Skip to main content

Cheetah Cubs Born in Boma , Do They Have Conservation Value ?

When Aasha gave birth to three cubs in one of the enclosures  of  Kuno national park - there was good news and bad news. The good news is that this is the second litter of cheetah on Indian soil after Siyaya, another Namibia cheetah, gave birth to four cubs in March 2023 and that the animal seems to have acclimatized further in India conditions. Birth in captivity will also enhance their chances of survival. The three newborns  from Aasha have also increased the number of cheetahs in India.  The bad news is that like Siyaya's cubs, they too are born within the confines of a boma and would not get the environmental conditions required to survive in the wild. They would also be reared up by Aasha in the enclosure -safe from predators like leopards. But what does this mean? Kuno Awaits Cheetah Birth in Open Forest Cheetahs were translocated to India with a purpose. The Cheetah action plan envisages saving, conserving and developing India's grasslands .The reason for choosing cheet

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,the 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 is also reported from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal.
Shaheen Number Unknown in India
Vultures
Recently Shaheens were  in news after a number of the predator  birds were sighted during the just concluded count of the threatened vultures in Madhya Pradesh. A typical Peregrine Falcon male can weigh somewhere between 750 grams to 1200 grams and is about 16 inch long . Shaheen is the fastest animal on earth while  taking dive and as it executes this dive, the Peregrine falcon soars to a great height, then dives steeply at speeds of over 350 kms per hour pouncing upon  its prey in the air.

Also read: Of Owl Crisis and Sorcerers

Director of Panna national park Uttam Kumar Sharma confirmed that , “  Peregrine falcons can attain this very high speed while  taking its dive”. A good number of Shaheens  were sighted in Panna  tiger reserve  where the  number of endangered vultures has increased from  666  last year to 722 in 2021, maximum in any  other national  park of the state.

Wildlife experts said that Peregrines use a “specific flying technique when hunting  and it is known as stoop.” The stoop is gravity-assisted  and is considered  more a controlled fall . “They fly high above their prey and close their wings  falling like a stone downwards . Their aerodynamic shape helps  attain high velocity speed  stunning  their targets .

However, their normal flight was recorded between 22 and 26 mph.Partners in Flight, is an organization launched in 1990 in response to growing concerns about declines in the populations of many land bird species, estimated  in 2020 the global breeding population to be 140,000 with 17% spending some part of the year in the U.S, 5% in Canada, and 5% in Mexico. Their population in India is unknown.

Banner pic : Shaheen atop a tree. Courtesy Panna National Park 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tiger Corridor : Now Satpuda Melghat National Parks Connectivity At Risk

Much- hyped wildlife friendly NH7 passing   through the famous Kanha -Pench forest corridor and named after the two famous national parks should have 11.81 kms long under passes to let the wildlife have a safe passage. Instead the National Highways Authority of India (NHA) overlooked the rules and constructed only 4.41 km long underpasses compromising their dimensions.  Similarly in NH6, only 2.95 km of mitigation work was done against a schedule 8 kms length. Not everybody knows this truth.  Now NHAI seems to be completely violating the Wildlife (Protection) act 1973 while constructing a road patch on NH46 ( Hoshangabad -Betul). This is a functional tiger corridor connecting Melghat and Satpura tiger reserves. Now the connectivity is also as threatened as the tiger itself.  No Lessons Learnt From NH6 Kanha- Pench Corridor The reduced length of structures in  MH6  and NH7  -connecting East with the West and  North with the South  respectively -for safety of the wildlife could be achiev

Fertility Stories Immortalise Collarwali Tigress of Pench Tiger Reserve

  She was a superstar of Pench tiger reserve . The tigress that livedmore than 16 years and delivered a record number of 29  cubs in8 litters died on January 15 evening. Collarwali, as she was fondly referred toafter a radio collar was put around her neck in 2008, was darling of wildlifetourists who would visit the tiger reserve. They would remember the tigress forher ‘catwalks’ on the pathways of the national park giving them ample opportunitiesto click pictures. She would make easy wildlife photography. Collarwali was immortalizedafter scores of national and international documentaries were made on her. The Departmentof Post in India issued a special cover envelope of Collarwali  on World Sparrow Day in 2015 Besides, NewZealand and Canada too issued personalized stamps on the tigress in the sameyear. The park director said she died because of old age complicationsin her intestine.  Apall of gloom descended over Pench while her funeral was performed on January 16. RIP Collarwali Offic

Cheetah Cubs Born in Boma , Do They Have Conservation Value ?

When Aasha gave birth to three cubs in one of the enclosures  of  Kuno national park - there was good news and bad news. The good news is that this is the second litter of cheetah on Indian soil after Siyaya, another Namibia cheetah, gave birth to four cubs in March 2023 and that the animal seems to have acclimatized further in India conditions. Birth in captivity will also enhance their chances of survival. The three newborns  from Aasha have also increased the number of cheetahs in India.  The bad news is that like Siyaya's cubs, they too are born within the confines of a boma and would not get the environmental conditions required to survive in the wild. They would also be reared up by Aasha in the enclosure -safe from predators like leopards. But what does this mean? Kuno Awaits Cheetah Birth in Open Forest Cheetahs were translocated to India with a purpose. The Cheetah action plan envisages saving, conserving and developing India's grasslands .The reason for choosing cheet