Tiger kills another woman near Nagpur

Express news service : Nagpur, Wed Apr 17 2013
A woman was killed and partly eaten by a tiger near Ranbodi village, about 50 km from here, in the newly-carved-out Umred-Karandla sanctuary in Nagpur district.

Home to at least 12 tigers, the sanctuary declared last year has only one village - Ranbodi.

Villager Layjabai Fukat (65) had gone to the forest to collect mahua flowers. When she did not return home at regular time, a search began. Forest staff and villagers later found her partly eaten body.

"A hand, a breast and part of her neck had been eaten," said Nagpur honorary wildlife warden Roheet Karu.

With this, the human toll in Vidarbha's man-animal conflict this year has gone up to ten — four attributed to tigers, four to leopards and two to wild boars.

Raj gives Rs 5 lakh

MNS chief Raj Thackeray has released the Rs 5 lakh he promised for detection of tiger poaching case in Chandrapur. The case pertained to a tiger whose body was found cut into pieces near Borda village in Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve last year.

Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/tiger-kills-another-woman-near-nagpur/1103672/

Why New Home Can Save India’s Lions

By Saptarishi Dutta

Asiatic Lions, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh

Conservationists say splitting India’s small population of Asiatic lions will help prevent the endangered animal from being wiped out.

India’s Supreme Court on Monday ruled that some of the 411 Asiatic lions that live exclusively in Gir Forest in Gujarat state will be moved to Kuno Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh.

“I am all in favor of it,” said M. K. Ranjitsinh, chairman of the Wildlife Trust of India, a non-governmental organization. “They should have a second home,” he added.

Experts argue restricting the lions to a single geographical area puts them at greater risk of extinction.

“If they are hit by a disease, there is a possibility that the entire population could be wiped out,” said Belinda Wright, founder of the Wildlife Protection Society of India.

“It is best for the species that a second and third location is established,” Ms. Wright added, warning of the risk of extinction.

“India would be a devastated place without this incredible cultural and heritage symbol,” she said.

The court said the lions will move to Madhya Pradesh within the next six months. A special panel comprising wildlife experts will decide how many lions will be move to Kuno Palpur, one of the most suitable habitats in India for Asiatic lions, according to a study by the Wildlife Institute of India.

The court’s ruling puts an end to a long-running interstate dispute. Gujarat has been reluctant to let go of a share of its lion population, a major tourist attraction in the state.

Around 460,000 tourists visited the Gir Forest in 2012 generating revenues of 50 million rupees ($914,745) for Gujarat’s forest department, according to Sandeep Kumar, a forest official at Gir.

The government of Gujarat had opposed the relocation of any of its lions to Madhya Pradesh, citing rampant poaching there.

According to Madhya Pradesh’s forest department, there are between 250 and 300 cases of poaching of all types of animals in Madhya Pradesh every year.

Asiatic lions are smaller than their African counterparts, and have visible ears and a thinner mane. Asiatic lions also have a thicker elbow tufts and a longer tail tuft.

While dividing the lion population between two states will likely help conservation efforts, experts say other worries remain.

Lions have difficulty finding enough to eat, as their prey – mainly deer and antelopes – is frequently killed by humans. “This is an overriding problem throughout India,” Ms. Wright said.

The loss of natural habitat through deforestation caused by a rising human population is also detrimental to the lion population, said Naresh Kadyan, Indian representative of International Organization for Animal Protection, a body affiliated to the United Nations.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan welcomed the court’s decision: “I welcome Supreme Court’s verdict on Asiatic Lions. We are well-equipped to welcome them in their new home. #MP,” he wrote on Twitter on Monday.

Follow Saptarishi and India Real Time on Twitter @saptarishidutta and @indiarealtime.

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2013/04/16/why-new-home-can-save-indias-lions/

Villagers set leopard cubs ablaze, one dead

CHANDRAPUR: A five-month-old leopard cub was killed, while one other was critically injured, as miscreants set the two ablaze alive near Nifandra village in Saolitehsil on Tuesday afternoon. Forest officers initially tried to cover up the incident by claiming that it was a road accident.

The brutal killing comes just a day after a tiger cub was killed and another injured after being hit by a train on Gondia-Chandrapur route.

Tuesday's incident could be a case of revenge killing as leopards recently mauled to death two persons in Saoli tehsil recently.

Sources claimed that unidentified miscreants found two leopard cubs in a pipe laid in the farm of one Prakash Deshmukh located close to the village bus stop. The villagers sealed one end of the pipe with stones, put cow-dung cakes on the other end and set ablaze the inflammable material, used in villages as domestic fuel.

A leopard cub died of suffocation inside the pipe. The other cub somehow managed to force its way out of pipe and fell unconscious at the scene. Nobody came to its rescue till Pathri police reached the spot.

Forest officials on the spot reportedly kept their distance from the fragile cub, whose condition appeared to be critical. Police officers took the injured cub to Pathri police station and gave it some water. It was later dispatched to Chandrapur for emergency treatment with forest staffers.

CCF, Chandrapur circle, BSK Reddy confirmed that a leopard cub was killed, while another was injured in the blaze. He, however, refrained from blaming the villagers for cruel act. "We are investigating into the cause of fire. Possibility of accidental fire cannot be ruled out," he said.

As the news broke out, forest officers initially tried to cover the incident by terming it as road accident. ACF Rajiv Pawar claimed that an unidentified vehicle knocked the two cubs, killing one and injuring the other. RFO, Saoli range, VC Pattiwar maintained that he failed to reach the spot as the tyre of his vehicle got punctured.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Villagers-set-leopard-cubs-ablaze-one-dead/articleshow/19587347.cms