Big Cat News from India

‘Aravali cat corridors needed to shield leopards’

Rao Jaswant Singh,TNN | Apr 19, 2014
  

GURGAON: For a city that is fast earning the adage of a concrete jungle, Gurgaon has a major share of the total 300 sqkm of leopard habitat in Haryana. While the forest department boasts about the number of leopards in the habitat, believed to be around 25, it is also worried about the safety of big cats.

Apart from the biggest threat, of humans encroaching on their territory, three major roads passing through the leopard habitat also pose a grave danger, officials say. They are NH-8, Rampura-Mohammedpur-Tauru and Palwal-Sohna-Rewari roads.

"According to the study conducted by the department, these areas require corridors to prevent such incidents. The roads should be elevated so that the habitat is minimally affected by traffic," said Vinod Kumar, conservator of forests (wildlife). Leopards have been hit while trying to cross these roads while the loss of habitat to construction and human encroachment often sees them straying into areas of human settlement. In either case, it's been fatal for the leopards. "The fragmented corridors should also be linked so that a larger habitat is available for the leopards and there are fewer chances of these animals straying into villages," Kumar suggested.

Locals residents in Manesar, located close to the Aravali foothills, claimed mining was a serious threat to the wildlife in the region. "Mining-related blasts here have increased tenfold and it has forced the animals to leave the region," said Amber Singh, a Navrangpur resident.

"To meet their daily food and water requirements, these big cats tread into human settlements as people have encroached on both land and water bodies. Their chances of survival are thin," said a wildlife expert.

A senior forest officer claimed that forest and wildlife was not a priority for the government and this was evident in the lack of action taken against non-forest activities in forest areas, which pose a threat to wildlife.

"Even the court orders in this regard are being flouted and construction is continuing in protected areas which has made the situation worse, he said. Under Indian law, leopards are listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Hunting or attacking leopards is illegal and is a punishable offence with a minimum sentence of up to three years of imprisonment or a fine of Rs 10,000. 

 

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Six more tigers found in Sunderbans

By Krishnendu Mukherjee, TNN | 19 Apr, 2014

 

KOLKATA: Tigers are burning bright in the Sunderbans. After detecting the presence of two new big cats outside the reserve area last month, the camera traps have captured images of six new tigers in the reserve area itself giving enough signs that the number of the big cats in the mangroves is stable.

What's more, four of the new big cats are females, which according to forest officials show that the Sunderbans has breeding population of tiger. While a complete outcome of the camera trap exercise is expected by the end of this year, it has already found presence of eight new tigers in the entire mangroves this year, including two outside the reserve area.

The new individuals, this time, were found in the National Park East range of the mangroves, comprising the forests of Baghmara and Chamta. "A total of 19 tigers have so far been found in this range, of which six are new and the rest were photo captured during the same exercise last year," said a senior official of WWF-India's Sunderbans chapter.

Talking to TOI, chief wildlife warden Ujjwal Bhattacharya said the findings show that the tiger population in the Sunderbans is very much stable. "Tigers are great wanderers and have huge home ranges and territories. Images of new individuals in the Sunderbans drive home the fact again. While new tigers will come and make their own territories, some will either move out on their own in search of food or may be driven out by new individuals commonly known as outsiders," he said.

With the findings of new individuals come the hope for a rise in tiger number. The new tigers, according to additional PCCF Pradeep Vyas, show that there may be actually more tigers in the Sunderbans compared to the figure of 103, the minimum number of big cats found in the mangroves last year. "These new big cats didn't appear before the cameras last time. So, this is a positive sign as far as tiger population here is concerned," he added.

But, the officials are also cautious before jumping onto any conclusion. "At the moment, we can say that the population trend is stable. After compilation of images from all the ranges - National Park East, National Park West, Sajnekhali and Basirhat - we can say whether it is rising. For now, sighting of new individuals definitely brings hope for the future," said STR field director Soumitra Dasgupta.

It may be noted that during the exercise last year, 26 big cats were found in the National Park East range. This year, the officials started their exercise in the month of March and laid 60 pairs of trap cameras across the range covering almost 700 square kilometres area. "We will conduct the same exercise in Sajnekhali and Basirhat after the monsoon. By the end of this year, you can expect the figure for the entire mangroves," said an official of WWF-India. The camera-trap exercise for the National Park West range is being conducted by the officials of Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

State wildlife advisory board member Joydip Kundu said: "This is definitely a positive sign and a landmark effort by the department which is now bringing reliable estimation of tiger number from the mangroves. But, with these new findings, come the need to implement stronger protection measures."

 

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