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Showing posts from February, 2021

Kuno Cheetah Deaths: What Recent Incidents Reveal About India’s Conservation Effort

Multiple cheetah deaths in Kuno raise questions about habitat limits, prey scarcity, and management. A data-driven look at the challenges facing India’s cheetah project T wo back-to-back cheetah deaths—one from a suspected collision inside the forest and another caused by a speeding vehicle—have once again pushed the spotlight onto the ambitious yet troubled cheetah introduction project in Kuno National Park . While officials have issued preliminary statements, the absence of publicly released post-mortem and investigation reports related to the past such cases has deepened concerns about transparency at a time when clarity is essential. The recent incidents highlight the ecological and management challenges that continue to shape the project’s uncertain trajectory. Each Loss Is Significant Setback On December 5, Friday, one of Veera’s cubs recently released into the open forest, died after reportedly separating from its mother. Just two days later, on December 7, another young cheetah...

Lesser Florican: MP Banishes the Bird Popular for mid- air Romance

There seems to be no place  in  Madhya Pradesh for Lesser Florican or Kharmore (Sypheotides) ,one of the most romantic but endangered birds of the planet . The shy bird, popular for  it's mid-air courtship gestures ,has been rendered almost homeless by the  state government.  The State wildlife Board - headed by the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh- recommended  last month de-notification of 348.12 sq km area of Sardarpur Kharmoresanctuary in Dhar district, home to Kharmore during its breeding period of monsoon till October. The sanctuary will now be shrunk only to about 16 sq km area. As the bird was being banished, ‘esteemed’ members of the Board looked as helpless as the threatened Florican before the powerful politicians. Though the State Wildlife Boards have the primary task to manage the conservation and protection of wildlife at the State Level, it seems to have worked contradictory to  its mandate . There was hardly any voice of dissent from i...

It's Not Cheetah, the Fastest Animal on the Earth is Shaheen

  If Cheetah is the fastest animal on four legs,  Peregrine falcon ( Falco peregrines)   is the fastest bird , faster  than  the spotted  cat  that may soon  be  reintroduced in India, may be in some jungle of Madhya Pradesh also. A survey is on   for the reintroduction of Cheetah in India which   has a recorded speed that varies from 109.4 km per hour    to 120.7 km per hour    . But the stooping Shaheen has a diving speed of about 389 km per hour. Peregrine falcon,t he English name of this amazing predator bird may not be common but   Shaheen , the Hindi word for the bird is very popular. The India sub -species of Falco peregrines is known as Falco peregrinus peregrinator or shaheen falcon . It is a non-migratory subspecies of the peregrine falcon found mainly in the Indian subcontinent. In India, Shaheen is spotted almost across the country, mainly in rocky and hilly regions. The Shaheen i...