Are tiger habitats shrinking in the Western Ghats region which was recently placed in the World Heritage List of the Unesco?

A study conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India had shown that while tiger habitats in the Western Ghats were shrinking, the tiger population had shown a marked increase with the current tiger population being estimated to be 534. The WII study believed this translated into an increase of 32 per cent since 2006. Dr Ullas Karanth, conservation scientist and expert on the Western Ghats, however, insists the WII survey to study tiger numbers in 2006 and 2010 relies on poor methodology. Therefore, the speculation about shrinking habitats coupled to increasing tiger numbers is not reliable,” Dr Karanth said.

Guwahati: Assam’s Kaziranga National Park, which is closed for tourists annually from June to October due to the rains, is to be opened from Nov 1, the park director said Friday.

Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in Assam for domestic and foreign tourists, mainly due to the one-horned rhinos. According to government data, the park has been recording an increasing number of tourists every year. Last season, a total of around 1.25 lakh foreign and domestic tourists visited the park, officials said.

Guwahati: Assam’s Kaziranga National Park (KNP), the abode of one-horned rhinoceros, is all set get an un-manned remote-controlled aircraft and an electronic surveillance system for protecting the

Guwahati: Union Minister for Environment and Forest , Janathi Natarajan on Wednesday announced a grant of Rs one crore for taking immediate measures to repair the damages caused by three successive waves of floods in the rhino sanctuary known all over the globe for its diversity of faunal resources.

Natarajan was on her maiden visit to the abode of one-horned rhinoceros, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which suffered extensive damages recently to its infrastructure due to three waves of floods since June this year.

Large-scale mining in the buffer zone of Similipal Biosphere in Mayurbhanj district is threatening the wildlife and flora and fauna of the second largest tiger reserve in the country.

The death of 39 rhinos in and around the world-famous Kaziranga National Park in less than 10 months has brought to the fore the threat faced by the endangered animal.

The threat comes from poachers, who kill the rare one-horned rhinoceros for its prized horn whose price in the international market varies from Rs. 40 lakh to Rs. 90 lakh, and flood which is an annual occurrence in Assam.

Guwahati: Days after Assam’s Kaziranga National Park hit the headlines following a spate in poaching of the one-horned rhinos, the Assam government has decided to rush a 100-member team of the elite Assam Forest Protection Force (AFPF) for the protection of the rare animal.

Assam Forest Minister Rockybul Hussain Tuesday said a 50-member team of the AFPF had already been dispatched to the national park, which is a Unesco World Heritage site. He added that another 50 personnel of the elite force will be sent to the park within this week.

Making its representation to get Goa region of Western Ghats included as world heritage site by UNESCO, the state forest department has said that its forests are the only home on earth for rare spe

PANJIM: Giving up its initial reluctance to include Goa region of Western Ghat in the World Heritage Site of UNESCO, Forest Department has finally admitted that Goa along with contiguous forests of Karnataka and Maharashtra, is one of the best potential tiger habitat in this bio-diversity hotspot.

It has been alleged that various governments were dragging their feet on declaration of Western Ghat region as sanctuary for ‘tiger reserve’ since it would lead to the closure of at least 40 mining leases, 20 of which are active.

More and more of the capital’s best known monuments may now be illuminated through solar energy.

Building on the experience gained over the last three years and keen on promoting the use of environment—friendly solar energy, the Delhi government plans to light up more of the capital’s historical sites through cheap and plentiful energy from the sun. The 13th century Qutub Minar, the 17th century red sandstone Red Fort and the 16th century Humayun’s Tomb — all declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites — are among the six sites where the Delhi government plans to install solar power plants to replace conventional sources of electricity.