Day after jumbo death, poacher held for killing deer

By Anitha Jaishankar
KRISHNAGIRI 26th December 2012 10:29 AM

Day after an elephant was found shot dead in Denkanikotta forest range in Krishnagiri district with its tusk missing, a poacher with a gun has been arrested for killing a deer in the same region by the forest officials during a combing operation in the dense forests region in Hosur on Tuesday.

The operation has been launched by officials to track the culprits who were involved in the killing of the elephant.

A 10-year-old male elephant was found shot dead on Monday allegedly by an unidentified gang and both of its tusks were missing.

Even before the locals could come out of the shock over the killing of the elephant, the arrest of a poacher for killing a deer in Urigam forest area in Denkanikotta taluk on Monday evening has heightened their fears.

According to sources, two of his accomplices with guns managed to escape from the spot. The arrested deer poacher has been identified as Madevan (35) of Kesthur village.

Both the incidents have raised questions about the wildlife conservation in Hosur, Denkanikotta, Anchetty forest regions on the border of Tamil Nadu.

When contacted, District Forest Officer (DFO) A K Ulaganathan told Express that officials recovered a country made gun from the accused Madevan. The accused has been booked under the Wildlife Protection Act and Indian Arms Act. He has been placed under judicial custody.

He said the forest department has taken a serious note of both the incidents. Two special teams, comprising 15 officials in each team, were scanning the forest region to crack elephant killing case.
While Ulaganathan himself is heading a team, the Assistant Conservator of Forest Madhu is leading another.

The DFO said the teams were involved in combing operations in Anchetty and Denkanikotta ranges in Hosur forest division. “We will comb till the border of Karnataka to nab the culprits involved in killing of elephant for tusk,” he added.

Citing the autopsy report, he told that the culprits removed the outer part of ivory weighing around 1.5 kg while the internal part weighing around 2.5 kg has been left untouched.

The DFO said that the role of residents of hill hamlets in Andavenapalli forest range was suspected in the case related to death of elephant.

Source: http://newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/article1394443.ece

15 rare birds sighted in Srivilliputhur

By Express News Service - SRIVILLIPUTHUR
27th December 2012 10:20 AM


Fifteen rare birds, including a Sri Lankan Frog Mouth Bird, were sighted during the enumeration of bird census held at the reserve forest in Srivilliputhur last week.

Totally, 15 teams found 200 birds. Out of these, 70 birds were sighted for the first time in this forest region. Among these 70, 15 were identified as rare species. For instance, the Sri Lankan Frog Mouth, which is found only in Kerala, was seen for the first time in here, said Murugesan, a bird lover and a member of one of the teams that were involved in the census work in the forest area.

Sri Lankan Frog Mouth, a nocturnal bird, used to feed mainly on insects during the night, he said.

Source: http://newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/article1396075.ece

Need corridor so tigers don't fight to death

IANS Dec 28, 2012, 10.08PM IST

JAIPUR: Even as the Wildlife Conservation Society recently reported a 50 percent increase in the population of tigers in the wild in India with their population now estimated at 3,200 after years of dangerously dwindling numbers, there is fresh cause for worry for tigers in sanctuaries.

As tiger-numbers increase in reserve areas, territorial fights are becoming frequent. In Rajasthan's Ranthambore National Park, the large number of tigers dying because of such fights has led to the state government planning for a corridor connecting this sanctuary with the adjoining Keladevi Sanctuary, an official said Friday.

The new corridor will come up at an estimated cost of Rs.200 crore.

About 45 villagers will need to be relocated to create the corridor, an official said.

The decision to create such a corridor was taken following the mysterious death of a yet-to-identified tiger in Ranthambore recently. Senior forest department officials said preliminary investigation hints at the possibility of the majestic cat being killed in a territorial fight.

"The state government has sought Rs.200 crore from the central government for developing the corridor. We are hopeful of receiving the money in the near future," a senior forest department officer told IANS.

Four tigers were killed in territorial fights over the past four years in Ranthambore National Park, leaving environmentalists worried that as the tiger population increases, there is also need to create a habitat in which they can thrive.

The tigers are overlapping each other's territory. To get their share of space, the big cats are fighting each other to death in the reserve in Sawai Madhopur district, some 150 km from Jaipur, wildlife experts said.

A tigress died in the reserve area Dec 23, and the death was attributed to a territorial fight with another cat. The mutilated, maggot-ridden carcass of the tigress was recovered from the reserve's Gilai Saga-Khadar area early Sunday morning, officials said.

A senior forest department officer told IANS that a probe has been launched into the animal's death.

"Prima facie, injuries suggest the death occurred in a territorial fight with another tiger. However, we are awaiting the post-mortem report to ascertain the cause, and rule out poaching," a wildlife officer said.

The number of such fights had been increasing in the recent past, the officer said.

A tiger named T-36 died of serious head injuries during a territorial fight with T-42 Aug 22, 2010. The body of tigress T-4 was found April 4, 2009. Officials had concluded that she was attacked by another tiger in a territorial fight.

Similarly, tigress T-15 was killed Sep 1, 2008.

According to a census conducted by the state forest department in 2009, there were 40 tigers in and around Ranthambore National Park and Sawai Madhopur wildlife sanctuary. The census conducted in the core division from April 30 to May 10, 2009 revealed that there were 14 males, 16 females and 10 cubs.

However, a recent survey found that the number of tigers has increased to 52, including 26 cubs.

"The core area of the reserve is spread over 1,113.36 sq km. Besides, the buffer zone earmarked by the state government around the reserve is 297.9 sq km. The area is inadequate for housing 52 tigers," a wildlife expert said.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Need-corridor-so-tigers-dont-fight-to-death/articleshow/17799464.cms