NGT seeks report on elephant corridor

By Express News Service  |   Published: 18th September 2017 05:33 AM  |  

Last Updated: 18th September 2017 07:27 AM  | 

BHUBANESWAR: The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has expressed displeasure with Odisha Government over its delay in demarcation and notification of the elephant corridors in the State.
Hearing an ongoing case last week, the Eastern Zone Bench of the tribunal said, it was disappointed with the lethargic pace of work of the State agencies.
On January 13, the NGT had directed State Government, Secretary to Forest and Environment Department and Chief Wildlife Warden to expedite the process.The Government had submitted that work of habitat viability assessment and ground truthing of 14 identified corridors was handed over to Asian Nature Conservation Foundation (ANCF) and a report was expected soon.
However, during the hearing, the Government counsel said the ANCF report is expected in the first week of October.According to petitioner’s advocate Sankar Prasad Pani, the NGT directed the State Government agencies to ensure that the report is filed by ANCF within the specified period and furnished before the tribunal.
Besides, a specific time frame for completion of the entire exercise before publication of the notification must also be provided to the tribunal by the State agencies, he said.Quoting the Supreme Court’s observation in a case concerning the plight of Asiatic lions in Gir Forest, the NGT said, this earth is not for the survival of human race alone as other species have equal right too.
 Pani submitted that despite NGT’s order not to carry out non-permissible activities in such eco-sensitive zones, illegal operations of various commercial units are still be run within the jumbo corridors.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2017/sep/18/ngt-seeks-report-on-elephant-corridor-1658910.html

Animal deaths at Patna zoo cause for concern

Animal deaths at Patna zoo cause for concernv

Abhay Kumar in Patna, Sep 16 2017, 23:38 IST 

Vishal now looks forlorn at Sanjay Gandhi Zoological Park in Patna. Mohan Prasad

The recent death of a lioness at Sanjay Gandhi Zoological Park in Patna has not only sent shock waves among animal lovers but also raised certain questions as to how seven cubs, a tigress, a tiger and a lioness have died here in the last six years.

Saraswati was just nine years old when she was found dead on July 25 this year. One of the prime attractions of Patna Zoo, the lioness was brought here in 2011 from Hyderabad under an animal exchange programme.

A team of veterinarians, consisting of eight doctors, conducted autopsy and concluded that cardiac arrest caused the death of the lioness. “Normally, the life span of a lion or lioness is 12 to 13 years in the wild. But if kept in zoo, they survive till the age of 15 to 18 years. This is because when kept in captivity, they get proper food and care. While it’s not so when they roam around in the wild. In very rare case, a lion’s life is around 20 years,” Patna Zoo Director Nand Kishore told DH.

The Zoo director had personally monitored the lioness a few hours before she passed away. He ruled out any nutritional deficiency as the cause for death. Now, Vishal, Saraswati’s partner, needs a partner.

Two years after Saraswati was brought here, she mated with Vishal, younger to her. But under the special breeding programme, Saraswati gave birth to two cubs in August 2013.

However, the mother (lioness) refused to feed the cubs. As a consequence, the health of a cub, which was born weak, deteriorated and passed away next day. The other cub was then brought up with a lot of effort.

After Saraswati refused to feed the second cub too, the zoo employees had to hand-feed him. The cub, named Sheru, survived on goat’s milk for the first three months and thereafter started to consume meat. Sheru is now one of the main crowd-pullers here.

Since Asiatic lions are found only in Gir Forest in Gujarat, the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) mandarins were quite enamoured over the report on how the Patna Zoo officials had helped Vishal and Saraswati mate and made every effort for survival of one of its cub. According to the established norms of the CZA, breeding of hybrid lions is prohibited in zoos. “But we can go ahead with the breeding of Asiatic lioness,” the official added.

The CZA officials mulled over a proposal on how to develop a lion conservation zone on the zoo premises spread over 152 acres. Developing lion conservation area was aimed at providing an off-display area to the lions, where they can enjoy their natural surroundings. “However, the proposal could not make much headway,” the zoo official rued.

Unfortunately, in the last six years, Saraswati was the 10th death reported in the big cat family of Patna Zoo. In 2011, Tejaswani, a white tigress, and the prime attraction at the zoo, died after days of illness. The post-mortem report said she had a blockage in intestine. Earlier, in 2011, male tiger Ram too had died after a prolonged illness. The 17-year-old tiger in Patna Zoo was suffering from posterior cirrhosis.

In August 2012, a Royal Bengal tigress at Patna Zoo had given birth to three cubs. Everyone was quite delighted as it was after a gap of 19 years that a big cat had delivered at the zoo here. But the enormous joy was short-lived. In the next 20 days, tigress Swarna lost all the three cubs.

It was believed that Swarna stopped feeding the cubs after she developed an intestinal infection. Eventually, the cubs too contracted the infection from their mother, and since then were put under the observation of zoo doctors.

Though the cubs were separated from the mother and bottle-fed, things turned for the worse when the cubs refused goat milk too. The then Patna zoo director sought the help of Dr Abhijit Bhaval, a reputed doctor from Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), but to no avail.

“The origin of the infection was not known but toxins must have entered the cubs’ body while they were in tiger enclosure. An infection cause toxins spread rapidly in the body of new-borns. The intensity of infection was so high in the cubs that none of the medicines worked,” said another doctor, who did not wish to be identified.

In March 2017, two more cubs died. On July 20, 2017, yet another cub died. “Reports suggest that the tiger cub died on July 20 due to hyper-parathyriodism. This is a condition where there is over production of parathyroid hormone which eventually weakens bones,” said the zoo director.

Saraswati was the latest casualty, although for a different reason: cardiac arrest. “Now only one lioness and three lions are left at the Sanjay Gandhi Zoological Park. Besides, we have three tigers and three tigresses,” said Nand Kishore hoping that the number of big cat family members won’t dwindle any more.
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/633496/animal-deaths-patna-zoo-cause.html

SC Pulls Up Centre Over Decision to Reduce Eco Sensitive Zones by 100 Times

Eco-sensitive zones help in conserving wildlife, reduce man-animal conflict and improve socio-economic conditions of people around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

Utkarsh Anand | CNN-News18
Updated:September 16, 2017, 1:00 PM IST

Picture for representation. (Getty Images)

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said that the Central government’s decision on reduction of eco-sensitive zone from 10-kilometres to 100 metres looks like a ‘prima facie arbitrary’ decision, with the court deciding to examine the validity of the Centre’s policy.

Eco-sensitive zones help in conserving wildlife, reduce man-animal conflict and improve socio-economic conditions of people around national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

In a statement having severe ramifications on residential and commercial projects across the country, the top court is questioning the government’s move and while examining the validity, will specifically look into whether the Environment Ministry could have exercised such a power when pitted against environmental interest.

"Prima facie, it appears to us a completely arbitrary exercise of powers by the Ministry of Environment and Forest," said the top court in its stinging order.

On Friday, a bench led by Justice Madan B Lokur expressed surprise at the fact that the Central government, as a policy decision, has been approving proposals to reduce eco-sensitive zone from 10 km to 100 metres.

"It is extremely surprising that 10-km Eco-sensitive zone has been reduced by the Ministry of Environment and Forest to 100 meters.”

"Since an order of this nature is capable of destroying national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in the country, we would like to examine the validity of this reduction," ordered the Court.

The bench, which was hearing a case, relating to environmental clearance to an industrial unit, within a 10-km radius of Dadar and Nagar Haveli Wildlife Sanctuary, questioned the intent of the Central government in protecting the wildlife in the country.

"Do you want to destroy everything? Wildlife, river, everything (sic)? You will have to explain how and why you did this and how do you propose to protect the environment now? Has the concept of 'protected areas' become irrelevant now?" the bench asked Additional Solicitor General ANS Nadkarni.

The Court tagged this case with a clutch of cases relating to environmental protection and is likely to take this up after four weeks.

The Central government had its own standard guidelines of having 10-km as eco-fragile zones around a protected area under the Wildlife Conservation Strategy 2002, which was later endorsed by the Supreme Court. The Court had directed that a 10-km limit was to be treated as the eco-sensitive zone until there is a notification by the Centre.

However, in the last two years, by a series of notifications, the Environment Ministry approved a reduction of eco-sensitive zone for a number of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.

A reduction in eco-sensitive zone by the Ministry had rendered 59,400 apartments in Noida legal, which came within the 10-km radius of Okhla Bird Sanctuary.

A similar exercise is underway around Gir Forest in Gujarat and certain protected areas in Karnataka.

Environmentalists and wildlife activists alike have opposed this reduction, stating that the policy change will enable private parties to operate resorts adjacent to sanctuaries with ease, while allowing several other residential projects too.
http://www.news18.com/news/india/sc-pulls-up-centre-over-decision-to-reduce-eco-sensitive-zones-by-100-times-1519609.html

BMC expects to start Byculla Zoo 2nd phase revamp work by November

By Sweety Adimulam | Sep 12, 2017 08:53 am

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is expecting to start the much-awaited second phase revamp work of Veer Jijamata Udyan, popularly known as Byculla Zoo, amounting to Rs.120 crore by November first week. A senior civic officer of BMC claimed that the proposed project includes construction of 17 animal enclosures for the new animals – which include Asiatic lion, Bengal tiger, sloth bear, jackal, wolf – which will be brought in from other places.

He added, “In the earlier tender process, pre-bidders were received but due to technicalities the tender was scrapped. Where, re-tendering was done again and we received four interested bidders to take up the work this time. Out of four the lowest bidder would be selected out of them.”

Also Read: Mumbai: Byculla zoo entry fee hiked; new charges from Aug 1

BMC plans to complete the work by the end of 2017. However, due to delay in tender process the deadline might get extended. “Until the enclosures are not made the animals cannot be brought to the zoo.  Currently, the zoo gets approximately 5,000 visitors on week days and on weekends the number goes upto 10,000.” The proposed plan is designed for 18 Indian species, five exotic species, nine species of mammals, 26 species of birds and six species of reptiles.

Baby hippo named Raksha

Shilpa, a female hippopotamus at Byculla zoo delivered a calf weighing 25 to 30kg in August last year. The team of veterinarians have named the baby hippo Raksha, “Immediately, after the birth it was not possible to ascertain the sex of baby hippo, until the mother is comfortable with the people coming near her. As she has become familiar with the team of doctors we have named the new female baby hippo as Raksha as she was born on the occasion of Rakshabandhan day. If it would have been male then he would have been named as Bandhan,” Sanjay Tripathi Director of Byculla zoo said.The one-year old baby hippo now weights around 150 kilograms while her mother Shilpa weighs in at two tonne. At the zoo, hippopotamus are fed with green grass and a special diet called ‘concentrate ration’ which consists of mixture of wheat bran and soak gram. Tripathi added that as the baby hippo is just a year old now special attention is taken regarding the hygiene. As they love to sit inside the water pool, it is cleaned every alternative day.
http://www.freepressjournal.in/mumbai/bmc-expects-to-start-byculla-zoo-2nd-phase-revamp-work-by-november/1135675

Gujarat government allows 50 devotees to stay overnight at Gir temple

Himanshu Kaushik | TNN | Sep 7, 2017, 07:22 IST

File photo of Gir sanctuary.

AHMEDABAD: Through a notification, the state government has allowed 50 devotees to stay overnight at the Kankai Mataji temple within the Gir sanctuary , the only abode in the world of the Asiatic Lion. The decision has raised the hackles of wildlife activists and even the members of the State Board for Wildlife, who say that the move will be detrimental to conservation of lions.

In 1998-99, a similar attempt was made to permit tourists to stay overnight at the temple. However, the permission was cancelled following the intervention of the standing committee on science and technology , environment and forests of the Rajya Sabha. Principal chief conservator of forests G K Sinha said: "The government had on Tuesday issued a notification making corrections in the earlier government resolution. The earlier GR had stated that the trustees of the temple and devotees should be permitted to stay within the sanctuary." Sinha said that the government on Tuesday defined `devotees'. "Accor ding to Tuesday's GR, devotees would be those whose family deity is Kankai Mata or those who want to perform a pooja -they can stay over," Sinha said. "Ho wever, the number of such devotees should not exceed 50."

A senior officer of the forest department said that till now, apart from the trustees, no one -not even their family members -had been allowed to stay . In the absence of clarity about who constitutes `devotees', the deputy conservator of forests denied permissions. The officer said now that the government has allowed 50 devotees to stay , officials would be forced to issue permissions. He said that in the new circumstances, anyone can get a letter from trustees under the pretext of performing a pooja and stay overnight at the temple. He said that poachers or unwanted elements could also possibly infiltrate into the sanctuary . He sa id that since there was no regular pooja in the night, there was no need for people to stay over.

Contradicting forest officials, fo rest minister Gan pat Vasava said: "Over 300 devote es used to stay overnight. The government, in order to conserve the lions, has reduced the number." Bhushan Pandya, a member of the State Board for Wildlife, said: "The real pilgrim is ignored and tourism takes the front seat. In 1998, in similar circumstances, the government had to withdraw." The decision of the government to allow the night stay will be bad for conservation as any person can stay as a tourist in the forest area, Pandya said.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/ahmedabad/gujarat-government-allows-50-devotees-to-stay-overnight-at-gir-temple/articleshow/60401149.cms

Wolves death in Nahargarh Park may impact exchange programme

If the deaths continue, it could impact the exchange programme that enables the forest department to bring other wildlife animals including panther, lion and bear from other zoos to the country in exchange of wolves. 

If the deaths continue, it could impact the exchange programme that enables the forest department to bring other wildlife animals including panther, lion and bear from other zoos to the country in exchange of wolves. 

jaipur Updated: Sep 04, 2017 21:14 IST

Manoj Ahuja
Hindustan Times

Four wolves had died earlier and two more died last month at the Nahargarh Park.(HT PHOTO)

The death of six wolves in Nahargarh Biological Park, Jaipur, under mysterious circumstance over the past few months has become a cause for concern. The authorities are still clueless about the cause of death. While four wolves have died since April, two more died last month.
If the deaths continue, it could impact the exchange programme that enables the forest department to bring other wildlife animals including panther, lion and bear from other zoos to the country in exchange of wolves.
While the post-mortem has not revealed anything unusual, the zoo authorities want to rule out the possibility of contagious infection among the animals.
“We have sent blood samples to IVRI (Indian Veterinary Research Institute) lab in Bareilly for testing and the report is expected within 15 days,” said DCF (wildlife zoo) Jaipur Sudershan Sharma. He, however, said that there was no danger of derailment of the exchange programme. “At present, we still have three female and four male wolves for exchange, apart from the ones on display at the Park,” he added.
The Park is awaiting new members from Chandigarh zoo under the exchange programme that include a pair of Barasingha (swamp deer), a spot-billed duck and a pheasant. While the Central Zoo authority has given permission for exchange of birds and animals from Chandigarh zoo, other animals and birds are also to be exchanged from different zoos across the country.
Ever since the Park was inaugurated last year, most animals from the old Jaipur zoo have been relocated to Nahargarh. A few animals left at the old zoo including wolves and deer are also proposed to be relocated.
Nahargarh Biological Park, a part of the Nahargarh sanctuary is located about 12 km from Jaipur on the Jaipur-Delhi highway. Spanning across 720 hectares, it is famous for its rich flora and fauna and doubles up as a place for education and research. It is home to more than 285 species of birds and houses animals like Asiatic lions, Bengal tigers, panthers, hyenas, wolves, deer, crocodiles, sloth bear and wild boar.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/jaipur/wolves-death-in-nahargarh-park-may-impact-exchange-programme/story-jf7ZNXg7VF3G0EJcFCnczO.html

31.08.2017 15:22

The three as yet unsexed Asian lion cubs, were born on August 13 to first time parents, mother Gira and father Shanto. Picture Darragh Kane

Three Lion cubs born in Fota Wildlife Park

Fota Wildlife Park today announced that one of their Asian lionesses has given birth to her first litter of cubs in what is also a first for Fota Wildlife Park.

The three as yet unsexed Asian lion cubs, were born on August 13 to first time parents, mother Gira and father Shanto after a gestation of about 112 days.
Asian lions are considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as there are only 500 individuals remaining in the wild.
The pride of Asian lions at Fota Wildlife Park features the five-year-old male Shanto who came from Zoo de Santillana in Spain and two sisters Gira and Gita, both three, who came from Helsinki Zoo in Finland to the recently opened Asian Sanctuary.

Lioness Gira with her three cubs. Picture Darragh Kane

Fota Wildlife Park are experiencing something of a “cub-boom” at the moment as they also recently announced the birth of a Sumatran tiger cub and a litter of four cheetah cubs. Sean McKeown, director of Fota Wildlife Park said “We are absolutely thrilled that Gira successfully delivered her first litter of cubs here at Fota as the pride of lions are relatively new and have only been in situ for just over a year in their specialised habitat."
"It’s our first participation in the international breeding programme for Asian lions and are delighted to see this success in the arrival of the cubs.”
He continued: “There are only approximately 200 Asian lions in Wildlife Parks and Zoos and to be able to contribute to a successful captive breeding programme worldwide is an essential safeguard against a severe decline to the wild population, which may be vulnerable to disease or other factors such as natural disaster – and the birth of the cubs is a great way of creating awareness for these conservation issues”.
Lead ranger, Kelly Lambe commented on the births by saying “The cubs are still really new and Gira the mum seems to be very comfortable with them, they are full-time job for her as they require feeding every three to four hours but she is doing great as a first-time mother."
"Their eyes are only open a few days but they are starting to move about and explore and have already taken their first steps but as babies they do spend a lot of time sleeping. As she is feeding three hungry mouths we’ve increased her feed by one-and-a-half kilos a day.”

Asian lions are considered endangered as there are only 500 individuals remaining in the wild. Picture Darragh Kane

The Asian lion population has recovered from the brink of extinction to several hundred individuals. Today they only live in the Gir Forest, India, which remains the stronghold for this species apart from a few prides living outside this protected area.  The lions live closely alongside humans in their last remaining natural habitat, including the Maldhari community, who also live within the Gir Forest.
Compared to their African cousins, Asian lions have shaggier coats, with a longer tassel on the end of the tail and longer tufts of hair on the elbows. The most noticeable physical characteristic found in all Asian lions, but rarely in African lions, is a longitudinal fold of skin running along their belly.

http://www.eveningecho.ie/corknews/Three-Lion-cubs-born-in-Fota-Wildlife-Park-acbb8911-d4fe-4471-8e4a-4448999dae0e-ds

Cat fights

Gujarat’s refusal to part with Gir lions is churlish. MP’s decision to introduce zoo-bred lions into forests is unwise
By: Editorials | Published:September 1, 2017 12:36 am

Madhya Pradesh has waited for nearly two decades for lions to roar at the Kuno-Palpur National Park. In the 1990s, wildlife experts felt that confining the Asiatic Lion to the Gir National Park in Gujarat was not a good idea. The Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, carried out surveys to find a second home for the beast and recommended shifting some of the felines to Kuno. But the Gujarat government has termed the big cat as the “pride” of the state, and refused to share them with MP. An exasperated MP government has now decided to breed lion cubs in zoos and shift them to Kuno.
Till the late 19th century, the Asiatic lion roamed large parts of North India, as far east as what is today Bihar, with the Narmada river marking the southern limit of its range. But indiscriminate hunting and large-scale conversion of forests into farms and human-settlements proved to be the animal’s doom. By the early 20th century, the deciduous forests of Gir were the Asiatic lion’s only home. In 1913, the chief forest officer of Junagadh reported that there were only 20 of the majestic animals left in Gir. Since then, conservation efforts have not only saved the animal from extinction but resulted in a significant increase in their population. At the last census in 2015, the lions in Gir numbered 523.
Wildlife experts, however, believe that a disease outbreak or a natural disaster like a forest fire in the animal’s only home could undo the conservation achievements of the past 100 years. However, Gujarat does not want to part with its lions. Conservation has taken a further backseat with the MP government’s proposal to the Centre to allow Kuno to source cubs from zoos. The lion cubs will have to compete with other predators hardened with the ways of the forest. It is anybody’s guess how they will fare.
http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/cat-fights-madhya-pradesh-lions-kuno-palpur-national-park-4823018/