Who started the fire?

M R Manjunath, May 7, 2013, DHNS

Come summer, and State’s reserves face the problem of forest fires. Most of these fires are manmade, and are triggered either by vested interests or by accident. The reasons are many, and so are the methods. 

Dandeli, Nagarhole, Bandipur, Biligirirangana Betta and Kudremukh are the State’s most well-known sanctuaries, which are also tiger reserves. These forest regions are known for their rich biodiversity, from many varieties of trees including sandalwood and honne to a host of medicinal plants. Apart from tigers, the wildlife in these forests include elephants, sambars, deer, bears, langurs, Malabar squirrels, etc.

Come summer, there’s invariably the problem of forest fires. While natural forest fires are part of nature’s cycle, there are other forest fires that are sometimes triggered by man.

Forest fires that occur at a time when the region is already facing drought spells double-trouble for wildlife. The Bandipur region is facing one of its worst droughts ever this year, with all the water bodies having gone dry.

Bamboo, which is present in the forest regions of the State, blooms once in 40 years. Last year and the year before that, bamboo in the State had bloomed. Once the bamboo blooms, it dies. This year, because of the failure of rain, the forest regions in the State are full of dry bamboo. There are elements that misuse such a scenario to trigger a fire. According to forest authorities, the months from February to May call for extra vigil. The reasons for manmade fires are many.

Most forest reserves adjoin agricultural land. Sometimes, farmers trigger fires because they believe that grass growth will improve later, and will provide adequate grazing space for cattle. Then, there is the fear of monkey fever that raises it head during summer. People believe setting fire in the forest could solve that problem. Also, there is the problem of poaching. Poachers and small-time hunters often set fire to leaves because they need to enter the forest stealthily. They try and prevent the rustling of dry leaves when they step on them in the forest, by burning leaves. Tourists inadvertently trigger a forest fire when they throw cigarette stubs. Also, locals looking for honey and non-timber forest produce (NTFP) could set fire in the forest. Then, there are those seeking to avenge punishment meted out to them by the Forest Department, for having chopped trees for firewood. The reasons are many, and the methods are many as well. Forest watchers strive hard to bring the fire under control. The incident of a woman wage worker slipping and falling into the fire when she was trying to douse a fire in the Dandeli forest may be recalled here. The woman succumbed to burns.

It was not too long ago when an incident of some elements triggering a fire in Kulagi range of Dandeli occurred. The Forest Department, on its part, says it is trying its best to create awareness about forest fires and what they do to the ecosystem. Also, to combat drought conditions, the Department has also built percolation pits in the Bandipur region to supply water to wildlife.

Source: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/330710/who-started-fire.html

Officials, civil society join hands to restore wildlife corridor

Subhash Chandra N S Bangalore | Deccan Herald

Govt declares Kaniyanapura and nearby villages as reserve forest. This is one classic example of how concerted efforts by government officials and civil society can make a difference to conservation. 

Sustained pursuance of the case by a few bureaucrats and wildlife activists has ensured that revenue land, over 5,000 acres, falling in a critical wildlife corridor at Kaniyanapura is declared a reserve forest. The efforts bring to an end the two-decade old issue of protecting the Kaniyanapura elephant corridor - which links Bandipur Tiger Reserve and Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu.

Kaushik Mukherjee, former additional chief secretary, B J Hosmath, field director, Project Tiger, Sanjay Gubbi, member, State Board for Wildlife, Basavaraju, assistant commissioner, Kollegal and Manjunath, tahsildar, Gundlupet have together got thousands of acres of revenue land, which had features of forest, declared reserve forest.

“A notification under Section 4 of Karnataka Forest Act has been issued with an intention to provide legal status to this forest patch,” Kumar Pushkar, Chief Conservator of Forests, Bandipur Tiger Reserve, told Deccan Herald. The notification - dated February 2, 2012 - grants reserve forest status to more than 5,000 acres of revenue land to ensure their protection.

Pushkar said the corridor was very important as far as wildlife protection is concerned as almost all animals, including tiger and elephant, use this stretch for their movement. He said declaring such a huge stretch of land as reserve forest was not an easy task. Not doing so would have been a great loss to wildlife as the notified area binds north and south ears of the corridor, he said.

“This area had become a hub of numerous activities. We would have lost the habitat. By declaring it reserve forest, we have secured it for wildlife,” he said.

“This is the patch which connects Biligirirangana Hills Tiger Reserve and Satyamangala forest with Nagarhole and Bandipur,” he added.

The revenue land falling in the limits of Chikyelchetti, Bachalli, Kebbepura, Kaniyanpura, Mangala, Yeriyur, Heggavadi and Kundukere villages have forests that connected the two important protected areas within the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.

“Despite a Supreme Court order that land with characteristics of forests should not be diverted for non-forestry activities without proper permissions, several resorts and private farms had come up here. Many of them were illegal and had reduced the corridor to a chicken neck in some locations,” explained a wildlife expert who has conducted a study of this corridor.

Sanjay Gubbi conducted a quick survey of the area with the help of volunteers from Vanya and Aranya wildlife groups in 2011. An area of 9,662.3 acres was found to have forest cover and a report was submitted to the government recommending that these areas be declared reserved forest.

Finding that an area of 5,599.05 acres was not diverted to private use, the department officials made a proposal to the government to declare it reserved forest under the Karnataka Forest Act, 1963. This finally led to the notification declaring the area as reserve forest.

Source: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/257712/officials-civil-society-joi

Wild elephants giving their favourite summer haunt a miss

R. KRISHNA KUMAR

Drought has driven many of them away from Kabini backwaters

• Against nearly 800 in a normal year, the number of elephants has dwindled to about 120 this year

Wild elephants are deserting Kabini backwaters, their favourite summer habitat, as it has run out of water and fodder due to drought.

In a normal year, the famed “annual elephant congregation” begins before summer and lasts till the advent of the southwest monsoon. This year, however, only a few elephants can be found near the backwaters and their numbers are fast dwindling. Herds of elephants are migrating elsewhere in search of greener pasture and more hospitable habitat.

Idyllic spot

Known to be an idyllic spot for the wildlife of both Bandipur and Nagarahole national parks, Kabini backwaters plays host to nearly 600 to 800 elephants in a normal year during peak summer as the moisture in the soil (after the evaporation of water) would be supplanted by fresh green grass which lasts through the season.

Elephants need at least 200 kg of fodder apart from plenty of water, and Kabini backwaters was a veritable paradise for them during summer. But drought has left the place relatively desolated this year.

Located at the junction of Bandipur and Nagarahole, and on the migratory path of wild animals treading to Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu and Wayanad in Kerala, Kabini backwaters used to witness one of the largest wildlife congregations in Asia.

Conservator of Forests Kantharaj, who is also Director of the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, told The Hindu that the number of elephants frequenting the Kabini backwaters this year is less compared with the previous years.

Jungle Lodges and Resorts Ltd. suspended boating in the backwaters about 45 days ago due to lack of enough water in the Kabini backwaters, and also because there were fewer elephant sightings than previous years.

The scenario this year is similar to the drought that affected the region in 2003.

D. Rajkumar, Honorary Wildlife Warden for Mysore district, said that against nearly 800 elephants that could be seen during peak summer in a normal year, their numbers had dwindled to about 90 to 120 this year.

“Moisture in the area is conducive for the growth of green grass and other fodder to sustain a large population of elephant, gaur, sambar, deer and other herbivores animals. But this year, the water stress is high and the moisture content in the soil is not adequate to facilitate the growth of fresh fodder,” Mr. Rajkumar said. In the absence of fodder and water in the area, the elephants have gone to more habitable portions of the national parks, according to Mr. Rajkumar, who is also the local representative of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

Meanwhile, the authorities are replenishing waterholes every days using tankers.

But this can only meet the requirements of smaller animals to a certain extent. The larger herbivores such as elephants have moved on to the interiors towards Moolehole range, which has received good rain in the last few days.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/wild-elephants-giving-their-favourite-summer-haunt-a-miss/article4540481.ece

Forest Department staff attacked while on duty

The team was in N. Belthur village to rescue a leopard

• Anti-social elements booked by Forest Department suspected to be behind the attack
• Officials dispute ‘delayed response’ as the motive for the attack

A mob assaulted Forest Department staff who had come to rescue a leopard that had strayed into N. Belthur village in H.D. Kote taluk on Tuesday.

The leopard strayed into the village from Antharsanthe range of the Nagarahole National Park and was first sighted in the bathroom of a house around 6.30 a.m. When there was a commotion, it attacked four persons, identified as Rama, Rani, Gundaiah and Krishna, and escaped into another house.

The department staff received information of the leopard attack around 8 a.m. and they reached the village by 10 a.m.

Though the immediate cause for the “unprovoked” attack on the staff is not clear, a section of the village residents said the local people were upset about the “delayed” response from the department team.

Disputing this, the officials said the staff and the veterinary team was mobilised from Mysore and Hunsur and they reached N. Belthur within 2 hours of receiving the complaint.

Terming the attack brazen and unprovoked, the staff suspected that anti-social elements, against whom cases had been booked by the department for violation of various provisions of the forest conservation and wildlife protection Acts, were behind it.

The department team, led by Range Forest Officer A.T. Pooviah, included a veterinarian armed with a tranquilliser gun, and forester Hemanth Kumar. On reaching the village, the officials found that a large number of people had surrounded the house in which the leopard was hiding.

The staff ran for cover when a section of the crowd turned its ire against them. However, they were chased around the village and roughed up. Blows were rained in on some of the guards who tried to escape into the adjoining sugarcane fields, according to a source.

Mr. Poovaiah, Mr. Kumar, and Raje Gowda and Chikkanna, watchers, who were injured in the attack, were taken to a local hospital.

When additional police force and forest staff reached the village, the mob melted away, following which the officials launched the operation to rescue the leopard. The leopard was tranquillised and released at Kaimara in the D.B. Kuppe range.

The Beechanhalli police have registered a case in connection with the attack.

The incident has been condemned by Wildlife First, an NGO, which called for a strong and deterrent action against the “emboldened criminal elements”.

Their modus operandi is to form mobs and attack Forest Department staff on duty when they enter villages either to rescue wild animals or to apprehend wildlife offenders, according to Praveen Bhargav and K.M. Chinnappa of the NGO.

They recounted two similar incidents that were reported in the region in the past and said lack of strong action against the offenders had only emboldened them.

The police should immediately identify and arrest those involved in the incident, they said.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/forest-department-staff-attacked-while-on-duty/article4480458.ece

How can we help to bridge critical gap in tiger conservation

By Dharmendra Khandal Feb 27 2013

Photo: Dharmendra Khandal

Famous tiger conservationists Belinda Wright wrote on a social networking site that “Unfortunately, there was news of two dead tigers, and a third caught in a poacher’s trap. One of the tigers was electrocuted in a live-wire trap set by poachers for wild meat in Katni District, adjoining Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. Shockingly, this was the third tiger to die in an electrocution trap set by poachers in the Bandhavgarh area since 18 November 2011, a period of only 15 weeks. Another tiger was found dead near Nagarhole NP. And a third young tiger was found in a metal jaw trap in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve. This one survived, although it is uncertain whether it can be returned to the wild.”

It is indeed a sad situation in which our national animal is being killed so heartlessly. Can we think of a solution and long-term vision for its survival? To understand the circumstances better, we have to differentiate these killing cases into three categories — first type is the crime, which is executed by hard core poachers, who are part of an organised poaching syndicate wanting to supply animal parts for money. The second type of killings is due to accident, because community living along the park were targeting deer or wild pig for the bush meat and the same trap killed a tiger or leopard. The third type is deliberate, revenge killing of tigers and leopards by the community to protect their livestock, which is a big crisis.

To control all these worrisome situations in right time and beforehand can be are really challenging. We have to admit that government agencies are still not equipped and trained to control these organised crimes. Some NGO’s performance fair better than the government agencies in the field of anti-poaching such as WPSI and WTI. While some local NGOs such as Tiger Watch are working effectively in and around single parks, in this case the Ranthambhore tiger reserve. But NGOs cannot work on a large-scale single-handedly without government support. The forest department is not putting enough resources for intelligence gathering. Also, if they execute the poaching raids well, they are hardly able to convert them into correct court cases. They mostly lose the court cases and the same poachers become more immune and trained towards the system loopholes. The success rate of conviction is just 3 per cent in India, and if we removed Sariska poaching cases from them; the conviction is less than 0.3 per cent of total wildlife crime cases. Hence, the same people always come back into the poaching business.

The other killing is because of meat or revenge killing and this can be control only with the help of local community’s support. Only the local resident of adjoining villages can provide information for this and they can be employed for the same, this way they would be involved and part of the monitoring team. In Ranthambhore, almost 20 villagers have been employed by the partnership of forest department and an NGO for this work. It is working well in the region in managing anti-poaching, but also managing the stray tigers when they move outside the protected areas into villages or farms. They are also working as a buffer link between the forest department and local village community whenever big cats kill their livestock. They help the department to estimate the cost of the animal and inform whether compensation was provided in time, among other things. Such projects can bridge the critical gap in conservation and the villagers can become partners in conserving our last wilderness.

(The writer is a conservation biologist at Tiger Watch, Ranthambore)

Source: http://www.mydigitalfc.com/leisure-writing/how-can-we-help-bridge-critical-gap-tiger-conservation-526&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

SC: Why not ban vehicles in forests for animal safety?

Dhananjay Mahapatra, TNN | Jan 19, 2013
NEW DELHI: Concerned by high animal mortality in traffic accidents on roads passing through thick forests, the Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to the Centre and 10 states asking why mitigating measures, including a dusk-to-dawn ban on vehicles on forest roads, be not taken immediately.

Amicus curiae Harish Salve moved the application before the court's green bench comprising Justices Aftab Alam, K S Radhakrishnan and Ranjan Gogoi. He pointed to the disturbing number of deaths because of "upgradation, widening or indiscriminate construction of new roads through areas which have thick forest and which are rich in wildlife without first putting in place mitigative measures".

Salve mentioned the high incidence of death of animals, which collide with vehicles on the 54-km stretch of NH 37 passing through Kaziranga (a world heritage site recognized by Unesco) to escape flood waters of Brahmaputra in their attempt to flee towards higher grounds of Karbi Anglong forests.

A study by the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) eight years ago suggested construction of seven underpasses and 100-150 metre long ecoduct (tunnel) through raised grounds for safe passage of animals without their coming to the road. "The MoEF and the Assam government have not yet taken any steps to implement the recommendation," Salve complained.

The amicus said the apex court had in 2009 banned heavy and commercial vehicle movement on a state highway passing through Sariska tiger reserve and a ban on all vehicular movement during the night. This order is yet to be implemented, he said.

Salve said the apex court had in November 2008 closed traffic at night on the Mysore-Mananthawadi road passing through Nagarhole national park and ordered putting speed regulating measures like rumble strips.

He said roads were being indiscriminately constructed or upgraded even in ecologically sensitive areas like national parks and sanctuaries without seeking permission from competent authorities under the Wildlife Protection Act.

"These roads, besides jeopardizing wildlife, are also exposing pristine areas having high rainfall in the evergreen forests of the Western Ghats and the Himalayas which are prone to soil and water erosion and are subjected to other adverse impacts on the flora and fauna," he said.

The application listed important roads passing through sanctuaries and national parks or areas with heavy concentration and movement of wildlife requiring putting in place site-specific mitigation measures to prevent and reduce wild animal deaths from vehicular accidents.

On the benefit of mitigation measures, Salve gave the example of Zanzibar (East Africa), where installation of just four speed-breakers helped reduce mortality of the threatened red colobus monkeys by 85% in the first nine months.

Closure of roads from dusk to dawn, or from 9 pm till 7 am, has become necessary, Salve said. "This has been done between Mysore and Ooty, which passes through two protected areas with very high concentration of wildlife - the Bandipur national park in Karnataka and Mudumalai wildlife sanctuary across the border in Tamil Nadu," he added.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/SC-Why-not-ban-vehicles-in-forests-for-animal-safety/articleshow/18081130.cms

How to handle forest fires

R. Krishna Kumar

These are testing times for the Forest Department which is grappling with an increase in the frequency of
wild animals straying into the human landscape and the breaking out of forest fires.— Photos: M.A. Sriram

The authorities in Nagarhole wildlife sanctuary have burnt vegetation along the safari routes which is the traditional method of containing forest fires from spreading in case of a conflagration.

This is reckoned to be a practical way of containing forest fires as controlled burning of vegetation done in winter ensures that in case of a fire, there is no scope for flames to spread beyond the bald patch of land cleared of vegetation, termed as “fire line”. In Nagarhole alone about 1,700 hectares of vegetation has been cleared and burnt as part of fire-fighting measures. Wildlife activists have pleaded for roping in the local community and to appoint unemployed youth to the posts of fire spotters and watchers and thus gain their confidence. Funding is not an issue to save the forests from fires and there is adequate corpus to be drawn from the State Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority.

Meanwhile, Wildlife First, an NGO advocating conservation issues, has called for a ban on civic-related work so that the resources, both monetary and human, could be channelised towards fire protection work.

Also on the anvil are slots on radio and television appealing for the local community’s cooperation. For, the key to containing forest fires is to prevent them in the first place.

Though Bandipur and Nagarhole are prone to forest fires, the frequency of their occurrence can spell ruin to this rich habitat that is home to tigers, elephants, leopards, dholes, sambhars, spotted deer and scores of other exotic animals and birds. These two landscapes have also been recognised by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) as India’s best tiger and elephant landscape and hence merit all efforts to balance wildlife conservation with the local community’s economic and survival imperatives.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-districtplus/how-to-handle-forest-fires/article4394926.ece

The problem with releasing ‘problem’ tigers back in forest

P. VENUGOPAL

Tigress released in Karnataka 71 days ago trapped again in Wayanad last week

Photo-matching done at the Centre for Wildlife Studies - India (CWS) in Bangalore now shows that the tiger trapped in Wayanad this Saturday is a ‘problem tiger’ that had created a conflict situation at a place called Nalkeri on the boundary of the Nagarahole National Park in Karnataka just 71 days ago.

The finding points to need for a re-examination of the capture-release practice followed by the conservation officials in dealing with ‘problem tigers’ that stray into human habitations and cause conflict situations.

This tiger was captured in a box trap by the Karnataka Forest officials on November 23 after two cattle-killing incidents on November 20 and 21 in Nalkeri village outside the western boundary of the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, according to conservation zoologist and director of CWS - India Programme, K. Ullas Karanth.

It was an injured tiger and, after treatment at the Mysore zoo, was released by late evening on the same day near a place called Hidagalapanchi in Karnataka’s Bandipur Tiger Reserve. The place of release is less than 10 km, as the crow flies, from the adjoining Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala.

Dr. Karanth told The Hindu that the CWS had searched its database containing the stripe patterns of over 600 individually identifiable tigers surviving in the Malanad-Mysore landscape — a database that contains camera-trap pictures gathered over the years from the region — and found the match for the stripe pattern of the tiger captured this Saturday in Wayanad from a conflict situation.

The study showed that this tiger—a tigress, in fact—is the same one that was repeatedly captured by camera-traps and even two wildlife photographers during the period from 2007 to 2012 from a particular area in Nagarahole National Park. It was pushed out of this area, which apparently was its home range, due to unknown reasons that could include inability to retain the home range in the face of competition. It started straying into the human habitations outside Nagarahole in November 2012, to be trapped by the Karnataka Forest officials. It returned once again to human settlements in neighbouring Kerala after being released in Bandipur Tiger Reserve. Apparently, the animal could not hunt and survive.

Poor condition

In a report to the Forest Department on Monday, Dr. Karanth and his associates N. Samba Kumar and Narendra Patil said the tigress, now in Thrissur zoo, should not be released back in the wild. It was eight years or more in age and in a very poor condition.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/the-problem-with-releasing-problem-tigers-back-in-forest/article4384653.ece

Tiger died from poisoning, revenge killing suspected

R. KRISHNA KUMAR

• Special Tiger Protection Force deployed in the area to keep vigil on movement of tigers
• Forest Department will also interact with local community

A tiger, which was found dead in the Kakanakote forests (D.B. Kuppe range) of the Nagarahole National Park early this month, was poisoned in what is suspected to be an act of revenge.

The post-mortem report and visceral analysis indicate the presence of zinc phosphide, which is rat poison. This has sent shockwaves among conservationists and Forest Department officials.

This is said to be the first case of a tiger being poisoned in the national park, which is a major tiger reserve and home to about 70 of them.

R. Gokul, Director, Conservator of Forests and Director, Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, confirmed that the tiger, which was found dead on January 13 near the Kabini backwaters was poisoned. Its carcass, discovered two weeks ago, was intact, with no sign of external injuries, putting a question mark on cause of death.

Though there was a question of whether poachers had a hand in the death, this has been ruled out as neither the skin nor the claws had been removed. The needle of suspicion points to revenge killing and Mr. Gokul said the animal may have strayed out of its habitat and stalked livestock. Since tigers have a tendency to partially eat their prey and conceal it in bushes to consume over a period of time, the local community may have poisoned the carcass of the cattle, resulting in the tiger’s death, he said.

But the nearest human habitation is nearly 3 km from the spot where the tiger was found, casting doubt on that theory.

However, Mr. Gokul pointed out that tigers generally do not stray from their habitat in Nagarahole as the Kabini backwaters acts as a border between the national park and the adjoining human landscape. But due to severe drought, the backwaters has receded and turned into a grassland, with no demarcation separating the forestland from the outside landscape. “As a result, there is free movement of animals in the absence of a water barrier. We suspect the local community on the fringes may have driven their livestock inside the forests in search of fodder. The tiger may have killed one of the domestic animals and the village people may have subsequently poisoned the carcass as an act of revenge,” said Mr. Gokul.

There have been six incidents of tigers straying out of their habitat this season, which is unusually high. This is attributed to increase in tiger density inside the national park.

The authorities have deployed the Special Tiger Protection Force in the area to keep vigil on the movement of animals in the region. Apart from launching a full-fledged investigation into tiger poisoning, the Forest Department will also interact with the local community adjoining the forests and seek their help in wildlife conservation.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/tiger-died-from-poisoning-revenge-killing-suspected/article4359419.ece

Satellite images contradict Forest Department’s claims

Satellite imageries by the National Remote Sensing Centre have contradicted the Forest Department’s claims that the damage owing to forest fire in Nagarahole last year was limited to a few hundred hectares.

Wildlife First, an advocacy group, said an analysis of satellite imageries was carried out from February 1 to March 3 last year, considering the gravity of the issue and the persistent efforts in the past to downplay the damage and under-report the extent of fire-affected areas.

The results said that an area of 24.5 sq km or 2,450 hectares of forests was affected by the fire, which is higher than the official statistics.

“Long-term data on the location of the fire in Nagarahole between 1991 and 1999 clearly establish that a large area within Metikuppe and Veeranahosahalli range have suffered severe damage with recurring and frequent fires,” according to Wildlife First.

While national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the State face imminent threat of forest fires due to drought this year, no action has been initiated to nab the perpetuators of last year’s fire, they added.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/satellite-images-contradict-forest-departments-claims/article4327601.ece

Tiger injures photographer, captured

Standoff:The tiger (left) and an elephant come
face to face at Antarasante in Mysore on Thursday.

A tiger estimated to be between eight and 10 years was captured by Forest Department personnel in the Antarasante range of the Nagarahole National Park on Thursday.

The tiger had pounced on a freelance photographer, who was attempting to take photographs of it, injuring him.

The photographer was identified as Ravishankar.

Man attacked

He suffered injuries on his hand and was shifted to a hospital here. Antarasante Range Forest Officer A.T. Poovaiah told The Hindu that the tiger had mauled a cow on Wednesday night and later attacked Basavaiah, a local, at Antarasante. Basavaiah was taken to H.D. Kote hospital and later shifted to K.R. Hospitalhere. Mr. Poovaiah said the photographer got past the forest officials and staff and went to the field where the tiger was hiding, to take photographs. The animal was tranquilised, captured and put in a cage. Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Field Director, Project Tiger, B.J. Hosmath, told this correspondent that the tiger was released into the forest between Nagarahole and Bandipur on Thursday evening.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/tiger-injures-photographer-captured/article4318643.ece

Threat of forest fires looms large

R. KRISHNA KUMAR

High temperature, depleting water-levels have compounded situation

• ‘We have burnt 10-metre patch of vegetation along the fire lines in Nagarahole’
• Wildlife activists dismayed that some critical posts are yet to be filled

Preventive measure:Vegetation being cleared along
the fire lines at Chamundi Hills in Mysore on Tuesday.

The threat of forest fires looms large over Bandipur and Nagarahole national parks even as the Forest Department is gearing up to combat one of the worst droughts in recent decades.

The soaring mercury level coupled with depleting water-levels has compounded the situation, and the possibility of animals straying into human habitations in search of food and water is likely in the days ahead. The severity of the fodder crisis this year has been amplified by the devastation wreaked by the major fire that reduced a vast swathe of Nagarahole to cinders last March.

R. Gokul, Conservator of Forests, and Director, Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, told The Hindu that the Mysore portion of Nagarahole was dry though there was moisture and greenery in the Kodagu portion. “But most of the watering holes in the national park have run dry while a few water bodies around Kalahalla and Nagarahole range can at best last for another 45 days.”

Water tanks constructed

The authorities constructed a water tank in the Metikuppe range as it was found that elephant herds were straying from their natural habitat in search of water. “It has helped arrest the elephants’ movement and they have returned to the core forest areas,” Mr. Gokul said.

A tank will also be constructed in the Antharsanthe range which has a large elephant population.

However, Mr. Gokul said that construction of the tank had been taken up on an experimental basis. He said that three to four tanks could be constructed in Veeranahosahalli and Antharsanthe.

“But, this will not help all animals because the prey density in Nagarahole is 50 animals per sq km and the requirement of all the animals cannot be met through artificial means,” Mr. Gokul said.

He said: “We have burnt 10-metre patch of vegetation along the fire lines on either side of the game (safari) roads. This works out to about 1,700 hectares out of a total area of 64,300 hectares or 2.65 per cent of the total forest area.”

Meanwhile, wildlife activists are dismayed that in spite of the possibility of a crisis, some critical posts are yet to be filled, which could affect forest fire protection. Sources said there was no range officer in Metikuppe range, which bore the brunt of last year’s fire. The situation is similar at Veeranahosahalli, while the post of Director at Bandipur National Park is vacant. Activists also sought a ban on tourism during the ‘forest fire season’ as this could augment available resources such as staff and vehicles to combat forest fires. Responding to the suggestion, Mr. Gokul said there was no such proposal at present though they may take a call on it later.

In Bandipur, BRT

The scenario in Bandipur and BRT sanctuaries is similar.

D. Rajkumar of Wildlife Conservation Foundation expressed the fear that watering holes could go dry after 15 to 20 days. However, vegetation along the fire lines had been burnt and fire spotters had been hired, he said.

Meanwhile, the authorities in Mysore began clearing of vegetation along the fire lines at Chamundi Hills on Tuesday.


Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/threat-of-forest-fires-looms-large/article4311531.ece

Tiger found dead in Nagarahole National Park

A tiger, estimated to be five years old, was found dead in the Kakanakote forests in the D.B. Kuppe range of the Nagarahole National Park on Monday.

The carcass was spotted by the Forest Department staff. The animal could have died four days ago, said Hunsur Wildlife Assistant Conservator of Forests K.D. Belliappa.

Cause unknown

The cause of death could not be ascertained immediately by the veterinarian who conducted the post mortem. Only laboratory examination would reveal the cause of death, he said.

Lab report

As the animal’s carcass did not bear any injury marks, it was unlikely that it was killed by another tiger, Mr. Belliappa said.

If it died of natural causes or any other reason, it would be known in about three days when the laboratory report comes, he said.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-miscellaneous/tiger-found-dead-in-nagarahole-national-park/article4308553.ece

Tribal relocation proves tricky

K. JEEVAN CHINNAPPA

As the debate on the pros and cons of tribal relocation from different ranges in the Nagarahole National Park goes on, 487 tribal families have moved out of the Park areas since the relocation scheme was introduced by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests in 1999.

Initially, 280 families were relocated from different ranges to Nagapura in Hunsur taluk of Mysore district under the beneficiary-oriented tribal development scheme by the Forest Department, in association with LIFT (Living Inspiration for Tribals), an NGO. Each family was given Rs. 1 lakh in cash and five acres of land to take up agriculture. In 2007, 60 tribal families were relocated at Sollepura in H.D. Kote taluk of Mysore district, each getting Rs. 1 lakh but only three acres.

Under a National Tiger Conservation Authority-sponsored scheme in 2010, every family agreeing to relocate was offered Rs. 10 lakh (cash and land value). Thereafter, 147 families, including seven non-tribal families moved over to Shettalli in Hunsur taluk. As a result, all tribals who lived in Bogapura, Murkal, Ganagur, Madenur and Kallalla moved out, P.M. Muthanna of LIFT said. As on date, there were 300 pending applications for rehabilitation.

Tribals unhappy?

According to J.P. Raju, president of the Kodagu Budakattu Krishikara Sangha, which works for the welfare of tribals , the relocated tribals are not happy. Many leased out their lands to others for cultivation. On the one hand, the relocated tribals went back to the Kodagu coffee plantations for work, and on the other, measures to provide revenue records for the land were yet to be taken.

Mr. Muthanna said that during the lean period, even the tribals who did well in the rehabilitated areas went to work on plantations. Tribals who had grown maize at Shettalli sold the commodity worth Rs. 66 lakh this year.

Under the Forest Rights Act, of the total 5,387 individual applications received from tribals in Mysore district, 555 were regularised, said M.N. Ajay Nagbhushan, Deputy Commissioner (in-charge). Out of the total 107 applications received for community rights, 19 were regularised in the district. In Kodagu, 3,102 individual claims and nearly 57 community rights claims were received, and 1,112 and 45 claims respectively were cleared, said Deputy Commissioner N.V. Prasad.

Has the tiger population gone up in Karnataka? “There are 10-12 tigers in every 100 sq. km. area of the tiger reserves such as Nagarahole, Bandipur, BRT, parts of Wayanad, Mudumalai, covering around 2,500 sq. km. area,” said B.J. Hosmath, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, and Field Director, Project Tiger.

Praveen Bhargav, managing trustee of NGO Wildlife First, said parts of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala were fantastic habitat for tiger-breeding and conservation.

Fifteen tigers have died of various causes in Bandipur, Nagarahole and BRT reserves since 2010-11 to 2012-13.

Of this, nine have died in Bandipur, five in Nagarahole and one in the BRT reserve, Mr. Hosmath said. Significantly, no case of poaching was reported in the same period.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/tribal-relocation-proves-tricky/article4277189.ece

Community restraint helped save a tiger

Dr Ullas Karanth

Two incidents in the first week of December — first on the fringes of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala, followed by the other on the edge of the Nagarahole National Park in Karnataka — have brought the focus back on conflict management in tiger conservation. While in Wayanad, the tiger was shot dead, in North Kodagu, an injured tiger stuck in a barbed wire fence was rescued. These provide contrasting scenarios in conservation. In this interview to Sharath S. Srivatsa, tiger scientist and Director for Science-Asia of Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) K. Ullas Karanth shares his thoughts on conservation and conflict management in the contiguous forests comprising Bandipur-Nagarahole, Mudu malai and Wayanad, that supports an estimated 150-180 tigers (WCS estimate).

What worked against conservation in Wayanad and in its favour in Nagarahole?

I would not pose it that way. In the next incident, the situation could well get reversed. The key point is, in this case, in Wayanad whipping up of public sentiment based on inflated tiger numbers put out by government, the media frenzy over a few cattle kills which were compensated, and the inability to handle a mob situation led to shooting of a tiger. The information that was available from our scientific data in terms of the “problem” tigers history was ignored, a photo of a tiger already in Mysore Zoo was released to the media as a different problem tiger etc. In the Kodagu case, the village leadership showed restraint and the forest department acted swiftly.

With more effort on tiger conservation, which could result in an increase in the population, do you think such conflicts could occur more often in forest fringes?

Yes, such conflicts on the fringe are in a sense the price we pay for successful tiger population recoveries. You do not have such conflicts in the vast forests of Northeastern hill states, Orissa, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh etc. because tigers are almost gone or not producing much surplus annually to disperse. With a good prey base, tiger populations produce surpluses regularly. Annual losses in such surplus populations are as high as 20 per cent without reducing densities or numbers. So rational conservation involves such population recoveries as well as dealing with the consequences using the best of science and data — and not just feeling sentimental towards an individual tiger and its fate.

What would be a successful conservation and conflict reduction model in the Bandipur-Nagarahole-Mudumalai-Wayanad block in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve?

Basically that model would include

1. ensuring strict protection of tigers and prey inside the reserves; 
2. using best possible science to monitor individual tigers and the population status; 
3. when conflicts occur, promptly compensating livestock losses; 
4. if human life is threatened removing the problem tigers either through chemical capture or if circumstances warrant it lethal removal; and 
5. depending on health, age and other objective factors the captured animals should be retained in captivity, or in rare cases released or in specific cases euthanized painlessly. 

The central point is to ensure that tiger populations thrive even if individuals are lost and secondly public support is essential to having core tiger habitats that are strictly protected and support thriving tiger populations.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-miscellaneous/tp-others/community-restraint-helped-save-a-tiger/article4278475.ece

Tiger count goes up in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu: Wildlife Conservation Society data

Our data base has recorded over 600 individual tigers in past seven years. The total tiger population in Karnataka is about 250 to 300.

Tiger population in India is not dwindling, at least in key reserves in south India where it is actually reaching saturation levels.

In Nagarahole and Bandipur National Parks in Karnataka and bordering areas in Tamil Nadu, tiger populations have reached saturation levels with surplus young tigers spilling out into forests and dispersing through forest corridors. In newer tiger reserves including Bhadra and Kudremukh, numbers have increased by as much as 50 percent.

This has emerged in new global data released by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which is engaged in scientific monitoring and conservation programme in collaboration with government agencies including the National Tiger Conservation Agency.

"The picture is not at all dismal as often projected", said Dr Ullas Karanth, Bangalore-based conservationist who heads Asia operations of WCS. "Scientific monitoring of tiger and prey populations using techniques like Camera Trap, enhanced antipoaching patrols by government agencies and voluntary relocation of people with help from NGOs have helped in boosting tiger numbers significantly".

The Camera Trap project of WCS in Karnaraka, said to be the largest such globally, has helped in scientific monitoring. "Our data base has recorded over 600 individual tigers in the past seven years, and at any given point in time the total tiger population in Karnataka is about 250 to 300", Karanth said.

The overall tiger population densities in Nagarahole-Bandipur have remained high, ranging between 8 tigers per 100 square kilometer to 13 tigers per 100 square kilometres. The prey densities have also been high. "The dispersal and conflict patterns indicate that this population is producing a large surplus every year", he said. Elephants and leopards are among the wild species that share the same landscape.

The monitoring and conservation aspects of the Karnataka model can be emulated in reserves elsewhere though involvement of voluntary groups could vary keeping in view local situation, the veteran conservationist said.

In both states, wildlife staff vacancies have been filled up, patrolling systems have been improved with increased investments and local communities involved in conservation efforts.

It is a technique used to capture images of wild animals without direct human interference. Ordinary cameras are fixed at key points in a reserve, along with infrared sensors that let the camera clock whenever they sense movement in the forest. The locations are changed occasionally because their flash lights alert animals and they start avoiding the area. To distinguish one tiger from another, WCS has developed image processing software which allows speedy and reliable identification of tigers from trap photographs.

Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/tiger-count-goes-up-in-karnataka-and-tamil-nadu-wcs/1/240283.html