Tiger tourism will be back to business as the Supreme Court today lifted its July 24 ban that had made the core areas of all the 41 tiger reserves across the country out-of-bounds for tourists.

Rajkot: The forest department with the help of local wildlife conservationists released Olive Ridley Turtles and Green Sea Turtles into the sea near Chanchbandar in Rajula taluka of Amreli district.

According to officials, Olive Ridley Turtles and Green Sea Turtles are known to nest along the Saurashtra coast. Considering the threats and steep decline in natural population of sea turtles, International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has put them in the globally endangered species’ list and in India they are put in the Schedule 1 category of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, extending them highest degree of protection by law.

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.

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.

The Supreme court today 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 th

There is good news for dolphin lovers. From 600 in 2005, the number of Gangetic river dolphins in Uttar Pradesh has risen to 671, according to the latest dolphin census report.

The first biggest single census of the Gangetic river dolphins was held by the state forest department, WWF-India and 18 other NGOs and supported by HSBC. UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav who released the report at a function, said that the efforts to create awareness about the need to conserve Gangetic river dolphins was ‘praiseworthy.’

SOG Probes Whether Accused Are Linked To Int’l Smugglers

Jaipur: The special operations group (SOG) of state police on Tuesday busted a racket involved in smuggling of turtle shells and arrested two persons. The duo were held while they were trying to sell 65 shells to some buyers. The estimated price of these shells is nearly Rs 50 lakh in the international market. The SOG got a tip-off in August that some people belonging to the Kalbelia tribe in Kota are planning to catch and sell turtles once the monsoon recedes. Accordingly, the SOG formed a team and sent decoys to the smugglers, said sources.

New Delhi: Environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan told the National Board of Wildlife meeting on Wednesday that a committee had been set up to review the eco-tourism guidelines.

The meeting of the National Board For Wildlife (NBWL), on Wednesday, presided by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the first ever since its reconstitution two years back, considered several proposa