On International Tiger Day today Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the All India Tiger Estimation Report 2018 revealing that India now has 2967 tigers in the wild. This is 33 percent growth in the tiger population from the last census conducted in 2014. The Prime Minister said that India had achieved its target of doubling the […]
Sink or Swim: Kaziranga Animals Fight the Annual Assam Floods
For the animals of Kaziranga National Park, the floods arrive like clockwork. The summers precede the rains and the rains precede the floods – the annual boon and bane that is as much a necessity as nature’s execration that forces some to perish and some to rise above and survive. This year till now the […]
Deforestation Cutting Escape Route of Animals Fighting Climate Change
Imagine it is unbearably hot where you live. The rain clouds are nowhere in sight and you wish you could escape to a cooler climate, somewhere on the hills. In fact, you set out the very next day, only to find that the road that would take you to the hills is gone. In its […]
A Scorpion with a Black Sting Discovered in the Western Ghats
It took the researchers 11 years to convince the scientific community that they had discovered a new scorpion. Because the specimen they had first spotted in Amboli Ghats of Maharasthra looked so similar to another commonly found Indian scorpion the Hottentotta rugiscutis, that it could possibly have been just a colour variation, thought the experts. […]
The 9 Core Issues Affecting Safety of Asiatic Lions in India
23 Asiatic lions died unexpectedly in Gujarat in September and October last year because of a sudden bout of the Canine Distemper Virus. The incident again triggered the issue of safety of the growing population of the lions and finding a second home for them. At present the Gir National Park in Gujarat is the […]
Wanted – Eggs of the Great Indian Bustard
It has been long due, but a bustard hatchery centre has finally come up in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan. And now, the scientists, including a team of experts from Abu Dhabi, are desperately searching for bustard eggs to pull back the world’s most threatened bird from extinction. The Great Indian Bustard was listed as a Critically Endangered […]
First Tigers Spotted in Kheoni Sanctuary in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh
Kheoni Wildlife Sanctuary in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh is in the spotlight for the right reasons. For the first time, five tigers have been spotted in the sanctuary that were photographed by a night camera trap. These include 1 male, 2 females and two eighteen month old tiger cubs. The Kheoni sanctuary was established […]
Supreme Court Stops Road Construction Through Rajaji Tiger Reserve
The Supreme Court of India last Friday stayed the construction work of an 11.5 km stretch road that is supposed to be build between Laldhang-Chillarkhal in the Rajaji Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand. For the promised road, Uttarakhand government had conveniently bypassed statutory clearances and begun the work. The court has issued a notice to Chief […]
Endangered Plant to be Named ‘Shiv Suman’ to Honour King Shivaji
The Frerea indica plant was first discovered in Shivneri Fort of Maharashtra’s Junnar region in Pune in 1865. It was first documented by British scientist Nicol Alexander Dalzel and scientifically named Frerea indica Dalzell after him. But now, 154 years later, in honour of the state and the place of its discovery the plant is […]
Gujarat Fears It Has Lost Its Only Male Great Indian Bustard
In December 2018 the state of Gujarat reported that its lone male Great Indian Bustard was missing. It was a young adult that the officials believed had flown to neighbouring Rajasthan and might return soon. Now six months later, the bird has still not been traced, and as chances of it returning to the state […]
The Asiatic Golden Cat Can Morph Into Six Different Colours
It can be grey, black or cinnamon coloured. It can have leopard-like rosettes or ocelot-like markings on its coat. Or the Asiatic Golden Cat can be golden coloured true to its name. For the first time ever, scientists have discovered that this threatened species of wild cat found in India can have six different colour […]