Life of jungle is very Fascinating for an Adventure Tourist

Wildlife or life of jungle is very fascinating for an adventure tourist. one can feel the earth shaking as rhino charges past, hear the roar of a lion is amazing, seeing herds of elephants, deer in their natural habitat is an amazing experience one can’t forget. Imagine living in an open tent and safari on elephant back what an amazing experience. Wildlife in India is just not to visit national parks it means to take back home memories bag full. Memories of lion, tiger, elephant, peacock, panther and much more.

The wildlife of India is a mix of species of diverse origin and it is preserve in 80 national parks and 441 wildlife sanctuaries across the country. The common name for wilderness in India is jungle. India is home to a number of rare and threatened animal species like Tiger the big cat. India hold over half the world’s tiger population commonly known as Bengal/Royal Bengal Tigers. There are many qualities in tigers which makes them popular all over the world. Jim Corbett once said that they are the large hearted gentleman. They are the most magnificent, rare, endangered, powerful and charismatic species. To save them Government of India started ‘Project Tiger’ in 1972 and a fresh movement ‘Save the Tiger’ started in 2009 due to this population of tiger increased from 1411 in 2008 to 1706 in 2011. One can enjoy wildlife in its full adventurous experience while on safari be it on elephant back, in an open jeep, from a boat. India has some famous wildlife sanctuaries like Bharatpur bird sanctuary for birds, Jim Corbett park for tigers, Gir National park for lion and many more, one can see gigantic elephant, charming peacock, graceful rhinoceros.

The wildlife tours india is amazing in any season but to experience migrating birds, tiger and other rare species, winter is the best season. India has unmatches variety of flora and fauna. To get away from urban jungle and explore the real wilderness there are wildlife resorts in India there are jungle lodges, open tent, luxury tents and heritage palaces to stay and enjoy the wildlife at its fullest.

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Expert against Nagzira curtailment

Vijay Pinjarkar, TNN, Apr 7, 2011, 01.38am IST

NAGPUR: The state wildlife department's move to curtail proposed Nagzira-Navegaon tiger reserve area by confining it to its present core has been opposed by leading conservationist and chairman of Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) M K Ranjitsinh.

Based on the TOI report on the issue on March 15, Ranjitsinh has written to minister for environment and forest Jairam Ramesh about the government's plan. "I personally feel the present alignment of the proposed tiger reserve and especially the core areas, will not enhance conservation status of this very fine habitat. One should not accept such truncated and unviable areas as tiger reserves," said Ranjitsinh.

Just giving the title of a tiger reserve while doing nothing on the field to enhance viability and the conservation capacity of the existing areas is tantamount to self-deception and will create apprehensions and opposition amongst the neighbouring communities without achieving conservation goals, Ranjitsinh said.

He pointed out that in case of Nagzira-Navegaon, the situation is further compounded by the fact that there will be two small, separate existing protected areas, separated by almost 40 km of forest whose status will only be 'buffer', which has no real legal stature.

The WTI chief has urged Ramesh to settle for nothing less than 400 sq km reserve proposal. It should include original Nagzira area of 153 sq km, plus the previously proposed 155 sq km comprising reserve forests of Umarzari with Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM), Bhandara, and the area with Gondia Forest Division, besides existing Navegaon National Park of 133 sq km.

"You will recall that I had drawn your attention to the proposed exclusion of certain crucial forests in the declaration of the long overdue Mansingdeo sanctuary. Your very prompt intervention saved the situation and the conservation community is grateful for it," Ranjitsinh reminded Ramesh. He added that a similar situation seemed to have emerged again in Maharashtra. The state was going back on an earlier understanding on its part.

In September 2009, Ramesh had written to chief minister asking him to declare Navegaon-Nagzira a tiger reserve. On this basis, a proposal was prepared. It would have included 153 sq km of existing Nagzira sanctuary, plus an additional 155 sq km comprising 126 sq km area of FDCM, 27 sq km of Gondia forest division and 133 sq km of existing Navegaon Park. "I've been trying to upgrade Navegaon and Nagzira and corridor between these two PAs since 1985," Ranjitsinh said.

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This pygmy hogs the limelight

Sharada Balasubramanian


Assam is home to the world's smallest and rarest wild suid (pigs), the Pygmy Hog (Porcula salvania). Bullet-shaped, standing just 25 cm tall, they were once widely found in the wet grasslands of the Himalayan foothills stretching from Uttar Pradesh to Assam, through Nepal terai and Bengal duars.

Today they are confined to a few pockets along Assam's border with Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh. In fact, its only viable population exists in the Manas Tiger Reserve. The world conservation union (IUCN) has accorded the highest priority rating (Critically Endangered) for the pygmy hog, which is also listed in Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act.

Importantly, the pygmy hog is also a sensitive indicator species. “The faster disappearance of these animals indicates that something is wrong with the habitat,” says Dr Goutam Narayan, Project Director, Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP). “Less-sensitive animals such as the wild pig or the rhinoceros will not die just because their habitat has become degraded. It is only the sensitive indicator species that highlight any disturbances in the environment. Hence, it is essential to save these species if we wish to conserve the biodiversity of any ecosystem,” he explains.

The grasslands are needed not just for the hogs, but also as a reservoir against floods. During rains the grasslands absorb water, which later drain into streams and groundwater systems, thereby providing water in the dry season.

The pygmy hog's habitat is endangered by human settlements, agricultural encroachments, cattle grazing, flood control schemes, planting of trees in the grasslands, and indiscriminate use of fires to clear grasslands for fresh growth of grass.

“Burning of grassland is the greatest threat to pygmy hogs, as they need thick cover and build grass nests throughout the year,” says Narayan.

“In 1961, it was believed that we had lost the species,” he adds. The animal was rediscovered in 1971 in Assam, but no detailed surveys were done until 1978, by which time only about five pygmy hog populations were left. Recommendations for the conservation of the grassland habitats were sent to the State and Central governments, but there was little action and four of the populations vanished.

In 1996, captive breeding was started at Manas National Park, but the animals could not be released into the wild due to non-availability of safe habitat. Finally, 35 captive-bred hogs were released at the Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary between 2008 and 2010. “Since we have established a breeding population in Sonai Rupai, we will release them in Orang National Park in the coming years,” says Narayan.

The habitat suited to pygmy hogs is equally crucial for the survival of several other endangered species such as the one-horned rhinoceros, tiger, swamp deer, wild buffalo, hispid hare and Bengal florican.

The pygmy hog conservation programme is sponsored by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (DWCT). Famous naturalist and author Gerald Durrell encouraged a tea planter, originally from UK's Jersey Island, to embark on a breeding programme for pygmy hogs after they were accidentally rediscovered at a local tea market in Assam.

As the grassland in a nearby reserve had been set on fire, the tiny pigs had scampered for safety into the tea bushes. Some labourers caught them, mistaking them to be wild pigs, and tried to sell them in the market. Although the tea planter managed to breed several pygmy hogs in captivity, unfortunately none of them survived. One captive-bred pair had been sent to Zurich Zoo where they produced a litter, but these too didn't survive.

Outlining the difficulties in captive breeding, Narayan says, “Usually you need 12 to 15 founder animals to start a breeding project, but we were only allowed to capture six. Nevertheless in five years, the numbers grew 12 times over.”

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Claws are out over India's tiger resurgence

By Gautaman Bhaskaran

CHENNAI - The Indian tiger is burning bright. Or, so says the latest census released in March. According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority and Wildlife Institute of India, numbers of the national animal have grown by 12%.

The 2006 census put the population at 1,411, while the 2010 survey estimates that there are now 1,706 of these majestic creatures living in the wild, though this include a hitherto uncounted 70 animals in West Bengal's riverine Sundarbans.

Tiger enthusiasts are jubilant that the big cat is thriving, against seemingly insurmountable odds. But some experts areunconvinced over the government's methodology.

A double sampling process was used - first, data were collected by using standardized protocols, including pug marks, the availability of prey, the condition of habitats and so on. Later, cameras were used, but only in 5% of the total area investigated.

Y V Jhala, a scientist from the Wildlife Institute of India who coordinated the census, said 800 cameras were installed for about 50 days, and 615 tigers were photographed and identified by their unique stripe patterns. "The camera trap intensity of one per 4 square kilometers is the highest in the world. The extrapolation from 615 photographed tigers to an estimate of 1,706 was based on peer-reviewed methodology standardized in the 2006 census", Jhala added.

However, Ullas Karanth, the renowned scientist-conservationist heading the Center for Wildlife Studies in Bangalore, laments that "the full process of how these tiger numbers are generated for individual tiger populations and landscapes has not been made public in a scientifically acceptable manner".

He feels that there are "serious deficiencies" in the methodologies used, leaving him unconvinced about the rise in the tiger population, particularly in the face of the animal's devastatingly rapid decimation in the past.

Karanth may be quite right to wonder how these felines could have multiplied in these four years since many of the dangers they face are still present.

At the end of the 19th century, 40,000 tigers roamed the length and breadth of India. But hunting for sport, and later for commerce saw most of them die. In 1972, when it was found that there were less than 2,000 of these animals left in the wild, prime minister Indira Gandhi established Project Tiger. Special reserves were created out of existing national parks and forests, and new laws were enacted to save the tiger, and in the next 15 years, its population is believed to have risen.

However, the next two decades saw intense neglect of the nation's wildlife. Tigers were driven to near extinction, with international specialists issuing one warning after another. Among them was the renowned tiger specialist Peter Jackson, who ticked off the Indian administration by saying that one tiger was being killed everyday by poachers.

Some officials, smug in their bureaucratic positions, dismissed Jackson's words as hollow rhetoric, typical of a white man's limited vision of the Orient. Until, an explosive revelation came in 2004. A journalist broke the news that the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan, claiming to be home to about 18 cats, had, in fact, none at all. Earlier, the Rajasthan Forest Department dismissed persistent rumors of tiger poaching in the Reserve, and said that the animals had merely migrated and would come back after the rains. The Project Tiger, now renamed the National Tiger Conservation Authority, endorsed this view. True, true, it agreed without batting an eyelid.

The media expose, when it came, shook the country, and a quick check confirmed the worst fears. Not one tiger at Sariska had lived to tell the tale of murderous men who had systematically butchered just about every big cat there - and sold its parts for a fortune. The government turned red with embarrassment and had to admit that poaching was to blame. It was a national shame repeated in other reportedly well-protected reserves.

The causes for this are well known, but often glossed over or denied. The demand for tiger skins, bones, penises and other parts has been touted as a cure in Chinese traditional medicine for a number of ailments, sexual impotency included. With China's tigers completely gone, poachers turned their attention to India, where poverty and ineffective implementation of laws made it a cakewalk for them. They really had a free run.

India's exploding population and industrial growth led to human encroachments of forest land, and the tiger found itself with insufficient prey. (An adult tiger needs one deer every week.) So, it began to sneak into villages - on the periphery of forests and sometimes well within them - and take away cattle. Faced with economic losses arising out of such livestock destruction, villagers first tried poisoning the tigers, but later understood the rewards to be gained helping poachers, who were perfectly willing to share a small part of their booty with the poverty stricken rural masses.

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