New Delhi: Countering Gujarat’s opposition to lion translocation project, the Madhya Pradesh government told the Supreme Court that a second habitat for Asiatic Lions in Kuno — cleared by National Board of Wildlife — was mandatory to avoid Tanzania’s disastrous experience in Serengeti where an epidemic outbreak almost wiped out the entire lion population.

Madhya Pradesh met with disdain Gujarat’s apprehension about safety of lions. The Shivraj Singh Chouhan government did not deny the past lapses allowing poachers to wipe out the entire tiger population in Panna, but said the new model of wildlife protection had got it laurels from many quarters and its efforts were being replicated by other states.

The Supreme Court’s interim order banning tourism in core areas of tiger reserves has taken its toll on Pachmarhi, a picturesque hill station with its major attractions within the core area of Satp

Madhya Pradesh has bagged the highest number of awards for tiger conservation.

Several reports have pointed to rampant mining in Madhya Pradesh, but the state government is yet to wake up. Abhishek Bhalla tracks the unchecked plunder.

Tells SC State Has All Expertise, Infrastructure & Environment

New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh on Monday pitched in with a plea in the Supreme Court for translocation of Asiatic lions from Gujarat to its Kuno Palpur sanctuary, insisting it has the entire wherewithal to ensure harmonious environment to the threatened species. State counsel Vibha Datta Makhija told a special forest bench of justices K S Radhakrishnan and C K Prasad that Madhya Pradesh had “all the necessary infrastructure,

Madhya Pradesh, once famous as the “Tiger State,” lost 453 animals over the last decade. And how many culprits did the government bring to book? Just two. Recently accessed documents reveal only two cases of poaching reached their logical conclusion of conviction during this period, as of March 2012.

Sample the facts: according to the conservation programme ‘Project Tiger', the population of big cats in Madhya Pradesh in 2001-02 stood at 710. However, the 2011 census revealed there were only 257 tigers left in its six reserves — Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Panna, Bori-Satpura, Sanjay Dubri and Pench.

The Supreme Court (SC) verdict for making a buffer zone in the famous Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) of the State has come out as a setback to the State Government.

Good news for wildlife lovers! The tiger population in Madhya Pradesh is on rise.

After Panna's successful rewilding, Sariska is sanguine

First there was the Sariska debacle in which all the tigers were found missing in the reserve in Rajasthan's Alwar district sometime in 2004-05. Then there was similar misfortune in Madhya Pradesh's Panna Tiger Reserve in February 2009 — the wild cats became extinct there.

The State Government is likely to recommend a CBI probe into the alleged disappearance and poaching of wild cats from Panna Tiger Reserve based on a report submitted by sanctuary authorities.