In an interesting development, the Karnatakka high court has dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL)challenging the proposal of the Karnataka government to translocate/transfer 23 elephants to

Expressing concern over the killing of peacocks in the state, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau has asked police to take stern action against the poachers.

Sterlite asked to deposit Rs. 100 crore with Collector

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Sterlite copper smelter plant to deposit within three months a compensation of Rs.100 crore with the Tuticorin Collector. A Bench of Justices A.K. Patnaik and H.L. Gokhale said this amount would be put in fixed deposit in a nationalised bank for a minimum of five years, renewable as and when it expired, and the interest would be spent on suitable measures for improvement of the environment after consultation with the TNPCB and approval of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

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

PIL against officials for issuing NOCs to bring jumbos from other states

Elephants being used in various ceremonies and processions have for long raised the heckles of environmentalists, on the grounds that the ‘gentle giants’ are subjected to inhuman treatment in the name of culture and tradition. Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA) and Akhila Karnataka Prani Daya Sangha have gone a step further and have filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the High Court, against the Principal Secretary to the Department of Environment and Ecology, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden.

Hundreds of fully grown and commercially important trees have been axed by thieves in the Dandeli-Anshi and Bandipur tiger reserves in Karnataka.

Sources indicated a nexus between the forest department officials and local politicians in the Kulgi range of the Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve. In Bandipur, eyewitnesses pointed to the involvement of a forest watcher in the racket. According to sources, a forest guard stationed in the Kulgi beat, Kulgi range, (now promoted and posted as DRFO, Zamga section) had given a free hand to this mass plundering of fecund forests between September 2012 and December 2012).

A tiger that has strayed into human habitation must be guided back to forest, chemically immobilised, trapped but, unless it is established as a man-eater, not killed, states a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) framed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority to deal with man-tiger conflict.

The SOP, circulated among chief wildlife wardens last month, states that "under no circumstances must a tiger be eliminated by invoking the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, if it is not habituated for causing human death". And declaring it a man-eater must also be a well-deliberated exercise that differentiates a chance man-killer from a habituated human stalker that feeds on the body and avoids its natural prey, says the SOP.

PANJIM: The Central Government, acting through the Union Environment and Forests Ministry, has blamed the Goa government for the current mining imbroglio, in a 107-page affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, pointing out to repeated directives issued by it, in a bid to ensure compliance of various mining related regulations.

The ministry also pointed out that it acted swiftly after receiving the Shah Commission report on the irregularities in iron ore mining in Goa and directed the state government not to renew any mining lease until all issues were examined.