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Endangered Species

  • Illegal fishing continues to claim Olive ridleys

    Illegal fishing continues to claim Olive ridleys

    about 3,000 olive ridleys have died in various parts of Orissa since November 2007. The casualty was especially high

  • Tiger roars back to health

    The wounded tiger captured from Jharkhali, in the Sunderbans, was roaring at the slightest provocation on Tuesday, much to the delight of its attendants at the Alipore zoo hospital. "The impatience and anger shows its condition is improving,' said veterinary surgeon Swapan Kumar Ghosh, bandaging the wounds with colleague Gopal Samanta. "True to its nature, the beast was expressing displeasure by biting at the chord with which we were tying its limbs for treatment. This aggressiveness was absent when it was brought to the zoo hospital last Friday... We are happy with the progress,' Ghosh added. Zoo director Subir Chowdhury said: "The animal is still under medication. We cannot say right now when it will be fit enough to be brought before visitors.' On Tuesday, only mediapersons were allowed a glimpse of the Royal Bengal Tiger. The minor wounds have almost dried up but the deep ones, especially those on the hind leg, will take some time to heal, said Ghosh. The tiger, suffering from anaemia, has been on iron supplement for the past few days. "We will test its blood next week to check whether the haemoglobin level has risen. We hope the level will rise, as the animal is consuming eight kg of meat daily

  • We need to make sure our grandchildren will be able to see the Indian tiger

    George B. Schaller is an award-winning conservationist and field biologist who has been working on conservation issues around the world since 1952. Here in India in the wake of the tiger census, Schaller

  • Cross-border deal to protect gorillas

    Only 720 mountain gorillas remain in the wild, all of them in the misty hills of central Africa. Efforts to protect the critically endangered mountain gorilla received a big boost on Wednesday when Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo agreed to cooperate on a 10-year conservation plan for the animals. Only 720 mountain gorillas remain in the wild, all of them in the misty hills of central Africa where the three countries' borders meet. In the past 14 months, at least 10 gorillas have been killed in Congo's Virunga park by rebel fighters and people involved in the illegal charcoal trade. Despite the apes' vulnerability, conflict and mistrust among the countries has previously prevented formal cooperative efforts to stop the poaching and stem human encroachment. But in a joint statement on Wednesday, wildlife officials said their park authorities would work together "to ensure the conservation of the mountain gorillas and their Afromontane forest habitat.' Moses Mapesa, head of the Uganda Wildlife Authority, told a news conference in Kampala: "For the first time, the three countries have decided to protect the great apes which are threatened with extinction and insecurity in the region.' More than a decade of human conflict has damaged tourism in eastern Congo, but for Uganda and Rwanda the gorillas are still a prime attraction, with visitors paying

  • Dolphin may be declared as state river animal

    River dolphin, an endangered river animal found in the Brahmaputra and a few of its tributaries, is going to be declared as the State River Animal by the State Government soon. This was disclosed by H Sarma, DFO, Dhubri at a meeting organised here by the Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research (C-NES) recently. The NGO C-NES, which is working on the conservation of this rare and endangered water animal in the rivers of Assam since 2006, is holding this public awareness programme at Dhubri for the second time. In this connection, the NGO brought out an awareness rally, which was participated by fishermen families of Panchpeer char and Bahadurtari, the two riverine villages near Dhubri town where the dolphin project is run by the NGO. The rally was flagged off by Bhuban Saikia, retired lecturer of BN College. The rally was followed by spot drawing and essay writing competitions among the school students. A documentary film by Sanjay Hazarika on river dolphin of the Brahmaputra was shown to the audience. The open meeting was presided over by the DFO H Sarma, who in his presidential remark, said that dolphin is now found in Ganja, Meghna, Brahmaputra and in a river of Nepal in small numbers. This mammal's procreation period being three to four years, its population is gradually decreasing. Moreover water pollution, poaching and fishing by fine gill net have added to rapid depletion of dolphin population, he added. According to him the only remedy is awareness of the people both in poaching of the animal and in keeping the water unpolluted. He also suggested preservation of the breeding ground of the river creatures. Generally dolphins came to the marshy lands (beels) for breeding purposes. The Sareswar bill in Dhubri district is one such breeding ground for the water creatures, Sarma added. The meeting was also addressed by Mehboob Hussain, DPO, SSA, Dhubri and a few others. The meeting started with a couple of Goalparia songs sung by radio artist Charu Bala Roy wihle Manik Barua of C-NES anchored the meeting successfully. The aims and objectives of the NGO was narrated by Bhaskarjyoti Saud. Saud revealed that poaching of dolphin has come down after fishermen were provided with an alternative bait for cat fish fishing. The NGO is also trying to provide the people with some alternative means of earning through formation of self help groups.

  • Tigers in decline, Indian survey finds

    The use of new sampling techniques has cut by half the estimated number of wild tigers in India. A new report from the Indian government puts the number at 1411, compared with 3642 in 2002. Experts say the decline reflects more than just a change in methodology: Poaching, human encroachment and habitat loss take a heavy toll.

  • Giant Antarctic sea creatures discovered

    Sydney: Scientists studying Antarctic waters have filmed and captured giant sea creatures, like sea spiders the size of dinner plates and jelly fish with six-m eter-long tentacles.

  • Tiger deaths: Wildlife body protests, writes to PM

    The reasons for tiger deaths in the country are beginning to show.Members of the National Board for Wildlife, the apex conservation body chaired by the Prime Minister, wrote to him on Tuesday saying decisions approved by him, including the one on forming a sub-committee for the tiger, are not being followed and even minutes of meetings are not being properly recorded.

  • 1,411 tigers at last count, and now there are two less

    You can knock off two more tigers from the 1,411 count. Days after the national tiger count came up with this alarmingly low figure for tigers left in the wild, forest officials have seized two tiger skins

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