Leopard attack creates panic

The Hindu | April 22, 2013
Killing of a calf by a leopard has made villagers of Bonthapally in Jinnaram mandal of Medak district jittery on Sunday.

According to sources, a farmer Veeraswamy had tied his calf in the farm yard and gone for lunch. When he returned, he found his calf killed by some wild animal.

Forest officer Ravi visited the spot and confirmed that the calf was indeed killed by a leopard. The villagers felt that wild animals have been entering the villages, as there was no drinking water available in the forest areas.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/leopard-attack-creates-panic/article4641836.ece

New wild banana species found

T. NANDAKUMAR, The Hindu | April 22, 2013

Musa velutina subsp. markkuana.

A team of researchers from the University of Calicut has reported the discovery of a new subspecies of wild banana that could be developed as an ornamental plant for tropical gardens.

The plant Musa velutina subsp. markkuana was discovered from the forests of Arunachal Pradesh and is characterised by smooth skinned fruits, purple pseudostems, erect maroon-coloured inflorescence and pink fruit. It has been named after Markku Hakkinen, an international expert on wild banana, attached to the Finnish Museum of Natural History, University of Helsinki, Finland.

The research team led by M. Sabu, Head, Department of Botany, University of Calicut, and comprising Alfred Joe and P.E. Sreejith, discovered the subspecies as part of a project funded by the Union Department of Science and Technology. The plant grows in the forests as undergrowth in marshy areas. The researchers found many fruiting plants from the Balukpong area, West Kameng district and the Tezu and Hayulyang areas.

The finding has been published in ‘Phytotaxa,’ an international journal on botanical taxonomy.

According to Dr. Sabu, the plant could be promoted as an ornamental variety. It also held commercial value for the cut flower industry. “We have found that the cut plant remains fresh in the flower vase for more than one week. Growing up to a height of two metres, it produces inflorescence continuously for more than one month. In the fruiting stage, it bears bunches of pink or maroon fruits.”

He feels that the plant could be crossed with other species to improve the ornamental value. “The use of wild species for the improvement of crop plants is an area of great potential.” The seed-producing nature of the tropical species made it easy to propagate.

According to Dr. Sabu, the finding confirms the rich genetic diversity of banana in India.

The paper published in ‘Phytotaxa’ said wild species of banana were distributed in the north-eastern states, the Western and Eastern ghats and the Andaman and Nicobar islands. But many of these regions had not been explored systematically.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/new-wild-banana-species-found/article4641722.ece

3 smugglers held, 5 tiger skins recovered

TNN | Feb 21, 2013
LUCKNOW: The network of wildlife poachers seems to have penetrated into the city and is trying to reach the international market via Nepal. The special operations group and district police caught a murder accused and two more smugglers in possession of five tiger hides from Chinhat area on Wednesday. The police also recovered a porcupine from the smugglers.

The trio had got hold of the hides from a Maharashtra-based poacher and was in the middle of finding a prospective buyer, when the police intercepted them. The three smugglers have been identified as Vishal alias Sahil-the murder accused and Rajmal and Rajan, both residents of Barabanki. A resident of Dewa Road, Vishal had been accused of a murder that took place at Matiyari in 2007.

"The trio was in possession of five tiger hides and porcupine (an endangered species), when they were held by the police. We are trying to find out who was interested in dealing with the trio and suspect that the hides were to be smuggled to international market via Nepal," said J Ravinder Goud, senior superintendent of police, Lucknow.

According the police, the trio had bought the tiger hides from a man identified as Vijay. The trio had been in the business of wildlife smuggling and trafficking for past several years and had developed contacts across several states in the country. From preliminary investigations, it was found that the recovered hides have been smuggled from Maharashtra's Aurangabad district to the city. "The cost price of a single hide is Rs 50,000, while the selling price ranges between Rs 4 and 5 lakh," told Brijlal Verma, the sub-inspector of the team that nabbed the trio from a shanty located off Faizabad Road.

The police have pressed various charges under Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 against the trio and have sent them to jail. "We had information of some groups, which were active in smuggling of endangered animals, skins, hides, bones, body parts etc in the city. Following continuous surveillance and help of informers, a notorious group had been held," said a police official.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/3-smugglers-held-5-tiger-skins-recovered/articleshow/18602036.cms

Endangered spider sighted at Tirumal foothills

A. D. RANGARAJAN, The Hindu | April 20, 2013

It was way back in the year 1899 that the spider was first sighted near Gooty (in the present Anantapur district) by a researcher Pocock and reported last.

Seshachalam hills, home to a variety of plants and animals, reptiles and amphibians, have proved again to be rich in biodiversity, with the recent sighting of a rare poisonous venomous spider after a gap of 113 years in India at the foothills of Tirumala.

The spider belonging to the genus poecilotheria is known to be native to India and Sri Lanka, of which eight species are found in India and seven in Sri Lanka. While taking inventory of the Seshachalam Biosphere reserve spread across Chittoor and Kadapa districts of Andhra Pradesh, officials of the Seshachalam Biodiversity Lab attached to Tirupati Wildlife Management Circle sighted a dead specimen of Theraphosid spider, a variety listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as ‘critically endangered.’

Very little published information is available on the species’ ecology and distribution. It was way back in the year 1899 that the spider was first sighted near Gooty (in the present Anantapur district) by a researcher Pocock and reported last. Though it was sighted after 102 years in the Eastern Ghats between Nandyal and Giddalur towns, it has not been recorded officially, making the Tirupati discovery the first in 113 years.

The specimen poecilotheria metallica has coloured carapace and abdomen much as in the other species of the genus poecilotheria, but dark bands on the carapace are found to have higher mesial separation.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/endangered-spider-sighted-at-tirumal-foothills/article4634330.ece

'Package deals' on internet for tockay geckos

GUWAHATI: Online shopping has acquired a whole new dimension thanks to illegal trading in the rare tockay gecko lizard. Now, interested buyers can purchase the Asian lizard, coveted for its reported medicinal properties, in 'bulk' on the internet and also secure 'package deals' for specimen of the protected species.

The demand of this reptile with sticky feet has shot up so much that illegal traders of geckos in the region are now expanding their business through the internet. Some gecko suppliers are even taking bulk orders through social networking sites and offering 'package deals'.

The city police have rescued at least four gecko lizards in recent times. These lizards were handed over to the Assam state zoo here. "We have arrested at least 12 illegal gecko traders from several areas of the city in the last couple of months. They are mostly from Manipur and Nagaland. They bring samples of geckos from their home states to show buyers from outside the state and even the country. Many agents working for markets in New Zealand too come here to pick up their supply of geckos. Most of these agents contact each other via the internet," said a senior police officer here.

At a time when the illegal trade in rhino horns is causing the pachyderm's population in the state to dwindle, wildlife criminals serving the medicine markets of Asia are now targeting the tokay gecko.

The demand for tokay gecko, a nocturnal Asian lizard growing up to 40cm in length and easily identified by its orange-spotted, blue-grey skin and unmistakable vocalization, is very high. The local name of the lizard is 'keko shap'.

Myths about the medicinal value of these creatures abound in South Asian and Southeast Asian countries, resulting in their high demand. However, wildlife experts say there is nothing to the claims. "The reason behind the high demand for this lizard is that many believe its reddish, spotted meat cures HIV/AIDS and even cancer. A gecko in good health, measuring between 12 and 14 inches and weighing around 200-250gm is sold at around Rs 8 to 20 lakh," a senior forest official said.

Wildlife activist Firoz Ahmed said, "We have been trying to tell people these geckos have no medicinal value. Rather, the reptile has tremendous ecological value. Some communities in countries like China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan believe that the gecko meat can heal deadly diseases like cancer and HIV."

The police officer added that the hunt for geckos in the hills of Tezpur in Sonitpur district and adjoining areas of Arunachal Pradesh has taken alarming proportions.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Package-deals-on-internet-for-tockay-geckos/articleshow/19640840.cms

Six suspected poachers arrested near Corbett

D S Kunwar, TNN | Apr 20, 2013
DEHRADUN: A joint team of the Special Operation Group (SOG) and the Special Task Force (STF) on Friday arrested six members of a gang of suspected poachers after raids in the Corbett National Park landscape under the Ramnagar forest division. The gang is thought to be responsible for Thursday's killing of a six-year-old tiger near Choi village in Nainital district.

The raids had followed a tip-off that the gang members were hiding near Choi. An STF officer said the suspected poachers had been operating in the region for the past four months.

An IPS officer told TOI that the arrested men were taken inside the forest for their interrogation in connection with the recent poaching. "Since these poachers had used firearms and sharp-edged weapons in poaching the tiger, we hope to recover these weapons from there after the interrogation is over," said the officer. He said cases would be registered against the six men after their interrogation.

An Uttarakhand STF officer said the government had entrusted the responsibility of nabbing poachers to the joint SOG and STF team since it was upset over the way state forest department officials had virtually failed in protecting tigers and other endangered species.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Six-suspected-poachers-arrested-near-Corbett/articleshow/19642413.cms

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

Unruly nilgais on dangerous bull run

Shobha John, TNN | Apr 20, 2013

Nilgais come under Schedule III of the Wildlife Act.

NEW DELHI: Gujarat is still smarting over the loss of some of its Gir lions to Madhya Pradesh. But many states would gladly give away an animal whose burgeoning population is causing havoc in farms, airforce stations and on national highways — the blue bull or nilgai. So fraught has this man-animal face-off become that Bihar issued an order on February 19 for culling these animals in a restricted way.

For Rahul Gupta (name changed), a nilgai will always evoke trepidation. Recently, as he was driving down a national highway at 9 pm, a blue apparition suddenly jumped in front of his luxurious car. It was a nilgai -- big, agile and just as bewildered as Gupta. The car crashed, the bonnet crumpled. Fortunately, the airbags saved him. "But it will cost me Rs 22 lakh to repair the car," says Gupta. He was lucky. Last April, a toddler and his father were killed when their Santro turned turtle on ramming into a nilgai in Gurgaon.

Nilgais also raid farms and damage crops. "Poor farmers existing on subsistence agriculture can ill-afford this and are increasingly hostile to them," says Dr N P S Chauhan, head of population management, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. "After introduction of the Wildlife Protection Act (1972), many wildlife species, including nilgais, have increased considerably outside protected areas," says Chauhan in a research paper. This leaves crops as the only food available to them, says Bittu Sahgal, editor, Sanctuary Asia. Also, the decrease in predators -- wolves and jackals -- has further increased their numbers.

Nilgais, incidentally, come under Schedule III of the Wildlife Act. "Basically, this means that if a state government, under political pressure, wants to issue permissions to shoot nilgais, they can," says Sahgal. Constant skirmishes led the chief wildlife warden in Bihar to constitute a committee to issue licenses to kill them in a restricted way. The February 19 order states that the license to use stipulated firearms for culling will be valid for four weeks, that Rs 500 will be paid for each killing and Rs 1,000 for disposal of the body. Culling has also taken place in other states such as HP, MP and Gujarat.

Air force stations, too, are frequented by nilgai herds and use choppers to scare them away. Former group captain Pankaj Chopra says, "When I was the chief commanding officer of a forward station, I saw a nilgai and a MiG colliding on the runway. The plane turned turtle. We had a tough time extricating the pilot. The plane was written off." In 2008, an AI flight hit a nilgai at Chakeri airport in Kanpur. All escaped unhurt.

So what's the solution? "One should restore ecosystems so that the predator-prey ratio gets balanced," says Sahgal. "In the US where virtually every predator has been shot, humans have taken on this role and are turning the guns on animals." How about fencing highways or relocating them like the Gir lions, asks Gupta.

Easier said than done.

(Inputs from Madan Kumar in Patna)
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/flora-fauna/Unruly-nilgais-on-dangerous-bull-run/articleshow/19642514.cms

How elephants see the world

ANI | April 20, 2013

Washington: 12 to 14 year old students from East Side Middle School in New York City are attempting to put an end to the elephant crisis, which is at an all time high with more and more demand for ivory taking more and more lives.

Think Elephants International, a not-for-profit organization striving to promote elephant conservation through scientific research, education programming and international collaborations, today announced its latest study, "Visual Cues Given by Humans are Not Sufficient for Asian Elephants (Elephas Maximus) to Find Hidden Food." 

Designed in collaboration with and co-authored by students from East Side Middle School, the study revealed that elephants are not able to recognize visual cues provided by humans, although they are more responsive to vocal commands.

These findings may directly impact protocols for future efforts to conserve elephants, which are in danger of extinction in this century due to increased poaching and human/elephant conflict.

The publication of this paper is the climax of a three-year endeavor to create a comprehensive middle school curriculum that educates and engages young people directly in elephant and other wildlife conservation.

The study was carried out at Think Elephants' field site in northern Thailand, and students participated via webcam conversation and direct web-links to the elephant camp.

According to Joshua Plotnik, PhD, founder and CEO of Think Elephants, "if elephants are not primarily using sight to navigate their natural environment, human-elephant conflict mitigation techniques must consider what elephants' main sensory modalities are and how elephants think so that they might be attracted or deterred effectively as a situation requires. The loss of natural habitat, poaching for ivory, and human-elephant conflict are serious threats to the sustainability of elephants in the wild. Put simply, we will be without elephants, and many other species in the wild, in less than 50 years if the world does not act."

The Think Elephants study tested whether captive elephants, wild animals in relatively close contact with humans, could follow visual, social cues (pointing and gazing) to find food hidden in one of two buckets.

The elephants failed at this task, but were able to follow vocal commands telling them which bucket contained the food.

These results suggest that elephants may navigate their physical world in ways that primates and dogs do not.

Based on the results of this study, Dr. Plotnik suggests further attention to research on elephant behavior and an increase in educational programming are needed, particularly in Asia where the market for ivory is so strong.

The study has been published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Source: http://zeenews.india.com/news/eco-news/how-elephants-see-the-world_843388.html

Export the pride

The Hindu EDITORIAL | April 19, 2013
The last lions of Asia found in Gir have been nurtured with great care by Gujarat. The protective hand of the government and people there enables an estimated 400 members of Panthera leo persica to survive today, overcoming a variety of challenges. This is an achievement that the State can be justifiably proud of. It is now time for Gujarat to build on its success and help improve the long-term survival prospects of these magnificent animals. Rather than stand on prestige, it must wholeheartedly accept the Supreme Court’s decision directing that lions be translocated to create a second population in Kuno, Madhya Pradesh. Providing new habitat for the cats is important for several reasons. There is scientific consensus, for one, that Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary and its surrounding areas cannot support many more lions. More significantly, the existing isolated population could face annihilation in the event of a disease outbreak, or a natural disaster. These key questions were considered by experts at the Wildlife Institute of India and elsewhere two decades ago, before arriving at the conclusion that Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary, among three locations, is best suited for translocation. Gujarat can easily identify a pride of five to eight lions to be moved, since they are now found even outside the protected area of Gir.

The fundamental test that the plan must satisfy is scientific. Happily, conservation science has matured considerably since a failed attempt was made over five decades ago to create a second home for lions in Chandraprabha Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh. The one significant issue to be addressed in Kuno is that of poaching. A reduction in the major prey base including large animals such as nilgai and spotted deer due to hunting automatically depresses big cat populations. The Madhya Pradesh government, which has spent large sums to relocate villagers and prepare the sanctuary for lions, should curb poaching effectively. Together with the Ministry of Environment and Forests, it must also double the protected area to 700 sq km and upgrade it to National Park status for viability. For Gujarat, there is much to gain from the rise of a second population. After all, the species is now emblematic of its home and commonly referred to as the ‘Gir lion,’ even if it comes to exist at a new location. Historically, Asiatic lions were free-ranging over a large area that included parts of central India and much of the northwest, and thrived in climates as varied as hot desert in Palestine and cold forests in Iran. As an experiment in species survival, the Kuno project must be actively pursued by Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and the Centre.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/export-the-pride/article4634184.ece