Tiger wine goes for $1,000 a pop. Tiger cake, sold like chocolate bars, fetches the same. The illegal trade in tiger parts has moved on from just medicinal pitches to luxury items. And India is one of the two biggest suppliers. Between 2007 and 2018, the latest United Nations World Wildlife Crime Report said, two-thirds of all wildlife seizures … Read more India is a top source for raw material for ‘tiger cake’ : UN
For the first time, rarely-sighted snow leopards — an adult and two cubs — have been documented on camera in the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP), situated in Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. The elusive snow leopards, the state animal of Himachal Pradesh, were spotted multiple times last winter in Lahaul-Spiti district along human habitations and … Read more Elusive snow leopard sighted at 19 locations in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh in India
The rusty-spotted cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus), world’s rarest and smallest cats, was recently sighted in Punjab for the first time. The cat was captured in a camera trap set up in Takhni-Rehmapur wildlife sanctuary in Hoshiarpur by a joint team of Punjab wildlife department and WWF-India to document the biodiversity of the sanctuary. There are no … Read more Rare Rusty-spotted cat sighted in Punjab jungle (India) for the first time
A research article published in the journal Banko Janakari suggests that the snow leopard density in the Manaslu region of Nepal is low despite the abundance of prey and cooperation from humans in its conservation. “We conducted the research in the Manaslu areas because there had been limited studies in this region in the past,” says … Read more Snow Leopard density low in Nepal’s Conservation Area : Research suggests
How many jaguars (Panthera onca) in the world? There are two answers to this question with a vast variation in numbers. A research claims there are 173,000 individuals, mostly concentrated in the Amazon Basin, whereas conservation groups estimate there are only 15,000 wild jaguars left. A study published in PLOS ONE by J?drzejewski et al … Read more Global jaguar population — 173,000 individuals or 15,000
Wildlife conservationists have something to cheer about as India has recorded a 29 per cent increase in the population of Asiatic lions, found only in Gujarat’s Gir forests, in the past five years, with their population going up from 523 in 2015 to 674 in 2020. The latest figures on lion population structure show 309 females, … Read more Asiatic lion population in India up by 29 per cent in 5 years
The population density of ocelots in the Brazilian Amazon may be stable but lower than expected, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Daniel Gomes da Rocha from the University of Oxford, UK, and colleagues. Amazonia is considered a major stronghold for the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), with relatively high expected density for the … Read more Ocelot density in the Brazilian Amazon may be lower than expected
With the humans of West Bengal under virus lockdown, tigers in the Sundarbans mangrove forest in the eastern Indian state are coming out to play, with park rangers reporting a jump in sightings of the big cats. The Sundarbans, straddling West Bengal and neighbouring Bangladesh, is the world’s biggest mangrove forest and home to the … Read more Tiger sightings increased many fold in Sunderban during the Covid-19 lockdown
An alternative method for monitoring endangered lions in India could improve estimates of their abundance and help inform conservation policy and management decisions. Keshab Gogoi and colleagues at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) presented their findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE early this year (2020). Conservation practices have enabled Asiatic lions to recover from a … Read more Improving assessments of an endangered lion population in India
How can large carnivores co-exist with human communities? By studying tigers and leopards in Nepal, Babu Ram Lamichhane argues that co-existence is possible if wildlife sites are well conserved while their impacts on humans are minimal and socially acceptable. In our human-dominated world, wildlife habitats are becoming increasingly fragmented while protected areas are not sufficient … Read more Tigers, leopards and humans: co-existent space is possible
A new camera-trapping study in India has revealed that leopards can occur at high densities in densely-populated and heavily-modified agricultural environments. Despite the high density of leopards there are no reports of human fatalities in the study area. The results from this study challenge the popular misperception that large carnivores require wilderness areas to survive. On … Read more Leopards in the backyard
In ecosystems around the world, the decline of large predators such as lions, dingoes, wolves, otters, and bears is changing the face of landscapes from the tropics to the Arctic – but an analysis of 31 carnivore species published in the journal Science shows for the first time how threats such as habitat loss, persecution by humans … Read more Decline of large predators changing the face of landscapes globally
It’s a jungle out there in the suburbs, where many wild mammals, including bobcats, are thriving near humans. That’s the conclusion of a large-scale study using camera trap images from hundreds of citizen scientists in Washington, D.C., and Raleigh, North Carolina. The study contradicts assumptions that developed areas have fewer mammals and less variety in … Read more Wild suburbia—more mammals than expected live near people
The United Nations’ biodiversity chief has called for a global ban on wildlife markets – such as the one in Wuhan, China, believed to be the starting point of the coronavirus outbreak – to prevent future pandemics. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, the acting executive secretary of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, said countries should move to … Read more Ban wildlife markets to avert pandemics, says UN biodiversity chief
Large carnivores are a source of inspiration and fear for humans. We admire their power and respect their role atop the food chain, but we fear their impacts on our livelihoods. For lions, tigers, bears and a suite of other predator species, coexisting with humans is increasingly difficult. Competition for limited land and resources is … Read more Living with lions and tigers and bears, oh my
Anywhere large-bodied mammalian carnivore species are present, other, smaller carnivores are less likely to occur, according to an international team of researchers that conducted the first global assessment of carnivore interactions using camera trap data. This finding is important because populations of large mammalian carnivores are declining as habitat is lost, and often where large … Read more Surviving large carnivores have far-reaching impact
The world’s top land carnivores such as tigers, lions and jaguars are coming under threat as their prey dwindles in number, according to the first global study of feeding patterns. There are only 17 four-legged predators -– big cats, wolves and wild dogs—that weigh more than 15 kilos (33 pounds) and whose diet is at … Read more Declining prey base bad news for big cats, wolves
Two cubs, each weighing about as much as a can of tomato soup, became the first cheetahs to be born through in vitro fertilization (IVF) to a surrogate mom. They came into the world on Wednesday, February 19th, 2020, at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, the zoo announced on February 24th. IVF has been difficult … Read more First cheetahs born through in vitro fertilization to surrogate mom
Asian elephants, jaguars and great Indian bustards were among 10 new species added to a global wildlife agreement on Saturday (22 February 2020). The Thirteenth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP13) concluded in Gandhinagar, India, with resolutions and decisions adopted … Read more Jaguars, Asian elephants and great Indian bustards among 10 new species added to global wildlife agreement
Once a rare sight in Himachal Pradesh’s (India) Spiti valley, snow leopards are now being increasingly spotted along human habitations—giving hope of their increasing numbers. Residents of Hikkim village, situated at an altitude of 14,000 above sea level in Lahaul-Spiti district of the state, are reporting their frequent encounters with the elusive feline near the … Read more Snow leopards spotted along the roads in Lahaul-Spiti
Although humans have driven lions, tigers, wolves, bears and other large carnivores from much of their home territories across the planet, scientists have identified more than 280 areas where these animals could potentially be reintroduced to restore ecosystems on practically every continent. In a global analysis, researchers in the College of Forestry at Oregon State … Read more 280 areas worldwide where endangered carnivores can be reintroduced
Responding to a plea by the government of India, Supreme Court of the country said African cheetahs could be introduced to the Indian jungles in a “carefully chosen location”. Cheetahs are an endangered species, according to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites). Only 7,100 cheetahs are left in the wild, almost all … Read more Cheetahs can return to Indian forests, says Supreme Court
Two young male tigers, both on epic journeys of their own, are walking their way into record books. One has logged 1,160km so far and the other 450km, which are among the longest recorded distances covered by any tiger in the country. C1, a radio-collared tiger from Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary in Pandharkawda in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal … Read more Two trekking tigers walk into record books
India’s forest minister Prakash Javadekar launched country’s first national protocol for enumerating the population of snow leopards, an elusive predator found in the higher reaches of the Himalayas and other mountain ranges of Asia, on 23 October 2019. “Enumeration of tigers was a difficult task 20 years ago but we made it possible. India now … Read more India launches first protocol to count snow leopard population
As growth makes neighborhoods more crowded for humans, it’s also concentrating carnivores like bobcats and coyotes into the remaining green spaces, leading them to interact with each other more frequently than they do in wild areas, according to research in Raleigh, North Carolina, and Washington, D.C. The citizen science study looks at how carnivores interact with … Read more Different carnivores sharing space in small suburban forest patches