Skip to main content

Tiger Takes Care of Injured Tigress & Cubs in Bhopal

The sprawling tiger landscape of Bhopal may not have been a designated national park or a sanctuary but the woody city surroundings have been buzzing with wildlife activities, denied and disregarded by the state forest department.  There is a tiger love story  unfolding  in the forest,  a tigress  with four cubs and  reports of  atleast two pregnant tigresses. The tigers are  multiplying on the city outskirts  and so are the worries of the department.    The Love Story A large contiguous forest area spread over about 150 sq square kms in the jungles around two famous dams- Kolar and Kerwa- is now home of atleast 10 adult  felines. They are resident tigers of Bhopal- born and brought up in the city jungle and termed as the urban tigers.  In fact the tiger landscape is spread beyond these two dams   over a vast swathe of forest.  If we  calculate the area from the boundary  of  Ratapani  sanctuary  to Kewa  , it is 200 sq kms of forest area . In fact, Bhopal's tiger landscape is a pa

Tiger In Chain, Arunachal Forest Minister Goes For Walk

Tiger in Chain

 Close on the heels of the tiger census data released by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi showcasing the success of  tiger conservation , visuals of a tiger in a chain held by the Environment and forest minister of Arunachal Pradesh  shook the country.  The minister Mama Natung   walks the tiger  like a pet  .On April 16, he  also  twitted the  video  from his official twitter handle . He also posted the video with pride on his  facebook page. For record, tiger is listed in the scheduled one of the Wild Life (Protecton) Act 1972  and one can not have it as a pet .This Schedule deals with endangered species.

Violation of Wildlife Protection Act 


Tiger in Chain

 Interestingly, while tweeting the video , mama also tagged  the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and  the Union ministry of Environment, forest  and climate change.  NTCA is the apex body for the protection and conservation of the tiger. The caption reads  ,“Happy to walk with reared tiger which is the most powerful Animals Tiger, so people's around the  world should Learn the Love from Animals, if you love nature will find beauty everywhere. #moefcc #ntca_india #ArunachalCMO #PMOIndia #BJP4Arunachal”. 


 Mama, a businessman turned politician, can be seen taking the chained tiger for a walk.  For 6.6 minutes, till the video ran, the minister wearing shorts and slippers is seen pulling the chain of the tiger and patting the beast on his back. Two more men, perhaps from his staff, were also seen one by one coming and patting the tiger like a pet. There are eight wildlife sanctuaries, and two national parks in the state of Arunachal Pradesh  and this include  Namdaph,One of the largest national parks in India.and all of them are under Mama Nutang. In the country where tiger protection is on the top of the priority list of the government, the minister’s act  raises several questions.

Some Needs to Take Cognizance 


Tiger in Chain

In March this year, a resident of Uttar Pradesh was arrested after he was found in possession of a Sarus Crane, a bird listed in scheduled three of the Wildlife Protect act 1972. In February last year, Mohammad Arif, 35, brought home an injured sarus crane he found in his village of Mandhka in Uttar Pradesh’s  Amethi district. After he took care of it over the next thirteen months, he found himself booked under the Wild Life (Protection )  Act.  


The wildlife authorities moved the crane from Arif’s house to a Raebareli sanctuary and later shifted to the Kanpur Zoo. Arif might have been unaware of the Act and that he was violating it. But Mama is the minister for environment and forest and is expected to have an understanding that his act is a violation of the Wild Life Protection Act. And if he doesn’t ,  someone needs to take cognizance.

By Deshdeep Saxena

Images from the  minister's Video 



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Third Cheetah Dies At Kuno National Park

 Twenty four hours after the  Union ministry of environment ,forest and climate change (MoEFC&C)  released an all –is-well report of the cheetahs in enclosures of Kuno National Park , another  cheetah , a female, died in the park. This is the third cheetah death. Interestingly, all three – one from Namibia and two from South Africa- died  even before their release in the open forest of Kuno. South African cheetah deaths have already created uproar back in the African nation as the opposition political parties have questioned the government.  Why Reproduce in Enclosure ?   This is another jolt  to the cheetah introduction programme in India. Eight cheetahs from Namibia  and 12 from South Africa were translocated in the months of September 2022 and February this year  respectively  to Kuno.  A female cheetah named Daksha died due to a "violent interaction" during mating with a coalition of two male cheetahs - Vayu and Agni, said authorities . This is the third cheetah death

Tiger Takes Care of Injured Tigress & Cubs in Bhopal

The sprawling tiger landscape of Bhopal may not have been a designated national park or a sanctuary but the woody city surroundings have been buzzing with wildlife activities, denied and disregarded by the state forest department.  There is a tiger love story  unfolding  in the forest,  a tigress  with four cubs and  reports of  atleast two pregnant tigresses. The tigers are  multiplying on the city outskirts  and so are the worries of the department.    The Love Story A large contiguous forest area spread over about 150 sq square kms in the jungles around two famous dams- Kolar and Kerwa- is now home of atleast 10 adult  felines. They are resident tigers of Bhopal- born and brought up in the city jungle and termed as the urban tigers.  In fact the tiger landscape is spread beyond these two dams   over a vast swathe of forest.  If we  calculate the area from the boundary  of  Ratapani  sanctuary  to Kewa  , it is 200 sq kms of forest area . In fact, Bhopal's tiger landscape is a pa

Cheetah Escapes From Kuno , Scares Villagers

  International team of  wildlife experts including those from the union ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFC&C), government of Madhya Pradesh, Cheetah Conservation Fund  ,Namibia among others have  been spending sleepless nights ever since four cheetahs were  released in the open forest of Kuno. Two cheetahs and male and a female each named Oban and Asha respectively, were released on March 11 followed by Elton and Freddie. No sooner did they step out from their enclosures, the cheetahs  vanished in the jungle. Within  no time, their location throught their satellite radio collars was traced in the  territorial forests  around Kuno . There were no media reports as it was not confirmed by the officials tightlipped over the issue. But on Sunday, video evidence broke the news. "Oban Oban", "Come Oban" , "Go Oban" The video , shot by a villager showed Oban , a male cheetah, trying  timidly to hide himself in  the standing wheat crop o