World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and UP forest department would now work in tandem to prevent destruction of crops and threat to human lives by elephants in villages adjoining Katarniaghat Wildlife

The number of tigers is likely to go up in the Dudhwa reserve this year as eight to ten big cats have been captured on the cameras installed in the territory.

The formation of anti-depredation squads on the periphery of Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, has resulted in over 60 per cent drop in man-elephant conflicts in the area, officials said.

Lucknow: Have Dudhwa tigers shunned their preferred prey - the cheetals and sambhars - to hunt the mighty rhinos? The killing of a 35-yearold female rhino by a tiger in Dudhwa national park and the subsequent eating of the carcass has raised a doubt if the behaviour of Dudhwa tigers is changing.

The experts are not ready to buy the argument that the declining prey base is the reason why tigers are hunting and eating rhinos. "If tiger population in the park is increasing, prey base can not decline," said Tito Joseph from the wildlife protection society of India (WPSI). The tiger sneaked into the rhino rehabilitation area to kill the 35-year-old female rhino Pavitri, brought to Dudhwa in 1984 under the rhino rehabilitation programme.

Prospective Sites Include Ghats, Sanctuaries, Falls

Lucknow: For wildlife enthusiasts and nature lovers planning to explore eco-tourism sites of Uttar Pradesh, there is help at hand. Working on ways to promote eco-tourism in the state and to attract people to exotic locales, UP Forest Corporation (UPFC) will go public with its initiative this week. The corporation will begin with selected tourist sites, including Katarniaghat. Other sites will be taken up over a period of time.

Lucknow: At least five rhinos have gone missing from the Dudhwa national park. Though the forest department officers are tightlipped about the incident, wildlife enthusiasts have voiced concern over their disappearance.

“Frantic search is on for the rhinos, missing for the past four days. The area has been cordoned off,” said a Dudhwa official. When TOI tried to contact Dudhwa director Shailesh Prasad, he hung up. His deputy, too, could not be reached for a comment on the development all through the day.

The century-old one-horned Asiatic rhino habitat in Terai Arc is turning into rehabilitation zone for the threatened species.

The UP Forest Corporation (UPFC) will start its eco-tourism initiative from Saifai Mahotsav. The corporation will set up a stall at the Mahotsav venue to publicise its initiative.

There is good news for tiger watchers going to Dudhwa tiger reserve. The National Tiger Conservation Authority guidelines, in view of the Supreme Court order, have not made much impact

Politicians and forest officials seem to be working at cross-purposes in Dudhwa Reserve, Uttar Pradesh.