Madhya Pradesh that is in loggerhead with Gujarat over translocation of lions is now confident to reclaim its 'tiger state' tag in the next census.

Lonely Planet Group conferred "Best Indian Destination for Wildlife" award to Madhya Pradesh Tourism in Mumbai on Friday.

The pride of Gujarat will have to be shared with Madhya Pradesh this year, with the Supreme Court ruling that some of the Asiatic lions currently found only in the famed Gir sanctuary must be shifted to Madhya Pradesh within six months.

However, the Centre’s dreams of bringing another big cat to India — the extinct cheetah — have been further deflated, with the apex court slamming any attempt to import African cheetahs.

The Supreme Court on Monday directed concerned organizations to shift Asiatic lions from Gujarat to Madhya Pradesh.

The Madhya Pradesh government has proposed 15 eco-sensitive zones around its wildlife sanctuaries and parks, where illegal commercial activities including mining will be prohibited.

On 4 FEBRUARY 2005, two weeks after I reported the local extinction of tigers in Sariska, Project Tiger (PT) chief Rajesh Gopal told the Hindustan Times that a tiger was spotted and tracked by a te

Jaipur: The ambitious but controversial tiger relocation programme at Sariska Tiger Reserve is set to enter the next phase with the introduction of two female and a male tiger in the park before the end of winter.

This will take the tiger count to 10 at Sariska. The forest department is gung ho about the plan, more so after the sighting of the first cubs recently.
Everybody, though, doesn’t share forest department’s enthusiasm regarding the project. The debate on if Sariska is safe for tigers is on with conservationists raising concern over poaching still being a big threat.

Jaipur: With the Sariska tiger translocation project bearing fruit in the form of two cubs, the stage is set for Sariska to get three more tigers. In fact, the second phase of the translocation will see the forest department trying to introduce fresh blood into the 866 sq km forest.

“Plans have been finalized for the shifting of three big cats to Sariska. One of the tigress will be from Ranthambore and two more (one male and one female) will be relocated from outside the state. It could either be from Madhya Pradesh or Maharashtra and we are talking to both the states,” says V S Singh, additional chief secretary, environment and forest, government of Rajasthan.

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.

RTI activist Ajay Dubey of Madhya Pradesh, who shot into prominence with his Supreme Court petition asking for better monitoring of tiger reserves, feels he was justified in having sought redressal from the highest court.

“Madhya Pradesh had 700 tigers in 2000 but their numbers are down to 257,” said Mr Dubey who runs an environmental protection group, Prayatna. “Thirty-five tigers were lost in Panna alone from 2000. Undoubtedly, they died at the hands of poachers but my question is why was the ministry of environment so lax in implementing the Wildlife Protection Act 1972?” he asked.