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Why Incredible Tiger Images Keep Coming From Ranthambore ?

Ranthambore tiger reserve never ceases to spring surprises. In yet another amazing tiger image, the striped cat was seen eating a leopard. The big cat consumed it, caught it again from his neck and vanished in the bushes- absolutely stunning. All this happened in front of a camera. A Benguluru based photographer got the opportunity to click the incredible images. Wildlife photography has always been a wonderful experience in Ranthambore. But what makes the park different from other wildlife destinations offering better picture opportunities. Are tigers in Ranthambore more ferocious or adventurous? Or there is some other factor that makes this jungle different ? Let’s try to understand. Cat Man Catches Two Cats On Camera Known as The Cat-Man, the wildlife photographer Harsha Narasimhamurthy shared his experience on social media platforms. He said that he got an opportunity while holding a photo tour. “Witnessed one of the most incredible natural history moments today ( June 2) at

Tiger Takes Rest After Months Of Tourism Stress

Most of the tiger reserves in India are going to be shut down in the months of monsoon. Ever wondered why? This is the time when tiger gets rest from the horde of tourists, the vehicular traffic and the accompanied noise. The ionic cat retires deep in the jungle to remain in serenity- much needed break from shutter sound and phone photography. Few years ago, a study in Kanha national park and Bandhavgarh tiger reserve had revealed high stress among the tigers because of tourist traffic Impact of Tourism on Tiger The study was conducted in 2015, the same year when the government of Madhya Pradesh decided to give only three months’ break to tiger to rest. It curtailed full one month from its yearly time table of shut down in forests to facilitate tourism. Before this, parks would remain closed from June 16 to October 16. In 2015, the government decided to stretch the tourism season and issued orders for the parks to remain closed for three months -June 30 to September 30. The same year

Rememberig P111 For Revival of Panna Tigers

Death of a tiger in the wild is natural until it is poached. And most of the big cat die anonymously embracing death somewhere deep in the woods. Many times even their dead bodies are not recovered. But the prince of Panna tiger reserve - P111 who later became the king of the jungle seem to have served the purpose of his life before his death earlier last week. The wildlife lovers and the park management remembered the striped cat for the revival of tiger population in Panna tiger reserve from zero to about 70 today. P111 was one of the four of the first litter of T1 and T3 translocated to Panna in 2009 when all its tigers were poached in 2008. Birth of P111 indicated success of tiger reintroduction and revival of big cat population in the tiger reserve, now facing a big threat of disintegeration because of Ken Betwa Link Project (KBLP) . The King of Panna In his life span, P111 fathered over dozen tigers in the last one decade or so and the tiger population in Panna gr

Coal Mining All Set To Threaten Tiger Corridors Around Tadoba

India’s fixation on coal continues.As the country increases its coal production, more and more forests are impacted, threatening the iconic species like tigers and elephants. Coal mining permissions in Chattisgarh’s Hasdeo Arand ,an elephant corridor, has already stirred a major controversy .The country’s rapacious pursuit of coal has pushed the industry into another jungle, this time a tiger corridor in Maharashtra, threatening destroy forests and fragment the tiger’s already threatened population. Wildlife activists are alert after an Odisha-based mining company sought the permission of Maharashtra forest department to divert 147 hectares of land for coal mining in Yavatmal district of north eastern Maharashtra. Coal Block All Set To Threaten Tiger Corridor In May this year, the an Odisha based company sought the state forest department’s permission to divert 147 hectares of known tiger habitat, in Yavatmal district’s Pandharkawada forest division, for coal mining in Marki

Kashmir Forests Cry: Give Peace A Chance To Save Markhor

Deforestation in the shadow of the gun is rather deep-rooted in Kashmir where eruption of militant movement witnessed an ecological anarchy. In the menacing shadow of militancy, illegal felling flourished .Conservative estimates say that over 100,000 trees were illegally felled from the jungle peripheries of Arizal, Chrar Sharief, Shopian, Tral and Kupwara in the first three years of militancy. Kalashnikov-toting militants threatened forest officials and locals as the forests were vandalized. "People are killed; who is bothered about forests?, said officials. Midst militancy, there was a period in Kashmir valley when an animal had raised hopes of silencing the booming guns. Yes, an animal. There were efforts to hold a peace pact with Pakistan to save Markhor, killed in cross firing at LoC. Surrounded in coniferous forests dotted with deodar trees and located along the Line of Control (LoC), Kazinag national park in north Kashmir’s Boniyar sector is the home to the Markhor

Kashmir Forests Cry:Wildlife Inches Towards Extinction

Over three decades of war like situation in Jammu and Kashmir has affected the economics, environment and the wildlife of this paradise on the earth. Counter terrorism operations of Indian army to neutralize the cross border terrorism have protected the country. And as the army fights against terrorists, it is forced to camp in jungles in harsh winter conditions. Pakistan’s proxy war has cost dearly to the wildlife and environment on both sides of the LoC . As we look at the forest and environment of Kashmir on this World Environment Day, we find, ever since terrorism started somewhere in 1989, the Kashmir Valley has lost a huge forest cover. In one of its national parks in the valley , the iconic Hangul (Cervus hanglu hanglu), the royal stag of Kashmir, is feared to become extinct in the next few years. What tiger is for India, Hangul is for Kashmir. Besides Hangul, the International Union for Conservation of Nature’ (IUCN) Red Data Book — which contains lists of species at risk of

Where Did Ranthambore Tigers Vanish ? NTCA Must Find An Answer

Tigers continue to ‘vanish’ from Ranthambore national park and the issue is linked with “over population of tigers” in the park, extremely famous for wildlife tourism world over. The big cats in Rajasthan, it seems, ‘enjoy’ cordial relations with the politicians of the desert state, perhaps more because of tourism. While in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, the presence of tiger or a tiger reserve is linked with restrictions and the state government is sitting over many proposals to notify more protected areas , Rajasthan politicians apparently associate it with their achievement. Recent notification of Ramgarh Vishdhari as a tiger reserve in Bundi, the home district of Om Birla, Lok Sabha speaker, is the latest example. Ramgarh was accorded the status of tiger reserve to resolve the issue of disappearance of tigers from Ranthambore . For the first time, the state government admitted that 13 tigers were missing from Ranthambore from January 2019 to January 2022. NTCA Begins Inqui

Stone Pelting on Tiger Cubs :Kanha Pench Corridor Becomes Conflict Zone

Two tiger cubs- less than 6 month old- escaped the fury of a 5000 strong mob in a village located in Kanha-Pench corridor . Villagers tried to kill them by pelting stones when the cubs had reached a water body to quench their thirst. This issue has highlighted again the plight of the fragmented tiger corridors. It also reminds the urgency to restore their sanctity. People Shouted Kill the Cubs Kill the Cubs Wildlife is most vulnerable during summer, due to scarcity of resources. Water is the key limited resource inside jungles . Special monitoring ofwater holes should be carried out all along the corridors, to effectively deter such incidents, poaching of herbivores and poisoning of tigers and othercarnivores. In the scorching summer, the two cubs also reached a nearby waterbody . In the adjacent forest , the villagers were plucking tendu leaves- a minor forest produce to roll beedi , a thin cigarette or mini-cigar filled with tobacco flake and commonly wrapped in a tendu leaf. Th

Game Hunting by Maharajas to Bushmeat Poaching: Blackbucks killed in Thousands

Almost a quarter century after Bollywood star Salman Khan's blackbuck (Antilope cervicapra) poaching case in 1998, shooting of five antelopes in Madhya Pradesh has brought the animal back in media glare. Murder of three policemen by the poachers and the politics that ensued made this case even more sensational. Lest the supreme sacrifice made by the police be forgotten, it should be an inspiration to the forest department and the police force to check the blackbuck poaching, still so rampant in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh which accounts for the maximum blackbuck killing. In the past maharajas of erstwhile princely states in India would indulge in game hunting killing thousands of blackbucks.Its meat was served then in royal weddings and it continues to be in demand even now leading to bushmeat poaching. Blackbuck Poaching and Murder of Cops Five blackbucks were killed by the hunters in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh when the cops challenged the poachers, the