NEW DELHI: Concerned by high animal mortality in traffic accidents on roads passing through thick forests, the Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to the Centre and 10 states asking why mitigati

Rehabilitation programmes stalled owing to severe financial crunch

Left high and dry by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the State Forest department has been forced to approach the State government in the hopes of getting funds for rehabilitation projects under Project Tiger in Karnataka. The department, the nodal agency responsible for Project Tiger, claims it is in the throes of a financial crisis as it has suffered a poor flow of funds for rehabilitation projects aimed at reducing human presence in tiger habitats.

The Karnataka government told the High Court on Tuesday that the elephants proposed to be sent to Madhya Pradesh did not fall under the category of wildlife, as they were trained and captive.

In an affidavit, the government told the court that the elephants were not being sold, but some of them were only being transferred for management of Madhya Pradesh’s tiger reserves. This did not violate the purpose of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, it said during the hearing of a petition by Compassion Unlimited Plus Action, a City-based animal activist forum.

The increased tiger population in the three states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the last census is seen as the result of better conservation efforts. But now, some of the tiger reserves and sanctuaries in these regions are facing increased threat from the poacher gangs, which were until now very much active in other parts of the country.

After the recent arrest of a poaching gang near the BRT Tiger Reserve in Karnataka and the arrest of an Odisha native from Muthanga in Kerala for allegedly entering the forest region without permission, officials now suspect that hardcore tiger poachers and gangs are shifting their focus to the southern part of the country,

The forest department has suspended all safaris in the State’s tiger reserves from Tuesday morning.

The Supreme Court’s interim order banning tourism activities in the core areas of tiger reserves has shocked operators of the Jungle Lodges and Resorts (JLR) and other resorts around tiger reserves that made a living from tourism. The chief wildlife warden of the State, Deepak Sharma, PCCF (Wildlife) has sent faxes to all tiger reserves ordering that safaris must be suspended until a final decision is taken. “We have ordered to suspend the safaris inside Nagarhole, Bandipuir, Bhadra, Dandeli and K Gudi area in BRT Tiger Reserve. The ban will continue until the court takes up the matter next month,” Mr Sharma said.

The State Forest Department has stopped all tourism activities in the core areas of tiger reserves in the State with effect from Thursday in line with the country-wide ban by the Supreme Court.

Visitors now in the tiger reserves will have to return without a safari, as the State Government recently declared the entire tiger reserves in the State core areas. “There will be no tourism activities within Bandipur, Nagarhole, Anshi Dandeli, BRT Wildlife Sanctuary and Bhadra Tiger Reserve,” Dipak Sarmah, Principal chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and Chief Wildlife Warden, told Deccan Herald.

Govt declares Kaniyanapura and nearby villages as reserve forest

This is one classic example of how concerted efforts by government officials and civil society can make a difference to conservation.Jumbos move in the vicinity of an illegal resort in the elephant corridor. Sustained pursuance of the case by a few bureaucrats and wildlife activists has ensured that revenue land, over 5,000 acres, falling in a critical wildlife corridor at Kaniyanapura is declared a reserve forest.

KOCHI: A rich tiger population and proximity to other national wildlife sanctuaries like Nagarhole, Bandipur and Mudumalai are proving to be highly advantageous for Wayanad in its race for a tiger reserve.

The Ministry of Environment and Forests has expressed its willingness to consider a tiger reserve in Wayanad, provided a proposal comes from the Kerala government. However, the state government is yet to take a final decision.

COUNTRY’s FIRST: Fifty-four personnel were given three-month training to provide them with skills such as how to survive in the jungle and use of weapons like SLR, assault rifles, LMG and grenades