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

Aajab Desh ki gajaab kahani ..

Now, more Tigers a problem?

TNN, 11 February 2010, 03:46am IST

NEW DELHI: Despite being seen as a "success'' story in tiger conservation, the Corbett Tiger Reserve now presents a man-animal conflict scenario aggravated due to rising big cat numbers and rampant encroachment by tourist resorts that has pushed up human incursions into the reserve and its buffer zones.

Things came to a head last week with two attacks, one of a woman being killed by a tiger and another of a leopard striking a group of three boys. The incidents around Dhikuli led to a furious uprising of villagers who besieged forest officials demanding that the big cats be declared "adam khor'' or maneaters and be destroyed.

The fear that has gripped the villagers is not surprising given the threat posed by big cats breaking out but what has riled conservationists is that the situation has been in the making for sometime now. CTR is facing pressures on both counts -- a teeming tiger population and the high volume of tourists at so-called resorts that offer weekend parties and birthday bashes instead of wildlife viewing. PI

Corbett, with a tiger population of 164 according to the last census in 2007, is counted as one of India's rare successes. But in recent years, massive commercialisation has been posing an ecological and environmental threat and the attacks, which some say were waiting to happen, have highlighted the state government's failure to notify the park's buffer zone, as required under the Wildlife Protection Act.

The boys who had been attacked by a leopard, pointed out officials, were a good 1.25 km in the core area of the park while the tiger had killed its victim in the fringe area. The tiger appears to have been surprised as it had made a kill. Sources in National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) told TOI that unbridled tourism was proving to be a bane for the park. "The number of tourist resorts has gone up manifold in the past few years, now numbering about 70, a majority of which are located between Ramnagar and the Dhangarhi gate.''

The NTCA official said, "In a situation where there are humans and animals living in such close proximity, such incidents are bound to happen. The government is trying to take steps to reduce the conflict.'' The attack seems to have shaken up authorities as CTR director R K Mishra said the park's buffer zone is likely to be notified in the coming week.

The buffer zone would give the park management more teeth to make rules for the adjoining areas. "The entire area is 288 sq km of which 88 sq km comes under the UP government and the remaining under Uttarakhand. Both governments are working on the final stages of notification which is expected to be announced in the coming week,'' said Mishra.

Noted film-maker on conservation Krishnendu Bose argues the buffer zone needs careful thought. It could impose restrictions on locals and, in fact, increase the conflict with the tiger bearing the brunt. "This has not happened overnight. Were the authorities sleeping when the resorts to come up?'' he asked. There is need for a proper plan instead of knee-jerk reactions, said Bose who has followed Corbett over the last 25 years.

"The tiger corridor is shrinking due to rapid encroachment and growth of habitation even in the buffer area. While tiger conservation needs immediate attention, government should also be equipped to deal with the fight for space between man and animal,'' said a local conservationist.

On this issue, park officials remain in denial, perhaps aware that many resorts enjoy political patronage. "As far as our knowledge goes, there is no encroachment in the tiger corridor. But we need regulations on the spread of human presence in the area, all the more as very often humans don't respect the animals territory,'' they said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Now-more-tigers-a-problem/articleshow/5557859.cms

Poison on the Platter

“Poison on the Platter”, is an eye-opening film, made by Mahesh Bhatt and Ajay Kanchan, illustrating how all of our lives will be adversely affected by genetically modified foods.

It is no more a farmer’s issue alone, it’s a matter of the consumers’ right to food safety.

We wouldn’t even be able to separate/choose a normal Brinjal from/over a GM one, if Bt Brinjal - a GM crop produced by the mighty agri-MNC Monsanto - is let through by our corrupt regulatory body.

Though the Govt of India has decided to delay the GM Crops project for the time being followed by massive protestss at different levels of the society but HAS NOT ruled out re-enforcing them in the future.

Each one of us has the right to make our voices heard.

The link:

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/4687000?fr=yvmtf

Poster courtesy -- Drik India

The PHANTOM

November 12, 2009 was the 2nd last day of our 5'day Bagh'er Jonyo Haatun (Walk for the Tigers) awareness programme at the Sundarbans. The prime objective was to canvass awareness among the human habitants living in the villages adjacent to the Tiger Reserve to cooperate & work hand-in-hand with the forest department in tackling incidents of Tigers entering villages & to communicate the core message that Bengal Tigers are one of the most effective tool to mitigate climate change in Sundarbans.

On the way back from Shamshernagar where a big roadshow was organised with villagers, NGO workers, panchayat representatives & the foresters, we sighted this huge male at the Bhaijora khaal on Jhila river at 14:05 hrs. He continued to walk through the 1st layer of mangroves just beside the river bank parallel to our boats just like the phantom for the next 3+ hours that approx covered a few 15+kms.

These 3 mesmerizing hours left us spell bound as we experienced the magnificence of a king's gestures walking along us though the dense undergrowth, swimming & jumping across a number of creeks & so on .. .. till we had to part ways with him as the eve darkened, only to symbolize that we were in fact WALKING WITH THE TIGER !

Courtesy - Sanctuary Asia & Bengal Tiger Line's Bengal Tiger Bachaao campaign & Wildlife Conservation Trust with Sundarban Tiger Reserve & Sundarban Bio Sphere Reserve.

Walk for the Bengal Tiger : SUNDARBANS

Walk for the Bengal Tiger :

through the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve and

the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve

Purpose: To inform potential climate victims of the risks ahead and to seek their help to save the tiger and its mangrove habitat.

• Date: November 8-13, 2009

Coordinators:

Joydip and Suchandra Kundu

Kolkata Representatives for Sanctuary Asia

• Strategy: To use folk art, music and dance to convey information about wildlife conservation and climate change.

Partners:

The West Bengal Forest Department,

Sundarbans Tiger Reserve,

Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve,

National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA),

plus key NGOs working in the Sundarbans including

WWF-India, WPSI, ICNL, Tagore Society for Rural Development.

The Bengal Tiger Bachao (Save the Bengal Tiger) campaign is run by Sanctuary Asia and supported by The Bengal Tiger Line. Kids for Tigers, a network of one million Indian children, is a part and parcel of the campaign.

Walk for the Tiger, a mass contact initiative in the Sundarbans -- the world's largest mangrove forest -- was organised by the Bengal Tiger Bachao Campaign, supported by Bengal Tiger Line and the Wildlife Conservation Trust.

The purpose of the walk, which was only possible through the network created by existing NGOs and the wildlife protection staff, was to reach out to the world's most vulnerable population of humans (from climate change). Over 450,000 lakh people learned, possibly for the first time, that they were in harms way from wind and rising waters. We were able to convey to them what climate change was, what was causing it and how important it was to protect the Sundarbans' mangrove ecosystem. The tiger, we explained, was merely a symbol for the safe world that we are honour bound to leave for all children, particularly those of the Sundarbans.

Check out the Walk for the Bengal Tiger video clip on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQfKmUXApPM

Note: On May 25, 2009 Cyclone Aila struck the Sundarbans. Homes were washed away and fields and water sources turned saline. Using dykes and 'bunds' large numbers of people actually live at or below sea level here. Several hundred people died. Over 200,000 humans were forced to abandon their homes and move northward. Perhaps around 50,000 will never return. These are amongst the world's first traumatised climate change migrants. There is every chance that around three or four million more innocents will be similarly victimised in the years ahead. The Bengal Tiger Bachao campaign has no local office of its own in the Sundarbans. Instead, we work through the Tiger Reserve and Biosphere Reserve officials, and, of course, the many NGOs who have already been working in this difficult, but vital habitat for several years. We seek to be the wind under their wings.

Together we can and will save the Tiger.

Royal Bengal Tiger Bachao

Sanctuary & Bengal Tiger Line with the help of Sundarban Tiger Reserve launched the Royal Bengal Tiger Bachaao campaign -- a commitment to save the tiger and its mangrove kingdom -- the Sundarbans.

The launch was held at the start of National Wildlife Week at Kolkata's historic Town Hall Monday October 1, 2007 at 5.30pm. The day before the Kolkata media pitched in by taking the message to millions of Kolkata citizens. The popular Bengali satellite channel - Kolkata TV put out a 30 minute preview of the amazing and very flamboyant tiger dancers of Ganjam, who literally stole audience hearts at the Town Hall, Orissa and Friends 91.9FM, arguably the most popular FM station run by the Ananda Bazaar Patrika group created some truly creative radio spots urging citizens to "be there."

Joydip and Suchandra Kundu, Sanctuary's energetic Kolkata representatives made over 500 phone calls to inform people about the event and something really worked, because the Town Hall capacity of 600 was over run by around 900 young and old tiger defenders who seemed perfectly happy to stand and watch the proceedings.
The evening began with a welcome by both Sanctuary and Bengal Tiger Line, which was followed by an audio visual presentation by Bittu
Sahgal on climate change, its impact on the Sundarbans and West Bengal and, more specifically the tiger. Mr.S.Sridhar- Director, Bengal
Tiger Line expressed the stong support of his organisation for the tiger and the people of West Bengal.

Sanctuary's position has always been that NGOs have a supporting role to play and that Forest Departments and their frontline staff are key to the survival of the tiger. It was heartening to see therefore that West Bengal Forest Officials were present in full force including: Mr.Atanu Raha - PCCF, Mr.Niraj Singhal - Field Director Sundarban Tiger Reserve and Mr.Pradip Vyas - Jt.Director Sundarban Biosphere Reserve, Former Director of Project Tiger Mr.PK.Sen was also present as were Ms.Belinda Wright of WPSI, Ms.Debbie Banks from EIA-UK, former PCCF & CWLW of Karnataka Mr.S.K.Chakrabarti, Mr.Bikram Grewal and Mr.Sumit Sen, co-authors of The Sundarbans Inheritance were also present.

The presence of Smt.Tara Gandhi, wife of the West Bengal Governor, Mr. Gopal Gandhi symbolised the silent, yet strong support that the tiger and its defenders enjoy. Kids for Tigers, the Sanctuary Tiger Programme sponsored by Complan, sent tiger ambassadors from over 32 Kolkata schools together with their teachers and these kids were the centre of both attention and admiration.

Some measure of the support that the Royal Bengal Tiger enjoys can be assessed from the fact that the list of dignitaries present was longer and more varied than anyone could have imagined. The legendary footballer & Olympian Mr.Chuni Goswami, artist-painter Mr.Suvaprassana , singer and television anchor Mr.Anindya Chattopadhyay, actor Mr.Arindam Sil and singer Mr.Srikanto Acharya lent credibility and purpose to the event.

Hearteningly, credible and prominent Kolkata NGOs including ICNL, WWF, NEWS, ACT, CEMO, Canning Juktibadi Sangstha, Naturemates, Chetana, Junglees, Bali Nature & Wildlife Conservation Society were all present to endorse their support for the Royal Bengal Tiger.

A total of 15 Forest Guards from the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve plus five from the Sundarbans Biosphere Reserve were honoured with certificates that were jointly presented to them by the ever-supportive actor Rahul Bose and Mr. S. Sridhar.

The evening was concluded by actor Rahul Bose and Joydip Kundu who respectively led the audience in taking this simple oath (in English and Bengali)


We promise to save the Bengal Tiger
We promise to protect its forest home
We promise to respect Nature
We make this promise to our children
because their safety and happiness depends on us.

The launch turned out to be a national and Kolkata media event, but the true test of its success will follow in the months ahead as we painstakingly build support for the tiger and its threatened mangrove home.

http://sanctuaryasia.com/