Guwahati: As the picturesque World Heritage Site at Kaziranga National Park (KNP) was thrown open for tourists for the season on Thursday scores of tourists from England and Japan along with several groups of domestic tourists visited the ‘world heritage site’ known as abode of one-horned rhinoceros.

The tourists season will last till March 31 next. Another tiny rhino habitat in Assam, Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park in Darrang district was also opened for tourists on Thursday.

Greenpeace India's `Save Junglistan' online campaign to save the forests and stop coal mining has received over 50,000 signatures on the petition.

Members say it will help ganja cultivators, encourage poaching

The Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the Supreme Court on August 7 rejected a proposal cleared by the Tamil Nadu Government for laying a road connecting Karumbarai in Theni Forest Division with the grizzled giant squirrel sanctuary near Watrap in Virudhunagar district. According to Ministry of Environment and Forests sources, the CEC, after inspecting the areas in Theni and the sanctuary on June 13, held public hearing on four occasions. The last one was on August 7, at which it announced the rejection of the proposal.

A delegation of nearly 15 persons, including office-bearers of the Valparai Merchants Federation and various other associations, on Wednesday left for Chennai to urge officials to exclude Valparai from the core and buffer areas of Anamalai Tiger Reserve.

A. Jebaraj, president of the federation, said that traditionally Valparai had been a land of plantations providing livelihood to thousands of workers from backward and suppressed communities. It houses a number of reservoirs and hydrel power stations. In addition, there are a number of places of worship frequented by devotees for hundreds of years.

Melanism can be seen more in the evergreen habitat of the Western Ghats where the interiors of the forests are dark

Melanism found in some animals at the Parambikulam forests in Palakkad district of Kerala has caught the imagination of wildlife enthusiasts. Recently, managers of the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve obtained photographic evidence of a pseudo-melanistic leopard. Earlier, a melanistic spotted deer was photographed. Though no photographic evidence has been obtained, black panthers too are said to have been spotted.

The rapid changes taking place in the forest eco system, mainly owing to excessive human intervention and climate change, has been leading to frequent straying of wild animals into human habitation in the forest areas of Konni and Ranni in recent times.

The sad fate of a male leopard that had strayed into the small hamlet of Iyravon nestling on the borders of the Kummannoor forests in Konni Forest division on Sunday was the latest in the series of man-animal conflicts taking place in this part of the State during the past six months.

JAIPUR: At least 10 poachers, armed with guns and knifes, thrashed a forest guard in Indala area in Ranthambore National Park on Tuesday night after he tried to nab them. The poachers escaped after killing a spotted deer.

According to sources, a guard, Hanuman, who was on duty in the park at night, heard some noises nearby. Suddenly he saw a few persons armed with guns and knifes. "No sooner he stepped forward, the poachers attacked him. At this the guard raised an alarm and soon his colleagues reached for help. But even they were attacked by the poachers who then escaped," said an official.