Tiger, elephant carcasses recovered from Corbett

DEHRADUN: Panic gripped Corbett Tiger Reserve (CTR) on Saturday as forest guards recovered carcasses of a tusker and a tiger from different locations of the CTR area.

Wildlife warden Umesh Tiwari said the six-year-old tiger was apparently killed during a fight over mating with another tiger in the Kalagarh forest division. Sources, however, said poachers could have been involved in the killing. A gang of poachers has been active in the CTR and adjoining areas for some weeks, sources said.

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Relocation may go on hold as Budget bites the tiger

NEW DELHI: The new tiger census will be out soon. But bad news for the tigers has come with numbers of a different kind. With the UPA government deciding to keep a tight fiscal lid on the budget this year, funds for tiger conservation have been cut by 25%.

With resources from the Centre drying up, plans for relocation of villagers from tiger reserves could be put on hold. The National Tiger Conservation Authority had worked out a need for Rs 5,000 crore to relocate and resettle almost 50,000 families over a period. It had got the earmarked Rs 700 crore from the Planning Commission for the coming five years for the relocation and other works.

But this year, the fiscal constraints that other ministries are bound to face as well, has hit the tiger reserves as well. A mere Rs 150 crore has been allocated for the 39 tiger reserves for the next financial year, down from the Rs 196 crore it had been provided for this fiscal year.

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Tribal poaching nexus robbing Uttarakhand’s forests of riches

February 17, 2011 Paritosh Kimothi | Dehradun

Leopard pelts, big cat bones, ivory and firearms were seized from six wildlife poachers arrested in an operation conducted jointly by Uttarakhand forest department officials with police.

According to the Uttarakhand Forest and Environment Advisory Committee vice-chairman Anil Baluni, these poachers were active in Corbett and Rajaji national parks. One of them confessed to supplying one tiger skin and bones of three tigers to a man in Dharchula during the previous year. Wildlife activists said the arrests point to unabated poaching activity in the two national park territories. According to Baluni, based on Intelligence reports, the State authorities have been monitoring the movements of these men for the past two months.

The arrested include Balku Bawaria, Gami Gujjar, Ali Jaan and Ramesh, who are habitual offenders. They live in villages near the national park territories. Gujjar, who passed the tiger skin and bones of the big cat to a man in Dharchula, hails from a village in Kalagarh Tiger Reserve. The authorities are now interrogating the men and hope to uncover a nationwide nexus of wildlife poachers and smugglers based on the extracted information. The information will also be provided to the National Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, Baluni said.

The raids were conducted by teams which included Baluni, State Chief Wild Life Warden Shrikant Chandola, directors of the Corbett and Rajaji national parks and the police.

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Frog last seen in 1874 found again

India's dwindling wildlife got a boost when biologists in Tamil Nadu found a frog after 136 years, the oldest rediscovery in the global wildlife history. Five frogs lost 30 to 136 years ago have been found, earning India acclaim from International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and Conservation International, two leading global wildlife groups.

The most amazing discovery is of the striking green fluorescent frog, known as Chalazodes Bubble-nest, which was last seen in south Western Ghats in 1874. Its only specimen in the world is in a British Museum.
"After 1874 the amphibian has now been seen in Kodayar, Tamil Nadu," said Dr S D Biju, biologist with Delhi University and coordinator for an ambitious project of department of science and technology to rediscover lost 50 Indian amphibian species. India has 321 recorded amphibian species of which 13% have been lost due to human interference.

The uniqueness of the Bubble-nest is its ash blue thighs and black pupils with golden patches and its secret life, especially during the day inside the reeds. It is a frog, which does not go through the free-swimming tadpole stage.

The second discovery from south Western Ghats of Anamalai is the Dot-frog, named after Anamalai hills, where they were last seen 73 years ago. Now it has been found in Parambikulum area of Kerala. A silent amphibian, Dot-frogs croak loudly only during monsoons, especially when its hiding places get filled up with water.

While the first two discoveries were by scientists, Delhi University graduate students rediscovered Dehradun Stream Frog after a gap of 25 years in Chakrata, Uttarakhand.

The fourth and the fifth rediscovery of Silent Valley Tropical Frog, last seen 30 years ago, and Elegant Tropical Frog, last seen 73 years ago, were in Kerala and Karnataka, respectively.

India launched Lost Amphibians Initiative with support of former cricketer Anil Kumble and other global partners in 2010 to trace 50 lost species, of which five have been rediscovered. "We are working towards finding the remaining 45," Biju said.

News source by : http://www.hindustantimes.com/Frog-last-seen-in-1874-found-again/Article1-663357.aspx

Broken Tail: A Tiger's Last Journey

The tiger known as Broken Tail was born in Ranthambhore National Park in northern India, a vast, natural reserve for a wide variety of Indian wildlife, but especially famous for its Bengal tigers. Historically revered in Indian tradition, tigers in the area were once protected by maharajahs, and then by government sanctuaries and conservation projects. But poachers have proven to be nearly unstoppable over the years, and tigers have struggled to survive, even with the protection of the park. At one point, there were as few as 26 tigers left in the reserve, and today, the fate of each and every tiger is important to the species as a whole. Conservation efforts have been intensified in the face of the crisis, and the struggle continues. Broken Tail: A Tiger’s Last Journey is the story of the life and death of a tiger destined for greatness, who may still lead the way to a better future for those of his kind.

From the beginning, wildlife filmmaker Colin Stafford-Johnson could tell Broken Tail was special. Curious, exuberant, and charismatic, Broken Tail wasn’t afraid of anything. Stafford-Johnson and local guide, Salim Ali, spent over 600 days following and filming Broken Tail and his family. Then, one day, Broken Tail simply disappeared. A year later, Johnson and Ali heard news that Broken Tail was killed by a train in Darra, 100 miles away from Ranthambhore. This discovery raised new questions. How did Broken Tail travel so far away from home? Why did he leave in the first place?

Read full story here : http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/broken-tail-a-tigers-last-journey/introduction/6351/

Five-year jail term for tiger skin smuggler

Maharajganj (UP), Feb 9 (PTI) A local court today sentenced a 35-year old Nepalese member of a module of poachers to five years in prison for smuggling tiger skin and bones across the border.

Harsh Tamang, arrested about two years back by SSB personnel at the Indo-Nepal border at Sonauli here with two tiger skins and 80 kilograms of tiger bones, was sentenced to five years of imprisonment by Chief Judicial Magistrate Amarnath Kushwaha for violating various provisions of Wildlife Protection Act.

"It is a rare moment for us. It is very difficult to ensure conviction of an accused in the Wildlife Protection Act as there are too many loopholes in the law. You need to have a watertight case which is very difficult to achieve in wildlife crimes," an official associated with the case said.

news taken by : http://www.ptinews.com/news/1338325_Five-year-jail-term-for-tiger-skin-smuggler