar and deer.

“The gadget is working. WII will circulate the decoded information to the state forest department,” said Atanu Raha, principal chief conservator of forests.

Courtesy : TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Radio collar for Sundarban Tiger

Kolkata: The straying Sunderbans tiger that was captured at Sonaga in Gosaba on Monday will be fitted with a radio collar.

Officials of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehra Dun, have reached Sunderbans with an imported collar that is believed to be an improved version of the earlier one that had been tried on a tigress in 2007. It malfunctioned within a few weeks, throwing the plan to modernize tiger monitoring methods out of gear.

The adult female that sneaked into Sonaga and was tranquillized has been kept under observation. According to forest officials, the collar will be installed only after it has been made sure that the animal is in perfect health.

The device being used this time has been successfully used on carnivores like grizzly bears and jaguars in North America. “It is believed to be ideally suited for fast-moving predators like the tiger and has been modified to survive in saline water. The collar can be programmed with a remote control and has a circuit that is much advanced than the previous ones that we have been experimenting with so far. We expect the device to work successfully this time,” said Pradip Vyas, director, Sundarban Biosphere Reserve.

A team of experts from WII, including a veterinarian, reached the Panchamukhani creek where the tigress has been kept on a launch. They examined the big cat to check if it has recovered sufficiently from Monday’s tranquillizing shot. Since the animal will have to be immobilised once again with a tranquillizer to install the radio collar, veterinarians are keen to ensure that the tigress is ready to bear the strain.

“It seems healthy. It had a goat on Tuesday and moved about restlessly in her cage. But it has to be monitored till the last moment,” added Vyas. The tigress could be released early on Wednesday morning.

Priced at Rs 3.5 lakh, the collar was brought from the WII’s Dehra Dun headquarters on Tuesday. In fact, the state forest department has procured an additional collar that will be kept in reserve.

Prithvijit Mitra | TNN

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Rise in sea level may outpace Tigers’ ability to adapt

Kolkata: Spreading human habitat in the Sunderbans has resulted in a drop in the tigers’ territory, leading to frequent incidents of straying.

“Tigers have adapted to a life in the mangroves and crabs constitute an important part of their diet. Though tigers are a highly adaptable species, occupying territory from the snowy forests of Russia to the tropics of Indonesia, the projected sea level rise in the Sunderbans may outpace the animal’s ability to adapt,” a WWF source said. There are no accurate estimates, but conservationists estimate the mangroves could be home to up to 400 big cats.

The sea level rise will also have an impact on people whose livelihood depends on the Sunderbans. The mangroves protect human habitation from cyclones and other natural disasters.

WWF has recommended that governments and natural resource managers take immediate steps to conserve and expand mangroves while preventing poaching and retaliatory killing of tigers. Neighbouring countries should increase sediment delivery and freshwater flows to the coastal region to support agriculture and replenishment of the land.

_

Jayanta Gupta | TNN

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Sunderbans will drown in 60 yrs

KOLKATA: The World Wildlife Fund has warned that days are numbered for much of the sensitive Sunderbans eco-system and in 60 years vast tracts of the rare mangrove forests, home to the Bengal tiger, will be inundated by the rising sea.

The study, focussed on Sunderbans in Bangladesh, says the sea was rising more swiftly than anticipated by
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2007 and would rise 11.2 inches (above 2000 levels) by 2070. This would result in shrinkage of the Bangladesh Sunderbans by 96% within half a century, reducing the tiger population there to less than 20, said the study.

Unlike previous efforts, WWF's deputy director of conservation science Colby Loucks and his colleagues used a high-resolution digital elevation model with eight estimates of sea level rise to predict the impact on tiger habitat and population size. The team was able to come up with the most accurate predictions till date by importing over 80,000 Global Positioning System (GPS) elevation points.

The study, Sea Level Rise and Tigers: Predicted Impacts to Bangladesh's Sunderbans Mangroves, has been published in the journal, Climatic Change. Though the Indian part of the Sunderbans will not be so badly affected, conservationists wonder how many tigers would be able to survive here with nearly 60% of the habitat gone. Of the total Sunderbans, nearly 60% is in Bangladesh. Tigers do not recognize international borders though and cross over from one side to the other as and when they choose.

Experts say that every tiger requires a large territory of its own (known as range). An ever-spreading human habitat in the Indian part has already resulted in a drop in the big cats' territory, leading to frequent incidents of straying.

``Tigers have adapted to a life in the mangroves and crabs constitute an important part of their diet. Though tigers are a highly adaptable species, occupying territory from the snowy forests of Russia to the tropics of Indonesia, the projected sea level rise in the Sunderbans may outpace the animal's ability to adapt,'' a WWF source said. There are no accurate estimates, but conservationists estimate the mangroves could be home to upto 400 big cats.

The sea level rise will also have an impact on the lives of people who depend on the Sunderbans for their livelihood. The mangroves protect human habitation from cyclones and other natural disasters.

WWF has recommended that governments and natural resource managers take immediate steps to conserve and expand mangroves while preventing poaching and retaliatory killing of tigers. Neighbouring countries should increase sediment delivery and freshwater flows to the coastal region to support agriculture and replenishment of the land.

_Jayanta Gupta, TNN, Feb 23, 2010, 12.57am IST

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Tiger enters Sundarban village this morning

Monday, February 22, 2010 -- 9 a.m

An information received early this morn has reported that a Tiger probably from the Pirkhali range of Sundarban Tiger Reserve has entered Sonaga village situated near Gosaba and opposite Bali Island. The animal has injured a woman on the left side of her forehead, shoulder & arm and thereafter she has been admitted into the Gosaba Govt.Hospital. The Tiger currently is confined inside a village hut/cowshed that has been surrounded by nylon fencing by the field staff and Range Officers of the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve. A huge crowd has gathered at the location. Anil Mistry (of WPSI & Bali Nature Conservation Society) was one of the first to arrive at the location and he confirms that situation is presently under control. The police force has also arrived to take control of the crowd.

Within a few hours a rumour did the rounds that the victim had died, but the Chief Medical Officer of the said hospital confirmed that though she is wounded badly still she is alive and they are working to stabilize her. Meanwhile some media report says that a charter of demands is being draw up by villagers which is nothing new in such situations and such have been very well managed by the Forest Department in the past. The Field Director has reached the location and presently the team is concentrating on quickly tranquillising the cat and release it back in the Reserve, after observation. A prompt response & action by the Reserve's authorities has made a positive move.

The situation is still fluid and we will keep you informed.

_Save the Bengal Tiger campaign

Death of 2 Tigers in Kaziranga within 4 days

Kaziranga big cat deaths shock conservationists

Naresh Mitra & Saumyadipta Chatterjee | TNN

Guwahati/Kolkata: The death of two big cats in Kaziranga within four days has triggered panic among wildlife conservationists about the future of the tiger — a species dwindling by the day across the country — especially with international poaching gangs working overtime to supply tiger parts to South-East Asian nations.

An adult tiger’s decomposed carcass was found from the Kaziranga National Park’s Kohra forest range on Friday, while on Monday a dead subadult tiger was recovered from an island on the Brahmaputra, under the sixth addition of the park. Although park authorities, representatives of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), WWF-India, veterinarians and other conservation NGOs ruled out the involvement of poachers in the two tiger deaths, wildlife activists warned that smugglers of tiger parts could easily cash in on the increasing number of big cat casualties.

“If poachers had been involved, how come they left behind the tiger’s carcass to decompose deep inside the park at a time when every tiger part is on demand in the international grey market?” said Kaziranga director S N Buragohain. It’s estimated that 10 gm of tiger bones alone fetch more that $30 in China and Vietnam.

Former Project Tiger director P.K.Sen blamed the system for tiger deaths. “Tigers are dying everywhere in the country. The entire protection mechanism to save our wildlife, including the big cats, has failed miserably. The local patrolling system is in shambles,” he rued.

Wildlife expert and Sanctuary Asia editor Bittu Sahgal said the two incidents might have confirmed that the tigers might have died of intraspecific conflict, but he didn’t rule out involvement of international gangs.

“Patrolling in key parks like Kaziranga, the Sunderbans and Corbett is still possibly the best in India. But this cannot be said about most other tiger reserves. In the past year, over 100 tiger and leopard deaths have been reported, with international gangs at work,” he said.

Soumyadeep Dutta of Nature’s Beckon warned that such tiger deaths should not be taken lightly as poachers are now targeting big cats like never. Wildlife biologist of Aaranyak M Feroz Ahmed, who is involved in the cameratrapping tiger census in Kaziranga, said, “We will see more tiger deaths unless the park area is extended and corridors are restored.”

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30 rare white-backed vultures run over by train in UP

Lucknow: A flock of rare 30 white-backed vultures was crushed by the speeding Durg Express in Maharajganj district on Friday morning. Forest officers don’t recollect having seen such a big flock in the last 10 years in Maharajganj.

The injured vultures are being looked after at a veterinary hospital in Laxmipur range.

The incident occurred at an unmanned level crossing (ULC), about 500 metres from Mohnapur railway crossing, in Laxmipur range of the Maharajganj forest area. A big flock of vultures had descended on the tracks, where a carcass of dog was lying.

“The railway staff should have removed it when vultures started hovering around, knowing it was a busy track,” said Wasi Iqbal Siddiqui, the forest range officer in Laxmipur. Around 11.30 am, Durg Express was passing through the area. The speeding train crushed the flock, killing 30 vultures and leaving two critically injured.

Forest officers said the driver did not slow down even when the locals present at the spot raised an alarm. “The speed should have been lowered knowing that the train was passing through an ULC,” said a forest officer. The forest officers of Maharajganj are contemplating action against the driver under the Wildlife Protection Act. “We have written to DRM, Gorakhpur,” said V P Singh, DFO, Sohagi Barwa wildlife sanctuary, Maharajganj. Neha Shukla | TNN

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Save Our Tigers campaign gives India Inc's CSR drive a new twist

21 Feb 2010, 0456 hrs IST, Lisa Mary Thomson, Ravi Teja Sharma & Aman Dhall , ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: A month ago, 1411 was just another number, with little significance for the average Indian, apart from being the year when Ahmedabad was founded. Then an ad began running on television channels, flashing the ominous news that there were only 1,411 tigers left in India. Overnight, saving the tiger became an issue of national pride—be it school children spouting their new-found knowledge, or the minister for environment and forests, announcing that the Wildlife Act of 1972 would be amended to include stricter punishment for poachers.

Compare this to the publicity that Project Tiger, a government-sponsored scheme running for almost four decades, has received. In a decade known for growing experimentation with public-private partnerships, it is not surprising that the private sector has stepped in to up the ante.

Call it CSR or brand promotion, wildlife seems to have found new champions in steely hearts of corporate India’s head honchos. What’s more, the benefit is mutual. “While corporates may hesitate to admit it, these campaigns earn them goodwill even as they spread awareness of wildlife conservation programmes,” says brand guru Jagdeep Kapoor.

After all, what does a telecom company have to do with tigers? According to Gurdeep Singh, COO of Aircel, which launched the ‘Save Our Tigers’ campaign, it was aimed at creating mass awareness about the diminishing tiger population and engaging the youth to spread the message, especially in the digital space. It also came from a deepfelt understanding that today’s youth in India give far more weightage to a brand which wasn’t just transactional but has a deeper connection to society.

But even as Aircel used its trump card of being a communication facilitator to support the cause of the national animal, many corporates have overcome tiger-mania to launch campaigns around other endangered species. Take for instance, Tata Chemicals, which along with the Wildlife Trust of India and the State Forest department, started a project in 2003 to improve the chances of survival of the whale shark and create awareness among coastal communities. That apart, they also partnered with the Gujarat state forest department to built parapets around 1,002 open wells which lions used to fall into.

“While the company has spent around Rs 1.5 crore towards wildlife conservation in India over the years, it is looking at spending another Rs 2 crores in the next five years as a part of its plan of giving back to mother earth,” says B Sudhakar, chief human resources officer, Tata Chemicals.

At HSBC, which goes by the mantra of sustainable development, the projects have ranged from mapping avifauna diversity and protecting the nesting habitats of Olive Ridley turtles which visit Orissa’s shores, to working with Reefwatch to assess the habitat for the sea cow or the dugong. Their interest in the Olive Ridley is shared by menswear accessories and apparel brand Turtle which contributes close to Rs 10 lakh a year towards the Olive Ridley turtle conservation. For them it is about protecting their namesake, according to director Amit Ladsaria.

They also give customers a chance to contribute by allowing them to redeem points accumulated on purchases towards donations to wildlife.

Often though, initiatives have been spearheaded by an individual or corporate leader as in the case of Bank of America-Merrill Lynch where their eight-year old interest in environment and tiger preservation was driven by their ex-chairman Hemendra Kothari, an avid wildlife and conservation enthusiast.

In fact, Kothari even set up his own Wildlife Charity Trust (WCT) in 2002, which apart from giving consultancy services to forest officers, plays an active role in dealing with grass roots needs of those who work in the forest and the communities living there.

Dr Anish Andheria, project director at WCT, says that their strategy has been to play a supplementary role in tiger reserves where the government is involved, so that the impact can be much larger. In addition to giving vehicles to national parks, providing good drinking water for forest officials in the Sunderbans and giving kits for the special task force, they have also lately begun addressing health and education issues of the communities around the area through the Hemendra Kothari Foundation.

Dr Andheria also adds an interesting twist to the entire conservation tale. “Tigers can be protected only if the people around them find them interesting. We need to stop people from looking at tigers as a problem animal. Moreover, we need to give communities in the area life-skills so they aren’t tempted to kill an animal for a few hundred rupees,” he says.

Addressing the conflict between humans and elephants, for example, has been the main thrust of Nokia’s project in the South Western Ghats, in addition to conserving the Nilgiri Tahr, a species only found in that region.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/services/advertising/Save-Our-Tigers-campaign-gives-India-Incs-CSR-drive-a-new-twist/articleshow/5598281.cms

Tribals roped in to revive green paradise in Maharashtra

Forest Dept, Villagers Save Greens Almost Wiped Out 17 Yrs Ago

Simit Bhagat | TNN

Shahapur: The photographs tell you the story: a 1,700-hectare tract in Shahapur, in Thane district, as it was 17 years ago; and the same area at present. Hard to believe? Well, read on.

This sprawl of forest land, systematically denuded of its green cover over the years, had reached its nadir by 1993, leading to critical environmental problems like a dip in the groundwater table. It was then that the forest department came up with a unique initiative — it actively involved the tribals of villages in the Shahapur zone, like Bhagdal, Dahivali, Baoghar, Kalgaon, Thile, Lenad, Chinchavali and Tembhre, to help turn the forest back into the lush green paradise that it once was.

The project, a sterling example of what an administration can do if it gives the people a stake, introduced the concept of a joint forest management (JFM) committee. The establishment of this committee meant villagers were entitled to forest produce like gum, dried leaves, flowers, bamboo and mahua oil. ‘‘They are also entitled to 50% of the income of the forest department from the auction of timber,’’ said an official. The forest never looked back after that.

Divisional forest officer (planning) S M Gujar said: ‘‘Earlier, we would register cases against the villagers for offences like illegal tree-cutting and collection of forest products. But we realised this was not a solution, and the only way to protect what remained of the forest was to involve the locals in conservation efforts.’’

After some amount of initial resistance, villagers from Bhagdal formed the JFM committee in 1993 and pledged to protect the forest. Residents of the other seven villages soon joined the movement and formed similar committees. ‘‘After talking to forest officials, we realised that we had to save the forest for our own well-being,’’ said Bhagdal JFM committee member Bhaskar Tondu. ‘‘We spoke to all the 40 families in the village and formulated simple rules to be followed for protecting the forest.’’

The rules included preventing outsiders from taking anything from the forest and a ban on felling trees and hunting. It was decided that violation of these rules would result in a social boycott of the guilty, with villagers staying away from their occasions like weddings. The committee would also have the right to impose a monetary penalty on offenders.

It was difficult at first, the villagers admitted, but soon, everything fell into place. ‘‘We decided to use only dried branches and leaves to meet our daily needs of firewood,’’ said Bhagdal resident Baban Bhakre. ‘‘We had a hard time in the first couple of years, but as the forest revived there was no shortage of dry foliage.’’ The forest department chipped in by bearing half the cost of LPG connections for the villagers.

All this has now combined to give back the 1,700-hectare land its green cover. ‘‘The forest is now thriving and there is perennial water supply because of the rejuvenated water bodies,’’ said Dahivali JFM committee secretary Subhash Patil. Tribals have also started earning from the sale of forest produce like gum, palash flowers, mahua oil and plates and bowls made from dried leaves.

‘‘And animals like leopards, wild boar, barking deer, spotted deer and peacocks have returned to the area,’’ said Narhari Bagrao, a forester from the region, who recently received the Sanctuary RBS Wildlife Service Award.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIKM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW&GZ=T

Surrendering the Last Frontier

By Jay Mazoomdaar

The Kanha-Pench landscape is one of India’s best four tiger habitats. But despite objections from the National Board for Wildlife, National Tiger Conservation Authority, Wildlife Institute of India and Supreme Court’s Central Empowered Committee, a highway might just deny the big cat its best chance of survival.

Forget the felled trees, and the highway, for a moment. These are mere props in this theatre of the absurd. But the climax will indicate which way the fine balancing act of growth-vs-green is likely to go in the future.

The plot unfolds in the heartland of erstwhile Gondwana—a ‘dark mysterious blank’ on the map of the British Empire of yore until the mid-nineteenth century, when a young Captain, James Forsyth, started exploring the dense and dangerous tiger forests of central India with the scientific curiosity of a geologist.

One-and-a-half centuries since, much has changed in this land of the Gond tribe. Rail and roadways crisscross the lush landscape that has survived development and deforestation in democratic, independent India. The remains of the mighty forests still constitute India’s best green landscape with an intricate network of national parks and sanctuaries. Fittingly, Kamal Nath, one of the tallest political leaders of this green belt, became India’s environment minister in 1991.

Two decades on, the Member of Parliament from Chhindwara today holds the portfolio of Road Transport and Highways. Today, against the collective wisdom of the country’s best experts, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) wants to roll out highways on Nath’s home turf, cutting through and cutting apart India’s best, and last, surviving forests.

THE STAKE
According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII), in 2008, the forest landscape connecting Kanha and Pench tiger reserves is one of the four most viable tiger habitats in the country (the other three being the Western Ghats, Corbett and Kaziranga). This 16,000 sq km landscape has two source populations and a total of 141 tigers. This is also home to some of India’s most endangered species, such as gaurs (Indian bison) and dhols (Indian wild dog).



Forest connectivity makes a landscape superior wildlife habitat, allowing animal movement and gene flow. In the absence of forest corridors, small tiger populations in isolated reserves face the risk of local extinction—either due to poaching in the short term or due to genetic decay over generations. Sariska is a prime example.

The Kanha-Pench landscape thrives on its healthy contiguity. In isolation, the tiger population of about 30 at Pench is far from viable. The area of Pench tiger reserve (411 sq km) in itself is insufficient for a viable habitat. As per NTCA, a population is not viable below 80-100 tigers, and for such a population, at least 800-1,000 sq km of habitat is required. Clearly, the connectivity to Kanha (917 sq km, 89 tigers) is key to keep the tiger population at Pench viable. The same is true for the other mega fauna in the area.

THE CASE
Almost 9 km of the Nagpur-Jabalpur road—National Highway No 7 (NH7)—passes along the periphery of the Pench Tiger Reserve, notified by the Madhya Pradesh government as core critical tiger habitat under the Wildlife (Protection) Act. Another 47-km-stretch of this road cuts through areas under South Seoni Forest division that serves as a buffer for Pench and has several forest corridors to Kanha.

As part of the Golden Quadrilateral project, the NHAI decided to widen this 2-lane road to a four–lane highway in 2006. The Madhya Pradesh government, on its part, cleared the proposal and forwarded it to the Centre for approval. Since the project involved both impact on a tiger reserve and use of forest land, it required clearance from the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) and the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) as well.

The NBWL rejected the NHAI plan in September 2008. The FAC reserved its opinion since Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), a non-governmental organisation, had already filed a petition before the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), set up by the apex court in 2003 to advise it on technical matters of wildlife and forestry.

Seeking to stop tree felling and construction work along the sensitive stretch, the WTI application said: ‘The use of forest land falling in the Pench Tiger Reserve, the South Seoni Forest Division and the Nagpur Division can be avoided by using an alternative route via Chhindwara and Seoni. This alternative route though approximately 55 per cent longer than the existing one, must still be preferred to protect such a vital habitat.’

The CEC took the case to the Supreme Court, and the NHAI, on its part, offered to construct either an elevated 9-km road over the forest or a few underpasses for the movement of wild animals.

In November 2008, Dr Rajesh Gopal, member secretary of NTCA, made a field inspection as a CEC invitee and his report explained why the proposal for road widening would ‘irreversibly damage the tiger habitat’ and ‘should be implemented under no circumstances’. His report noted: ‘No safeguards would restore the said habitat to its present status. Most of the safeguards/retrofilling structures for wildlife are suggested (by NHAI) on the basis of practices in vogue abroad for smaller animals which may be meaningless in the context of tigers and their larger prey animals. The alternative route would save the priceless habitat.’

The CEC itself made a site visit in March 2009, and in its report, backed Dr Gopal’s position. ‘The CEC is of the considered view that the proposed (project) will cause irreparable damage to one of the most important and critical wildlife habitats in the country. It is one of the last, perhaps the only, extensive track of wildlife habitat covering an area of 16,000 sq km. Such a habitat should be further consolidated and protected rather than be allowed to be fragmented and destroyed. The ecological cost of the present project is immense and no mitigative measures are adequate to compensate the same,’ the report said.

The CEC also convened a meeting in May 2009 to consult representatives of the NHAI, MP Forest Department, WII, WTI and a number of wildlife experts. All the experts—‘without any exception or reservation’—agreed that the proposed four-laning would be disastrous.

‘The landscape, being one of the most important wildlife areas in the country, needs to be preserved and protected at any cost. The experts were of the view that it is absolutely imperative that the National Highway is realigned and the additional cost and the increased length of the road on this account should not be a limiting factor,’ the CEC noted.

THE TWIST
So far, it seemed an open and shut case. But days before the case came up for a hearing before the apex court on 15 January, amicus curiae Harish Salve in his note suggested that the widening of the highway be allowed with provisions for a few underpasses as sought by the NHAI.

Consider how the amicus curiae deviates from the CEC report:

» ‘The NHAI has suggested an alternate (sic) proposal and in respect of which it claims that it has the approval of State Board of Wildlife and National Board of Wildlife. This proposal envisages building underpasses in the stretch and fencing the entire 9 km.’

This is factually incorrect, as the NBWL rejected any such proposal on 18 September 2008.

» ‘NHAI claims that after the detailed deliberations with the various forest authorities, it has been agreed that’ 13 underpasses will be made, 2.5 metre chain link fencing will be camouflaged by vegetations, road land will be restricted to 30 metres, and forest land used for temporary diversion of traffic will be ‘restored to original’.

None of the top four forest and wildlife authorities in the case—NBWL, FAC, NTCA or WII—agreed to any of these proposals. So who are these ‘various forest authorities’?

» Salve’s note further states that to reduce the traffic pressure on the forest stretch of NH7, NHAI should be directed to develop the available alternative alignments as well. Put simply, Salve advises the court to start construction on all major roads in the area. If the NHAI is indeed instructed to improve the alternative alignments, why widen the sensitive road at all? Or is it, if the buzz in political circles in Madhya Pradesh is to be believed, to let Kamal Nath develop as much road length as possible on his home turf?

» Finally, after listing all of NHAI’s claims, Salve goes ahead and stamps his seal of approval by suggesting that the apex court instruct the NHAI to deposit Rs 50 crore for ‘counterbalancing ameliorative measures’ since ‘there is inevitably going to be some disruption being caused to the Pench National Park’.

“The CEC report is the correct professional advice to the court. The amicus report doesn’t reflect the CEC’s concerns over conservation in the most important tiger landscape in the country,” says Sanjeev Chadha, who held the office of member-secretary when CEC filed the report. He completed his CEC term in September 2009.

“Technically, it is alright for the amicus to have a different view as long as it assists the court in coming to a fair decision. However, an ‘expert body’ such as CEC was created to assist the court on expert matters, and hence the amicus should ordinarily not have a contrary view,” says Sanjay Upadhyay, a Supreme Court advocate.

While Salve has admitted that he “was mistaken about the NBWL clearance”, he takes “full responsibility” for his note. “My suggestions are never in suppression of any statutory authority. Obviously, the SC permission is in addition to and not in substitution of their (NBWL) clearance. So the last word is always with the NBWL. The clearance from the SC is in addition to all clearances, not in lieu of them,” he tells Open.

Counters Upadhyay: “With all due respect to the learned amicus, it is the SC which is the final arbiter and not the NBWL. The NBWL is the highest statutory body under the Wildlife Protection Act and needs to act in accordance with the letter and spirit of the Wildlife Act. The SC has the full authority to take a different stand if it finds that such a view of the NBWL is not in accordance with law.” Moreover, there is no instance when a project cleared by the SC was subsequently turned down by the NBWL.

Salve also maintains that his note need not reflect the CEC advice: “There is no question of dilution. The CEC’s advice is being contested by the NHAI and the Court wanted my view in the matter. I felt that the balance between the need for development and construction of the road was a midway found acceptable to all.”

But the consensus reflects the opposite. “The CEC report is the outcome of a series of consultations with and field inspections by the best experts of the country. Its recommendations are the final technical view and should be binding,” says Ashok Kumar of WTI.

Raj Panjwani, a senior Supreme Court advocate, agrees. “The NBWL, NTCA, WII and CEC have all rejected the project. Even if the amicus curiae has taken a different stand, the opinion of the technical bodies should prevail,” he says.

KEEPING THE FAITH
The SC has asked for the opinion of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) and the next hearing is due on 21 January.

Says eminent tiger scientist Dr Ullas Karanth: “This case will have bearing on hundreds of such cases. The basic approach of the NHAI is wrong. These roads were made centuries back when land use patterns were different. Today, we need new alignments wherever necessary to safeguard the few remaining forest landscapes of India.”

Little wonder that the CEC minced no words when it stated that this is one of those exceptional cases where ecological security must necessarily take precedence over developmental needs.

Says Ashok Kumar: “I respect the Judiciary’s impeccable record on upholding environmental causes. Our courts have done a great deal for conservation. I am keeping faith.”

Courtesy - OPEN/Jay Mazoomdaar
http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/surrendering-the-last-frontier

Rhino and bison census in Dooars

Jalpaiguri: The forest department is going to conduct a rhino and bison census at Gorumara National Park and Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary on February 25-26.

Of the two forests, while bison are found in both, rhinos live only in Gorumara. According to the last census conducted in the forest two years ago, there were 33 rhinos in Gorumara and more than 1,000 bison in the two forests. Since then, while foresters have spotted rhino cubs, two rhinos have died fighting with each other.

The census for both species will be conducted using two methods — total block counting and fixed point counting.

The department has already formed 60 teams for the purpose, with four persons in each team, including representatives from environmental institutions and nature lovers. Twenty kunki (trained) elephants will be used for the census.

“The national park and the sanctuary will remain closed to visitors on February 24-26. We are hopeful that we will find an increased number of rhinos this time in Gorumara,” said Tapas Das, DFO, WL II, Jalpaiguri forest division.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Client.asp?Daily=TOIKM&showST=true&login=default&pub=TOI&Enter=true&Skin=TOINEW&GZ=T

Tiger killed, eaten by villagers in Arunachal Pradesh

A full grown Royal Bengal Tiger was hunted down by villagers of Numuk in Arunachal Pradesh's West Siang district.

Villagers gathered around the tiger after the kill. The meat was then consumed by the people but even more disturbing is the information of a possible wild life trade racket flourishing in that area.

The skin of the tiger was allegedly sold to a certain businessman from Assam for 1.5 lakh rupees.

"They must have gone for some small animal hunt and came across this tiger and killed it. It is about 30 km from Along. It was a heavy animal, even four persons could not carry it properly, you may have seen the picture. Gun ammunition was used to shoot. The skin was sold to some trader from Guwahati at Silapathar. Wildlife authorities talk about penalties but wildlife crime is going on. This is the season of deer hunting and deer is being hunted regularly," said Tapak Kato, an eyewitness from Namuk.

In the last one year this is the third incident of tiger hunting in the area but the first time that there was photographic evidence.

http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/tiger_killed_eaten_by_villagers_in_arunachal_pradesh.php

Goa Tiger killed by Majik tribals

Majik tribals killed tiger after it got trapped in wire snare

Panaji: The investigations into a tiger poaching case in Goa has revealed that the big cat was shot dead by tribals of Majik community after trapping it into a wire snare.

The state forest department, which is investigating the case, in its probe report has reconstructed the entire sequence of incidents that led to the killing.

"Three women were amongst the half a dozen Majik community members, who witnessed the killing, which happened in February last year. While two main accused shot the tiger to death after trapping it in wire snare, others witnessed the cold blooded killing sitting atop a tree fearing that the tiger may jump on them, the report said.

A Royal Bengal Tiger was killed at Keri in February last year and the incident was brought to light in April after a picture of the dead animal was published in a local newspaper.

"The group of villagers fearing the aftermath later burnt the tiger by dragging it for almost 250 metres in the same cashew plantation," the probe further stated.

A senior forest department official said that killing might not have been exposed, if not for the act of one of the local enthusiastic youth to click the dead tiger on his mobile.

Forest department officials stated that it took almost one and half month for the forest officials to locate the spot, which is bordering Mhadei wildlife sanctuary in state's Sattari taluka.

PTI

http://www.zeenews.com/news603647.html

Saving Asian tigers by next Tiger Year

Asian nations vow to double number of these big cats in the wild in 12 years

By Nirmal Ghosh, Thailand Correspondent

PHOTO: JOYDIP SUCHANDRA KUNDU

MINISTERS and officials from 13 Asian countries ended a meeting last week in Hua Hin with a pledge to double the number of tigers in the wild by 2022, the next Year of the Tiger.

The meeting, hosted by Thailand, included experts from non-governmental organisations like the World Wide Fund for Nature. The declaration in reality carries little official weight, but can be built upon at a 'tiger summit' in Vladivostok in September, which will be chaired by Russian Premier Vladimir Putin and World Bank president Robert Zoellick.

For thousands of years across Asia, the deep call of the tiger in trackless tropical jungles has inspired fear and fascination, art and literature, folklore and legend.

But the vast jungles are now fragments, many of them oddly silent.

The call of the tiger is no longer heard in the apparently pristine forests of Khao Yai National Park - a World Heritage Site a couple of hours from Bangkok.

India has roughly one-third of the remaining wild tigers. But in recent years tigers have completely disappeared from two tiger reserves in India. Last Friday, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh described the situation as 'alarming'.

Estimates put the number of tigers in the wild across the 13 countries at 3,000 to 3,600 - down from 5,000 to 7,000 in the last Year of the Tiger, which fell in 1998.

Many are in small populations in remnant patches of habitat, constantly under threat and short of prey. Poachers kill not only the tigers for the bones, organs and skin, but also their source of food for meat.

Small populations are also genetically vulnerable. If a population loses its male tigers, it is doomed.

There are only a few areas left which, if protected and ideally also restored, could support more tigers. These include Thailand's 17,870 sq km western forest complex, overlapping with Myanmar's Tenasserim region.

Another is northern India's Terai Arc landscape, which is shared with Nepal. But both have habitat breaks which need to be restored to link sub-populations.

Studies in India and Thailand, suggest it is possible to double the population of tigers in more viable landscapes.

The challenge is to turn this theoretical possibility into reality.

In some areas, broken habitat links will have to be restored and local people resettled. This can succeed only with proper public consultation and attractive resettlement deals.

Locals must not be abruptly severed from their natural resource base. Local support is essential if the tiger is to be saved.

And the most basic requirement remains to protect the tigers.

On the demand side, China's role is critical. Most tigers are killed for the Chinese market, even though traditional Chinese medicine now mostly rejects tiger parts - which have been proven no different from those of dogs, pigs and goats.

But many fear that the Year of the Tiger will spur demand and see more wild tigers killed. China, backed by owners of tiger farms with 5,000 of the big cats in stock alive or dead in deep freezes, has been trying to get the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species to agree to opening up the market in China for the farmed tigers.

The farms claim that opening up the trade will flood the market with tiger parts, lowering prices and removing the incentive for the poaching of wild tigers.

But it costs well over US$1,000 (S$1,400) to rear a tiger in captivity, and less than US$25 to have one killed in the wild, with a bullet or a simple snare made of cable or wire. Consumers also prefer wild tigers to farmed cats, creating a black market that beefs up the profit from taking a tiger from the wild.

Better enforcement is vital, both in China and in tiger habitats.

Not everything went smoothly at Hua Hin. From the 13 tiger range countries there were only four full ministers present; others were deputy ministers or senior officials. A World Bank statement saying China's tiger farms should be shut down reportedly irritated some Chinese delegates.

In a video message at Hua Hin, Mr Zoellick pledged the World Bank's support.

But India was cold to the World Bank, sending a junior official.

The World Bank saving tigers is a hard sell in India, where its track record shows wildlife habitat has always been 'acceptable collateral damage', says Mumbai-based conservationist Bittu Sahgal, who is also the editor of Sanctuary magazine.

At one discussion in Hua Hin a delegate asked the World Bank whether, and why, loans still came with conditions. 'The World Bank had no answer,' said a source who was at the discussion.

Hua Hin produced a ray of hope, including commitments from Thailand to step up protection.

Separately last Friday, India's Maharashtra state said it would release 10 billion rupees (S$300 million) to relocate families from tiger habitats. 'We have taken (the plight of the tiger) very seriously,' said minister Ramesh.

This Year of the Tiger, the fate of the wild tiger hangs by a thread.

Whether the tiger's call in the wild will still be heard 12 years from now, or if today's children will grow up to see the great cats just in cages, can be decided only if there is quick, strong action by range state governments.
--
Nirmal Ghosh
Senior Thailand Correspondent, Straits Times