Dry conditions cause concern

With dry conditions becoming a source of concern at the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) near Udhagamandlam, a proposal has been sent to the government to close it. Deputy Director, MTR, Ameer Haja, told the The Hindu on Wednesday that a detailed report with inputs from Range Officers had been submitted to the Field Director, MTR Raghuram Singh. It had been sent by the Field Director to the Chief Wildlife Warden along with a recommendation to close the reserve.

The fourth phase of the intensive ‘Tiger Monitoring Programme,' envisaged by the Tiger Task Force of the Union Government, began at the Kalakkad - Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) in Tirunelveli on Friday.

Giving details about the programme H. Malleshappa, Chief Conservator of Forests and Field Director, KMTR told The Hindu that the work on three phases had been completed. In the fourth phase, the setting up of 100 cameras in every four sq.km. area had begun.

An ailing tiger found by passerby under a tree at Kurumbar Pallam near Bokkapuram adjoining the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) was provided medical help at forest veterinary centre on Friday.

Though the area is part of the tiger habitat, spotting the animal early in the morning was unusual.

Young Ecologists Talk and Interact (YETI), the largest student-organised academic conference on ecology and conservation, brought together over 300 students and researchers of ecology on a single p

Conservation measures in the Nilgiris are satisfactory, observed the Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore Circle, V.T. Kandasamy here on Wednesday.

It is viewed as a big step before declaring it as a tiger reserve

In a significant step towards protecting the varied wildlife and as the next big step to declare it a tiger reserve, the State Government has expanded the Sathyamangalam wildlife sanctuary to 1.41 lakh hectares.

The spores survived and germinated after being exposed to 115 degree C for two hours

Can the mesophilic fungal spores that normally grow at 20 degree C to 35 degree C survive higher temperatures and still be able to germinate when the conditions are right? Believe it or not, laboratory studies have shown that some species of mesophilic spores can indeed survive even when exposed to 115 degree C for two hours! The duration of survival was longer at lower temperatures.

Bombay Natural History Society has conducted the survey in wildlife sanctuaries in and around the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve
A field survey on the vulture population in the wildlife sanctuaries in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and adjacent sanctuaries, conducted by the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), has found that the number of these bird species is declining at an alarming rate in the reg

Udhagamandalam: A wild elephant is battling for life near here and those who have seen it or heard about its plight are hoping that death would come to its rescue soon.

Enquiries made by The Hindu revealed that some forest staff perambulating Athimund Shola, a part of the Sigur reserve forest between Sholur-Kokkal and Bokkapuram, on Wednesday came across the tusker aged between 12 and 15 years