The elusive and rarely sighted snow leopard is now being frequently spotted in snow-bound Spiti valley of the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh (HP). What will delight wildlife lovers even more are the instances of the endangered cat to be seen in pairs. With the cases of snow leopard sightings increasing Spiti is fast emerging … Read more Snow leopards are now frequently sighted in Spiti Valley
The Gujarat forest department will take up the country’s biggest and most challenging effort to reintroduce big cats from captivity to the wild now that 36 Asiatic lions suspected to be infected with canine distemper virus (CDV) have been declared fit to return to their natural habitat, according to officials familiar with the development. The … Read more 36 Gir lions to be back in jungle in India’s largest reintroduction operation
Black Panther has been everywhere in recent years – but spotting one of the animals the famous superhero is named after in the African wilderness is a little more rare. Wildlife photographer Will Burrard-Lucas managed it – and there are even claims this is the first time anyone has captured a melanistic leopard on camera in … Read more Black panther: Rare animal caught on camera in Kenya
China and India – two economic powerhouses of Asia – are contributing significantly to the greening of the planet, a new global study released on 11 February 2019 has found. The world now has about 5.5 million square kilometers of extra green leaf area round the year compared to 2000. A bulk of this increase … Read more Surprise! India and China are greening faster than rest of the World
We think of the Sundarbans, the world’s biggest mangrove forest, and we think of the Royal Bengal Tiger. However, the fierce species which is India’s pride could die out thanks to climate change as the Sundarbans will be completely wiped out within the next 50 years with the rising water levels. Spanning more than 10,000 square kilometres, … Read more Bengal tiger could go extinct by 2070 because of climate change
Indian state of Gujarat has confirmed the presence of a tiger in the state, days after a man claimed he saw the big cat crossing a road in Mahisagar district. State forest minister Ganpatsinh Vasava said on 12 Feb. 2019 that the tiger was caught on cameras set up by the forest department in that … Read more Confirmed !!! Tiger In Gujarat After Three Decades
India recorded its highest leopard mortality over the past four years in 2018. As many as 460 leopard deaths were recorded across the country this year, according to the Delhi-based Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI). A bulk of them – 155 (34%) – were poached while 74 (16%) died in train or road accidents. … Read more Leopard deaths in India at five-year high, over a third poached
A study by Association of Indian Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarians (AIZWV), which has been compiling a database on wild mammalian species with reference to morbidity and mortality, stated that in most cases of tiger deaths reported from 2009 to 2016, the specific reason could not be ascertained. According to the association, of the 28 tiger … Read more What kills most tigers? Even experts are clueless
India is on track to meet most of its national biodiversity targets but the list of animal species from the country under the international ‘red list’ in the critically endangered, endangered and threatened categories has been increasing over the years, according to the sixth national report (NR6) submitted to the United Nations Convention on Biological … Read more Number of Indian species in endangered list going up
International golfer Jyoti Randhawa (full name Jyotinder Singh Randhawa) of India was arrested on 26 December 2018 on charges of poaching inside the globally famous Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (area 1,284.3 sq km or 495.9 sq mi)), a protected area in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. A telescope-mounted .22 rifle fitted with silencer, 80 cartridges, a range finder, carcass … Read more International golfer Jyoti Randhawa arrested for poaching
Nine institutions and individuals from across Asia have been recognized by the United Nations, USAID, Interpol, and the Freeland Foundation for outstanding work in preventing trans-boundary environmental crime in an annual award ceremony in Bangkok. From India, Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) has been awarded under the Innovation category for combating trans-boundary environmental crime. WCCB has … Read more Wildlife Crime Control Bureau of India gets Asia Environmental Enforcement Award
In a significant development for conservationists in India, a three-year survey in Arunachal Pradesh’s Dibang Valley Wildlife Sanctuary has found photographic evidence of tigers residing 3630 metres above sea level in snow-clad peaks of the Eastern Himalayas, according to The Times of India. From 2015 to 2017, researchers at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) … Read more Tiger Spotted at 3630m in Arunachal Valley
China appeared to backtrack on a controversial decision to lift a ban on trading tiger bones and rhinoceros horns, saying it has been postponed, state media reported on 12 November 2018. The State Council, China’s cabinet, unexpectedly announced last month that it would allow the sale of rhino and tiger products under “special circumstances”, a move … Read more China postpones lifting tiger and rhino parts ban
Unbridled consumption has decimated global wildlife, triggered a mass extinction and exhausted Earth’s capacity to accommodate humanity’s expanding appetites, conservation group WWF warned on 30 October 2018. From 1970 to 2014, a total of 60 per cent of all animals with a backbone – fish, birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals – were wiped out by … Read more Nature pushed to the brink by runaway consumption: WWF
As the controversial killing of tigress Avni (code named T1) in the Indian state of Maharashtra kicked up a row, Women and Child Development Minister of India, Maneka Gandhi on 4 November 2018 accused Maharashtra Forest Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar of ordering the “ghastly murder” of a tiger and vowed legal action after the man-eating animal … Read more Maneka Gandhi slams Maharashtra minister over tiger killing
Their enthusiasm to volunteer is spurred by lion-hearted pride; they are dogged in their devotion to Gujarat’s big cats and humbled by their responsibility to conserve the species. They are the common people of the state, members of communities whose work is vital for the survival of Asiatic lions in Gir. It is mainly their … Read more The warriors who helped save the Asiatic lions of Gir
In Assam’s Manas National Park smaller carnivores, mainly belonging to cat and civet family, have adapted to hunt in dark nights to avoid predation by larger carnivores, says an ongoing study of Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute if India (WII). The research that will conclude next year outlines how moon illumination influences mammal activity in the protected … Read more To avoid large predators smaller carnivores adapt to hunt in moonless nights
Four months after tigress ST-14 was spotted with two cubs, there is more good news from Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR) in Alwar (Rajasthan, India). Tigress ST-12 was spotted with three cubs on 31 August 2018 – a first for Sariska after it was repopulated with tigers from Ranthambore, said reserve officials. STR chief conservator of … Read more Tigress with three cubs spotted in Sariska, population reaches 17
The Dudhwa Tiger Reserve (DTR) will soon be under complete drone camera surveillance, DTR field director Ramesh Pandey told PTI. Work for the surveillance programme, which is being called e-bird project, has already begun. A pilot operation was conducted on International Tiger Day, July 29, where drone cameras were used to monitor rhinos in the … Read more Dudhwa Tiger Reserve to be under drone camera surveillance
The government of India informed the Lok Sabha on 10 August 2018 that as many as 237 tigers died in the country in the last two years (2016-2017). It also said while 23 per cent of deaths from 2012 to 2017 were due to poaching, 55 per cent of the total deaths recorded were due … Read more 237 tigers died in India in last two years, Lok Sabha informed
The Uttarakhand forest department will soon come up with guidelines for elephant safaris in buffer areas of tiger reserves, according to chief wildlife warden DVS Khati. In the absence of guidelines, the Corbett Tiger Reserve, which was allowing elephant safaris stopped them in 2017 after a wild tusker attacked two elephants of the forest department. … Read more Soon, guidelines for elephant safaris in tiger reserves in Uttarakhand
The Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) in India has called for an intensive search for black panthers after one was recorded by a Belgian diplomat and his family at Shivanzari in Kolsa range of the reserve on Tuesday (22 May 2018). “It is something unique as black panthers are melanistic and are generally found in evergreen forests … Read more Rare black panther spotted in Maharashtra’s tiger reserve
India has the 10th largest mangrove cover in the world and according to a recent study, less than one percent of it was deforested between 2000 and 2015. “We found that less than 1% of the Indian mangrove forests were deforested between 2000 and 2015 (4,000 ha). This rate of loss is only half the … Read more Less than 1% of India’s mangrove cover deforested in 15 years: Global study
Good news continues to trickle out from Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar. Forest officials have reported spotting two more tiger cubs of tigress ST-10 on Friday. With these cubs, the total strength of tigers in Sariska now touched 13. Two cubs, around 3-4 months old, of tigress ST-2, were spotted in Sariska on July 20 … Read more Two more tiger cubs spotted in Sariska
Keeping in mind the frail intelligence network in the state on wildlife-related crimes, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) has decided to train forest officers as ‘master trainers’ on intelligence gathering and these officers will further train other staff in their respective states. The bureau will also train defense personnel deployed at base camps on … Read more Wildlife Crime Control Bureau to train officers in intelligence gathering