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Tiger Checks in a Bandhavgarh Hotel

A luxury resort in Bandhavgarh tiger reserve is hosting an uninvited yet highly sought after guest for the past few days. The guest occupied the sprawling property all alone on May 5 and refused to move out. Elephants were deployed to vacate the hotel but in vain. Devours Buffalo and Quenches Thirst from Pool For the past three days, a 9 year old tiger code named T37 is occupying the hotel. The tiger is seen moving around in the hotel corridors. T-37 peeped into the cottages locked in the absence of tourists and decided to take rest in a veranda. Located near Dhamokhar range of the national park, it is one of the costliest properties of Bandhavgarh where who’s who of India stay during their visit to the park. After the second wave of coronavirus, the tourism activities are stopped in the park. Some time on May 4 or 5, T-37 killed a buffalo and dragged it to the open area of the resort. The tiger was taking his time while consuming the kill. T-37 refused to vacate the place.

Jailed in Jungle: Why Wild Tigress Languishes in Enclosure, Needs to Be Probed

Two years ago, two wild tigers were relocated from Madhya Pradesh to Odisha under India’s maiden interstate -tiger translocation programme which failed miserably. The two big cats were shifted to Satkosia tiger reserve in Odisha after its tiger population plummeted from 11 in 2004 to 2 in 2014. One of the big cats Mahavir sent from MP was reportedly killed by poachers while Sundari, the tigress, accused of killing two persons, landed behind barbed wires in a small enclosure raising questions over the wildlife management in the country. Many wildlife experts in India feel that the Satkosia fiasco should be probed and the people responsible for the plight of the national animal should be held accountable. Condemned to Captivity Before Sundari was condemned to captivity in Ghorela enclosure in Mukki range of of Kanha National park, the tigress had already spent an agonizing period of 28 months in captivity in Satkosia, where it was sent to find a new home and help populat

Future Tense: Turbulent Time Ahead for Panna Tigers

Unaware of the fact that countdown to destruction of Panna tiger reserve has begun after signing of Ken Betwa Link Project (KBLP) , yet another tigress has given birth to two cubs, filmed and photographed by tourists on April 9. The cubs were seen walking in the emerald forests with their mother code named T-151. In the past 4 months, about 15 new cubs were spotted in Panna national park. What would be the fate of these cubs in the light of the KBLP , hash tagged as dam of doom by the wildlife lovers across the country ,is uncertain. In all ,there are about 65 to 70 tigers in Panna including the cubs. Final Approval of Green Clearances Still Awaited By the time the cubs grow up , the process of the execution of the project would have begun and it would be the time to face the rising water in their habitat . Though the government has not yet announced a date when it wants to launch the project, it said the project would be kicked off soon. In fact, the final approval of various g

Laughing Dove and Life Lessons for Survival

For four days in the third week of March, gusty winds lashed the city of Bhopal, the capital city of the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh . The storm was so strong that branches were broken off from trees. At many places, even the trees were uprooted by the impact. Amidst all this, two delicate chicks of Laughing Dove, barely about 14- days old, were left alone by their mother. The small chicks actually weathered the storm - not one but four consecutive nights. Clutched to the branch of a Neem tree (Azadirachta indica), the small birds were braving the thundershowers. Iron Grip, Nature's Gift Spending time in quarantine after recovering from Covid19, one morning we spotted some hectic activities at our rooftop garden where two petite chicks were hopping from one pot to another. They would take small flights and sit inside the pot for hours till their mom arrived, fed them by regurgitation –feeding in an unusual way of interlocking her beak with those of chicks as if spa

Cry to Save Panna from Ken Betwa Project Gets Louder

A week after signing the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) for the contentious Ken Betwa river link project, considered as the death warrant for Panna national park , Madhya Pradesh chief minister enjoyed the sylvan surroundings of the tiger reserve resting along with his family in a luxury jungle resort situated in the buffer zone of the park. And as he went around a safari watching the tiger, people in Panna city took to the streets appealing to him to save the tiger the day festival of colour Holi was celebrated. Amidst the raging coronavirus, they did not assemble at one place. Instead they stood at different places of the city with slogans on placards and protested silently. They urged Shivraj to reconsider the project and the proposed felling of lakhs of trees and save the national animal-the tiger . But as he spent time leisurely in the jungle he was apparently unaware of the cry to save the same forest. "Don't Cut 23 Lakh Trees" Nature and wildlife lovers, y

Wire Snares in Maharashtra Jungles Sound Alert

After the death of three tigers in Maharashtra in the third week of March, the government of the Western Indian state is on an alert mode to check the wildlife crime especially the menace of wire snares which are laid to trap the wild animals including the big cats. Two of the three deaths looked suspected cases of poaching where claws of the tigers were also missing. With these three deaths, the tiger mortality count since January 1st this year has gone up to 14.This included two cubs which were killed by tiger named Surya in Umred-Paoni-Karhandla Wildlife Sanctuary. Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) Nitin Kakodkar issued directives to the field staff of the forests department to step- up patrolling in view of the Holi celebrations, during which a lot of herbivore poaching is done by deploying wire snares. One of the World Wildlife Fund(WWF) studies reported that these snares are insidious and have become a major contributor to the extintction of animals in the ent