Jaipur: The ambitious but controversial tiger relocation programme at Sariska Tiger Reserve is set to enter the next phase with the introduction of two female and a male tiger in the park before the end of winter.

This will take the tiger count to 10 at Sariska. The forest department is gung ho about the plan, more so after the sighting of the first cubs recently.
Everybody, though, doesn’t share forest department’s enthusiasm regarding the project. The debate on if Sariska is safe for tigers is on with conservationists raising concern over poaching still being a big threat.

Jaipur: With the Sariska tiger translocation project bearing fruit in the form of two cubs, the stage is set for Sariska to get three more tigers. In fact, the second phase of the translocation will see the forest department trying to introduce fresh blood into the 866 sq km forest.

“Plans have been finalized for the shifting of three big cats to Sariska. One of the tigress will be from Ranthambore and two more (one male and one female) will be relocated from outside the state. It could either be from Madhya Pradesh or Maharashtra and we are talking to both the states,” says V S Singh, additional chief secretary, environment and forest, government of Rajasthan.

Union Environment and Forests Minister Jayanthi Natarajan on Wednesday announced a fund of Rs 1 crore for the infrastructural development of Kaziranga National Park’s (KNP) tiger reserve area. She also assured 24-hour security arrangements in KNP for protection of wildlife, providing nine speed boats and a battery-powered aircraft.

Natarajan, accompanied by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, State Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain and senior wildlife officials, visited the Kaziranga National Park (KNP) on Wednesday to take stock of the situation there following the recent spate of rhino killings in the park.

Panel counsel says States can prepare site-specific tourism plans considering ecological, social and religious issues

The Supreme Court’s observation that guidelines for protection of tiger reserves will not hamper the movement of devotees to the Sabarimala temple comes after a point-blank submission in court by the Kerala government that any attempt to introduce curbs would primarily affect religion, not tourism. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has framed a set of comprehensive guidelines for Project Tiger and tourism in tiger reserves. The guidelines are proposed to be issued under Section 38-O (c) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Illegal mining enquiry agency M B Shah Commission would take more time to submit the preliminary report on Odisha because of complexities involved in investigation of mining lease records.

The commission, which has already stated that it might come for third time to complete verifications all the lease deeds of iron and manganese mines of the state, said that an interim report is not possible without complete investigation.

The Karnataka government told the High Court on Tuesday that the elephants proposed to be sent to Madhya Pradesh did not fall under the category of wildlife, as they were trained and captive.

In an affidavit, the government told the court that the elephants were not being sold, but some of them were only being transferred for management of Madhya Pradesh’s tiger reserves. This did not violate the purpose of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, it said during the hearing of a petition by Compassion Unlimited Plus Action, a City-based animal activist forum.

Mumbai:In a bid to avoid conflict, villagers living in core areas of tiger reserve in Maharashtra will be given Rs 10 lakh as compensation to relocate.

New Delhi: With the season of festivals and holidays drawing near, the Supreme Court on Tuesday served some good news for wildlife enthusiasts by indicating that it would lift the two-and-a-half mo

The Supreme court on Tuesday allowed the Centre to notify within a week its fresh guidelines on tiger conservation and indicated that it may modify its July 24 order staying all tourism activities in the reserved areas across the country.

A bench of justices A.K. Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar, however, made it clear that the states, if aggrieved by the guidelines, are free to challenge it before the court. “We cannot either validate the guidelines or declare any of the guidelines ultra-vires of the Constitution,” the bench observed, while posting the matter for further hearing on October 16.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Centre to notify within a week its fresh guidelines on tiger conservation.