The Wildlife India

Beware of Leopard (Panthera pardus ), the cat could be next door. A leopard in Lucknow mauled over 20 residents as the spotted cat stalked the busy roads in the last week of December in 2021. The wildcat wandered in the state capital of Uttar Pradesh as a team of over 100 members of forest department, police and others continued to make efforts to capture the cat. The city was on a high alert. People were panicking. The wild cat was ultimately caught on December 28. Over 600 kms away in Bhopal, not one but three leopards continue to move in different pockets of the city. There were no reports of any attack on residents. But pug marks and CCTV footage confirmed the presence of leopards in the city. There were reports of the presence of leopards in Pune in Maharashtra and Chattarpur in Madhya Pradesh. But why are leopards attracted to cities in this part of the year. Experts believe it is food-easy prey and garbage dumps of cities- that draws the attention of the animal. Are They Turnin...

  A tigress abandoned her two cubs in a farm field  of a small village of Katni district .After waiting for their mothers for about a week,  the forest departent  transferred the cubs-about two and half months old- to  White tiger Safari, Mukundpur in Rewa. The big cat seems to have dispersed from  Bandhavgarh national park , about 65 kms away from Jhiriya village of Katni where the cubs were located. Katni is strategically located between Bandhavgarh and Panna tiger reserves. Wildlife experts fear for the life of both -the tigress and her cubs. Tigress , Cubs Unsafe    The tigress was spotted by some villagers on December 12 night in Jhiriya village. She was accompanying her three cubs. But in the morning, the two cubs were found in a farm but the tigress was missing with the third cub. When villagers first spotted the cubs, they were shivering in cold in the absence of the warmth of their mother.  A senior forest department official said ...

  This is a beautiful story of four tiger siblings- fortunate for two reasons. First, after the tragic death of their mother seven months ago, they were not caged but given a chance to learn and survive in the wild. Second, they not only survived but learnt all the skills required to be alive in the jungle where the law of nature prevails. They have lived to tell a different tiger tale.  Life after Mother’s Death In May 2021, when the park was parched and mercury was soaring, Uttam Kumar Sharma, the field director of Panna tiger reserve narrateda chilling story of the four orphaned cubs, three males and one female .Their mother had died of  a" msysterious" illness when they were very young and needed mother’s shadown to survive . As the park management pondered over the situation after the disheartening news of her death, there were many suggestions to save the cubs.“But only a few  suggested leaving cubs in the wild. Most of the people recommended capturing the cub...

Panna national park , famous world over for its successful tiger relocation programme, has added another feather in its cap. During a  night safari, an Indian desert cat was spotted in the park which itself is threatened by the controvertial Ken Betwa river linking project. The cat was photographed by a tourist in Akola buffer, once famous for two tiger brothers- Heera–Panna. One of them died of poaching recently.   Desert Cat and Rare Sighting Also known as Asiatic wildcat , the Indian desert cat inhabits the Thar Desert (pic courtsey NiF Hive)  and is associated with the scrub desert. Soon after its sighting in Panna, the  the tiger reserve tweeted " In 1999, it was still reported as common in Bikaner, Barmer, Jaisalmer, Pali and Nagaur districts of Rajasthan .Only four sightings were reported from the Thar Desert between 1999 and 2006". Though its sighting was recorded in Nauradehi wildlife sanctuary of Panna landscape , in Madhya Pradesh and Mirzapur fo...

  Should a wild tiger be allowed to die its natural death in the jungle when injured after aterritorial fight or in natural course  or it should be  given medical treatment  when found injured.For long, this question has baffled the wildlife managers, many of whom are of the opinion that a wild tiger should not be denied an honorable death. Let the law of the jungle prevail and there should be no interference with nature. Treat or Not to Treat: Dilemma Continues   So a tiger carrying an injury in its natural course of life in the jungle (not due toany human action) – should it be treated with medicines? Though this question has been raised for the past many years, NTCA guidelines prohibit such intervention(of medication). A one-word answer for the question seems to be difficult ,especially in the times when most of the people are concerned moreover thetiger numbers. India along with other 13 tiger range countries has been workingfor the past few years to double...

  Bhigwan Bird Sanctuary (BBS) has come alive in a riot of colours. Thousands of resident and migratory birds have flocked the backwaters of the Ujani dam built downstream of river Bhima. For years, flamboyance of flamingos has been attracting a large number of tourists . The greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It is found in Africa, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East, and in southern Europe. As the birds stand on the pink lanky legs,  wildlife photographers click in frenzy to  catch the  best of the moves made by  them. Local guides call flamingo the “tiger” of Bhigwan as most of the people come here especially for this bird. Charm of B&W : Black Headed Ibis   Vying for the attention of the tourists, there are over 300 species of birds - both residents and migratory- in Bhigwan. Winter beckons birds' migration  to the backwaters of the dam as they  chirp, cheep , si...

Madhya Pradesh is searching for carcal, a cat fastheading towards extinction in India. Known for its elusive nature, caracal is foundmostly  in Rajasthan, Kutch in Gujarat and perhaps, parts of Madhya Pradesh around Chambal ravines. Though nocaracal has been sighted for long in MP, efforts are on to spot  them in and around Kuno Palpur National Park  in Sheopur district bordering Rajasthan. CameraTraps in Kuno The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and thestate forest department are trying to locate caracal by placing cameratraps   in the jungle. Few years ago, there were reports in Hindi media in Sheopur about sightings of caracal  but it couldnot be confirmed.  However, theneighbouring Ranthambhore national park is home to some of these fascinatingcats. The park is located in Sawaimadhopur district .Besides, the cat isbelieved to  be spread in Karoli  and Dholpur districts  of Rajasthan also. In October this yearphotographic evidence o...

                                                          A superstar-tiger of Panna National Park popularly known as Hira was poached. Code named 234-31,Hira was about 2 years of age and was perhaps headed towards Ranipur wildlifesanctuary in Chitrakoot Uttar Pradesh when he was electrocuted and de-skinned brutally by the poachers. For thousands of tourists and wildlife photographers,Hira along with his sibling Panna assumed a status of superstars because of thefrequent sightings and the photo opportunities they provided to the visitors of Akola wildlife tourist zone in the buffer area of the park.  They were born in November 2019 to Tigress P234 in her third litter. Panna,  the sibling of Hira, is still entertaining  the tourists.  Tiger Unsafe Outside  Protected Area As Hira was radio collared, his whereabouts were ...

In a country where wildlife conservation revolves around tigers- the top predator playing a pivotal role in the health and diversity of an ecosystem,  the significance of  snow leopard -an important species, seems to be  ignored and overlooked. Shy and solitary, snow leopards are found  in India high up in the Himalayas, the source of most of our fresh water and 3 perennial rivers – the Ganga, Yamuna and Brahmaputra, lifeline of  over 500 million Indians. Without the snow leopard, the Himalayan ecosystem will be adversely affected, impacting  the rivers too. Healthy population of snow leopards also indicates good health of the Himalayas .Ignoring this eco -system would be like a Himalayan blunder.On  the World Snow Leopard Day this year on October 23, we  call upon  all those concerned with the issue to underline the importance of the elusive cat and not undermine it.    Protect Glaciers  to Save Leopards  Protecting the ...

One of the most celebrated tiger reserves of the world, Jim Corbett national park was in the news last week, albeit for the wrong reasons. Union minister of state for forest and environment Ashwini Kumar Choubey  had expressed his intentions to  rechristen   the reserve as Ramganga national park when there are a number of environmental issues pending in Uttarakhand . But the minister chose for renaming of the park which was almost immediately turned down by the state government. This is one of the top safari destinations of the country and very popular among tourists. When the state forest minister Harak Singh Rawat declined the Union minister’s idea on name change, he had in mind the potential threat to tourism activities. “A name change will hit tourism in Uttarakhand as the park is popular, among international tourists, as Corbett,” the minister said.  Interestingly, both the ministers, it seems, did not have on their priority list  the issues pertainin...

Translocation of cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) to Kuno Palpur national park in Madhya Pradesh has been delayed. Though the government has been highlighting covid19 spread in Africa as the prime reason, India has yet to receive the permission of CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna), an international agreement between governments to preserve plants and animals of the planet to ensure that the international trade in their specimens does not threaten their survival. India’s application to bring this spotted at is yet to be cleared by this international organisation.  India 's Application With CITES Pending  Cheetah was scheduled to have been transported from Namibia and South Africa to Kuno in November this year. In all 8 cheetahs were scheduled to be translocated from the two places. But India applied “quite late” for the relocation of cheetah leading to delay in the processing of the application. Now this fastest animal on...

After four months of monsoon break when Bandhavgarh national park was thrown open for tourists again on October 1, a hot air balloon flying low over core area of the tiger reserve erupted controversy. A member of National Tiger Conservation Authority member Satyendra Tiwari   blew the whistle leading to questions whether hot air balloons should be allowed to fly over such a low height. Can Hot Balloon Fly over Core Area ?                                                                                                                     Some tourists on a tiger safari on gypsies also spotted the balloon.  But Tiwari, an NTCA member  clicked a picture of the   balloon ...

For the past few months, Assam has been buzzing with positive news stories of environment and wildlife conservation activities. Three months ago, two new national parks came into existence while burning of rhino horns has grabbed international headlines. Assam has set the agenda for the conservation of some of the most endangered species including the greater one -horn rhino and golden langur, one of the world’s most endangered primates endemic to northeast India and Bhutan.    Unique, Unmatched Transboundary  Biodiversity Famous for golden langur, Raimona national park , became sixth national park of Assam on June 5 this year followed by Eastern Assam’s Dehing Patkai national park  and elephant reserve  on June 9 2021. The five national parks that existed prior to the 422 sq km Raimona are Kaziranga, Manas- both world heritage sites-, Nameri, Orang and Dibru-Saikhowa. Assam now stands third in the list of the states in India with the most national parks after 1...