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Showing posts from March, 2021

Are Lion Tailed Macaque More Fortunate than Panna Tigers: A Tale of Two Projects

Almost a  year after the Karnataka high court stayed the project that had further threatened the already endangered lion tailed macaque (LTM) ((Macaca silenus), endemic to the Sharavathi river valley nestled in the Western Ghats; the sword of Damocles continues to hang over the primates. The Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL) had launched a geothermal survey  with heavy machines to ascertain if the 2000 MW underground pump storage hydro-electric project was feasible. Besides LTM, the Sharavathi river valley is also home to a diverse array of species and sustains very rich biodiversity. Though the  court stay continues, the south Indian state has not yet withdrawn the project. For the time being, the power project may not have been in the priority list of the government after the change in the political guard, it continues to stare at LTM menacingly. Sharavathi Valley, a Jewel in the Western Ghats The project was proposed within the core area of 902 sq km in the Sharavathi Valle
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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
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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
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Ken-Betwa Project:Dam of Doom for Panna Tiger Reserve

  As the two states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh signed the controvertial Ken-Betwa   linking project (KBLP), considered as an environmental catastrophe, the cost of the trees proposed to be cut is anybody's guess, especially after an expert committee   report submitted in the Supreme Court recently. Besides, the best of tiger country will also be submerged and disconnected from the Panna national park which is all set to bear the brunt. All the good work of the tiger reintroduction programme in the tiger reserve is going to be flowed down in the project water. The number of tigers in Panna varies somewhere around 65-70 which includes 20 cubs.   Priceless Ecology to be Submerged A five member committee of experts for the first time set a guideline on the valuation of trees and  submitted a report in the Supreme Court in a case related to West Bengal where 356 trees were required to be felled. The committee told the apex court that a heritage tree with a lifespan of well
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8- Year After Tiger Killing, Poachers Get Jail Sentence in MP

  In a rare success against the tiger killers, ten poachers were convicted by a court in Katni, a small town surrounded by thick jungles, in Madhya Pradesh . It took over 8 years’ of investigations and numerous  court hearings to bring the guilty to the book. The Chief Judicial Magistrate of Katni, Indukant Tiwari pronounced rigorous imprisonment of 5 years  and a fine of Rs 10,000 on each,on February 8 this year.  On a cold wintery night in December 2012,  the full grown tiger was  killed by  passing electricity from a 10000 KV supply line passing over the farm field of Pappu Kol, an electrician in a small village of Badwah ,Barahi, barely 12 kms away from Katni town. The only crime of the big cat was that it was visible  in fields straying from the thick forest area in Badwah. Kol along with his nine other accomplices watched the tiger for few days and then decided to kill. Electrocution Leads to Painful Death                                                               The forest d
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Another tiger loses life in eco-sensitive rail zone connecting India

 Photographs of tiger- carcasses lying on railway tracks could never evoke a feeling of happiness. It saddens the wildlife lovers who would always want to see the majestic animal in the wild, freely taking strides or stalking a prey. But carrying such somber details become necessary to shake up and wake -up the agencies involved in development and the officials accountable  for striking an equilibrium  between environment and economics. Another young tiger died in the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ )of Balaghat-Gondia-Ballarshah  railway tracks on March 8 . Identified as a  T14, about 18 month old tigress of Navegaon national park ,located in Gondia district of Maharashtra. The Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, Navegaon is home to almost 60% of the bird species found in the entire Maharashtra. Every winter, flocks of migratory birds visit the lake. Also read: Tiger's Epic Walk Raises Serious Environmental Issues T14 was run over by a goods train around 8am to 8.15 am on March 8. The young ti
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