As the year 2013 came to an end, India came a bit closer to learning more about the world’s biggest fish. A female Whale Shark was satellite tagged successfully near the western coasts of Gujarat to allow researchers learn more about the migration route and habits of the vulnerable species. This is the second time […]
National Tiger Census: India all Set to Count its Tigers from Today
SPECIES WATCH: It is a day that holds many promises. A day that may eventually help a number of people working tirelessly to save India’s tiger know if their efforts have reaped rewards – in the form of rising number of the national animal. Starting 16th December is the third synchronized all India tiger census […]
Accidents and Electrocution Kill 28 Elephants, 3 Tigers and 1 Rhino in 2013
India’s Environment and Forest Minister Jayanti Natarajan has informed that this year, 28 elephants, 3 tigers and 1 rhino have died due to road, rail accidents and electrocution across all states in the country. This number does not take into account the deaths of these animals in the hands of poachers. As on December 3rd […]
Humans are Not Smarter than Animals
VIEWPOINT: There are tiny little insects called the Rhinoceros beetle that can lift 285 times their bodyweight. Humans can manage 1.7 times their bodyweight only. The starfish can regenerate their entire body from a cut off limb. Humans of course, can only regenerate a broken toe nail perhaps. Elephants can keep track of up to […]
See a Stick on the Crocodile’s Snout? Beware, it’s Bait!
A chimp using sticks for foraging army ants or an octopus using coconut shells as home are some of the known tool uses in the animal world that are amazing proofs of how humans are not the only species that use an object for a specific purpose. Now scientists have been surprised to discover that […]
Orang National Park Poacher-free No more: Three Rhino Deaths within a Week
(Some images used in the article may be discomforting) POACHING: The Orang National Park located on the north bank of the Brahmaputra River in the Darrang and Sonitpur districts of Assam, India, had a distinguishing title till a fortnight ago. It was the only National Park in the North eastern state which could proudly display […]
Sundarban Tigers Closely Related to Tigers from Central India
RESEARCH: India is home to the largest wild tiger population in the world. The Indian tigers are sometimes also known as the Royal Bengal Tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) also found in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, China and Burma. Found in fragmented pockets all across the country, there has been speculations however that the tigers of Sundarbans […]
How do Plants Tell the Time of Day?
As a kid, I was always curious about a plant in our garden called nine o’clock. My father informed that the unusual name popped from the plant’s habit to bloom like clockwork precision at nine o’clock in the morning. And so with clockwork precision myself, every day I would go out in the garden to […]
Sea Rising in East Sundarbans – Growing threat to Tigers.
Regions in the eastern part of Sundarbans – world’s largest mangrove forest and key tiger habitat, are under threat of going underwater as the sea level continues to rise in these parts. A recent study by the World Bank and Institute of Environmental Studies and Wetland Management (IESWM) has suggested immediate measures to ensure the […]
Rarest Egg in the World!
Scientist in Scotland stumbles upon Critically Endangered Indian Bird’s Egg RARE DISCOVERY: In the drawers of the Zoology museum of the University of Aberdeen, lay an egg, preserved but uncatalogued and unrecognised, until Dr Alan Knox found it and sent it for DNA analysis. What he discovered he aptly describes as a ‘eureka moment’ in […]
Satellite tags to help reveal More about Lesser Floricans
CONSERVATION: Endangered species are animals and plants whose number in their natural habitat is so limited that they might get extinct if proper measures are not taken to save them. However, more often than not, it is lack of comprehensive information related to these species that makes planning their protection or conservation difficult. It is […]