Female Presence To Lure Runaway Tiger Back To Panna

New Delhi: A “healthy, adult male tiger” was chosen after months of deliberation from Pench tiger park to be trans located to the empty Panna tiger reserve, which lost all its big cats to poaching exactly a year ago. Now, the young male has done what was least expected — it has run 200 km away.

After several letters between the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in New Delhi, it has finally been decided that the truant should be sedated and brought back — but only after he is given evidence that there are tigresses in Panna for company.

In an unusual letter to Madhya Pradesh, the NTCA has given the state forest department the permission to sedate the tiger and bring him back to Panna, after littering the enclosure he is brought back in with the scat of tigresses — to establish mate presence and to keep him “in Panna”.

This follows several arguments between the state and Centre, with the satellite signal in the tiger’s collar failing to work, and a debate on the ethical wisdom of sedating the animal for a second time.

“The tiger should be brought back to a soft-release enclosure in Panna, and kept there for at least 10 days so he can be familiarised with Panna. Further we have specifically asked that scat of the two tigresses in Panna be kept around the enclosure that is created for the tiger, so he doesn’t leave the park,” says an NTCA official. This is the first time that such a solution is being mooted in black and white, but the problem also is a first.

After weeks of searching in tiger reserves Bandhavgarh and Kanha, a male tiger had been selected from Pench to be tranquilised and moved to Panna, which had lost all its tigers to poaching. Two tigresses have also been translocated to the reserve since then.

The male tiger, fitted with a satellite-cum-radio collar roughly worth Rs 4 lakh, was brought in in November, and ran away soon after. Walking out of the park, the four-year-old tiger has been on a long march, via Panna to Kishenpur, Rajpura, Bakswaho, Dalpatpur (close to the district border) — crossing at least two districts and 200 kilometres.

A large group from the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department, including Panna Field Director Srinivas Murthy, and scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) have been on its trail for two weeks.

Some members of the WII team are of the view that the tiger, which was tranquilised when it was first translocated, should not be sedated again. The ethics of sedating tigers to move them has become a burning question after a stray tigress, sedated and caged earlier this year to be taken to the Bhadra tiger reserve in Karnataka, died in the process.

Madhya Pradesh meanwhile claims that the NTCA did not respond soon enough. “We had communicated with the NTCA several times for permission to tranquilise the runaway tiger. However, we were not granted permission for several days. Further, the satellite collar stopped working. Even though it is a very expensive device, it has not been giving a signal since November 25. We have barely been able to follow the tiger through radio telemetry signals. The tiger has been moving in ravines and hilly area and tracking it has been very difficult,” says R S Negi, Chief Wildlife Warden, Madhya Pradesh.

“The ethical questions should be considered later. At this moment, it is imperative that the tiger be moved before there is any conflict with human beings. Also, it should not be allowed to cross any state borders,” says former Project Tiger director P K Sen.

MOVING STRIPES

There have been only two large-scale tiger translocation projects in India — one for the Sariska tiger reserve in Rajasthan, and one for Panna in Madhya Pradesh, both of which lost all their tigers to poaching. As per population recovery plans created by the WII, five tigers from adjoining reserves have to be brought in to each park. Three tigers, a male and two females, have been translocated to Sariska, while two tigresses and one tiger have been brought to Panna. While the male tiger moved to Sariska also showed a lot of restlessness after being moved, it is for the first time that a translocated tiger has run so far away.

New Courtesy: Indian Express

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/female-presence-to-lure-runaway-tiger-back-to-panna/553871/0

Top Five Reasons Why You Must Act to Save the Tiger

1. Tiger Supports Livelihood

Tourism is the world’s biggest industry. On the ecotour front, the tiger is a star attraction for not just the Indian tourists but also for the people coming from other countries. There are foriegners who come to India only to have a glimpse of the tiger and then there are others who return more than once for another such opportunity.

The look in the eyes of a canter that has just come out of a National Park after sighting a tiger is very different from the look and feel of a canter that could not sight any. This eventually impacts the tourist influx thus impacting everyone from the tour companies to the local tour guides. A healthy tiger population thus supports livelihoods as well.

2. Tiger Protects Genetic Diversity

Tiger is an umbrella species. It’s conservation automatically ensures the conversation of a large number of flora and fauna and entire ecosystems. Thus, a properly planned tiger conservation programme is actually a programme to protect and save large number of species.

However, a dwindeling tiger population and news of declining number of tigers only implies an immediate threat to what is remaining of our natural ecosystems. A healthy tiger population thus also protects all that remains of our natural ecosystems.

3. Tiger brings Rain

A tiger is a both a guardian and an indicator of a healthy forests. A healthy forests. Few understand that a live bird or insect is far more important to the economy than a dead one. A live tiger brings rain – a dead one brings nothing but devastation.

4. Tigers Prevent Climate Change

A healthy tiger population lives in large forests - which are nothing but the natural sinks of Carbon. The more tigers we can save, the more healthier reserves we have, larger is our national carbon sink. A tiger should therefore be entitled to carbon credits in the form of protection.

And last, but never the least…

5. Tiger is a symbol of our National Pride

This is what India.gov.in has to say about our National Animal:

The magnificent tiger, Panthera tigris is a striped animal. It has a thick yellow coat of fur with dark stripes. The combination of grace, strength, agility and enormous power has earned the tiger its pride of place as the national animal of India. Out of eight races of the species known, the Indian race, the Royal Bengal Tiger, is found throughout the country except in the north-western region and also in the neighbouring countries, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

Courtesy:- Delhi Green

Tiger and Tourism in India

There is a movement a foot in INDIA to severely limit and even ban tourism in the core area of tiger reserves. "Tourists are to be banned from the heartlands of the 37 national tiger reserves in India amid fears that their presence is hastening the demise of an increasingly endangered species," quoted a recent news story. "Tourism creates a disturbance through vehicles, noise pollution, garbage and the need to provide facilities," said the government-run National Tiger Conservation Authority, alarmed that the tiger population has plummeted from 3642 in 2002 to just 1411 last year. There is no doubt that there needs to be a plan that will make tiger conservation and tiger tourism complementary and sustainable. And there is no doubt that some tourist zones are overcrowded at times and greater discipline is needed to control the drivers and guides who become bug-eyed steroidal cowboys when a tiger is sighted. But to imply that tourism has caused the plummet in tiger numbers is misleading and unfair.

•The tourism industry provides jobs and income to countless individuals who might otherwise be tempted to seek money from other sources. The hotel and lodge industry has an immense financial stake in the survival of the tiger. The millions of dollars invested in the lodges surrounding Ranthambhore, Kanha, and Bandhavgarh would dry up overnight if there were no tigers.

•The two tiger reserves in India that have lost every single tiger, Sariska and Panna, had minimum tourism. Bandhavgarh, on the other hand, possibly the most tourist-intense tiger park, has its tiger population flourishing in the core tourist area.

•Vehicles driving around with tourists are, in effect, anti-poaching patrols, often in the notable absence of official patrolling. Word of mouth among drivers and guides is an excellent source of keeping tabs on where the tigers are and where they are not.

•Tourism could and should be used in support of tiger conservation. The Mountain Travel Sobek Save The Tiger trip I lead has taken 146 people into tiger country and generated a significant amount of money which has been put back into the field in India and Nepal for tiger protection programs.

•Many people who have seen a tiger in the wild have become fierce tiger advocates and continue to support tiger conservation efforts.

•Tourism is not killing tigers. Tigers are being killed by the loss of habitat, poachers, wildlife crime syndicates, and the perpetuation of the myth of the efficacy of tiger medicines thousands of miles away.

Source: The Fund For The Tiger Newsletter, Summer 2009

Two Tigresses Released in Sundarbans

CANNING (WB), Jul 4 (PTI) Two tigresses caged by wildlife personnel were released in the core area of Sundarbans Tiger Reserve in West Bengal after fixing steel plates to their ears and implanting microchips on their tails.

Field director of Sundarbans Tiger Reserve, Subrat Mukhodhayay said the microchips had been brought from the US and implanted to the tigresses tails to keep a watch on their movement.

The microchips were implanted by wildlife experts from Delhi and Dehradun, he said.

Nature Trails India, a brand of Nature Trail Tours India Pvt. Ltd, visit Sundarbans National Park on our many wildlife tours to India. for details please visit our websites www.naturetrailsindia.info and www.birdwatchingtoursindia.com or email us at enquiries@naturetrailsindia.info or on ntrails@gmail.com

Madhya Pradesh (Land Of Tigers) Sets Up Special Force To Protect Tigers

BHOPAL: With its tiger population dwindling sharply over the last two years, a worried Madhya Pradesh government will deploy a Special Tiger
Protection Force in its three tiger reserves of Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Pench to arrest the big cat’s rapid decline.

The state government took the decision as it does not want to lose its ‘Tiger State’ tag to Karnataka due to the falling number of the big cats, according to a forest department official. The number of tigers in the state is reported to have dropped from 300 in 2007 to 232 in 2009, he said.

A tiger census conducted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in 2007 put the number of big cats in Madhya Pradesh at 300, followed by Karnataka with 290. However, another census conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in 2008 has put the population in five tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh at 232 – with 89 big cats in Kanha, 47 in Bandhavgarh, 39 in Satpura, 33 in Pench and 24 in Panna.

However, in April this year a four-member central inquiry committee announced that Panna had no tigers since January. “It is regrettable that not even one tiger is left in Panna,” committee chairman and former NTCA director P.K. Sen had said after visiting the tiger reserve in eastern Madhya Pradesh.

Concerned over the report, the Madhya Pradesh government formed a six-member committee to look into the matter. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also transferred the field directors of Panna, Kanha and Bandhavgarh national parks late last month. “Now a Special Tiger Protection Force is on the anvil to protect the big cats in the various tiger reserves of the state,” a senior wild life official said, not wishing to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to the media.

The state Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, H.S. Pabla, admitted that the tiger population in Panna had decreased but said the figure has remained constant in other reserves of the state.

Minister of State for Forests Rajendra Shukla last week instructed departmental officers to expedite the constitution of the Special Tiger Protection Force. Every company of the force would comprise 112 jawans, three sub-inspectors and six head constables and be headed by a deputy superintendent of police.

Constables of the force will be on deputation from the local police department and be below 40 years of age. Their deputation will continue till the police department creates permanent posts for the force.

The force will work under the control and guidance of the tiger reserve’s Field Director, who will send a monthly report about it to the National Tiger Protection Authority. The cops will be exclusively for tiger protection and be empowered to use firearms in dealing with poachers and organized criminals within the periphery of the reserves.

Officers of the state police department and central forces will impart training to the constables on skill development, dealing with poaching and acting on information.

Nature Trails India, a brand of Nature Trail Tours India Pvt. Ltd, visit Central India (Land of Tigers) Wildlife National Park on our many wildlife tours to India. for details please visit our websites www.naturetrailsindia.info and www.birdwatchingtoursindia.com or email us at enquiries@naturetrailsindia.info or on ntrails@gmail.com

News Courtesy:- Economy Times

CEC opposes NHAI Road Project in Pench Tiger Reserve

NEW DELHI: In a boost to wildlife lobby, Supreme Court-appointed Centrally Empowered Committee (CEC) has shot down a controversial proposal of the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) to widen a road passing through Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh, contending that it will be a threat to animals and the fragile ecosystem.

In the report submitted to the apex court last week, the CEC members said that the widening of the road connecting Nagpur to Jabalpur from two lanes to four lanes will increase traffic frequency in the area, scaring the animals, including endangered species like tigers and gaurs in the region, which may fall victim to the speeding vehicles.

The CEC also rejected the NHAI’s alternative Rs 600- crore plan to build 13 bridges and underpass on the route so that wildlife movement is not hampered, a source said.

The highway project which is a part of the North-South corridor covers a distance of 8.7 kilometer and passes through the tiger reserve and the reserve forest contiguous.

It was referred to the panel after the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) moved a petition for stopping the project alleging that road widening would fragment wildlife habitat and restrict movement of already dwindling wildlife between Pench and Kanha Tiger Reserve.

The members have, however, have not sought closing down of the road but suggested that only light vehicles at a specified speed should be permitted while a complete ban be imposed on night traffic to prevent animal casualty.

Nature Trails India, a brand of Nature Trail Tours India Pvt. Ltd, visit Pench National Park on our many Central India wildlife tours to India. for details please visit our websites www.naturetrailsindia.info and www.birdwatchingtoursindia.com or email us at enquiries@naturetrailsindia.info or on ntrails@gmail.com

News Courtesy Economic Times

Tigress shifted to Bhadra Tiger Reserve

MYSORE: The six-year-old tigress that was captured in Nagarahole
National Park will now have to get used to a new home. For it will be
relocated to the tiger reserve of Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary in
Chikmagalur district.

The decision follows consultation with the experts in wildlife, who
suggested the forest officials to relocate it to some other area far
from its present location. This is to cut down chances of the tiger
coming back to the area and attacking cattle.

A team led by RFO Satish took the tigress, which was nursed at
Sunkadakatte in Nagarhole National Park, to Chikmagalur early Monday. The senior officials of the department contacted the Project Tiger officials and took their consent for its relocation.

Though the Bandipur National Park in Chamarajanagar district was
considered as a possible option it was dropped as it is close to
Nagarhole National Park, its present territory. "The experts told us
there are chances that it will come back again to its territory if it
is let out into close by forested areas. So it was decided to change
its territory, sources told `The Times of India'. However, it does not
face threat from tigers at Bhadra wildlife sanctuary since it is a
tigress and will not overlap the territory, they contended.

The prey-predator base at Bhadra is balanced and so the big cat will
not have problems. If it was a tiger it could have been a problem for
relocation. But there is no such chance here, they added. But a
wildlife activist said it could face problems in its new area which
could again push it back to take easy route to get its feed. There is
a possibility that it could start visiting the villages on the forest
fringes in Western Ghats. But the saving grace is that people in the
Western Ghats are used to threats from wild animals, he stated. Field director (project tiger) B J Hosmath was not available for comments.

Nature Trails India, a brand of Nature Trail Tours India Pvt. Ltd, visit Bhadra National Park on many South India wildlife tours to India. for details please visit our websites http://www.naturetrailsindia.info and http://www.birdwatchingtoursindia.com or email us at enquiries@naturetrailsindia.info or on ntrails@gmail.com

Centre Clears Trans Location of 4 Tigers to Panna

New Delhi : After losing all its tigers to poaching, Panna Tiger Reserve is set to get a second chance. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has cleared a proposal to trans locate two tigers and two tigresses to the reserve. But in a letter to Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the MoEF has made it clear that it expects action to be taken after the “Panna disaster”.

The letter, sent by MoEF Minister Jairam Ramesh, calls for “urgent administrative and ecological actions”, saying “responsibility should be fixed on erring officials as pointed out in the SIT report and disciplinary action be taken”. Seeking personal intervention of the CM in Panna, the letter has asked for a follow-up action report and directed that a site-specific security plan be drawn up for Panna. As already reported by The Indian Express, a probe by the SIT, set up by the Centre, found that senior officials ignored all warnings regarding Panna, resulting in the loss of more than 40 tigers to poaching.

“I solicit your personal intervention for early action indicated, to avoid Panna-type disasters,” said the letter, and asked for the phasing out of tourism activities from the core areas of Panna and moving it to buffer areas. “The guidelines and red alerts sent by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) were ignored (in Panna),” the letter points out, citing the SIT observations.

The states ignoring NTCA’s warnings is a common occurrence since wildlife is a concurrent subject. This is now set to end as the Cabinet has okayed bringing the position of NTCA member secretary at par with the Chief Wildlife Warden at the state-level.

“This will strengthen the NTCA’s position,” Ramesh told The Indian Express.

In the past, states have often ignored NTCA advisories on issues like transfer of officials, culling of maneaters and notifying buffer zones for tiger reserves. This had reduced the NTCA to little more than a fund-giving body for the Centrally sponsored Project Tiger scheme.

Madhya Pradesh has been at loggerheads with the NTCA on the Panna issue, declaring that it had enough tigers in the reserve as late as March 2009. However, a Wildlife Institute of India camera trap survey in February showed that tigers had completely vanished from Panna.

The genetic stock of Panna was lost after all its tigers were poached between 2002 and 2009. Currently, the reserve only has two tigresses, translocated to Panna from Kanha and Bandhavgarh after it was learnt that there were no big cats left in the reserve.

The four tigers will now be moved as per a new tiger trans location protocol. The new protocol is a response to a spate of local tiger extinctions in the country, starting with Sariska in Rajasthan in 2005, and now Panna, which necessitates moving tigers from other parts of the country to these reserves.

Nature Trails India, a brand of Nature Trail Tours India Pvt. Ltd, visit Panna National Park on many Central India wildlife tours to India. for details please visit our websites http://www.naturetrailsindia.info and http://www.birdwatchingtoursindia.com or email us at enquiries@naturetrailsindia.info or on ntrails@gmail.com

Sariska Tigers Mate First Litter by Monsoon End

More than four years after the Sariska Tiger Reserve earned worldwide notoriety for having lost its entire tiger population, hopes are high that the reserve will finally have its "own" tigers again.

The three relocated tigers - two females and a male, all of them from Ranthambore - have taken to their new habitat very well and have been mating. Two were recently "caught in the act" by a Wildlife Institute of India researcher and the second tigress - which has been mating with the male since November - according to WII officials, is in the family way.

Tigers have a gestation period of about 100 days and WII experts expect the first litter to arrive before the end of the monsoon.

According to WII (Wildlife Institute of India) research coordinator K Shankar, the two tigresses are aware of each others presence but have not met so far probably because ``they are keen to avoid confrontation.'' While one of them has settled in Bagani - the site of a village which was relocated out of Sariska last year as part of the initiative to make the forest safer for tigers - the other, pregnant female has marked the Sariska-Kalighatti valley as its "territory." It was the Bagani female which was photographed with the tiger. The first tiger was brought to Sariska on June 28, 2008, the second on July 5 and the third on February 25 this year.

Shankar said mating does not necessarily result in pregnancy because tigers have induced ovulation. "The female releases the egg only when she is comfortable enough in her surroundings and feels that she is ready to raise a litter. The Kalighatti female seems to have done so," he said.

Happy as they are at the prospect of the striped beauties returning to Sariska, Shankar said there was hardly any doubt that the tigers would breed. As members of the cat family, tigers are prolific maters. The real challenge, he added, is to save the coming generation from meeting the same fate as their predecessors in the forest.

"Tigers did not die out from Sariska. They were poached. There is an elaborate plan in place now to protect them. There are 100 homeguards and another 100 ex-servicemen who have been recruited. All the older guards have been shifted out of forest duty so that there is an entire staff of young people patrolling the forest. Poaching routes have been identified and the intelligence network has been strengthened," Shankar said.

Nature Trails India, a brand of Nature Trail Tours India Pvt. Ltd, visit Sariska National Park on many Rajasthan wildlife tours to India. for details please visit our websites http://www.naturetrailsindia.info and http://www.birdwatchingtoursindia.com or email us at enquiries@naturetrailsindia.info or on ntrails@gmail.com

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Sariska-tigers-mate-litter-by-monsoon/articleshow/4629186.cms

Goa has its first Tigress with Cub

Panaji (IANS): Even as the Royal Bengal tiger appears to have virtually disappeared from renowned reserve forests like Sariska and Ranthambore in Rajasthan, pug marks of a tigress and a cub have been spotted for the first time in Goa's Mhadei wildlife sanctuary.

Officials of the Forest Department, which is grappling with a tiger-poaching probe, spotted the fresh pug marks May 12 in the decade-old sanctuary, about 60 km from here. The marks were only a short distance from the area where a tiger was allegedly killed by poachers last month.

Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) Shashi Kumar told IANS that the sighting proved that the wildlife sanctuary had proved to be an ideal habitat for tigers.

The sighting occurred near the Anjunem dam. From the footprints, it appears that a tigress was walking her cub along the edge of the reservoir. It is an amazing development. It is a great sign considering the fact that tigers have disappeared from some of the top reserve forests in the country said Mr. Kumar.

They may have visited the sanctuary from the adjoining forests in Maharashtra or Karnataka, which has contiguous forest cover. We have never had direct evidence about the existence of a tiger in our forests," he added.

Commenting on the status of the investigation into tiger poaching, Mr. Kumar said that forest officials were having a tough time collecting hard evidence despite the fact that local residents acknowledged the incident.

The statements given by the people arrested change every now and then. We have arrested a couple of people who are experts at making and laying out traps and those who have been arrested for poaching in the past. But not much evidence has been forthcoming," said Mr. Kumar.

The killing of a tiger, which is protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972, is a grave offense.

Mr. Kumar said the department had been unable to seize the mobile phone, which was used to photograph the dead beast. The poaching incident came to light after the photograph was published in a national daily newspaper last month by wildlife activist Rajendra Kerkar.

We have attached a computer hard disc on which we suspect the photograph of the dead tiger was stored. We will be sending it to technical experts so that it can be scanned for any incriminating evidence," said Kumar said.

The Mhadei wildlife sanctuary is located in Goa's northernmost Sattari taluk and is spread across 208 sq. m. It was notified in 1999.

Nature Trails India, a brand of Nature Trail Tours India Pvt. Ltd, visit GOA on many wildlife tours to India. for details please visit our websites http://www.naturetrailsindia.info and http://www.birdwatchingtoursindia.com or email us at enquiries@naturetrailsindia.info or on ntrails@gmail.com

New Courtesy www.hindu.com

Tiger Reserves Filed Director Shifted From Kanha,Bandhavgarh and Panna National Park

The field directors of three tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh have been transferred by the Madhya Pradesh Government shortly after reports of mismanagement and large-scale deaths in the reserves in The Indian Express. MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced the transfer of the field directors of Kanha, Panna and Bandhavgarh after consistent pressure from the Centre regarding the state of the reserves.

"Maintaining the tiger state status is a big challenge in the present state of conservation," Chouhan admitted. Not only were three field directors transferred, Chouhan also asked for the list of directors who served in these parks in the last five years and the chief conservators of forests. He said strict action would be taken against officials showing laxity in conservation of tigers and other animals.

Panna director L K Chaudhary and Bandhavgarh director Aseem Shrivastava were transferred to the PCCF office in Bhopal while Kanha director R P Singh was transferred to the State Forest Research Institute in Jabalpur.

An investigative report filed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) this month, copies of which are with The Indian Express, said that there was "no evidence of tigers" in Mukki, an important tiger range in Kanha. The Wildlife Institute of India had earlier reported that there was "no evidence" of tigers in the adjoining Panna range, a claim consistently denied by the MP Government.

Once the repositories of the "source" population of tigers in Central India, or the bulk of the tiger population in Central India, Panna and Kanha are fast facing the threat of losing that status. After the complete disappearance of tigers from Panna this year, conservationists are worried that Kanha is going the same way. "Kanha was being mismanaged and the tigers are slipping fast. Never have so many tigers died in Kanha in such a short while. All focus seems to be on tourism activities. There will be infighting of tigers only if the main populations are disturbed or poached," says an NTCA official.

"We have set up an independent committee which will probe what went wrong in Panna. It will also probe all tiger deaths in MP," Principal Chief Conservator of Forests PB Gangopadhyay told The Indian Express. Earlier this year, MP moved two tigresses to Panna, in a bid to repopulate the reserve.
It also asked the MoEF for permission to trans locate a male tiger to the reserve, a tacit admission that there were no tigers left in Panna.

Nature Trails India, a brand of Nature Trail Tours India Pvt. Ltd, visit Kanha,Bandhavgarh and Panna Tiger Reserve on many wildlife tours to India. for details please visit our websites http://www.naturetrailsindia.info and http://www.birdwatchingtoursindia.com or email us at enquiries@naturetrailsindia.info or on ntrails@gmail.com

News Courtesy http://www.BigCatRescue.org

Snow Leopard Tracking Tour

India - Snow Leopard Adventure

* Track the elusive snow leopard on foot
* Join a snow leopard expert and skilled local trackers
* Enjoy the staggering scenery of Ladakh
* Help raise funds to support snow leopard conservation

Dates

Sun 20th December 2009 - Sat 02nd January 2010

Cost:- £18,99 Per Person based on 4 people traveling together. A £99
contribution to Planet Era Foundation of India for Leopard and Tiger
Conservation programme.

Outline Itinerary

Day 1- Arrive Delhi. Meet and Greet at Airport Transfer to Hotel

Day 2- Fly Delhi to Leh

Day 3- Leh -Ladkah Local Visit to Monasteries

Day 4- Leh -Ladkah Local Visit to Monasteries

Day 5- Trek to Zingchen (Hemis National Park)

Day 6- Trekking The Snow Leopard Hemis National Park

Day 7 to Day 11- Trekking The Snow Leopard at Hemis National Park

Day 12 - Drive to Leh

Day 13- Leh- Delhi Over Night at Delhi , Old Delhi Sightseeing

Day 14- Morning Sightseeing of Delhi, later Free for onward journey.

For More details please email us at enquiries@naturetrailsindia.info visit us at http://www.naturetrailsindia.info call us at UK: +44 – 2030516839. US +1 – 347 468 8439, India: +91 – 9826700588

Leopard Sighting is Increasing at Kanha National Park

Good news for all wildlife lovers from around the World. News of Kanha National Park the world famous Tiger Reserve of central India.

Now days in Kanha National Park the Leopard (Panthera Pardus) sighting is increased nothing like any thing.

The sightings of leopard are increased in the area like Kanha Meadows, Schaller Heights, Mehnar Nallah etc. Kanha is famous for its rich wildlife and only place to see hard ground barasingha in the world.

Now travelers can enjoy leopard sighting with Tiger watching in the wild.

Nature Trails India, a brand of Nature Trail Tours India Pvt. Ltd, visit Kanha Tiger Reserve on many wildlife tours to India. for details please visit our websites http://www.naturetrailsindia.info and http://www.birdwatchingtoursindia.com or email us at enquiries@naturetrailsindia.info or on ntrails@gmail.com

After Long Time Black Capped Kingfisher Sighted in Jim Corbett National Park

March 2009

We have just received the good news from Jim Corbett National Park, reported by our Team of Naturalists working in Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve. The Black Capped Kingfisher been Sighted after 6 years in Jim Corbett National Park. Jim Corbett is the home of more than 450 Species of Birds. We wish the bird watching will be more happening as numbers of birds are increasing in Jim Corbett National Park

Nature Trails India (a brand of Nature Trail Tours India Pvt. Ltd.) visit Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve on our many tours. for details please visit our websites http://www.naturetrailsindia.info and http://www.birdwatchingtoursindia.com or email us at enquiries@naturetrailsindia.info

Cheap Tiger Tours For Backpackers

The Ultimate Tailor Made Tiger Tour for Back Packers traveling in India. at only 799 Pounds per person. Cheap tour for viewing tigers in wild.

Please Click on link to see details about trip http://naturetrailsindia.info/tiger-tour-for-back-packers-kanha-bandhavgarh-national-park.html

Outline Itinerary

Day 1- Arrive Delhi. Over Night at Hotel

Day 2- Catch Train for Katni overnight in Train.

Day 3- Arrive Katni, Drive to Bandhavgarh National Park. Check in at Wildlife Resort. Evening Game Drive. Over Night at Resort.

Day 4- Morning & Evening Game Drive. Over Night at Resort.

Day 5- After Breakfast leave Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve for Kanha. Check in at Wildlife Resort. Evening Game Drive over night at Wildlife Resort Kanha National Park

Day 6- Mornig and Evening Game Drive. Over night at Resort.

Day 7- After Breakfast leave Kanha National Park behind Drive to Jabalpur, Catch over night train for Delhi. Over night in Train

Day 8- Arrive in Delhi free for onward journey.

Cost

£799 per person

Single room supplement

£250

Focus

Big Cat (Tigers), other species of mammals, and birds

visit our website for more details http://www.naturetrailsindia.info

Departures

15^th April 2009

30^th April 2009

15^th May 2009

30^th May 2009

20^th October 2009

1^st November 2009

15^th November 2009

30^th November 2009

15^th December 2009

22^nd December 2009

5^th January 2009

Missing Tiger Found in Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve

There are reports in the local and national newspaper that a male tiger – officially known as T 3 has been reported missing from the Ranthambhore national park for over two months. This tiger is the male cub of Machali (Ranthambhore’s best known tigress) from her previous litter. He is about 4 years old and use to be found in the heart of the park between the lakes and a place called Lakkarda.

T 3 was one of the first tigers of Ranthambhore to be radio collared by the Wildlife Institute of India. However, there was some defect in the transmitter in his radio collar and it never really worked properly.

Somewhere in the second half of October he moved of this area and was not seen since then. The Forest guards did try for many days to track him down but had little success. Recently it came out in the newspapers that this tiger is missing. We have no idea why he decided to change his territory.

On the 17th of November 2008 Mr.Aditya had gone for a safari on zone number 5 that goes right across the park. In the early afternoon they spotted a male tiger (without a radio collar) near the Thumka chowki Their guide (Vijay Singh) told that they had seen a young and confident male crossing the forest track and that the male had blood marks on his chest, probably from eating a kill. At that time we were sure that it was not T 3 that they saw because they had seen a tiger without a radio collar.

Mr.Aditya is photographing the tiger from last many years,he has some photos of T3, he got down to match those two images with the other pictures that he have. And guess what it turned out to be T 3 without the collar. he immediately called up the forest authorities and informed them. The Deputy Field Director came over to the shack that we call our office and took a copy of the images. Even he took a long time to believe that this male had somehow managed to get rid of the ugly collar around his neck.

We visit Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve on our many tours. for details please visit our websites http://www.naturetrailsindia.info and http://www.birdwatchingtoursindia.com or email us at ntrails@gmail.com

News Courtesy Mr.Aditya Singh http://www.dickysingh.com

Tigress is Shifted from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve to Panna National Park

On 3rd March 2009. A Tigress was shifted to Panna Tiger Reserve from Bandhavgarh National Park.

Decision was taken after the long discussion with project tiger authorities & filed directors of Panna National Park & Bandhvgarh Tiger Reserve.

The female which was taken from Bandhavgarh National Park to Panna Tiger Reserve is Bhitari female, 4 years old tigress ( a daughter of charkdhara female and dominant male tiger B2, Bandhavgarh).

We wish all the best to the Tigress, hope she will raise new cubs in Panna National Park & sighting will goes better in future.

We visit Bandhavgarh National Park & Panna Tiger Reserve on our many tours. for details please visit our websites http://www.naturetrailsindia.info and http://www.birdwatchingtoursindia.com or email us at ntrails@gmail.com

Jurjurha Tigress is in Mating Bandhavgarh National Park

On 18th Feb 2009, Jurjurha Tigress (Female of Bandhavgarh National Park) found mating with one of the dominant male tiger named Bhookha at sawari wah (Near Raj Bhera Dam) area in Bandhvgarh National. Jurhura Female has 3 cubs now they are almost 15-18 months old.
We visit Bandhavgarh National Park on our many tours, recently we have launched new Tiger Tour called Totally Tigers for details please visit our website http://www.naturetrailsindia.info/ and http://www.birdwatchingtoursindia.com/ or email us at : ntrails@gmail.com

TotallyTigers Tour Now on Last Minute Deal

Only Tigers Tour is now available as last minute deal, the totally tigers trip will be lead by Tiger Experts from India, the tour will cost 1249/- GB Pound Per Person

For more details emails us at ntrails@gmail.com also one can visit the Totally Tigers link for details www.naturetrailsindia.info/totally-tigers-tours.html

Bhitari Female Been Sighted at Bandhavgarh National Park

Deall All

Recent News from Bandhavgarh National Park,situated in the heart of India & also know as Tiger Country of India.

Bhitiari female had been sighted recently at Bandhavgarh National Park, the bihtari female is grand daughter of Sita & daughter of Chardhara female, she also been mating to one of the male tiger, hope she will have cubs soon.

Thanks to our team member Amber for sharing the bhitari female images with us.

Click on Images to use as Wallpaper

We visit Bandhavgarh National Park on our tour many tiger tracking tours.

For tour details please visit our website

www.naturetrailsindia.info email:- ntrails@gmail.com

Introducing Tiger Tracking Tour

Nature Trails India Pleased to introduce Tiger Tracking Tour, for all tiger & wildlife lover from all over the world.

Tiger Tracking Tour offers something different for those who want to learn & know how to track tigers in wild.During the trip you will search for tigers and their prey in tiger reserves of India. You will also have the opportunity to take guided walks with park rangers and the elephant team.

This tour will focus on tiger habitat, behavior, involvement of local peoples in saving the wild tigers.

For enquiry call: UK: (44) 2030516839 US : (1) 347-468-8439,

E-mail :- ntrails@gmail.com www.naturetrailsindia.info

2 More Cubs In Bandhavgarh National Park

Hello!!

Pleased inform you all Wildlife & Tiger Lovers.

In Bandhavgarh National Park 2 more tiger cubs recently born, in the Bamera Dam Area.

The Bamera Dam Area is recently open for tourist for excursion with joy ride on elephant back, earlier it was open only for birdwatching.

We are hoping more tiger sightings in this area.

We visit Bandhavgarh National Park on our tour many tiger tracking tours.

For tour details please visit our website http://www.naturetrailsindia.info or email: ntrails@gmail.com

Nature Trails India Has Launched Website On Spa Holidays In India

Nature Trails India, a brand of Nature Trail Tours India Pvt. Ltd. Please to inform you all, that Nature Trails India launched website for Spa Holidays in India, with details of different types of spa & Ayurvedic treatments, places to visit for spa vacations etc.

Please visit www.spatripindia.co.uk for more details

Nature Trails India Now on You Tube

Nature Trails India, a brand of Nature Trail Tours India Pvt. Ltd. Please to inform all wildlife,nature & tiger lovers from all over the world,that Nature Trails India is now on you tube,please check updated video of trips,tiger tracking,escorted holidays etc. click oh given link to view the videos http://www.youtube.com/user/naturetrailsindia

Happy viewing of videos

With Warm Regards
Team Nature Trails India

One Horned Rhinoceros in India

The Great Indian Rhinoceros, also called the Greater One-horned Rhinoceros, is characterized by the single horn on its nose and by the loose folds of its thick skin. The horn is seen on both male and female Rhinos but not young ones below a year in age. It consists of keratin - a protein present in human hair and nails - and can grow from 20 to 60 cm in size. Adult male Rhinos have the largest horns.

Zoological name: Rhinoceros Unicornis

Range: The Great Indian Rhinoceros is found in India, Bhutan and Nepal in wildlife sanctuaries in the sub-Himalayan belt. It is found in the Brahmaputra valley in Assam (where the largest population of Rhinos worldwide exists in Kaziranga National Park), in the Chitwan valley in Nepal and in lowland Bhutan.

Estimated population: The estimated population of wild rhinoceroses in national parks worldwide is approximately 2400 of which 1600 are in India, primarily in the Kaziranga and Manas wildlife sanctuaries in Assam in North East India.

Physical characteristics: The Indian Rhinoceros was described by early travelers as a unicorn because of its single horn. The Rhinoceros has a somewhat pre-historic appearance and looks as if it has armor plates, because of the loose folds of its thick hide, which is a dark brown or blackish color and can also be gray in some cases. A fully-grown male Rhino can reach up to 1.8 meters high and 3.6 meters long and can weigh over 2 tonnes (or 2000 Kg). The distinctive horn of the Rhinoceros is seen after Rhinos are a year old and can grow to a size of 20 - 60 cm.

Habitat: The Indian Rhinoceros is found in marshy lowlands. Tall grass, thick forests, and swamps are Rhino territory. The Rhino spends a significant amount of time during the day, wallowing in mud or marshy pools.

Diet: The Indian Rhinoceros feeds on grass, leaves and twigs. It usually feeds in the morning and evening and spends the hot daytime cooling off in a mud wallow. The prehensile upper lip of the Rhino helps it in feeding.

Behavior: The Indian Rhinoceros is usually a solitary animal. Calves live with their mothers for several years. Male Rhinos are known to fight over territory and during the mating season. The Rhino's horn is used as a threatening display as well as to attack other male Rhinos or any intruders in its territory. Rhinos can run fast, up to 55 Kmph for short distances and rely on their sharp sense of smell and hearing. Their eyesight is comparatively poor. Rhinos live for 30-45 years in the wild and have been recorded as living up to 47 years in captivity.

Status: The Indian Rhinoceros is an endangered species. The pressure of human populations on the last remaining habitats of the rhinoceros, poaching for the sake of its horn and tiger predation of its calves are threats to its continued survival in the wild.

Tourists can see the Indian Rhinoceros in the Kaziranga National Park and Manas Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam.

We visit Kaziranga National Park on our tour "Big Five Of India" & Customized trip for Rhino watching tours.

For tour details please visit our website http://www.naturetrailsindia.info or email: ntrails@gmail.com

Asiatic Lions in India

The range of the Asiatic Lion once extended throughout Asia-Minor and into Eastern Europe but loss of habitat and persecution from man relentlessly reduced their numbers until today, the only remaining population is in the Gir Forest, a patch of remnant forest in the Saurashtra Peninsula of Gujarat. Thanks to the protection afforded to animals by the former Nawabs of Junagadh the lions managed to survive here through decades of slaughter elsewhere in the country and granting of National Park status in 1975 further ensured their continued preservation. An estimated 327 Lions roam the 141,000 hectares of the sanctuary and maintain an uneasy relationship with a significant population of Maldhari tribesmen settled within the reserve boundaries along with their 20,000 head of cattle.

We visit Gir National Park on our tour "Big Five Of India".

For tour details please visit our website http://www.naturetrailsindia.info or email: tours@naturetrailsindia.info

New Bird Species Prinia Found in Nepal.

Nepalese scientists have recorded a new subspecies of bird at Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve (KTWR) of east Nepal.

The bird was first recorded by Ornithologist and Chairperson of Nepal Rare Birds Committee (NRBC).The bird was identified as Rufous-vented Prinia bringing Nepal’s total bird list to 862 species. The bird is known as Prinia burnesii to the scientific community. The new taxon from Nepal is referred to as Nepal Rufous-vented Prinia Prinia burnesii nipalensis.

The other two subspecies of Rufous-vented Prinia, the first one Prinia burnesii burnesii is found in Pakistan in the west along the tributaries of Indus River and adjacent Punjab in India, and the second Prinia burnesii cinerascens is found in Assam in the east along the Bramhaputra river systems and adjoining states of India and Bangladesh. The newly described bird shows somewhat intermediate characters between the two subspecies and appears to form a link between them, is found in the Ganges river systems which is the other major river system in the India subcontinent.

The adult of this new subspecies has overall olive-grey to light brown plumage. The head and nape are greyer compared to the browner back, wings and tail. In most individuals, there is faint whitish supercilium which reaches behind the eye. The head is densely streaked compared to back. On the back, the streakings are bolder compared to the ones in head. The juveniles are similar to adults but slightly less marked on the head and body. Light rufous undertail coverts were visible in one young bird caught. All birds seen and heard were located on grassland patches on small islands of the Koshi River. The grass species in the area included Saccharum spontaneum, S. arundinacea, Typha elephantine, and Phragmites karka. Sparsely dotted young sissoo Dalbergia sissoo trees and xeric bushes Casurina spps. were also present. They were absent in heavily disturbed grasslands adjacent to villages indicating their preference for less disturbed grasslands.

It is a resident breeding species and highly threatened in the country because of habitat loss and degradation. Future surveys might reveal its presence in grasslands in different parts of the country.

Conservationists in Nepal already listed the species as critically endangered for the country and emphasized as a candidate species for IUCN Red Data list.

New Tiger Cubs in Pench National Park

We please inform all wildlife & tiger lovers, that we have just received good news from the forests of the Pench Tiger Reserve.A Tigress gave birth to four cubs raising the total number of Tiger cubs in the reserve forest area to 16. At present there are 33 adult Tigers in the Pench Tiger Reserve. Earlier this year, Pench won the award for the best maintained Tiger reserve in India. The forest protects 758 square kilometers of prime Tiger habitat, and inspired Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book.

We visit Pench National Park and other Tiger Reserves on our new tour "Tigers of Pench, Kanha & Bandhavgarh National Park".

For tour details please visit our website http://www.naturetrailsindia.info or email: tours@naturetrailsindia.info

Capsule Workshop For Nature & Wildlife Lovers

This workshop is for beginners & armature wildlife, nature lovers are welcome from all parts of the world.

This workshop is minimum for 3 days to maximum 15 days.

In this workshop nature lovers will visit the bird sanctuaries in India & In 3 days capsule course workshop we will try to make you identify 30 to 50 different species of birds, will also help you in taking great images for reference of your work in Nature. In last we will give the certificate for appreciation of your work in saving the nature ,this certificate will also sign by Planet Era Foundation.

For more details please contact Mr.Bhardwaj (Director) bhardwaj@naturetrailsindia.info or tours@naturetrailsindia.info or you can speak to him UK : + 44 (0) 2030516839 US : (1) 347-468-8439 / 909-978-8170 India (91)-9826700588