Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from September, 2020

3 Years In: Unveiling the Truth About India's Cheetah Project

Three years on, India’s cheetah reintroduction struggles with poor science, delays, and missed grassland goals. In September 2022, the arrival of eight cheetahs from Namibia to Kuno National Park was hailed as a conservation milestone. Five months later in February 2024, 12 more spotted cats arrived from South Africa. The initiative, branded Project Cheetah, carried lofty ambitions. It aimed not just to restore the world’s fastest land animal to India’s landscapes, but to revive open natural ecosystems (ONEs) — the grasslands, scrublands, and savannahs that are among the country’s most neglected habitats. By reintroducing a top predator, policymakers hoped to spark wider conservation attention, diversify India’s wildlife portfolio beyond tigers and forests, and make ecological amends for a human-caused extinction. The Cheetah Action Plan set out a clear roadmap: import 5–10 cheetahs annually for a decade, create a metapopulation across multiple states, secure and restore grassland hab...

Lantana: World’s Worst Weed Devouring Jungles

When people from the world of glamour take up some issue like conservation of forest and environment, the message is sent far and wide. Versatile Bollywood actor Rahul Singh, famous for films like Ghazi Attack, Tere Bin laden and  Delhi Belly among others,  decided to convert the  corona crisis into an opportunity and joined the  wonderful initiative of Inspector General of police Binita Singh to uproot Lantana ( Lantana Camara) from Sajjangarh  wildlife sanctuary in Udaipur. As the campaign continues, more and more people joined to get rid of one of the world’s 10 worst weeds,  fast spreading in the country' s forests.  Rahul Singh shares his views on the  issue. Tarachand I live near the 519.61 hectare Sajjangarh wildlife sanctuary in  Udaipur,  home to leopards, jackals,  jungle cats and a variety of antelopes and deer  including , sambhar ,cheetal  ( spotted deer) and blue bull or the nilgai among others .  But th...

The Legacy of White Tigers - Mohan, Virat to Mukundpur Safari

Scion of Rewa royals, Pushpraj Singh fondly remembers the legacy of white tigers. He had seen the legendary Mohan - the white tiger captured by his father Martand Singh Judeo from  Mukundpur  forest region. He also remembers vividly, Virat- Mohan’s progeny. Mohan is considered a progenitor of all known white tigers in the world. Like his father, Pushparaj is passionate about wildlife conservation. The Legacy of White Tigers- Mohan, Virat to Mukundpur Safari During my childhood, way back in the mid 60s, I used to return back from Bombay (Now Mumbai), for summer vacations to Rewa, my native place and major lures awaiting me would be mangoes and the   white tiger at Govindgarh fort   as well as the visit to the Bandhavgarh tiger reserve. I had never imagined that one summer holiday would mark the end of one of the major attractions, the white tiger era when in 1972-73 my father, Maharaja Martand Singh Judeo decided to close the curtains on keeping this beautiful anima...

Protect This Wildlife Corridor To Save The Ganges

A simmering man- animal conflict zone- a wildlife corridor spread over almost 1 lakh hectares of forest area - is waiting to explode. The corridor connects two beautiful tiger reserves of Madhya Pradesh- the Bandhavgarh tiger reserve (BTR) in Umaria district and the Sanjay -Dubri tiger reserve in Sidhi.As many as 30 tigers jostle for space with over 5 lakh people in the highly fragmented    jungle corridor seeking immediate attention of the government and execution of a concrete wildlife management plan. The wildlife corridor :   Victim of government apathy The glib -talk –saga of tiger conservation continues and solid conservation works are missing. Protecting tigers in this corridor assumes greater environmental significance.   When wildlife conservation works start, human intervention is restricted which leads to various    precious environmental benefits. And no price tag can be attached to them . Here, the catchment of two big rivers – Son and Banas-...