Contour canal for Parambikulam project turns death trap for wildlife

P. OPPILI, The Hindu

Canal runs to a distance of nearly 50 km: naturalists

• The project is maintained by the State Public Works Department

An open contour canal constructed during the 1960s for the Parambikulam Aliyar Project in Coimbatore district has become a death trap for wildlife in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR), Pollachi.

Naturalists and environmentalists say the canal runs to a distance of nearly 50 km, of which a 45-km stretch passes through the ATR.

During seasonal migration and dry periods, elephants, tigers, leopards, sloth bears, wild dogs, Indian Gaur, sambhar deer and spotted deer come to the canal for drinking water. If the animals fall into the canal, it would be difficult to rescue them.

The Project is maintained by the State Public Works Department, which began refurbishing the canal as there were many leaks in it. The work began nearly a year ago.

A. Rangarajan, Secretary, Tamil Nadu Green Movement, said his organisation had sent a letter to the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) demanding a joint inspection of the place with representatives from the PWD, Forest Department and the National Board for Wildlife. The CEC had also sent a letter to the Chief Secretary to arrange for a site inspection.

However, nothing has been done in this regard, Mr. Rangarajan charged. He said the canal, apart from fragmenting the forest, leads to death and maiming of wildlife, which will be more than a dozen annually.

The Forest Department had divided the 49-km canal into eight stretches and conducted a survey.

During the survey, officials recorded the presence of at least half a dozen species of wildlife along the stretch.

Making provisions for the wildlife to cross over from one side to the other is the recommendation for the first stretch which begins from the Power House till the entrance of the tunnel 1; the second stretch is the entrance of the tunnel 1 where the recommendation was to erect railings.

The other recommendations included installing scalable slopes and railings to prevent wildlife from falling into the canal and facility for wildlife to access water along the canal.

When contacted, wildlife authorities said they have requested the PWD to provide platforms to facilitate animals to drink water safely from the canal.

Similarly, they have given a few designs to the PWD authorities, which would help the wildlife cross the canal without any problem.

“Wildlife concerns are well taken care of by the department,” a senior official added.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/contour-canal-for-parambikulam-project-turns-death-trap-for-wildlife/article4685389.ece

Villagers lynch wild bear that killed 8 persons

• The wild bear started attacking villagers from Saturday
• It may have been lured out of the forest by the smell of cashew apples and mahua flowers: Forest officials

A wild bear that killed eight persons and injured five persons in the past 24 hours was lynched by villagers in the Kotpad area of Koraput district on Sunday.

The injured were first admitted to the Kotpad Community Health Centre. Later they were shifted to the Koraput district hospital.

According to police sources, the deceased included two women.

Forest officials said a team from the Nandankanan Zoological Park in Bhubaneswar was called in to capture the errant bear by using tranquilisers. Before the team could reach Koraput, the bear faced the wrath of angry villagers.

Villagers upset

The villagers had been upset with the killings by the bear. They had even staged a dharna in front of the forest ranger’s office in Kotpad. They blocked roads at several places in Kotpad.

The villagers tracked down the bear near the Girla village before the forest officials could capture it alive. Eyewitnesses said the animal was first hit by a jeep. Then it was beaten to death by the mob. They then carried the carcass in a procession in Kotpad.. Later, the forest officials seized the carcass.

Laxmikant Mishra, Divisional Forest Officer, and sub-collector Birendra Karkara rushed to the area and promised compensation to the families of victims. They also assured proper treatment of the injured.

Forest officials said the bear might have strayed out of the jungle lured by the smell of cashew apples and mahua flower. Consumption of mahua might have intoxicated the bear following which it could have turned violent.

On Saturday, the bear attacked a group of women returning after collecting firewood from the jungle near Amarmunda village. The animal was hiding under a culvert. One woman was killed on the spot. When people gathered in the area, it bear ran away. Later, it attacked and killed two others near Amarmunda and Totiaguda.

A couple sleeping outside their house were attacked by the animal. The husband died on the spot while his wife died in the hospital. Two other persons of the same village were attacked the same night. The body of another person killed by the bear at Girla was found on Sunday morning.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/villagers-lynch-wild-bear-that-killed-8-persons/article4687577.ece

Voter trampled by elephant

A person, on his way to cast his vote, was trampled to death by an elephant at Phalguni village in Mudigere taluk on Sunday morning.

The deceased Nasir Khan (60), an agriculture labourer, had left his residence after telling his wife that he was going out to vote. He is survived by his wife. The couple had no children.

Deputy Conservator of Forests Raviraj Narayan visited the spot after receiving the information.

He told The Hindu that the elephant had trampled him to death and threw a wooden log on his body.

“His wife told us that he went out around 6.30 a.m. to cast his vote. As he did not return till 10 a.m., people went to search for him. Later they found him dead,” he said.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/voter-trampled-by-elephant/article4687935.ece

Railway engineers suggest steps to minimise elephant deaths

With elephants continuing to perish after being hit by trains, railway engineers have suggested multi-pronged strategy to minimise the casualties.

At a day-long fifth annual general meeting and safety seminar of the East Coast Railway Engineers’ Association (ECREA) here on Sunday, its members expressed concern over elephant deaths on railway tracks.

“Night vision cameras can be installed on locomotives to detect the movement of elephants or other animals within the range of one km to minimise the deaths. The instruments have night and day vision capability that allows them to operate in very poor lighting conditions,” said Gopal Chandra Nayak, secretary (headquarter) of ECoREA. Mr. Nayak said it was essential to obtain detail information on the movement of elephants and seasonal dispersal patterns in order to protect and manage elephant population effectively.

“Introduction of ‘go slow zones’ can be thought of. In many cases, including some the accidents this year, accidents have happened because the trains are in high speed. Go slow zones in accident-prone areas can be introduced with warning signs to alert the drivers,” he suggested adding that there were limitations in the measures as it would affect running of trains.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-otherstates/railway-engineers-suggest-steps-to-minimise-elephant-deaths/article4688132.ece

Love-lorn tiger enters zoo

AFP

May have travelled over 100 km in quest of mate

A lonely male tiger that left the jungle and entered a zoo in Nandankanan Zoological Park in Odisha in quest of a mate has been trapped, an official of the state-run park said.

"It seems to have strayed into the zoo attracted by a tigress," Sudarshan Panda, director of the Nandankanan Zoological Park near Bhubaneswar, capital of the eastern state of Orissa.

Panda said foresters kept a lookout for the animal, which had travelled from a protected state forest some 100 kilometres from the zoo and roamed around the facility last weekend. The tiger was captured and is now in the tiger safari area, which has been temporarily closed to visitors due to the presence of the wild cat.

The Nandankanan zoological park has a large number of white tigers as well.

India is home to half of the world's rapidly shrinking wild tiger population and has been struggling to halt the big cat's decline in the face of poachers, international smuggling networks and loss of habitat.

The country has seen its tiger population plummet from an estimated 40,000 animals in 1947, when it gained independence, to just 1,706 in 2011.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-in-school/lovelorn-tiger-enters-zoo/article4687447.ece