Guidelines-human-leopard-conflict-management from Ministry of Environment and Forests GOVERNMENT OF INDIA.

-Suggested by Maya Ramaswamy ji. 

Please visit below link:

http://moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/guidelines-human-leopard-conflict-management.pdf

IUCN cautions state against poaching of lions.

Himanshu Kaushik, TNN | Mar 29, 2012, 02.40AM IST
AHMEDABAD: While shifting the Asiatic lions from critically endangered species category to endangered species in its Red List, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) at the same time has also cautioned the forest department against poaching threats to the species.
The IUCN Red List report stated that the subpopulation of lions is increasing and is considered stable now in Gujarat. The number of lions is also reported to be spreading beyond the boundaries of the protected sanctuary of Gir to satellite townships.
Taking note of the 2007 incidents of poaching, the report further added that constant monitoring is required to ensure that poaching levels do not increase. At least eight lions were poached in 2007. However, the IUCN red list has in its report stated that 34 animals were reported killed in 2007. A senior officer said that this was a very high figure as only eight lions were poached.
However, experts say that this was a major achievement for the conservation efforts of the state government. Ravi Chellam, an expert on Lions, says, "The species is dispersing outside the protected area, and the population is increasing. This was adequate to list the lion as endangered species from critically endangered.
Y V Jhala, head of the department Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, said "The management's efforts towards the conservation of the species are planned with the intention to reduce the threat perception towards it. For the Asiatic lions, the success of conservation has not only led to increase in population of lions but has also increased the dispersal range of the animal. It is indeed a feather in the cap for the state that even the IUCN has also recognized its conservation efforts." He said that the next target of the state government should be to have the animal listed as a threatened species.
Additional principal chief conservator of forest Dr H S Singh says, "The lion as a whole is listed in vulnerable category. But it is good news for the state as the Asiatic lion was listed as endangered species." He said that not just the population was increasing, but the lions have formed six other satellite areas where the population is now stable. These include far off areas of the coastal region, Bhavnagar, Girnar and Miytala, among others."
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/IUCN-cautions-state-against-poaching-of-lions/articleshow/12448201.cms

Mulayam’s safari project may face Modi hurdle.

AMENDRA SINGH : Lucknow, Wed Mar 28 2012, 04:49 hrs
Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Lion Safari project, which was halted during the Mayawati regime, is set to face a fresh hurdle. While the project involves relocation of Asiatic lions from Gir National Park to Mulayam’s home district Etawah, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi is learnt to be stiffly opposed to relocation of Gir lions to other states.
As of now, the project is with the Union Ministry of Forests and Environment for clearance.
A top official in UP’s Forest Department said, “UP has not approached Gujarat till now. But once the project starts, the request (for relocation of lions) will be sent to Gujarat.”
Recently, the Gujarat State Wildlife Board, headed by Narendra Modi, rejected a proposal to relocate Asiatic Gir lions to the Kuno-Palpur Park in Madhya Pradesh.
The people of Gujarat’s Saurashtra region are also opposing the relocation of Gir lions.
According to Lion Census of 2010, the Gir National Park has a total of 411 lions, of which 97 are males, 162 females and 152 cubs.
Gujarat’s Forest and Environment Minister Mangubhai Chhaganbhai Patel refused to comment on the issue while Gujarat Principal Chief Conservator of Forests S K Goyal said if they receive any such request from UP, it will be considered on the basis of its merit.
The work on the Lion Safari in the Fisher Forests near Etawah-Gwalior Highway was started in 2005 when Yadav was chief minister. The project could see no progress after the BSP government’s formation in 2007. Now, Akhilesh Yadav-led SP government has fast-tracked the project.
The safari will be spread on about 50 hectares in the Chambal region of the state.
Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/mulayams-safari-project-may-face-modi-hurdle/929405/0

Roar to lion conservation efforts in Gujarat!

Himanshu Kaushik, TNN | Mar 27, 2012, 01.58AM IST
AHMEDABAD: The roar of Asiatic lions in Gujarat just got louder. The conservation efforts of the state are now reflected not just in the growing numbers of the big cats but also in the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

IUCN has now shifted the big cats from critically endangered species category to endangered species.

This change has been triggered by the state's undying conservation efforts and the growing populace of lions in Gujarat.

Asiatic lions of Gujarat were listed as critically endangered species in 2000. The IUCN list released recently has listed the 'lion king' in the endangered species category. IUCN officials have justified this change thus: "Asiatic lion exists as a single isolated population in India's Gujarat state. The number of mature lions has been increasing, all occurring within one subpopulation (but in four separate areas, three of which are outside of the Gir forest protected area). Since the population now extends beyond the boundary of the lion sanctuary, and the numbers are stable, the subspecies is listed as Endangered based simply on the population size."

A senior Gujarat forest officer said that the IUCN report has quoted 2005 figures, which shows that the lion populace of Gujarat has 175 mature animals. But the 2011 census has revealed that the lion populace here consists of 97 males and 162 females. The forest officer added, "Going by the global criteria, if the population of adults is about 50 per cent of the total population it is considered to be healthy. In 2011, of the 411 lions, the adult population was 259."

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species is globally recognized as the most comprehensive and objective approach in evaluating the conservation status of plant and animal species.

Y V Jhala, head of the department of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, told TOI: "This report reflects the success of lion conservation in Gujarat. It is a feather in the cap for the state. Gujarat should now set a target to get the big cat listed in a further safer category - threatened species." 
Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/Roar-to-lion-conservation-efforts-in-Gujarat/articleshow/12420743.cms

Don’t bother Gir’s lions.

Author:  Anuradha Dutt

23 March 2012.

Shifting them out of Gujarat is a disastrous idea

In a piquant development, two BJP-ruled States are at loggerheads over the proposal to transfer some of Gujarat’s lions to Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno Palpur sanctuary. Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, whose personal involvement in lion conservation is well known, has again refused to grant Madhya Pradesh’s request for Asiatic lions on the grounds that these rare species would not be safe there. And he has good reason for saying so, given that all of Madhya Pradesh’s Panna National Park’s tigers, estimated to be 27, had been poached, with the fact coming to light only by early 2009.
This crime occurred after the nationwide uproar over disappearance of Rajasthan’s Sariska reserve’s 25-28 tigers, which led to the upgradation of Project Tiger into a statutory body, called the National Tiger Conservation Authority, in September 2006, and setting up of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau in June 2007.
The Kulo Palpur sanctuary, in addition to one more reserve in Madhya Pradesh and a third in Rajasthan, has been earmarked to harbour Namibian cheetahs as well. Former Union Minister for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh had approved the unrealistic plan for importing a dozen African cheetahs at an estimated cost of two crore rupees each.
The plan was put on hold after wildlife experts questioned its feasibility, pointing to the abject failure of authorities to protect tigers and even leopards, with the incidence of local people killing stray Panthera pardus being on the rise. Poaching has also reduced the number of leopards. Media reports this January that the Ministry of Environment and Forests, headed by Ms Jayanti Natarajan, would possibly clear the proposal to import cheetahs revived Indian wildlife experts’ worst fears. Apparently, Namibian experts, including Lorrie Marker, supposedly a cheetah specialist, had approved the 345 sq km area identified for cheetahs.
The cliched justification proffered for the scheme in the corridors of power is that cheetahs were once native to India. But so too were unicorns, judging by representations of these mythic creatures on Indus-Saraswati Valley seals. While no one knows what happened to unicorns, trophy hunters finished off cheetahs by 1947. Once here, poachers, no doubt, will get to work. Forest dwellers and people on the peripheries of wildlife reserves can also be expected to hunt down these swiftest of predators for their own and livestock protection or to feed the illicit wildlife trade.
Another reason forwarded by the Ministry  officials for importing cheetahs is that these big cats will help revive India’s grasslands as they survive in such terrain.
However, opponents of the scheme convincingly trash these arguments. They point out that the climate, terrain and prey base is very different from that of Africa’s, where cheetahs have managed to survive after relocation within the continent. Acclimatisation would pose the biggest problem for the Namibian carnivores. The species is different from Asiatic cheetahs, and introducing it here would violate the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
Indian grasslands are not like Africa’s, where these carnivores survive easily. The prey base is also different. Here, chinkaras that would mainly constitute the prey base are on the decline. Moreover, cheetahs will have to compete with tigers and leopards for food and territory.
On top of this, if Asiatic lions from Gujarat, too, are brought into the same territory, the worst can be expected. The rapidly shrinking wildlife habitat, devoured by mining, agriculture, roads and colonisation, has resulted in grave man-animal conflicts, to the detriment of the latter.
Cheetahs have a chance of surviving only if they are given inviolate space. But this is impossible, considering that even tiger habitats are encroached upon by roads, hotels, Government project and, worst of all, poachers. Palpur Kuno is close to Ranthambore tiger sanctuary, and big cats often stray out of their areas.
If the grandiose intention of wildlife authorities in Madhya Pradesh is to have jungle safaris, hinging on the co-existence of lions, cheetahs, tigers and leopards in common territory, they seem to be overly ambitious.
They need to take care of the existing tiger reserves, especially Panna, which now has about five adults, brought in from other reserves, and their cubs. Rajasthan’s track record in protecting tigers is also blemished by the Sariska disaster.
Given this scenario, Gujarat’s lions are safer in their own habitat. The 2010 census showed the presence of 411 lions in the Gir National Park and its surroundings. In the early 20th century, these majestic creatures had been reduced by hunters to a meagre 15, before the Nawab of Junagadh declared the Gir forest area and its lions to be protected.
The national park and forest sanctuary were established in 1965. In an interview a couple of years ago, HS Panwar, former director, Project Tiger, credited the success of lion conservation in Gujarat to the fact that “the Government of Gujarat is seized of the matter right from the Chief Minister to field formations of forest and police departments.”
Local people are also opposed to the plan for transferring lions to Madhya Pradesh, which has been pending since 2009. However, a petition filed by a conservationist in the Supreme Court contends that in the event of an epidemic in the Gir forest, the whole population of Asiatic lions would be wiped out.
That, perhaps, is the only tenable reason for relocating some of them. But it certainly cannot be in tiger or cheetah territory.
Source: http://www.dailypioneer.com/columnists/item/51289-don%E2%80%99t-bother-gir%E2%80%99s-lions.html

Gujarat won’t share lions with Madhya Pradesh.

Tuesday, 20 March 2012 00:02

Rathin Das | Ahmedabad

The people and Government of Gujarat have once again opposed the idea of relocating some of its Asiatic lions from Gir to Kuno Palpur in Madhya Pradesh.
A meeting of the State Wildlife Board, chaired by Chief Minister Narendra Modi, has reiterated Gujarat’s earlier stand that the Asiatic lions should not be shifted to Madhya Pradesh as the big cats may not be safe there.
This contentious issue is currently under the consideration of Supreme Court following a petition by a wildlife conservationist who has expressed apprehension that an epidemic in Gir forest might wipe out the entire species of the Asiatic lions.
At the last count in summer of 2010, there were 411 Asiatic lions in the 1,412 square kilometres of Gir National Park and the Sanctuary around it, the only natural habitat of this species of big cats.
But despite Gujarat’s good track record of conservation of the lions in Gir, the Madhya Pradesh Government had been demanding that some of the big cats should be shifted to Kuno Palpur reserve forest. The Gujarat Government has opposed the move all along.
The Gujarat State Wildlife Board members felt at the meeting that the Asiatic lions in Gir are the precious assets of Saurashtra region and, thus, they should not be shifted elsewhere.
The meeting was attended by Forest Minister Mangubhai Patel, Principal Secretary (Forest & Environment) SK Nanda, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Pradeep Khannan and many wildlife lovers.
Earlier in 2009, the villagers and animal lovers in and around Gir had protested against the Centre’s move to shift the lions to Kuno Palpur. The Madhya Pradesh Government had then approached the National Board of Wildlife to shift some of the Asiatic lions from Gir to Kuno Palpur.
The people of the Gir region had whole-heartedly supported the State’s Forest department officials in putting up a strong opposition to the move to shift the Asiatin lions.
Source: http://dailypioneer.com/nation/51050-gujarat-wont-share-lions-with-madhya-pradesh.html

Gujarat rejects proposal to relocate Gir lions to MP.

Express news service : Ahmedabad, Sun Mar 18 2012, 00:59 hrs
A meeting of the Gujarat State Wildlife Board and top officials, headed by Chief Minister Narendra Modi, held on Saturday rejected a proposal to relocate Asiatic Gir lions to the Kuno/Palpur Park in Madhya Pradesh.
The meeting was reportedly held to prepare the state’s arguments for a scheduled Supreme Court hearing on the Asiatic lion relocation project on Monday. At the last hearing on February 21, the SC had held that animals belong to the country and not the states they are found in.
Gujarat asserted on Saturday that “Asiatic lions are a precious asset of Saurashtra region” and that “the question of relocating the lions to some other place without consent of the people of Saurashtra does not arise at all”.
The state has been opposing the proposed shifting of the lions from the Gir forests.
Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/gujarat-rejects-proposal-to-relocate-gir-lions-to-mp/925131/

Battle for the jungle king is fast hotting up.

Mahesh Trivedi (Gujarat Going-on)
17 March 2012

March 19 could be the D-day for the 411 lions of Gujarat’s Gir forest. The Supreme Court has summoned officials of the Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh (MP) as well as the National Board for Wildlife in India as it was likely to give its ruling over shifting of the big cats from its only abode near Junagadh.

The relations between the two Bharatiya Janata party-ruled states have been on the downward slope ever since MP made an aggressive demand for relocating some of the rare Asiatic lions to its Kuno Palpur sanctuary for which it has already made elaborate arrangements and spent millions of rupees.

Gujarat has been vehemently opposing the idea saying it did not want to lose its ‘Gujarati pride’ at any cost. Indeed, at a meeting chaired by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, state wildlife experts strengthened their resolve to protect the jungle king and vowed not to share even a few of them with MP under any circumstances.

According to Sanat Chavan, a former principal chief conservator of forests who has spent several years in the 1450-square-km, leafy Gir wildlife sanctuary, MP has a very limited prey base and poaching incidents are the order of the day. What’s more, while readying the Kuno park, Gujarat officials, who have been praised for their best conservation efforts, have neither been consulted nor invited for a visit to see the site chosen.

Also, now that the debt-ridden, state-run Tourism Corporation of Gujarat has been coining money due to massive influx of animal lovers into Gir following brand ambassador Amitabh Bachchan’s publicity campaign, many believe the cash-strapped Modi regime was unlikely to agree to any plan for relocation of the majestic animals.

The Planning Commission has itself approved a project for the “Conservation of Asiatic lion in Greater Gir Region” to be implemented by the Gujarat government by 2017 at a cost of Rs2.6 billion, including the Central assistance of Rs2.3 billion, and the project also includes creation of infrastructure for the promotion of eco-tourism in the Gir forest.

But according to MP, keeping all the endangered lions in only one place was putting the dumb denizens into a death trap as an epidemic could wipe out the entire population of this last remaining species.

MP has also argued that the predators are outgrowing the claustrophobic forest and have nowhere to go, often resulting in attacks on human beings in the villages on the periphery of the jungle.

MP has won half the battle when the apex court recently observed that the carnivores are not the “property” of the state, but belong to the country, adding that no state could claim the right over an animal merely because it is housed in a particular state.

The National Board for Wildlife in India is also in favour of shifting a few prides of the Asiatic lions, much smaller than their African cousins, if only to maintain genetic diversity.

Source: http://www.khaleejtimes.com/displayarticle.asp?xfile=data/international/2012/March/international_March629.xml&section=international&col=