எங்கே போயின பிணந்தின்னிக் கழுகுகள்?

கோவை சதாசிவம்

 

சுழல் காற்றில் சருகுகள் பறக்கிறதோ எனக் கவனித்துப் பார்த்தால் அத்தனையும் பட்டாம்பூச்சிகள், வடகிழக்குப் பருவ மழை தொடங்கும் நாளில், கிழக்கு தொடர்ச்சி மலை ஆசனூர் பகுதிகளிலிருந்து மேற்குத் தொடர்ச்சி மலை ஆனைகட்டி வரை பட்டாம்பூச்சிகள் வலசை போய்க் கொண்டிருந்தன. எங்கள் கலைப் பிரச்சார வாகனம் மிதமான வேகத்தில் தளமலையை அடைந்தது. தமிழகத்தில் அருகி வரும் ‘பாறு’ வகையைச் சேர்ந்த வெண்முதுகுப் பாறு (White-backed Vulture), நீண்ட அலகுப் பாறு (Long billed Vulture ), செந்தலைப் பாறு (Red headed Vulture), மஞ்சள் திருடிக் கழுகு (Egyptian Vulture) ஆகிய ஊனுண்ணிக் கழுகுகளின் வாழ்க்கையை, அவை வாழ வேண்டிய அவசியத்தை மக்களுக்கு உணர்த்தப் பயணித்துக்கொண்டிருந்தோம்.

பாறுகள் வாழும் பகுதியில் வசிக்கும் மக்களைச் சந்தித்துக் கழுகுகள் சந்தித்து வரும் அழிவை இயல், இசை, நாடக வடிவில் விளக்கினோம்.

இருபது ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு ஆயிரமாயிரமாய் வனங்களில் வட்டமடித்த பாறுகள், இன்றைக்கு நூற்றி ஐம்பதுக்குள் எண்ணிக்கை சரிந்து போனதைக் குறிப்பிட்டபோது மக்களின் கவலை தோய்ந்த முகங்களைக் காண முடிந்தது. கிராமங்கள்தோறும் ஆயிரக்கணக்கில் கால்நடைகளை வளர்க்கிறோம். அவற்றுக்குக் காய்ச்சல், மடிவீக்கம், மேயாமை போன்ற நோய்கள் வரும்போது கால்நடை மருத்துவரைக் கூட்டிவந்து ஊசி போடுகிறோம். அவரும் வலிக்கொல்லி மருந்தான டைகுளோஃபினாக்கை ஊசியில் நிரப்பி மாட்டின் உடலில் செலுத்திவிட்டுப் போவார், பிறகு அந்த மாடு இறந்துபோகும். நாம் அருகிலுள்ள வனப்பகுதியில் சடலத்தைக் கிடத்திவிட்டு வருவோம். மாட்டுக்குச் செலுத்திய மருந்தின் வீரியம் அதன் உடலில் தங்கியிருக்கும். அதைச் சாப்பிடும் பாறுகளின் சிறுநீரகம் செயலிழந்து போய், தலை தொங்கி, கிறுகிறுத்து, மரத்திலிருந்து கொத்துக்கொத்தாகச் செத்து விழுந்த சம்பவத்தை மக்களோடு பகிர்ந்துகொண்டோம்.

தமிழகத்திலுள்ள திருக்கழுக்குன்றத்தில் கழுகுகள் தினசரி உணவுக்கு வருவதை, அந்த ஊரில் வாழும் மக்கள் கதைகதையாய்ச் சொல்வார்கள். கோவில் நிர்வாகம் கழுகுகளுக்கு உணவளிப்பதற்காகவே தனி மானியம் வழங்கிவந்தது. பல்வேறு சுற்றுச்சூழல் அச்சுறுத்தல்களால் 1994ஆம் ஆண்டிலிருந்து அங்குக் கழுகுகள் வருவதில்லை. கோவில் கோபுரத்தில் கழுகுகள் வரும் வழியில் கூடு போன்ற அமைப்பை 1994ஆம் ஆண்டு நடந்த குடமுழுக்கின்போது அடைத்துவிட்டதே, கழுகுகள் வராததற்குக் காரணம் என்று பலரும் சொன்னாலும் சூழலியல் காரணங்களை யாரும் முன்னிறுத்துவதில்லை. கோவில் தூணில் கழுகுக்கு உணவளிப்பதைப் போன்ற சிற்பம் மட்டுமே அங்கு எஞ்சி உள்ளது.

காடுகளிலுள்ள கழுகுகளைப் பற்றி நாம் பேசுகிறோம். காட்டைத் துப்புரவு செய்து தூய்மையாக வைத்திருக்கும் உயிரினம்தான் கழுகுகள். நமது வீடுகளில் ஒரு சுண்டெலி சந்து, பொந்துகளில் சிக்கி இறந்து போனால் வீடெங்கும் வீசும் கெட்ட வாடையைப் பொறுத்துக்கொள்ள முடியாமல் அதைத் தேடி எடுத்துத் தூக்கி எறிந்து, வீட்டைச் சுத்தப்படுத்திய பிறகுதானே நிம்மதியடைகிறோம்.

ஆட்கள் நுழைய முடியாத ஒரு அடர்ந்த காட்டில் யானை இறந்து போனால் அதைச் சுத்தப்படுத்துவது யார்? கழுகுகள்தான்! காட்டில் கழுகுகள் அற்றுப்போனால் யானையின் உடல் மக்கி மறைய வெகு நாட்கள் ஆகும். அதன் உடலில் இருந்து வெளியேறும் நோய்க் கிருமிகள் காட்டில் வாழும் மற்ற உயிரினங்களுக்கும் தொற்றும், காட்டுக்குள் மேய்ந்து வரும் நமது கால்நடைகளையும் பாதிக்கும்.

நதிகள் மலைகளில்தான் உற்பத்தியாகின்றன, ஒரு சின்ன ஓடையில் நோய்க் கிருமி சேர்ந்தாலும் அது ஒட்டுமொத்த நீரிலும் கலக்கும். லட்சக்கணக்கான மனிதர்களின் உடலிலும் வந்து சேரும். கழுகுகளை நாம் காப்பாற்றினால் அவை நம்மைக் காப்பாற்றும் என்பதை உணர வேண்டும்.

எங்களது கலைப் பயணத்தினூடே கால்நடை மருத்துவர்களைச் சந்தித்துக் கழுகுகளுக்குக் கேடு பயக்கும் டைகுளோஃபினாக், அசிக்குளோஃபினாக், கீட்டோ புரோஃபென் மருந்துகளைப் புறக்கணித்து மாற்று மருந்துகளைப் பயன்படுத்த வலியுறுத்தினோம். எஞ்சிய கழுகுகள் வாழும் ஈரோடு, நீலகிரி பகுதிகளிலுள்ள மருந்து விற்பனையாளர்கள், கால்நடைத் துறையினர், பால் உற்பத்தியாளர்கள், வேளாண் மக்களிடம் இந்தச் செய்தியைக் கொண்டு சேர்ப்பதில் மிகுந்த கரிசனத்தோடு சி.இ.பி.எப்.அமைப்பும், மலபார் இயற்கை வரலாற்றுக் கழகமும், சாலிம் அலி பறவை மற்றும் இயற்கை ஆராய்ச்சி மையமும், மும்பை இயற்கை வரலாற்று கழகமும் வழிகாட்டி துணை நின்றன.

கழுகுகள் வாழும் பகுதியைச் சுற்றிலும் 100 கி.மீ. சுற்றளவுக்கு டைகுளோஃபினாக் மருந்தின் பயன்பாடு அறவே கூடாது எனச் சுற்றுச்சூழல் அமைச்சகம் நெறிமுறை வகுத்துள்ளது. மத்திய அரசின் மருந்து கட்டுப்பாடு ஆளுநர் அம்மருந்தைக் கால்நடைகளுக்குத் தருவதற்குத் தடை விதித்து 2006ஆம் ஆண்டு உத்தரவு பிறப்பித்தது. இவை எளிய மக்களின் செவிகளுக்கு எட்டாத சேதியாய் இருப்பதை, இந்த விழிப்புணர்வு பிரச்சாரத்தின்போது புரிந்துகொள்ள முடிந்தது.

இந்தப் பயணம் மூலம் நாற்பதுக்கும் மேற்பட்ட மலைக் கிராமங்களைச் சேர்ந்த ஆயிரமாயிரம் மக்களுக்கு அருளகம் இயற்கைப் பாதுகாப்பு அமைவனமும் விதைகள் கலைக் குழுவும் பரிச்சயமடைந்தன. கடந்த காலத்தில் இம்மக்களால்தான் கழுகுகள் வாழ்ந்தன. இனியும் இம்மக்களால்தான் கழுகுகளைக் காப்பாற்றமுடியும். இயற்கையோடும், இயற்கை படைத்தளித்த உயிர்களோடும் வாழ்வதுதான் வாழ்க்கை என்பதை ஏழை, எளிய விளிம்பு நிலை மக்களுக்கு அறியச் செய்வதின் மூலம்தான் எதையும் காப்பாற்ற முடியும்.

அறுபது ஆண்டுகளுக்கு முன்பு இந்த மண்ணில் வாழ்ந்த சிவிங்கிப்புலி (சீட்டா) முற்றிலும் மறைந்ததைப் போல் பாறுக் கழுகுகள் அழிந்துபோக விட்டுவிடக் கூடாது. சுரங்கத் தொழில், காட்டுத்தீ, ஆற்றோரமுள்ள பெருமரங்களின் அழிப்பு போன்ற செயல்பாடுகளாலும் கழுகுகள் அழிந்தன. புலி, சிறுத்தைகளான வேட்டையாடும் விலங்குகளின் மீது கொண்ட வன்மத்தில் அவை கொன்ற மாட்டின் உடலில் இனி நஞ்சு தடவ மாட்டோம், காட்டில் இயற்கையாக இறக்கும் விலங்குகளைக் கழுகுகளுக்கு விருந்தாக்க வனத்துறையிடம் வேண்டுவோம் என்று கிராம மக்கள் உறுதியளித்து, தேநீரும் நம்பிக்கை தரும் வார்த்தைகளையும் கொடுத்துக் கலைப் பயணத்துக்கு விடை கொடுத்தனர்.

 

Keywords: வெண்முதுகுப் பாறு, கழுகுகள், நீண்ட அலகுப் பாறு, செந்தலைப் பாறு

Source: http://tamil.thehindu.com/general/environment/%E0%AE%8E%E0%AE%99%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%87-%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%8B%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%A9-%E0%AE%AA%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%A3%E0%AE%A8%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%A9%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A9%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D-%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%B4%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%B3%E0%AF%8D/article5600729.ece

South Asia’s First Integrated Wildlife Law Enforcement Strategy to be Developed in India — TRAFFIC

by Shubhobroto Ghosh 

New Delhi: Senior delegates from various enforcement and intelligence agencies of the eight South Asian countries plus China, Russia, and Myanmar will meet next week to develop a cross cutting operational strategy to curb the growing menace of illegal wildlife trade in the region.

The Integrated Investigative Capacity Development and Operational Planning Meeting in New Delhi, India, taking place from 1-5 July 2013 is a critical step to mobilize co-ordinated action against wildlife crime by the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network (SAWEN). The event is being led by INTERPOL’s Environmental Crime Programme and the Government of India’s Central Bureau of Investigation, with additional technical support from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), and TRAFFIC.

Illegal wildlife trade is perceived to be a high profit and low risk activity and has grown to become the fifth largest illegal global trade after narcotics, counterfeiting, human trafficking and oil trafficking. Besides driving many endangered species towards extinction, illegal wildlife trade strengthens criminal networks, undermines national security, and poses increasing risks to global health. Since illegal wildlife trade extends beyond national borders, a regional strategy and international co-operation are needed to address its growing influence.

Against this background, this specialized capacity development and operation planning meeting will aim to identify regional priorities in wildlife law enforcement, implement a common approach for regional operations and bridge communication gaps between agencies at the national and regional levels. This meeting will also help to strengthen SAWEN as an institution by connecting focal points and specialists with other national colleagues and government representatives. The initiative will help enhance enforcement capacity for the conservation of wild tigers and other Asian big cats, linking up with INTERPOL’s Project Predator. The capacity development and subsequent operational planning will allow participants to guide the international community with targeted regional strategies for information strategies and effective investigations.

At least three officials from each of the South Asian countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka) representing one or more enforcement agencies, including the police, wildlife departments, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, INTERPOL National Central Bureaus, environmental agencies, SAWEN focal points and Customs agencies are expected to attend the meeting as well as delegates from China and Russia.

Dr Shekhar Kumar Niraj, Head of TRAFFIC in India said: “TRAFFIC is very excited about this meeting and hopeful that concrete plans for combating wildlife crime will emerge from it – the inputs from INTERPOL and India’s CBI, along with other experts, will play a critical role in assisting SAWEN to realize its full potential as a best-practice law enforcement network.”

The meeting will largely focus on capacity development of tools for the support of investigative operations, intelligence-led best practices such as controlled deliveries, questioning wildlife smugglers, risk management and ethics and professionalism in building wildlife cases.

“The meeting is crucial for SAWEN since one of its main mandates is to bring together the eight South Asian countries for fighting wildlife crime. A concentrated global response in the form of a well committed and focused operational plan by the countries and SAWEN is necessary to stop illegal wildlife trade” said Dr Niraj.

Generous financial support from both the US Department of State and USAID is acknowledged in making this landmark training event possible.

For more information, please contact Shubhobroto Ghosh at +91-9310480645/011-41504786. You can also visit our websites — Traffic and Traffic India.

About TRAFFIC

TRAFFIC was established in 1976 and since then it has developed a considerable international reputation for helping to identify and address conservation challenges linked to trade in wild animals and plants. In India, TRAFFIC carries out research and provides analysis, support and encouragement to efforts aimed at ensuring that wildlife trade is not a threat to conservation of nature in India. TRAFFIC in India works as a programme division of WWF–India, the largest conservation organization in India. TRAFFIC is a strategic alliance of WWF and IUCN.

About the author

Shubhobroto Ghosh
The author is Senior Programme Officer, TRAFFIC India.

Source: http://www.conservationindia.org/news/traffic-india

Call of the wild

PU Antony, June 4, 2013

Blooming Biosphere The declaration of two new sanctuaries by the Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments comes as a hope for many endangered species. Increased protection and awareness, especially in tiger reserves, has already led to resurgence in tiger numbers in southern India, writes  PU Antony.

World Environment Day being celebrated each year with festivities around the world is primarily meant to invoke political and public action towards issues concerned with the environment.
This year, the day is marked by the creation of corridors that would enable marooned wild life of Nilgiri Biosphere to roam in a larger, more intact ecosystem. The untiring efforts of various green organisations towards this cause in South India resulted in the recent declaration of sanctuary status to two reserve forests and the ban of night traffic on various highways passing through Bandipur, Nagarhole, Mudumalai and Wayanad wildlife sanctuary. These two initiatives from the part of the respective state governments paved way for an unruffled subsistence for wild animals in this belt.

The new Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary (Tamil Nadu) including areas along the River Cauvery in the Hosur and Dharmapuri forest divisions, together with the unique Gutterayan Riverine Forest was first proposed by the noted naturalist, M Krishnan immediately after the promulgation of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Later, the proposal being put up since then from time to time by various green organisations became a reality when Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced its implementation in the Tamil Nadu assembly on May 2 this year.

In a similar move, the Karnataka government has officially declared a part of the Kollegala Range Forest as Male Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary on May 16,. Out of the 1,224 sq km of the range forest, 906.18 sq km (90,618.75 hectares) has been declared a sanctuary. The declaration has been welcomed by NGOs and greens who had persistently demanded sanctuary status to these forests.

A crucial habitat

The new Cauvery wildlife sanctuary is a very crucial habitat dotted with a range of hills covered by dry deciduous and semi-evergreen forests on the Eastern Ghats, bound by the River Cauvery on the West. Some stretches of shola forests too are seen on the slopes of the hills. This is the only forest in Tamil Nadu other than Srivilliputhur that harbours the Grizzled Giant Squirrel, ratufa macroura. The ruling monarch of these jungles is the elephant.

This forest range stretches to sanctuaries of BR Hills and Sathyamangalam including the newly installed Male Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary and joins the tiger reserves of Nilgiri Biosphere. As the meeting point of the Western Ghats and Eastern Ghats, these forests form a vital link in the elephant corridors of South India, connecting the Bannerghatta National Park and the River Cauvery. It borders some of the prominent tiger sanctuaries of the South. Water sources like Cauvery, Dodahalla, Hebbahalla, Chinnar, Ponnaiar, Anaibiddahalla rivers make these ranges a promising habitat for wild life.

A home to the endangered

Both the proposed sanctuaries are home to many endangered wildlife like four-horned antelope  (tetracerus quadricornis),  Indian gaur (bos gaurus), sambar (cervus unicolor), leopard (panthera pardus), smooth-coated otter (lutrogale perspicillata), sloth bear (melursus ursinus), wild dog (cuon alpines), Indian pangolin (manis crassicaudata), rusty spotted cat (prionailurus rubiginosus), Egyptian vulture (neophron percnopterus), painted stork (mycteria leucocephala), grey headed fish eagle (ichthyophaga ichthyaetus), lesser fish eagle (ichthyophaga humilis) etc. whose protection under Wildlife Protection Act needs to be ensured.

The vegetation type

These sanctuaries host mixed vegetation types such as thorn scrub, dry tropical riverine, dry deciduous, mixed deciduous, dry evergreen and semi evergreen. The forests of the hill harbour many rare plants and trees such as giant mangifera indica, garcinia gummigutta, wild balsam, wild jack, etc. Endangered species such as shorea roxburghii also occur in the division. Significant trees such as old growth mutti (terminalia arjuna), hardwickia binata, ippe (madhuca longifolia), diospyros malabarica etc. occur here.

Habitat fragmentation due to settlements, poaching, cattle grazing, forest fire; exodus of elephant herds from fragmented forests; increase in road network into the forest areas etc. can now be effectively managed for better conservation. Allowing the elephants to disperse haphazardly will be disastrous as the landscape has changed vastly due to human activity. The only option is to contain the elephants within the existing forest divisions by protecting the habitat and making it suitable for elephants. To that extent, the setting up of the two sanctuaries is a positive move.

The nature of forest cover in the Eastern Ghats had become more open with extensive scrub patches. It is reasonable to assume that the trend has continued and probably accelerated in the last decade. The seriousness and intensity of the problems need to be acknowledged and corrective measures need to be put in place.

This can only be done by enhancing the status of the important parts of the region to a protected area and re-orienting the management towards wildlife conservation.

The declaration of the two sanctuaries will create a large tract of contiguous protected area connecting Bannerghatta National Park to the forests of Sathaymangalam through Kollegal and Kanakpura Forest Divisions and Billigirirangaswamy Tiger Reserve. Increased protection and awareness, especially in tiger reserves, are leading to resurgence in tiger numbers and the tiger range in southern India is increasing. Strict protection of the proposed area will lead to a healthy population of ungulate prey species and the area will once again become habitable for the tiger.

Source: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/336351/call-wild.html

Preserve repositories of vulnerable biodiversity

By The New Indian Express |  03rd June 2013 07:42 AM
The India archipelago of Nicobar Islands, home to around 1,800 animal species and some of the world’s most endangered tribes, has now been declared as a world biosphere reserve. The 103,870-hectare reserve was last week officially declared as protected by the International Coordinating Council of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme. The archipelago is also home to the indigenous Shopmen people, semi-nomadic hunters dwelling inland and the Nicobarese who live in coastal areas and are dependent on fishing and agriculture.

Biosphere reserves are chosen by the MAB programme to experiment with different approaches to manage terrestrial, marine, coastal and freshwater resources. They also serve as in situ laboratories for sustainable development. In India the biospheres of Simplipal (Odisha), Nokrek (Meghalaya), Pachmarhi (Madhya Pradesh), Nilgiri (Tamil Nadu), the Gulf of Mannar (Tamil Nadu), Sunderbans (West Bengal) Nanda Devi (Uttarakhand), and Achanakmar-Amarkantak (MP and Chhattisgarh) are already on UNESCO’s list. The designation is not binding under any law but aimed at building and promoting a network of places where people are attempting to mesh human activity with biological and scenic assets.

Man-made changes to ecosystems are now so alarmingly rapid that human lives and societies face epic challenges. Technological fixes cannot replace the role of robust, complex, and interconnected natural ecosystems in maintaining a biosphere’s favourable conditions. Any viable response to the global environmental crisis must greatly expand the level of protection afforded to wildlife and wild places through conservation. It is imperative to protect all old-growth habitats, as these remnants are ancient repositories of rich and vulnerable biodiversity and optimal arenas for life-sustaining processes.

Source: http://newindianexpress.com/editorials/Preserve-repositories-of-vulnerable-biodiversity/2013/06/03/article1617284.ece?commentId=76816&pageNumber=1#comment-76816

Tiger reserve status for Rajaji Park

C. K. CHANDRAMOHAN | DEHRA DUN, May 26, 2013

The Union government has given the nod to a proposal to grant the Rajaji National Park in Uttarakhand the status of a tiger reserve.

It will be the second tiger reserve in the State after the Corbett National Park.

Announcing this here over the weekend, Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) S.S. Sharma said the elevated status would go a long way in conservation of tigers in the region.

There are at present 42 tiger reserves in the country.

Citing a communication received from the Centre in this regard, Mr. Sharma said the tiger reserve at the Rajaji National Park would cover an area of 1,150 sq.km, including Shyampur of the Haridwar forest division, Kotdwar and Laldhang ranges.

Tigers are present in the Chilla and Dhaulkhand ranges of the park, which is spread over 820 sq.km in Haridwar, Dehra Dun and Pauri Garhwal districts. It has the largest elephant population in the State besides tigers, deer and other animals.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tiger-reserve-status-for-rajaji-park/article4751955.ece

Whole village to be moved from elephant corridor in India

Villagers voluntarily relocate from elephant corridor 

The region is home to some 1800 elephants

May 2013. Marking a significant milestone in efforts to secure a crucial elephant corridor in northeast India, residents of an entire village have literally put down in stone their willingness to relocate voluntarily outside the corridor to provide a clear passage for elephants.

Modern traditional houses

The foundation stone for a model ethnic village was laid down, marking the site of relocation of the Ram Terang villagers from the Kalapahar Doigurung Elephant Corridor. The village will have traditional style houses reflecting the culture of the area, but it will also be equipped with modern facilities and necessities such as electricity, health care and education.

Unveiling the foundation stone in the relocated area

Laying the foundation stone, Rechno Haising Ronghang, the 40th King of Karbi Anglong said, "This is a new step that will benefit wildlife as well as people. There should be no barrier when it comes to wildlife conservation. We need to think of it as something that is necessary for human survival too." He congratulated the team for the initiative that will benefit the people of the corridor areas.

People of the village celebrating their impending move

The Kalapahar-Doigurung Elephant Corridor connects Kalapahar with Doigurung-Nambor Wildlife Sanctuary and Kaziranga National Park. For 30 years the village of Ram Terang, named after the head of the village, has been situated in the middle of the corridor. As a result, human-elephant conflicts have been common and with regular loss of property and life for both the elephants and the humans.

1800 elephants

"There are about 1800 elephants in the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape making it the habitat of about 8% of India's elephants. Securing this corridor is not just about the right of passage for these elephants but also to relieve local people of losses caused due to conflicts", said Dr Bhaskar Choudhury, Regional Head (Assam).

The process of course, reaching up to this milestone was not an easy one. It began about three years ago.

"The villagers were very hesitant at first when we approached them with the idea of relocation, and naturally so, as it involved their complete overhaul of their livelihoods. However, eventually they understood the need and benefits of the efforts for animals as well as themselves. Many individuals and agencies played a very crucial role in achieving this, and we are extremely grateful to all of them," said Dilip Deori, Assistant Manager, WTI, while expressing his appreciation for the support and cooperation being shown by the local community and organisations.

The project was supported by Elephant Family, IUCN - Netherlands and Japan Tiger and Elephant Fund, and implemented by Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), to assist the Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council and Assam Forest Department in wildlife conservation in the region.

Source: http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/elephant-village013.html#cr

Panther dies after hit by vehicle in Sariska

Rajendra Sharma, TNN May 20, 2013
ALWAR: A two-year-old male panther died in Sariska reserve after being hit by a speeding vehicle on Sunday morning. The incident took place between Kushalgarh and Bharthari areas.

The animal suffered traumatic shock, cervical fracture and a head injury, says the autopsy report.

Though the state government had come up with a panther conservation committee recently, it still remains on paper, said sources.

Panthers are endangered animals listed under Schedule 1 of Wildlife Protection Act which gives them absolute protection. A separate area was to be developed for them so that they could roam safely. According to the census conducted in 2010, the number of panthers in the reserve was put at 45 but on an average one panther is killed in road accident, poached or attacked after straying into human habitats every two days, says a study.

Concerned over the rise in panther deaths, the state was to constitute a committee for panther conservation and develop a separate territory for them in Sariska Tiger Reserve. Wildlife experts and officials of forest department were to chalk out a plan for their safety in the reserve, but hardly anything has been done so far.

According to honorary wildlife warden Anil Jain, "It is difficult for Sariska to stabilize given the fact that the Ranthambore lobby plays a very predominant role in Rajasthan. They want tourists to be diverted from Sariska and the forest department just does what they want. It has been on record that the every three to six months a divisional forest officer has been transferred from Sariska and similar is the case with the assistant conservator of forests."

Besides since the reserve is big, there is a dire need of more rangers and forest guards. "At the moment there are only six rangers which ideally should be double the number. The number of forest guards is just 110 while it should ideally be nearly 300," said Jain.

Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-05-20/jaipur/39392193_1_sariska-tiger-reserve-forest-guards-panther

Tamhini is newest sanctuary in Maharashtra

Vijay Pinjarkar, TNN May 20, 2013
NAGPUR: The state government on Friday completed protected areas' (PAs) half century by notifying Tamhini Wildlife Sanctuary in Pune and Thane districts.

The 49.62 sq km Tamhini has been carved out by taking 12 compartments of reserved forest from Paund and Sinhgad ranges in Pune forest division while 8 compartments belong to Mangaon range in Roha division in Thane.

Located 65km west of Pune, Tamhini is a hilly place near Mulshi dam. The area is blessed with waterfalls, verdant valleys and lush evergreen forests. The temple dedicated to Vinzai Devi and the beautiful Devrai (sacred grove) full of some interesting flora adds to the charm of the place. The forests are rich with bird life, including insects and endemic Indian Giant Squirrel.

"Considering its ecological, faunal and floral significance the government decided to declare Tamhini a sanctuary. The area will help protect, propagate and develop wildlife therein and its environment," said Praveen Pardeshi, principal secretary (forests).

Since November 2010, the government has notified five wildlife sanctuaries viz Mansinghdeo (183 sq km), New Bor (61 sq km), New Nagzira (152 sq km), Navegaon (123 sq km) and Umred-Karhandla (189 sq km) and a conservation reserve for endangered wild buffaloes in Kolamarka (189 sq km) in Gadchiroli.

The Maharashtra Government denotified 8,496.44 sq km GIB sanctuary at Nanaj in Solapur to 1,222.61 sq km. Due to this decision, there was drastic decrease in the area under PA network in the state from 4.97% to 2.6% i.e. from 15,332.49 sq km to 8,058.66 sq km, a sharp drop by 60.55%.

Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-05-20/nagpur/39392290_1_gib-sanctuary-nanaj-mansinghdeo

25 Years of student volunteering

Prema Naraynen, TNN May 20, 2013
A student volunteer group in the city has now thrived for a quarter of a century. We find out what makes it tick
"People call me a founder of the SSTCN, which is okay, but the truth is that the group has had to find a founder every year!" says Tito Chandy with a laugh. And he's right... this is one of the more extraordinary facts about the "Students' Sea Turtle Conservation Network” a student volunteer group that has been active in Chennai now for 25 years.

'Turtle walks' have been synonymous with Chennai for decades now. From December to April, every night since 1988, school and college students have walked the seven-kilometre stretch from Neelankarai to Besant Nagar, scouring the beach for freshly dug nests of the endangered olive ridley sea turtle before the eggs can be taken away by poachers for the market. When found, the eggs are relocated for their safety to a shelter or 'hatchery', and monitored there; weeks later, when the tiny turtle hatchlings emerge, they are released into the sea.

But, it wasn't students who began this conservation trend. In the 1970s, the first such walks were started by herpetologist Rom Whitaker and S Valliappan along the beach between Madras and Kalpakkam. Whitaker writes about this first effort in 1974, when he and a bunch of enthusiasts "rescued 14,000 olive ridley eggs from poaching and released the 9000 that hatched". This was also around the time, 1973, when the spectacular mass-nesting or arribadas of olive ridleys along the Orissa coast was first reported to the world.

By the 1980s, olive ridleys became mainstream news and the WWF and the Forest Department took on the role of monitoring the beach and popularizing the walks among Chennai's nature lovers. "But, a few years later, in 1987, the state-sponsored hatchery was shut down," says Tito Chandy, "which was when the idea for a volunteer group to carry on the work materialized. Someone had to do it."

The Students' Sea Turtle Conservation Network, or SSTCN, was therefore created by Chandy, along with friends Arif Razack and Sudhakar Muthyala. He says, "I was a post graduate student at Madras Christian College then. We met with the Chief Wildlife Warden to get permission to set up a hatchery on the beach at Neelankarai. And printed and sold about 900 'Save the Ridley' stickers for ten rupees each, collecting about 10,000 rupees to buy the material to build the hatchery."

Satish Bhaskar, an IITian who spent years studying sea turtles in the Andaman and Lakshadweep Islands, was an early mentor to the group. "We also learned a lot from the poachers, especially one called Mayavan” simply by trying to beat him in getting to the nests!" chuckles Chandy.

Autonomy and shared leadership

What makes the SSTCN unique is that in these 25 years, its existence has depended entirely on a small army of student volunteers. It's not surprising that for the young students, a form of 'anarchism' was an appealing idea while laying down the rules. The protocol in those early years was ” no one person would be considered a 'leader' or face of the group and all work was to be entirely voluntary.

This has helped the group to thrive even when dedicated volunteers moved out of the city. When Chandy left, for instance, in 1990 to pursue a PhD in wildlife management, Kartik Shanker, another young student, took over coordination for the next few years. Since then, senior volunteers have been taking up the baton at every stage when a student has left the city to pursue higher education or a career outside.

Which explains why the group needs a new 'founder' every year! Arun V, who has now been shepherding the group's activities for 15 years, says, "There's the fear that no volunteers will turn up for a season. But there are always some really dedicated students who take this work very seriously. Some years ago, Sanjiv Gopal used to walk the stretch six days a week and even attend college alongside! In 1992-93, the entire season was managed by girls, with Nina Subramani as the co-ordinator."

A career builder

Shravan Krishnan has just finished a B Com from Loyola College and is this year's hatchery co-ordinator. He says, "Almost a 1500 people have come just to see the hatchlings being released this year and another thousand people signed up for the walks earlier. Only about 60 or so are regular walkers however."

Ten thousand hatchlings have been released into the sea off Madras by the SSTCN in the last few months. Going by the prevailing scientific belief that only one in a thousand hatchlings will survive to adulthood, it's possible that only ten of the ridleys released this year will head back to these beaches to mate and nest when they reach sexual maturity around fifteen years from now.

With the conservation problems that these reptiles are up against, this is, at best, a trifling effort to save the species, despite the long hours of rigorous work put in by the students. So why do they continue to do this?

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/people/25-Years-of-student-volunteering/articleshow/20136519.cms

Road connectivity work in tiger reserve area infuriates activists

TNN | May 17, 2013
COIMBATORE: Hardly two months after the Sathyamangalam wildlife sanctuary was classified as a tiger reserve by the Union environment ministry, three new roads being laid in the forest area has invited the wrath of green activists. They believe the roads will disrupt and disturb wildlife in the region. Interestingly, two of the three road schemes are being promoted by the Tamil Nadu forest department itself, which had pursued the tiger reserve status, to protect and preserve the forest areas bordering Karnataka.

The new roads are Malliammandurgam road linking Kadambur West beat and TN Palayam range, Belathur forest road linking Belathur beat and Thalavadi range and Gundri road linking Gundri beat and TN Palayam range. They are in different stages of construction and if fully implemented they would be detrimental to both traditional forest dwellers and animals. The department is going ahead with the forest roads despite protests by green activists,'' said K Mohanraj of Tamil Nadu green movement.

According to forest department sources, the Malliammandurgam road is about 8 km long. It starts from Kadambur and is situated within the core areas of the tiger reserve. According to local MLA PL Sundaram, the road construction is not illegal as it was permitted by the district collector when he heard that the tribal people were transporting construction material using donkeys to build a school in the forest village. The permission to construct the school was given by the forest department itself. The road is a life line for the local community and it can be justified under Forest Rights Act,'' he said.

"Using the school as an excuse, they are building a permanent road, disturbing the flora and fauna in the region. This will ultimately be detrimental to the tribals," argues M Jayachandran, an activist.

"Forty non-tribal families own about 350 acres of patta land at Malliammandurgam village. There is no electricity in the village driving most out of the area. Only about 15 people actually live there. There is talk that 150 acres have been purchased by outsiders and they are building road connectivity to facilitate real estate, farm houses and resorts," alleges Mohanraj.

The Belathur forest road is 4km of which 3km passes through the reserve. "This metal topped road was built illegally by engineering division of the forest department. This road work is going on stealthy by finishing work inside the forest first to avoid detection. Only a detailed investigation can bring out the truth," says Mohanraj.

The Gundri road from Anjanai junction to Gundri via Valamarathur is 9.6km. It was just a mud road but now it has been asphalted with numerous bridges and culverts inside the wildlife sanctuary by engineering division of the forest department. This road work is being conducted at a cost of Rs.351.61 lakh, funded by Bharat Nirman Phase II. As per Bharat Nirman, every habitation of 1,000 population and above (500 and above in hilly and tribal areas) would be provided with all-weather road connectivity. The forest department said it renovated the road to provide transport facilities for residents of the hilly region.

"Forest roads reduce the habitat quality for wildlife, provides easy access to hunting and poaching and increases human-wildlife conflict,'' says Jayachandran. No clearances were sought from the National Board of Wildlife or ministry of environment and forests,'' he points out.

K Melkani, additional principal chief conservator of forests dealing with tiger reserves, was unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/coimbatore/Road-connectivity-work-in-tiger-reserve-area-infuriates-activists/articleshow/20097892.cms?intenttarget=no