Big Cats Come Out Of Hiding More Often To Quench Thirst

Bangalore: As summer peaks, the state forest department has something important to contend with — vulnerability of big cats in Project Tiger areas.With soaring temperature, they come out of hiding often to quench their thirst at water holes, rendering them visible.

Gadgets Used On Gir Lions To Track Big Cats In Mangroves

The forest department has decided to radio-collar ten tigers in the Sunderbans where population dynam ics of the big cats has al ways remained a mystery. And this time, an advanced set of radio collars, which helped scientists track tigers in Nepal and lions in Gir, will be used in the mangroves.

The Comptroller and Auditor General has pulled up the Orissa government for massive depletion of its tiger population despite the National Tiger Conservation Authority spending a huge amount of money for their protection.

In its latest report on the implementation of Project Tiger in Orissa, the CAG has said the number of tigers came down from 192 in 2004 to a mere 32 in 2010 in Similipal and Satkosia Tiger Reserves even though the Centre provided huge funds for conservation.

Forty years of tiger conservation efforts in the country seem to have borne fruit with the number of big cats rising more than five times from 268 in 1973.

"When project tiger was launched from Corbett's Dhikala range in 1973, tiger population in the country stood at 268. It has now risen to 1,468," Corbett Tiger Reserve Director Ranjan Mishra said today quoting an official estimate.

Tiger counts in four Maharashtra reserves show a dramatic increase. How did it happen?

A standard operating procedure (SOP) to deal with the emergency arising due to the straying of tigers in human-dominated areas has been issued by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), s

Central Fund Scaled Down By 100cr

Ahmedabad: The lion’s share of conversation funds in the country are meant only for the tiger. For the Asiatic lion, found only in Gujarat, the central government seems to have only peanuts. The Planning Commission has asked the Gujarat government to slash its project to preserve the lions outside the Gir sanctuary by Rs 100 crore.

Sparrows Indicate Environmental Well-Being, Their Absence Worrying: Experts

Bangalore: They may be small but their presence makes a big impact. Sparrows are an indicator of the environmental health of an area, say experts. And their disappearance can be linked to increase in infectious diseases and ecological changes, they warn.

Sathyamangalam forest in Erode district has been declared a Tiger Reserve. It is the fourth such reserve in Tamil Nadu. The three other tiger reserves are at Mudumalai in the Nilgiris district, Anamalai in Coimbatore district and Kalakad-Mundanthurai in Tirunelveli district.

The Forest Department has received the Government Order declaring Sathyamangalam Forests as a tiger reserve, and the Union government has also notified it, Conservator of Forests, Erode circle, A. Venkatesh told The Hindu over the phone on Monday.

New Delhi: Delhi is not close to any of the tiger belts of the country, yet it figures among the five hotspots in India connected to big cat poaching, says a report by a global wildlife trade monit