Concerned over safety, Guj RTI activists decide to form union.

PTI | 04:07 PM,Jul 24,2011 "This is an emergency like situation in the state of Gujarat. We activists need to come together and fight those trying to suppress the implementation of RTI Act in Gujarat," she added.Bhikhu Jethva, whose son and RTI activist Amit Jethva was killed by gunmen one year ago for exposing illegal mining in Gir forest region, said he would fight till the end for the cause in which his son believed in."I have faith in the High Court where the PIL filed by Amit (Jethva) is being heard. They will do justice to it. But if I feel that they have not done enough I will approach the Supreme Court," Bhikhu said.Another RTI activist, Bhagubhai Devani from Porbander said he too was attacked by land mafia after he complained against illegal mining in the Saurashtra region which he said was being promoted by a former minister.Bharat Tann from Rajkot narrated the same citing alleged land scam to the tune of Rs 800 crore in the heart of the city.The group of activist also demanded that the state and the Central government should pass bill for providing protection to RTI applicants.
Source: http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/concerned-over-safety-guj-rti-activists-decide-to-form-union/763155.html

Patna zoo to get 5 big cats.

Parul Pandey, TNN Jul 21, 2011, 06.32pm IST

PATNA: Five new big cats - one pair each of Asiatic lion and white tiger and one Royal Bengal tiger - are likely to arrive at the Patna zoo by the second week of next month under an exchange programme with Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad.
"After several rounds of negotiations, we are now ready to give one pair of horned rhino to Nehru zoo in exchange for their five animals," said Abhay Kumar, director, Patna zoo.
Kumar claimed that Patna zoo is the only zoo in the country that offers favourable conditions for the breeding of rhinos. "At present, we have the highest number of rhinos (13) in the country; thus, we are exchanging it to get a few more animals for our zoo," he said.

"Rhino is a very heavy animal, with each rhino may be weighing over a tonne. So, we are making necessary arrangements and taking precautionary measures to shift the rhinos to Hyderabad. They would be transported to the Nehru zoo via road by the end of this month," Kumar told TOI.
"Once the rhinos reach Nehru zoo, as per the exchange agreement, their authorities would send us a pair each of Asiatic lions and white tiger and one Royal Bengal tiger," Kumar added. "We are expecting those animals to arrive here by the second week of August."
Meanwhile, Patna zoo has already started making arrangements to house these new animals. "After the death of a white tigress, only one old white tigress is left with the zoo; so the tiger enclosure is almost vacant. We just need to add a few cages, which would be done by the month-end," officials said.
Patna zoo is also planning to expand the enclosure of rhinos. Kumar told TOI they were planning to allot some jungle area of the zoo to rhinos and do it in such a way that it gave them the feel of a jungle. "We would divide that area with a wooden overbridge, so that zoo visitors can see rhinos from close quarters without disturbing them," Kumar added.
Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-21/flora-fauna/29799390_1_patna-zoo-white-tigress-royal-bengal

Two held in South Delhi with leopard pelts,

Express news service  

Chhaya Sharma  

Posted: Tue Aug 02 2011, 01:23 hrs New Delhi:

 

Two persons were arrested from South Delhi on Sunday for allegedly dealing in body parts of endangered animals. Two leopard pelts were seized from them, police said on Monday.
A case under Sections 39, 49, 499 (B), 49 (C), 9 and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, has been registered against the two.
Police arrested Abdul Sattar (55) and Rahisuddin alias Lallan (57) from Sanik Farms in South Delhi when they came to sell the skins to a contact.
“The accused had come to sell lion and leopard skins. They used to smuggle elephant tusks and skin of leopards and Asiatic lions. They would sell them to their contacts, who would put them up for sale in the international market at very high rates,” said DCP (South) Chhaya Sharma.
Investigations revealed that both the pelts belonged to leopards, which is protected under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

“Lallan would procure animal skin, teeth and other parts from a tribal — Plaza — at a very cheap rate. He would them and sell them off for a higher prices. Plaza had told him that he used to find these things while roaming in the woods,” Sharma added. 
Source: http://www.indianexpress.com/news/two-held-in-south-delhi-with-leopard-pelts/825781/

Ring road around Gir to be on pvt-public partnership model.

TNN Jul 31, 2011, 05.17am IST

AHMEDABAD: The state forest department has decided to construct a ring road around the Gir sanctuary on the public-private partnership model. The decision was taken because the state does not want to wait for funds to be sanctioned from the central government.
The Gujarat government has already sent a proposal to the Centre for the ring road around the Gir sanctuary. The road, according to the state government, will divert traffic that now trespasses on the Asiatic lion's kingdom.
The proposed 269 km road will connect villages on the periphery of the Gir National Park and sanctuary covering 1,412 sq km. About six state highways and some minor roads now crisscross the sanctuary. And every day 35 to 40 vehicles travel through the sanctuary.

S K Nanda, principal secretary (forest and environment) said, "We are waiting for the nod from the central government. However, the construction of the ring road will be taken up on the PPP model."
The state has sent a proposal for the long-term conservation of the Asiatic lion. The project cost was Rs 262.36 crore. Of this, 90 per cent of the funding will be provided by the central government while the remaining 10 per cent, Rs 26.19 crore, will be borne by the state.
Officials said a proposal for the Rs 262 crore fund was sent to the planning commission, which has approved the project in principle. An official said that demanding another Rs 600 crore was expecting too much from the Centre. "Hence we decided to fund the ring road on a PPP model. Once the wildlife board of the Union ministry of forest and environment grants approval, the government will issue tenders for the project," he said.
Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-31/ahmedabad/29835222_1_ring-road-gir-sanctuary-gir-national-park

Lioness dead, Renuka safari population down to two.

Posted by Ravinder Makhaik Friday, July 29th, 2011
Govt moves for adopting a lion pair from Karnataka
Shimla: Death of a lioness at Renukaji Lion Safari has brought down the number of Asiatic lions in the safari to a critical lonely couple, in an enclosure that once boasted about two dozen of them.
Wildlife warden Sushil Kapta said that Megha, an 11 year old lioness, died of uterus cancer a few days ago. “A lot of effort was made to try and save the majestic animal; the best veterinarian available in the state was requisitioned but the lioness could not be saved,” he said.
To make up for the diminished numbers, Kapta says, the wildlife department has written to Bannerghatta Biological Park in Karnataka for adding at least a pair at the Renuka safari. The Karnataka park which has two spare lion pairs of Asiatic lions available for adoption.
Starting out with a pair of lions brought over from Junagarh in the 1970’s, the population at Renuka at one point had swelled to about 28 which made the government confer the status of a lion safari in 1986.
Problems of inbreeding crept leading to genetic diseases, says the wild life warden. After several lions died between 1996 and 2000, CZA asked for totally stopping all captive breeding programs and since then the population has been on the decline.
Sources claimed that in April, last year, the Renuka wild life officials had shifted two lioness and one lion to Gopalpur and Chhatbir Zoo’s, on recommendation from the Central Zoo Authority (CZA).

While inbreeding remains a bane of all captive lion populations in the country’s zoo’s, the population of Asiatic lion’s at the Gir National Park in Gujarat is a healthy 411, which includes 97 males, 62 females and 52 cubs recorded in the 2010 census.

Old Sign Post

Source: http://himachal.us/2011/07/29/lioness-dead-renuka-safari-population-down-to-two/29587/news/ravinder

Katraj Zoo will soon have some roaring presence.

Zoo authorities in talks with Junagarh counterparts to introduce at least 10 purebred Asiatic lions in their fold

Tanaji Khot

Posted On Friday, August 05, 2011 at 01:43:08 AM

TAhe Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park, popularly known as Katraj Zoo, will soon have some roaring amidst other animal sounds to greet visitors, if everything goes as planned. The zoo authorities are planning to bring in as many as 10 pure-bred Asiatic lions from the Sakkarbaug Zoo in Junagarh, Gujarat, as part of an exchange programme. Once that happens, visitors will get to see a lion in the zoo after a gap of two decades.  Rajkumar Jadhav, deputy garden superintendent and zoo director, told Mirror, “The inclusion of the lions is the next important development in the zoo. The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has approved our plan to include 16 species of animals in the zoo, including the lions.” Jadhav had, on Monday, made a presentation of the detailed plan for expansion of Katraj zoo before CZA in New Delhi. The plan was approved after minor changes in the report. The plan provides for at least 10 lions in the zoo. Jadhav said, “We are going to start making enclosures for the lions as early as possible. Once the enclosures are ready, Katraj Zoo will approach zoos where pure breeds of Asiatic lions are available.” Besides lions, lesser cats like leopards and other animals like hyenas will also be added to the zoo. The Sakkarbaug Zoo has the largest concentration of pure-bred Asiatic lions — forty members. Katraj Zoo has allotted 4,900 square metre space for lions’ enclosure.  The Sakkarbaug Zoo has a captive breeding programme in place for pure-bred Asiatic lions. This species of lions is highly endangered and these animals are found in Gir forest and surrounding areas in Gujarat. The  last and only lioness in Pune was kept in Peshwe park. She died around 20 years ago. This lioness was treated by a Jalgaon-based doctor V G Purnapatre and was handed over to Peshwe Park.

Asiatic lions: Let the pride increase!

By Dharmendra Khandal Aug 03 2011

Tags: Leisure Writing

Hundred years ago, the population of Asiatic lion in India were left to about a dozen; today this number has reached to 411 lions. World over there is a trend of flora and fauna declining due to human population increase and consecutive habitat losses, so what is it that the population of Asiatic lion is increasing.

Yogendra Shah a wildlife researcher working in Gir forest gives the credit of this reverse trend to the community living around the lion’s territory and the forest department. The lions are a symbol of pride for the people of Gujarat and for their conservation; they make all efforts and sacrifices.

Shah recollected an incident where, he went to meet a family, which had six members and two buffalos, the lions killed one of the buffalo but the family had no grudge against the big cats.

About a hundred years back when the Junagarh nawab could not find a lion for his shikar, he realised that the lion population had declined. He stopped hunting of lion. With times, trends and problems change like forest department rescue team has been rescuing 20-30 lions each year from open deep wells. There are some eight thousand wells in and around the lion territory and the forest department and locals have managed to fence or wall about four thousand. The Gir forest is a 1400 sq km area but the lions have now expanded their territory and found in 2300 sq km. However, the lions in one era were found in many states of India like the Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh. The reasons for their extinction were shikar and their habitat being open scrubland. They did not have the knack to survive such as the tiger, at the same time the lions are very vocal and the hunters can easily catch their presence. Hence, the existence of the Asiatic lions in Gujarat is a very big achievement and the credit goes to the community, researches, forest department and the politicians.

However if we want to conserve the lions in the long term we have to move to a new phase in which the lion has to be changed from the ‘pride of Gujarat’ to the ‘pride of India’. Two decades ago the government had worked in this direction they proposed the kuno area of Madhya Pradesh to be the second home for the lions and even relocated 24 villages from the forest but the Gujarat government, forest department and researches did not want to give their pride to any other state. Unfortunately, the entire program was put on hold. Now there is a case filed in the Supreme Court to bring lions in Madhya Pradesh.

The Madhya Pradesh government possibly believes that they have enough tiger forests and need to work on species such as lions or cheetahs to attract tourists. With this ideology if we are bringing the lions, then the decision of the Gujarat people looks more acceptable. However, in spite of all the debate, we do know that the growing lion population needs a second home, may be not in other state but in Gujarat itself we can think of another area.

Source: http://www.mydigitalfc.com/leisure-writing/asiatic-lions-let-pride-increase-636

A record 2.71L tourists visit Gir in a year.

TNN Jul 31, 2011, 05.19am IST

AHMEDABAD: Gir, the only place in the world where you can see Asiatic lions in the wild, recorded its maximum visitors in the 12 months till March 2011.
The sanctuary registered a footfall of 2.71 lakh tourists in this period, which is 32 per cent higher than 2009-10. Forest department sources say there was a 19 per cent rise even among foreign tourists. The sanctuary has 411 lions as per the May 2010 census.
The data reveals that 55 per cent of these tourists came in November, December and January. Of the 6,152 foreign tourists who visited Gir in the year till March last, 3,328 came in December, January and February. The trend was mainly because of festivals like Christmas, Diwali and Uttarayan.

"This year the rush began a week prior to the Uttarayan as the festival was on a weekend," said a forest official.
"We were expecting a record income this year, as during Diwali, Gir and Devaliya interpretation centre had recorded a income of around Rs 42 lakh in the 10 day between November 4 and November 13," he said. The main reason for the increase in the flow of tourists was the state government's decision to increase the permits issued during festive days from 90 to 150.
Deputy conservator of forest Sandeep Kumar said that the maximum income of Devaliya in a single day was Rs 4,68,000 in 2000, but the figure touched Rs 5,39,250 this year. Kumar said that this year apart from increasing the tourist permit the advertisement campaign Khushboo Gujarat Ki also played a major role in attracting tourists.
Source: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-31/ahmedabad/29835167_1_foreign-tourists-devaliya-gir