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