THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The controversy surrounding the night-time traffic ban along the 13-km stretch of the National Highway 212 running through the Bandipur National Park in Karnataka, is getting more vexed with the National Tiger Conservation Authority joining the issue.
There has been increased funding for wildlife conservation efforts in recent years. These funds have largely been spent on "habitat improvement" activities. In the absence of a scientific evaluation of such activities, inappropriate management of landscapes has led to human-wildlife conflicts in certain areas. Moreover, funds are being used for construction of conservation structures, forest roads and planting of exotic tree species without assessing the resulting adverse ecological effects and the gradual degradation in the quality of wildlife habitat.
One of the two radio-collared rogue elephants that had been shifted to Bandipur National Park from Alur in Hassan district, is on its way back to its territory.
Big cats of Bandipur Tiger Reserve can now prowl about in peace. The Karnataka government has decided to speed up its 2008 plans to set up a unique task force to protect tigers of the reserve.
Kerala Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has said the Kerala Government will move the Supreme Court against the orders of the Karnataka High Court regarding night traffic ban in the Bandipur corridor.
Countdown:An elephant and its calf in Bandipur National Park near Mysore.
Bangalore: The Karnataka State Forest Department is gearing up for a two-day elephant census that will be conducted across most of the State's national parks and sanctuaries on May 15 and 16. The census will be simultaneously carried out in the three other southern States
Amidst reports of tiger deaths, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel with wildlife officials spotting over 112 big cat cubs in national parks across the country.
Concerned over 14 big cats dying in the last three months, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has decided to convene a three-day meeting of wildlife officials of tiger-range states to review protection strategy in national parks.
