Tiger reserves to get full-time wildlife vets

Vijay Pinjarkar, TNN May 11, 2013
NAGPUR: In a bid to tackle man-animal conflict and give conservation a boost, the state government has decided to hire independent wildlife veterinarians in all four tiger reserves in the state.

After recent deliberations over raging man-animal conflict in Chandrapur, principal secretary (forests) Praveen Pardeshi, chief wildlife warden SWH Naqvi and field directors of tiger reserves decided to appoint wildlife vets. Directions to recruit trained vets on contract basis in Tadoba, Melghat and Pench in Vidarbha have been issued on May 7.

Pardeshi has asked field directors to recruit vets from funds under tiger conservation foundations (TCFs) on a honorarium of Rs 30,000. They have been asked to get in touch with deans of veterinary colleges and teachers to get suitable candidates. Help has also been sought from state animal husbandry commissioner.

Presently, the department has only one wildlife vet, Chitra Raut, posted at Nagpur. In case of emergencies, help from senior experts from Nagpur Veterinary College is taken. Although vets in Nagpur respond immediately, on many occasions doctors were not available in case of emergencies, proving fatal for wild animals.

Recently, when a tiger cub was hit by a speeding train and shifted to Nagpur, Raut had gone to Chandrapur to bring the animal back.

"We are making provision in the TCF budget to appoint wildlife vet on contract. There is also plan to redesignate posts of medical officers available with the department," said Virendra Tiwari, chief conservator of forests (CCF) and field director of Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve ( TATR) in Chandrapur.

However, Sarjan Bhagat, additional principal chief conservator of forests (subordinate cadre), said there are six posts of medical officers with the forest department but only one from Yavatmal Circle could be made available as officers at other places like Gadchiroli and forest training colleges have said they need posts of medical officers for staff and villagers.

"We will send a proposal in this regard to the government," Bhagat said.

Rhino carcass, skeleton found

Press Trust of India | Golaghat/Jorhat  May 11, 2013
A carcass and a skeleton of rhinos with their horns missing were recovered from two separate ranges of Kaziranga National Park today taking the toll of the poached herbivores to 24 this year.

The 4-5 day old decomposed female rhino body was recovered near Noloni forest camp of Agratoli range of the Park where four cartridge shells of AK-47 rifle were also found, forest officials said.

The skeleton of the male rhino killed about a month ago was recovered near Borakota forest camp in Bagori range, the officials said.

As both the horns of the rhinos were missing and bullets found near one of them, poachers were suspected to have killed the animals, they added.

Search operations have been launched for the killers, the sources added.

Source: http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/rhino-carcass-skeleton-found-113051100033_1.html

Rare snake spotted in state for the first time

By Express News Service - BELLARY 11th April 2013

Coluber bolanathi | Express Photo

A rare mildly venomous snake Coluber bolanathi, commonly known as Nagarjun Sagar Racer, has been discovered for the first time at Bellary in Karnataka.

The 31-inch C. Bolanathi was rescued by conservationist and businessman Aditya Vattam from the backyard of a house near Bellary Fort recently.

Coluber bolanathi is found in dry and rocky hills of South India. It was first spotted in Nallamala hills of Andhra Pradesh in 1976 by R C Sharma but there is no record of it in Karnataka till now, Vattam told Express.

A member of indiansnakes.org, Vattam sent its photographs to the portal founder Vivek Sharma for identification.

Sharma confirmed that it was the first record of the snake in Karnataka.

He told Express that after the discovery of the snake in 1976, there were no significant attempts to study this species due to lack of literature and photographs.

C. bolanathi is chocolate brown with numerous light brown bands in the back of its body. It is a fast and alert species, active during the day. The racer can grow upto 110 cm, said Vattam.

As dry and rocky hills are the preferred habitat of this snake, the conservationist  urged for the protection of the rocky hills of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to ensure the safety of this little known snake.

Source: http://newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/Rare-snake-spotted-in-state-for-the-first-time/2013/04/11/article1539767.ece