Deer run over by suburban train at Saidapet

Pratiksha Ramkumar, TNN May 3, 2013
CHENNAI: A deer was run over by a train near the Saidapet suburban railway station late Thursday night.

The animal, suspected to be around four-years-old, was trying to cross the railway track at around midnight, when one of the last EMU trains crushed it to death. Police suspect that the deer could have strayed away from Raj Bhavan. The Raj Bhavan sits inside a sprawling green campus and has a sizeable deer population.

The animal was found on the South side of the station by the railway police force (RPF), who gave up trying to rescue it, as it seemed to have died on the spot. "It did not seem to breathe, it was like a carcass," said sub inspector Maharajan of the RPF. Police authorities, took the body back to the Saidapet station and handed it over to forest department officials on Friday morning.

The forest department did not confirm the possibility of a post mortem being done on the animal.

Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-05-03/chennai/39008024_1_railway-track-rpf-forest-department

​Seized parrots point to thriving wildlife trade

Vijay Singh, TNN | Apr 29, 2013
NAVI MUMBAI: Stunned by the latest seizure of nearly 300 parrots which were to be sold by a Crawford Market trader in Ganeshpuri Bhiwandi taluka, on Saturday, animal rights activists and the police say that this points to a well-organized wildlife trade racket.

"On Saturday, we caught a Mumbai trader, S Ibrahim and his assistant, Samir Khan, who were trying to sell 298 parrots. Our animal activist had posed as a dummy customer at Crawford Market to buy parrots a few days ago,'' said Chetan Sharma of People For Animal (PFA).

He added that despite short notice, the trader managed to arrange for nearly 300 parrots, even though the birds are a protected species under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. "It points to a well oiled, illegal animal trade. The police are questioning the arrested duo over the racket,'' said Sharma.

Deputy commissioner of police, (Ganeshpuri), Srinivas Ghadge said of the 298 parrots rescued, 14 had died possibly because of being confined in tiny cages.

Vimrasagar Maharajsahab of the animal rights group Ahimsa Sangh said, "It is a cruel and illegal trade. Baby parrots are somehow stolen from forests in northern India, and smuggled into Mumbai to be sold as 'pets', even though they are a protected wildlife species.''

Earlier, the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO), a national umbrella body of animal protection groups, had urged the Mumbai police and the Brihanhumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to ban the sale of birds and animals at Crawford Market in south Mumbai.

"According to data with the ministry of environment and forests, 8,000 birds have been rescued in Crawford Market in the last 20 years. Many wild and exotic species are also traded here,'' said an FIAPO member.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Seized-parrots-point-to-thriving-wildlife-trade/articleshow/19774404.cms

Buying land to return it to nature

Ananda Banerjee,  Live Mint

Some government, non-government bodies, individuals are trying to push back against relentless development

WTI purchased 26 acres of land along the Thirunelli-Kudrakote corridor in Kerala to restore the degraded habitat
and protect wildlife. Photo courtesy WTI

Given the relentless pace at which wildlife habitat is being devoured by the march of development, some government agencies, non-governmental organizations and individuals have been trying to push back—by buying land and letting nature reclaim it.

The past decade has seen a conscious effort to secure wildlife habitats to protect forests.
A recent exercise involved the purchase of 26 acres along the Thirunelli-Kudrakote wildlife corridor in the Wayanad district of Kerala that comes under the watch of the non-profit Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). In the past few months, camera traps have recorded three tigers crossing the corridor.

The land was purchased by WTI with the help of the World Land Trust (WTL), IUCN-Netherlands and the Elephant Family to restore the degraded habitat and protect wildlife along the stretch. The 38 families in four villages in the area were relocated to an alternative site. The exercise cost in excess of Rs.2 crore.

Corridors between two sanctuaries (protected areas) are absolutely critical to wildlife for species dispersal, allowing exchange of individuals between populations and preventing inbreeding, among other ecosystem linkages. The land bought by WTI is gradually being handed over to the Kerala forest department for incorporating it as part of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary.

The Thirunelli-Kudrakote corridor connects the Brahmagiri Wildlife Sanctuary (18,100 hectares) bordering Karnataka and Kerala, with the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (11,000 hectares) and the Wayanad north division (21,400 hectares) in Kerala. The stretch is part of a larger swathe of about 12,000 sq. km, with an elephant population of more than 6,300. This by itself constitutes one-third of India’s endangered Asian elephant population, which keeps moving up and down the corridor for food and social bonding.

Buying land back from the villagers has not only secured the corridor for the safe passage of elephants and other wild animals, but also helped reduce human-elephant conflict in the area.

“The people are able to harvest and are spared sleepless nights guarding their crop and houses from elephants,” said Sandeep Tiwari, deputy director, WTI. “The initiatives have also helped in improving the lives of these families as they now have access to education and healthcare centres and opening up employment opportunities.”

How much forest is cut down for development needs? The government’s 11th Plan (2007-12) was particularly severe in terms of loss of forest cover, according to a report by research and activist group Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). Land was diverted for development projects with scant consideration for wildlife, water and rural communities, it said.

The CSE study looked at five key sectors—thermal power, hydropower, cement, iron and steel, and mining—that have impacted forests. The report said 8,284 projects were granted forest clearance and 197,907.61 hectares of forest land diverted between 2007 and 2011. In the past three decades, 815,534.48 hectares of forest have been cleared for 23,404 projects (see graphic).

India is urbanizing rapidly, and there is heavy pressure on land and natural resources as the population increases. According to a study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham), the number of towns has grown from 5,161 to 7,935 in the decade ended 2011, and this may near 10,000 by 2030. Demographic projections show that by then, the proportion of people in urban areas may swell to more than double that in rural areas.

The loss of forest habitat is a reason for declining wildlife populations across the planet. In this scenario, buying land to secure wildlife habitats has given conservationists a method to arrest habitat loss. As renowned conservation biologist Richard Cowling said: “Conservation is 10% science and 90% negotiation.”

Acquiring land for conservation is not new. In the book Buying Nature, authors Sally K. Fairfax, Lauren Gwin, Mary Ann King, Leigh Raymond and Laura A. Watt document the process of land acquisition as a conservation strategy in the US in the last 200 years.
One such current initiative is the American Prairie Reserve, a collaborative effort involving conservation agencies such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the National Geographic Society that aims to acquire land in north-eastern Montana in the US to create a seamless protected area.

“Imagine a grassland reserve of three million acres—a wildlife spectacle that rivals the Serengeti and an awe-inspiring place for you and your children to explore,” says the American Prairie Reserve website.

“Imagine helping to build a national treasure.”

Eric Dinerstein, lead scientist and vice-president, conservation science, WWF, said: “By 2022, I dream of 10,000 bison thundering across 1,000,000 acres with wolves in hot pursuit.”

Back in India, between 2001 and 2003, WTI managed to secure the Kollegal or Edayarhalli–Doddasampige elephant corridor for about Rs.70 lakh. The elephant range to the east of the Biligirirangan Hills had been divided by a long strip of cultivation that cut off the Biligiriranga Swamy Temple (BRT) Wildlife Sanctuary from the forests of the Kollegal division. A narrow corridor now exists between the villages of Kurubaradoddi and Aandipalya along the Kollegal-Satyamangalam highway.

WTI acquired 25.4 acres for the corridor in Aandipalya village from 17 landowners. The land has been transferred to the Karnataka forest department through a formal memorandum of understanding (MoU) to maintain it as an elephant corridor, ensuring connectivity and incorporating it as part of the BRT Wildlife Sanctuary. This is the first ever privately bought corridor to be added to a protected areas in Asia.

In the North-East, with financial support from WLT, which pioneered the buy-an-acre concept of acquiring land for conservation, WTI is working with the Garo Hills Autonomous District Council (GHADC), the Meghalaya state forest department and the local community to secure wildlife corridors and the restore wildlife habitat.

As much as “4,150 acres have been secured with notification of 10 Village Reserve Forests,” said WTI’s Tiwari.

WWF-India is keen to follow the model, but rocketing land prices are a stumbling block.
“We are looking across various landscapes to acquire land and hand it over to the forest department,” said Ravi Singh, WWF-India’s secretary general. “Whatever we are doing to get forest land back is being done discreetly as any overt signs may send the land prices spiralling.”

Land for Project Tiger

Project Tiger, the government’s flagship conservation programme that turns 40 years old this month, has secured 2% of the country’s geographical area as tiger reserves. The area under the project gets the highest legal protection under the Wildlife Act. The central government’s programme not only secures the existence of the tiger, but also a gamut of species that thrives in those areas.

Launched in April 1973 in nine reserves across an area of approximately 14,000 sq. km, the project has expanded, especially in the past decade, from 25 tiger reserves in 2001 to 43 now. Project Tiger has secured an area of 66,274.68 sq. km across 17 states in the country.

Under the project, the central government provides 100% monetary assistance to states for strengthening protection; creating basic infrastructure for management; habitat development and restoration; water resources; eco-development programmes; village relocation; use of information technology (IT) in crime detection; monitoring of tiger populations; and carrying out estimations of tigers, co-predators and prey animals among others.

Private forests

Apart from government and non-government initiatives, a few individuals too have acquired land adjoining wildlife sanctuaries across the country and then allowed natural forest regrowth to take place as part of conservation. Most of them refused to speak on record.

One of them is Romulus Whitaker, popularly known as the Snake Man of India for his specialization in reptiles.

Whitaker set up the Agumbe Rainforest Research Station (ARRS) in Karnataka as a field station for the study of rainforest ecology in 2005 on a four-acre plot surrounded by forests. The land was bought with money willed to him by his mother, Doris Norden Chattopadhyaya.

Agumbe is a village in the Western Ghats in Shimoga where, in 1971, Whitaker spotted his first king cobra. He’d always wanted to set up a research base in the area.

In 2005, Whitaker also received the prestigious Whitley Fund for Nature award, which helped him set up basic infrastructure and convert an old farmhouse into a full-fledged forest research base.
“During the setting up of the field station, we had visits from leopards as well as a couple of king cobras, which to us ‘certified’ the place as the ideal field station,” he recalled.
Today, ARRS has 10 acres of land thanks to additional acquisitions and recently came under the administration of the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust, which Whitaker set up in the 1980s to study reptiles.

Wildernest, in the Chorla Ghat area of Goa, has secured 450 acres and is perhaps one of the largest private reserve corridors for forests across two sanctuaries as well as two states—between the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary in Goa and Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka. The Wildernest team runs two independent research stations like ARRS, one in the Chorla ghats and the other at Kuveshi near Castle Rock.

The Sai Sanctuary located in the Western Ghats is another example of a private forest reserve. It’s home to large carnivores such as tigers and leopards, along with elephants and 300 species of birds.

From the initial purchase of 55 acres of private forested lands in 1991, the reserve managed by the Sai Sanctuary Trust has grown to more than 300 acres and today offers a buffer to the National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries along its borders—Brahmagiri, Nagarhole and Bandipur.

Securing land, especially degraded forests and leaving them for nature to reclaim, is a sustainable model to restore forests and protect biodiversity. But it’s an uphill task with land costs surging the moment there’s a hint of demand. Also, in a burgeoning economy in which development is the buzzword, it can be a struggle to find the right balance between conservation and economic growth imperatives.

Source: http://www.livemint.com/Politics/df1ep278rRHJ7JaeI6ohrL/Buying-land-to-return-it-to-nature.html

Animal, bird snares found at Ettimadai

They were meant to capture rabbits and peacocks

• Environmentalists alerted forest officials who took steps to remove the snares
• Many snares had fur on them, indicating that they had been used several times

Endangering wildlife:
Members of Environment Conservation Group found
a number of animal and bird snares at Ettimadai in
Coimbatore district recently. -Photo: Special Arrangement

Hundreds of snares meant for catching animals and birds were uncovered at Ettimadai forest area in the district on Saturday by Environment Conversation Group (ECG), an organisation working in wildlife protection.

The forest officials were alerted and Forest Rangers removed the snares.

According to the ECG president R. Mohammed Saleem, the snares were meant to capture both small animals such as porcupine and rabbits and larges ones such as gaur, sambar deer and leopard. Birds such as peacock also tend to get caught in these traps.

He said that similar devices were found in the same area about two months ago. While only small animals were targeted in earlier attempt, this time the poachers were targeting larger animals also.

“The repeated seizure shows that the poachers have been poaching wild animals unhindered for quite some time in this area. A lot of these snares had fur on them indicating that they had been used several times. ”

Mr. Saleem said that animals tend to venture to the outskirts of the forest in search of food and water, which was being exploited by poachers. “The lack of forest staff is a great boon for the poachers. If this trend continues, we would just see bare rocks in our forest devoid of trees and animals,” he added.

Other members in the ECG that undertook the trip include H. Hasan, Lakshmi Narayanan and Mohan. They made periodical trips to various forest areas.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/animal-bird-snares-found-at-ettimadai/article4662275.ece

Forest Rights Act a bane or boon?

S. HARPAL SINGH, The Hindu | April 27, 2013

An estimated two lakh hectares of reserve forests illegally denuded between 2008 and 2011

• FRA intended to provide relief to tribal people by recognising their rights on lands tilled by them
• ‘57,000 individual and community claims received for recognition of rights over two lakh hectares’

Disappearing forests:A stretch of agriculture fields which
were once part of the dense Mangi forests in Sirpur (U)
mandal of Adilabad district.
-  PHOTO: S. HARPAL SINGH

With hardly any greenery to camouflage the loss, the dry summer months have exposed a massive scale of destruction of forests in the backward tribal district of Adilabad in Andhra Pradesh. The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, (FRA) has emerged as a major factor having generated, paradoxically, decimation of forests on an unprecedented scale.

While the Union government intended to provide relief to tribal people by way of recognising rights on lands being tilled by them in the reserve forests through the FRA, a wrong message got percolated to grass roots level. In the absence of proper awareness on its provisions, people began clearing new wooded areas to convert them into agriculture fields with the hope that the government will eventually ‘regularise’ them.

It has confirmed the fears of conservationists and pristine forests began dwindling at an alarming rate reducing the 43 per cent forest cover in Adilabad to below 20 per cent of its 16,000 sq km of area.

Trees in an estimated two lakh hectares of reserve forest were illegally felled between 2008 and 2011 putting Adilabad among the districts where worst kind of tree felling has taken place.

That the scale of deforestation is mind-boggling and can be seen from the numerous roads that criss-cross the terrain. For example, clearings as deep as 500 metres which can be seen on either side of the 35-km long Nirmal bypass of the NH 7, provide an inkling into the severity of the problem.

“We were simply unable to stop the large scale decimation of forests just because we were outnumbered by raiding villagers. In hindsight, I think the FRA ought to have been delayed until an implementation mechanism was put in place,” observes a Forest officer who recalls his stint here when the FRA got implemented.

As many as 57,000 individual and community claims for recognition of rights were received covering an extent of over two lakh hectares of land being tilled or in use of tribal farmers at that point of time.

“We continue to receive fresh claims but, we are not entertaining those in the absence of guidelines for second phase implementation of the FRA,” says the Project Officer of Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA), Utnoor, the agency which settles the claims.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/forest-rights-act-a-bane-or-boon/article4659253.ece

Collector warns against violating elephant guidelines

District Collector M.C. Mohandas has warned against the violation of official guidelines when displaying elephants during temple festivals and other public functions.

The Collector said on Wednesday that new temple festivals or poorams would not be given permission to display elephants. An order issued by the Forest and Wild Life Department say only those festivals where elephants were used till 2012 will be allowed to display elephants from this year.

Also, permission would not be granted for more elephants than those used in festivals in 2012, the Collector said. Elephant race too would not be permitted in any case. The officials of the Forest, Revenue and Police Departments should examine the copies of the data book before the parade of elephants. Fitness certificate for elephants was compulsory, he said.

Mr. Mohandas said elephants would not be allowed to parade between 11 a.m. and 3.30 p.m. “In unavoidable cases, elephants should be displayed under shade of a canopy, and drinking water should be given frequently,” he said. The Collector has the discriminatory powers to give permission for elephant display between 11 a.m. and 3.30 p.m.

Not more than 6 hours

The guidelines also say that a single elephant should not be used for more than six hours continuously a day. An elephant can be used for a maximum of eight hours in two sessions of four hours a day. Mr. Mohandas said an elephant used for display at night should not be used again during the next day. He asked festival organisers to ensure that elephants were given water and food before and after the parade.

He also asked the organisers to ensure that people were kept at least three metres away from the elephants. “Mahouts should not be allowed to work after consuming alcohol at any cost.”

Festival committees should secure an insurance of at least Rs.25 lakh for 72 hours when elephants are used, the guidelines say. Elephants should be bound with knee chain and cross chain during display.

District-level monitoring committee should examine the availability of enough space if more than 15 elephants are used for display. The Collector said Divisional Forest Officers should enter in the data book all incidents caused by the elephants, including problems and damage to property. “The district monitoring panel should prepare a list of problematic elephants, and such elephants should not be allowed to be used for festivals.” Mr. Mohandas said.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/collector-warns-against-violating-elephant-guidelines/article4652680.ece

Elephant electrocuted near Kuppam

Accidentally trapped in a live-wire fence erected to keep off wild bores
The mysterious deaths of wild elephants continues unabated in the Kaundinya sanctuary at the confluence of the Andhra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka border, about 125 kms from here in the Palamaner-V.Kota-Kuppam tract.

In the most recent case, forest officials found the carcass of a full-grown female elephant on Monday at Vengampalle in Byreddypalle mandal. After conflicting reports as to the cause of the pachyderm’s death, further reports said that the autopsy conducted by veterinary surgeons in the presence of forest officials on Tuesday indicated that the jumbo must have died after coming into contact with a live-wire.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-andhrapradesh/elephant-electrocuted-near-kuppam/article4648926.ece

Nilgiri tahr census begins

The Hindu | April 23, 2013

Initiative by Forest Department will end on April 28

• 30-member team will cover national park in Munnar
• Park will be divided into 13 blocks for the purpose

A 30-member team on Monday started the census of Nilgiri tahr in the 97-sq.km. stretch of the Eravikulam National Park in Munnar. The census is being held after the two-month breeding season of Nilgiri tahr for which the park was closed. The area inhabited by Nilgiri tahr is divided into 13 blocks for census which will b conducted by environmentalists and officials of the Forest Department. It will conclude on April 28.

Nilgiri tahr is endemic to the Eravikulam National Park of the Western Ghats and is a major attraction for tourists and environmentalists. Since Nilgiri tahr faces threat from carnivorous animals and natural factors, the Forest Department has adopted strict measures for their protection.

A preliminary unofficial survey this season found 47 newborns. An official of the Forest Department said that though the census may not yield an exact figure, it would provide a clear picture of whether there was an increase in their number. This in turn would the authorities help adopt strategies for the animal’s protection.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/nilgiri-tahr-census-begins/article4645893.ece

Before the last trumpet

Sreedhar Vijayakrishnan | Down To Earth

Captive elephants of Kerala suffer because there is no proper policy for their management and welfare

Out of the 100-odd elephant attacks reported during the
last festive season of 2011-2012, at least a dozen were
the result of the animal being in the state of musth

It is that time of the year again when the streets of Kerala echo with clinking of chains. Massive caparisoned tuskers, some carrying idols, rush from one festival to the other.

The association of these "gentle giants", as they are known to writers and poets, with humans has been there for centuries. The earliest possible evidence of taming elephants in India goes back to the Indus valley civilization. Most of our ancient texts, from Ramayana to Arthashastra, talk about elephants being part of wars and arenas. There are also texts like Matangalila detailing the qualities an elephant should possess to be part of the royal stable.

They used to be a symbol of pomp and pride in the past. Today they are seen as a source of revenue. About 70 per cent elephants in the state are owned by individuals who rent out the animal for festivals and processions for huge sums of money. Temple committees and fans of “celebrity” elephants compete to line up the best elephants, and in their passionate involvement, welfare of the animal takes a backseat. They are so extravagant that they are even ready to pay six digit figures to get their favourite elephant for a day, making captive elephant management a multi-million rupee business. Except for a few temples, most prefer male elephants, specifically tuskers, for ceremonies, which may be attributed to their aesthetic value. Ironically, it is the male elephant that most often goes out on a rampage and creates havoc.

Every year, between December and May, which is the festive season in Kerala, an elephant takes part in 100 to 120 festivals extending over 150-200 days. Assuming that the average distance between each festival is 50 km, an elephant travels more than 5,000 km during the period. Worse, most elephants are transported by trucks, which adds to their psychological trauma. In the last three to four years, at least half a dozen elephants were injured or killed in truck accidents. Besides, this is the time when bull elephants enter a state of increased testosterone known as musth and show highly aggressive behaviour. Out of the 100-odd elephant attacks reported during the last festive season of 2011-2012, at least a dozen were the result of the animal being in the state of musth. Photographs of these elephants that featured in major dailies clearly showed temporal gland secretion, a clear indication of musth. Despite such conspicuous evidence, the law and its guardians remain blindfolded. At least 100 people were injured in these attacks; the maximum number of injuries were reported at the much renowned Thrissur Pooram temple festival. Enquiries and public questionnaires were conducted, but to no avail.

This year also similar mishaps have been reported. On January 27, three innocent women were killed by a much celebrated tusker of Kerala, Thechikottukavu Ramachandran. It is also the tallest captive elephant in the country. The incident happened about 10 days after his becoming musth. It was a good move by the forest department to “arrest” the elephant and keep it under custody till further notification. The latest fatal attack happened on February 7, when Vaazhakkalayil Mothi Prasad killed a girl at Alappuzha. Between January 1 and the first week of February, there have been 26 incidents of elephants running amok all over Kerala.

Elephant attacks are not inevitable and can be prevented with conscious involvement and sensibility.

To bring atrocities towards captive elephants to an end, the Kerala Captive Elephant Management rules were framed in 2003. Though first of its kind in India and perhaps the world, the Act like most other government policies is gathering dust. Insertion of microchips for monitoring movement and health conditions of elephants, and ensuring vehicular transportation are probably the only rules that have been implemented so far. However, it seems as if these rules were implemented to minimise the time taken from one location to another, and thereby moving the pachyderm to more workplaces.

The rules state that no elephant in musth shall be put to work and has to be secured properly. This is hardly followed. The number of elephants in musth state that wreak havoc during festivals is evidence enough. Although revised in December 2012, the new rules seem to be much relaxed. For example, clause (16) states sedatives may be administered to elephants if they are nervous. This allows owners to administer sedatives to musth elephants and put them to work.

Although the raison d’être of the rules was betterment of pachyderm management in captivity, lack of its proper enforcement is still a matter of concern. Unless that is ensured, the elephantine problem will only exasperate.

Though there are a very few traditional mahouts left in Kerala, they do not see a ray of hope anymore in captive elephant management. Their revelations of the clandestine operations happening in the field are appalling. Death toll due to intestinal obstruction and other digestive problems has increased from one or two in a year to a whopping 10. This certainly must be a result of potential increase in physiological and psychological stress. Most mahouts admit working continuously for 35-40 days during peak festive season, without a break, which means sleepless nights for the animal. Some mahouts also disclose the administration of anti-androgen tablets to elephants to arrest musth. This seems to have now led to drastic changes in the musth patterns or even absence of musth in several bulls. Absence of musth causes an imbalance in the physiological cycle of the animal, thereby leading to more distress.

Current state minister of forests, K B Ganesh Kumar, has been part of captive elephant management sector for a long time in various capacities. He must implement the management rules aptly to address the problem. Keeping a check on the number of festivals that an elephant is taken for and the distance it travels will also contribute to mitigating conflict. This can be ensured with appropriate decisions from the Forests and Wildlife Department.

Interestingly in October 2010, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests declared the Asian elephant as National Heritage Animal. While the wild counterparts are dwindling in numbers due to habitat fragmentation and poaching, the captive ones are vanishing too. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that a day does not come when the national heritage animal is confined to postal stamps, wall papers and posts on social networking sites.

Sreedhar Vijayakrishnan works with WCS-India Programme, National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bengaluru

Source: http://www.downtoearth.org.in/content/last-trumpet

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