BHOPAL: Satpura-Maikal landscape of central India-- largest natural habitat of tigers in the world - will no longer remain one big entity, if coal mining is allowed in Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara district.

Ironically, state forest minister Sartaj Singh finds him in a fix with experts on both sides- those in favour of coal mining or protecting corridor for the sake of striped big cat population-divided on the issue.

35 Dams Constructed Provide Perennial Waterholes For Wild Animals

Thiruvananthapuram: An eco-friendly initiative by the forest department deep inside the forest areas of the state is slowly turning into a perennial waterhole for hundreds of wild animals, this summer. The state forest department, to counter the drought inside the forests, has constructed around 35 check dams across many rivers which originate from the Western Ghats, blocking the flow of the water before letting it flow down into the villages bordering the buffer zones of the Ghats.

A severe drought across Maharashtra is forcing leopards out of their forest habitats and pushing them into areas inhabited by people, leading to human-animal conflict.

According to forest officials leopards are straying out of forests as water bodies dry up and often enter agricultural areas. So far, incidents of leopards straying into inhabited areas have increased in Western Maharashtra, which is facing severe drought this year.

BAHRAICH: An eco-sensitive zone will be developed in the Sohelwa wildlife sanctuary on the Indo-Nepal border for the security of wildlife in Sohelwa.

The plan of wildlife conservation led by then prime minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was chalked out in the year 2002 and the programme is being launched now 10 years later. Sohelwa wildlife sanctuary on the Indo-Nepal border was acquired by the government in 1988. Five ranges of the sanctuary are located in Balrampur district, including Tulsipur, Barahwa, Bankatwa, eastern and western Sohelwa, while two zones are in Rampur and Bhabhar of Shravasti district.

Advisories To Deal With Situations When Big Cats Stray Into Human Habitats

Pune: The chief wildlife warden of Maharashtra has issued advisories to the state’s four tiger reserves —Sahyadri Tiger Reserve in Kolhapur, Tadoba-Andhari in Chandrapur, Pench in Nagpur and Melghat in Amravati — to follow the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) recently released by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), framed to deal with emergencies arising because of tigers straying into humandominated landscapes.

SHRAVASTI: To adress man-animal conflict along the Indo-Nepal border, the area will be equipped with solar fencing and thorny wires at the cost of Rs 8 crores. Till now, the efforts to stop such conflicts is a failure.

The difference between the population and the forest could not be widened as the line between them has not been drawn yet. Around 500 villages of Shravasti and Balrampur are situated near Sohelwa and the inhabitants in these villages are frequently visiting the forest. The proposal for wiring was sent to the government four years ago but now the chances of approval looks bright.

IMPHAL: Wildlife books, written a few decades ago say that many species of animals and birds were available in plenty in Manipur.

Guwahati: Assam government has decided to constitute and deploy well-equipped Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) in various parts of the State that are prone to frequent conflicts between man and animal.

The raging man-animal conflicts in assam basically involving elephants and leopards of late have resulted into casualties and losses on both sides. There have been instances of brutal attacks by people on wild animals straying out of their natural habitat in the State.

Three developing countries have recently toughened hunting regulations believing the changes will better protect vanishing species.

Zambia has banned the hunting of lions and other endangered wild cats such as leopards because it sees more value in game viewing tourism than blood sport, the country's tourism minister said on Th

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