Government Should Start Conservation for Tigers in Gujarat: Parimal Nathwani

WSON Team
-
0
Government Should Start Conservation for Tigers in Gujarat: Parimal Nathwani

Gujarat could be the only State in the Country to boast of having National Animal Royal Bengal Tiger and Asiatic Lions. In a recent evidence of presence of Tiger in State of Gujarat, a villager in Nijhar village of Tapi district near boarder of Gujarat and Maharashtra was attacked by a tiger on Wednesday July 25, 2018.

Parimal Nathwani, Member of Rajya Sabha and Group President of Corporate Affairs at Reliance Industries Ltd, who also happens to be an enthusiastic wildlife lover, had drawn attention of the Government Authorities and Forest Department way back in January 2017 about presence of the tiger in forests of Gujarat.

WSON Team

“The scientific evidences like scats, pugmarks, etc have proved that there is an established tiger corridor between Maharashtra and Gujarat,” said Nathwani. In a letter written to the Government Authorities in January 2017, Nathwani had stated that two constables of Maharashtra Police, posted on a Check Post of Gujarat-Maharashtra border, had sighted the tiger entering into Maharashtra Forest area from Gujarat and going back to Gujarat Forest.

Nathwani said that the news of tiger attack on a villager near Nijhar village once again confirms presence of tigers in Gujarat. “It is time the State Forest Department should now focus on conservation of Tiger too besides Asiatic Lion. The Forest Department should take proper steps to ensure prey base as well as safety of the National Animal,” said Nathwani.

WSON team

He further said that it would be a great opportunity for the State of Gujarat to boost tourism. “The presence of Tiger will further enrich our wildlife ecology. As everyone knows, the presence of rare Asiatic Lion in Gujarat has been catalyst for tourism sector in the State. Once the tiger also sets its base in Gujarat, tourism sector will get major boost,” he said.

Nathwani has also written letters to the concerned authorities in Central and State Government appealing them to step up tiger conservation efforts in Gujarat.

Gujarat govt mulls radio-collaring of lion in Sasan Gir sanctuary

WSON Team
-
0
Gujarat govt mulls radio-collaring of lion in Sasan Gir sanctuary

Minister of State for Forests and Environment Ramanlal Patkar on Tuesday said that the issue of using radio collars on each lion was discussed during a meeting held yesterday.”The issue of placing radio collars on each lion (in the sanctuary) is under consideration and a decision to this effect will be taken soon,” he said. Besides, for the protection of these felines, the government is also taking some other measures, like cracking down on unauthorised agents who organise illegal lion shows and people trying to take selfies with the animals. The government is also trying to create a network of informers.

WSON Team

These decisions were taken during yesterday’s meeting, which was also attended by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, state Forests and Environment Minister Ganpat Vasava told reporters in Gandhinagar. He said for better co-ordination of security-related issues, the Gir forest, which is spread over the area of 109 square kms covering three different districts, will now be brought under the jurisdiction of Junagadh forest authorities.

“Lions are also found residing outside the forest area, and therefore a special division will be created under Chief Conservator of Forest Junagadh.That division will look after areas such as Lilya, Kukawav, Jafrabad and Rajula of Amreli district and Mahua, Jesar, Palitana and Talaja of Bhavnagar district,” he said.

WSON Team

“With the increased flow of tourists at Gir we have come to know that some people are organising illegal lion shows for tourists. Incidents of harassment of lions or being chased on vehicles have also come to our notice,” Vasava said. “Now, those found indulging in any such activities will be charged under section 9 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, which has a provision of imprisonment of up to seven years,” he said.

A network of informers will be created to find out about people indulging in such act, he said.The government has also decided to increase facilities for tourists by creating new tourists zones like Chikhalkuba and areas near Girnar mountain. Earlier, tourists were only allowed to enter Sasan Gir and Devalia forest areas to see lions.

“Also, the state government has decided to allow more number of visitors and vehicles in the forest areas now,” Vasava said.Recently, the Gujarat high court had also taken suo motu cognisance of the number of lion deaths in Gir and sought the government’s explanation.

WSON Team

As per the figures, as many as 184 lions- with 32 due to ‘unnatural causes’- had died in two years- 2016 and 2017 and the high court had issued notices to the state and central governments over the issue.

As per the 2015 census, there were 523 lions in the state, the only abode of Asiatic lions.The government had told the state Assembly that there are four reasons behind the “unnatural” death of lions- road accidents, railway tracks passing through the forest areas, wells with damaged or no parapets and electric fences around agricultural lands.

Man arrested for killing blackbuck in MP

WSON Team
-
0
Man arrested for killing blackbuck in MP

cting on a tip-off, the police raided a hideout in Kharpa village last evening and arrested the man, identified as Farooq, for killing the endangered animal in a forest area, Kannod police station in-charge Vishwadeep Singh Parihar said.

The police also seized 11 kg meat of the blackbuck and its skin from the man’s possession, he said.Parihar said the accused admitted to have killed the blackbuck in the Kharpa forest area of Kannod tehsil along with his associate, who is absconding.

The police also seized a sickle and an axe apparently used to kill the animal, he said.A case was registered against the accused under relevant sections of the Wildlife Protection Act.

The police launched a search for Farooq’s associate, Parihar added.The blackbuck, also known as the Indian antelope, is an endangered species protected under the Wildlife Act.

Faecal transplants ‘could save endangered koala’

WSON Team
-
0
Faecal transplants ‘could save endangered koala’

Scientists believe they have found a new weapon in the battle to save endangered species: faecal transplants. They say that by transferring faeces from the gut of one animal to another they could boost the health and viability of endangered creatures. In particular, they believe the prospects of saving the koala could be boosted this way.

The idea of using faecal transplants as conservation weapons was highlighted this month at the American Society for Microbiology meeting in Atlanta, where scientists outlined experiments in which they used the technique to change microbes in the guts of koalas.
Microbes play a key role in digesting fibres in the animal’s diet of eucalyptus leaves – which come in two main varieties: manna gum and messmate.

“Messmate is clearly inferior to manna gum: it has less protein and more tannins,” said the project leader, Ben Moore of Western Sydney University.

However, some koalas eat only messmate and others only manna gum. Few eat both – and that is because manna-gum-eating koalas have different bacteria in their guts from those that ate messmate.

This raised the crucial question: could scientists change the microbes in a koala’s gut so that they could change the type of eucalyptus that the animal could consume? The answer was to carry out transplants of bacteria from the faeces of one set of koalas into the group that had different eucalyptus diets.

“We succeeded,” Moore told the Observer. The team found it was able to alter the koala’s gut bacteria from one type to the other.

The development is crucial because it should help the preservation not just of koalas – by aiding their ability to digest different types of eucalyptus – but should also help other endangered creatures. As the journal Nature reported, other researchers at the conference outlined work – again involving making changes in gut microbes – that could boost the fertility of southern white rhinoceros which do not reproduce well in captivity, a problem that is linked to their diets, it was found.

Uttarakhand: Villagers burn entire forest after leopard kills child

WSON Team
-
0
Uttarakhand: Villagers burn entire forest after leopard kills child

In a shocking incident around eight hectares of forest land was burnt to ashes by angry villagers in Uttarakhand’s Bageshwar district after a leopard mauled to death a seven-year-old boy, the second such incident in three months, police said.

The attack took place on Monday evening when the boy had gone out of his home in Harinagri village to answer nature’s call while his mother was in the kitchen, Chief Conservator of Forest BP Gupta told PTI.

The leopard dragged the boy inside the forest surrounding the house. The next morning, his half eaten body was recovered by villagers 250 metres away, Gupta said.
“Angry villagers numbering around 4000-5000 set on fire eight hectares of van panchayat land in the village yesterday,” Gupta, who is also the nodal officer for forest fires said quoting Bageshwar DFO RK Singh.

The fire could not be extinguished as irate villagers did not allow outsides to enter the village, he said.

The villagers also blamed the same leopard for killing a four-year-old boy in the area in March this year.

“Since it was the second such incident in the area, the villagers may have burnt down the forest to clear the thickets and destory the big cat’s hideout to save themselves,” the official said.

According to Gupta, the leopard has been declared a man-eater and an order to kill it has been issued, Gupta said.

1...585960...65Page 59 of 65