In a shocking incident, the mutilated body of a tiger has been found outside the Tadoba Tiger Reserve near Nagpur in Maharashtra. Poachers took away the head, paws and vital organs of the tiger, leaving behind a chopped off tail and other body parts stuffed in gunny bags dumped on a highway.

The body parts of the national animal were found yesterday at the buffer zone of the Tadoba Andhari Reserve just days after the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) declared a nationwide alert. All state forest departments had been asked to heighten their patrolling and anti-poaching efforts after news of poachers targeting the tiger reserves was received.

The mutilated carcass of the tiger had missing head, paws, genitals and internal organs, such as the liver, intestines, kidneys and the heart. Only the skin and the tail of the animals were left behind found in Borda village, and in gunny bags dumped near the Chandrapur-Mul state highway.

The village lies at the buffer zone of Tadoba reserve.

Forest officers believe the poachers must have lured the tiger outside the core area through an electric trap as tigers do not usually venture so close to human settlements.

Only the tail remains

The Maharashtra government has announced a reward of Rs. 1 lakh for anyone who can give information about the poachers, but it is not certain if this can be enough to put a stop to such a kind of an incident.

“It can’t be tolerated,” said conservationist Kishor Rithe of the Satpuda Foundation, a group that does wildlife awareness campaigns in central India. He demanded that the government set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the tiger death and nab the poachers.

“You can find the poachers within a week if there’s a will,” Rithe said.

Only a couple of days earlier special intelligence team had reported that a particular gang of poachers from neighbouring state Madhya Pradesh were aiming to kill25 animals to meet a contract for tiger parts in Southeast Asian countries.

A high alert had been declared in all the 42 tiger reserves of the country and despite this, poachers successfully accomplished their set task. If the intelligence team’s news is to be believed, they might be planning to kill another tiger right this moment!

“We have asked forest authorities for 100 per cent monitoring of water holes in tiger reserves. We have taken up advertisement and an information campaign to tell locals about the situation and have promised rewards for information on poachers,” Pravin Pardeshi, the principal secretary in the state forest department, said recently in Mumbai.

But it does seem that the poachers are much more organized and equipped than the people who are trying to save the tigers.

India has already lost 32 tigers in the past four months with 14 believed to have been killed by poachers.

Tadoba’s tiger population has risen in the past year, according to foresters, from 53 last year to 69 this year but the incident just puts a question mark whether the reserve can actually be proud of its tigers for too long.

In a recent meeting of the tiger range nations held in Delhi it was clearly felt by all countries that the number one reason that was halting the increasing tiger population in all countries was poaching. India has 50 percent of the world population of tigers and therefore naturally the nation is directly in the radar of poachers who can earn upto 50000 USD selling tigers and tiger body parts.

The tiger’s death is a wake up call. Perhaps the men who kill it are much more strongly motivated than the men who attempt to save it.

Now is not the time to think on what could have been done, but take charge and save the remaining 1705 tigers from the same fate.

More Related Stories,

Snare Scare for Tigers of India

Most People Think Camera Traps can put a Stop to Poaching

4000 acres of Tadoba Reserve Reduced to Ashes in a Forest Fire

Image via Gulfnews and TelegraphIndia

Human settlements around forest areas have always been a problem for the animals. Beside the fear of poaching and encroachment, humans keep coming in the way of the animals when all they wish to do is cross one fragment of the jungle and reach the other side of the green cover. In south India where wild elephant population is abundant, the elephant corridors are now infested with tea gardens, farms, villages. Consequently, human elephant conflicts are common and on the rise. Now, to tackle the delicate issue, one man has come up with a simple yet brilliant solution.

M. Anandakumar, a scientist with the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF) has thought of a plan to allow elephants to use their corridors as well as save humans from crossing their path when the wild animals are moving from one place to the other.

Warning Humans

Anandakumar has set up a team of seven men under the elephant information network in Valparai region of South India in Tamil Nadu state. These men track elephants during the day inside the forest area and by evening send exact information of the location of the different herds. This then is broadcasted as part of the local news.

“Every evening, the team sends information on the whereabouts of elephants to a local TV channel. This is displayed in the form of flash news every day after 4 p.m.,” explains Anand.

Anand and his team is also sending bulk messages on mobile phones to the locals so that they are aware of where the elephant herds were last spotted and avoid going to those areas.

NCF has a record of nearly 2,500 people in the area and mobile messages are sent to those who are present within a two kilometer radius of elephant movement.

Anand explains, ”The SMS, sent in Tamil and English to people working in the plantations, will tell you where exactly elephants are at that point of time. Plantation companies and the ground staff of the Forest Department have been very supportive. We have people calling us regularly to inform us of elephant activity that they know of.”

The team has also come up with a solution to warn villagers when a wild elephant herd is near their village. A gadget installed by the team in 22 villages across the area flashes a red LED light whenever an Elephant is in the vicinity. To activate the LED lantern  all someone has to do is dial a number of the SIM card inside it. It is a GSM based elephant warning system. In case of elephant movement, volunteers in the area dial the number of the indicator in the area, it begins flashing and people know to steer clear.

Anand Kumar was recently awarded the Carl Zeiss Wildlife Conservation award and says about the project,

“We have to find ways to strike a balance between the people and the elephants.”

The networking approach has already shown some positive results in the area. People no more fear venturing out of their homes and know the exact location of the elephant herd before leaving home. Children are able to attend schools peacefully. More importantly the conflicts and deaths that are triggered due to human-elephant presence at the same place has been curtailed to a large extent.

Now, if only the same simple solution could be applied to other regions of the country prone to human-animal conflicts.

More Related Stories,

Temple Elephants head for a Rejuvenation Camp

Scientists Develop Model to Predict Human-Elephant Conflict Zones

Interesting Facts about the Indian Elephants

Reference

Image via The Hindu and Frontline

Old habits die hard. This was found to be true after forest department officials in Karnataka found at least 80 snares in the protected forest covers of Bandipur and Nagarhole national parks in the last 3 months. It seems that poachers of the area have shunned firearms and started re-using the traditional snares and traps to injure and kill tigers.

Anti-poaching drives in most forests of India and the world are now focusing on poachers that work like an organization, are heavily armed and carry the latest technological tools and ammuniations to track and kill animals. But the latest find shows that the traditional methods are all not forgotten.

Going by the high number of snares, the forest officials found in the dense Western Ghat forests, the department has now manipulated its plan of action and is now hunting for traps and snares laid out by poachers in the region.

Says Jose Louies, programme manager with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), “It is a significant poaching prevention plan, as the morning strolls carried out as part of this project also deters poachers.”

The forest department is being assisted in this endeavour by WTI, with support from the Care for the Wild International. The enforcement-related intelligence gathering is being done by a network of WTI informers. Voice for Wildlife, a Mysore-based group of lawyers, is also providing assistance to the state forest department.

Why use Snares?

The reason for going back to the use of snares, says Jose, might be that the snares do their work silently and do not attract as much attention as a firearm. The snares are also easy to make and hide. They continue to lie in the forest cover and all the poacher needs to do is check for any animal caught at regular intervals. The investment on these devices is also negligible as compared to costly guns, and their paraphernalia.

Sudheer K Shankar, lawyer and co-founder of Voice for Wildlife, says, “Earlier, snares and traps were primarily used for bushment (like pork). If an animal like a tiger or a leopard was caught, that would be a bonus. The trend, however, has changed considerably. In recent years, there have been many reports of big carnivores like tigers and leopards being caught by these devices.”

Another important reason of using these devices is that snares do not destroy the skin of the dead animal. In foreign markets where buyers are looking for tiger or leopard skin, they prefer those skin that are least distorted by a gun mark or any other sign of violence. Ironically, the poachers ensure a beautiful skin by subjecting the animal to the cruelst and slowest death. Caught in a snare an animal may slowly perish in pain as it remains stuck to a metal piece. It cannot move, cannot drink, cannot feed and has an open wound to take care of.

Deathly Traps

From the conservationist point of view, the snares are a much more dangerous equipment in the hands of the poachers than a gun. The snares can not only kill an animal but lead to severe injuries and amputations of its limbs.

For an animal like a tiger it is a deathly blow to be injured like that. Being a predator, its chances of hunting become close to nil and it may slowly starve to death apart from the constant irritation it is subjected to due to the injury.

Although the problem is persistent in each and every jungle of India, the Karnataka forest department is perhaps the first to recognise the issue and come out with an action plan to overcome the problem.

“I am glad that the threat is being taken seriously by the forest department. Instead of catching the culprits, this programme is a preventive practice,” says Shankar.

The department is carrying out ‘snare walks’ by the Special Tiger Protection Force (a unit within forest department) members along with WTI staff, under the supervision of the park manager / director. Every snare recovered is GPS-tagged on a map and handed over to the range officer.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA),  is also taking the news seriously.

The organisation has found that there are atleast  10 state in India where wandering gangs are on the lookout for tigers.

“The situation is serious and calls for urgent action to step up protection in tiger reserves,” said an advisory issued by NTCA member secretary Rajesh Gopal.

The field directors of 41 tiger reserves in India had been instructed to deploy special anti-poaching squads to patrol the reserves and look for snares and traps. They have been instructed to complete the exercise within a fortnight.

The NTCA has also said that forest guards should keep a track of tigers and their cubs, straying out of the tiger reserves as they could fall prey to poachers. Another location to keep vigil are the water-bodies, which tigers frequent.

The authority had also received intelligence reports that many gangs had visited villages around tiger reserves in the recent past to examine the possibility of killing a tiger. As many as 29 tiger reserves had been identified as potential threat from poachers.

More Related Stories,

Boxer Turns Poacher to make Fast Bucks

Armed Commandos to save the Tiger

Camera Trap helping Catch Rhino Poachers

Reference Reference

Elevating the number of protected areas in the country and giving the national animal a little more space to roam freely, Kawal Wildlife Sanctuary in Adilabad district of Andhra Pradesh has been officially named as the 42^nd Tiger Reserve of the country. The area will not have a core area, a buffer zone and will get funding from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to ensure the tigers have a safe new home.

About 893 sq km of the Kawal wildlife sanctuary has been notified as core area. This is the area where no developmental work is allowed and the forest grounds are strictly protected as habitat for the wild species. Another 1,123 sq km area has been declared buffer zone for the tiger reserve. This is the area where restricted developmental and infrastructural work is allowed.

According to unofficial census, the sanctuary already has 20 tigers. While the central government had already allowed the move of converting Kawal to a protected tiger reserve in June 2011, it took almost a year for the state government to announce the decision.

According to 2010 tiger census, the country has 1706 tigers and though the number of tigers has increased from the last census, the forest cover has shrunk drastically with 22 percent of the forest lost over a span of 5 years.

With the addition of Kawal as a tiger reserve, the forest cover will slightly increase. It will also get ample funding to develop the area into a self sustaining tiger habitat with good prey-predator population.

The state government stated, The main objective for the declaration of Kawal Tiger Reserve is

”to protect, restore, manage and maintain representative biodiversity of Deccan plateau of Sahyadri Mountain Ranges along with ecological processes and conservation of wild gene pool with a focus on Tiger.”

Kawal is a Teak (Tectona grandis) and bamboo (Dendrocalmus strictus) forest with 673 other species of plants. It is also abode for a variety of wild animals including 23 insect species, 10 species of amphibians, 34 reptile species, 267 bird species and 75 species of mammals like Royal Bengal Tiger, Gaur, wild dog and Sloth bear.

More Related Stories,

Tiger Numbers Increase in Assam

Armed Commandos to Save the Tiger

Road Block for Tigers

Reference

Camera traps are the latest guardians of nature. Be it the Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand or the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, in most protested areas, the Indian government is installing cameras to let technology do the task that humans can’t. Keep a 24×7 eye on the forest to check that no poachers enter the protected zone and harm the precious wildlife.

When we asked our readers if they liked the way technology was used to aid protection of wildlife, most said the move was excellent. 90 percent believed that the installation of camera traps could reduce poaching of wild animals to a large extent.

There are clearly some advantages to using camera traps,

1. The forest departments of most states of India are in desperate need of human resources. Forest officers, rangers, guards, are as rare to find as some of the endangered species and therefore, it makes sense to take technological help so that at least the protection of the forest cover continues unhindered.
2. Humans have time limitations and cannot possibly be at all places all the time guarding the forest. Camera traps can provide crucial data 24×7 in spite of weather conditions, day-night conditions and in presence of animals that are elusive in nature.
3. Camera traps also help provide more information of the life of animals living in the forest, especially those that are nocturnal in nature and those that shy away from human presence.
4. Lastly, and most importantly, poachers can scent human presence, but might not easily see the cameras keeping an eye on them. Therefore, chances of them getting caught in the act increases substantially.

However as National Tiger Conservation authority’s deputy inspector general SP Yadav said, nothing can replace human patrolling, the camera traps do have some disadvantages,

1. Cost of putting of these cameras is immense. In Corbett the E-eye project cost the government a huge 3.5 crores and only about 350 sq. km of the 800 sq. km park is under survelliance. Considering the wide diversity of Indian forest cover, it would be a substantial amount of money that will have to be spend, first to install the cameras and then their regular maintenance.
2. Cameras can give photographic evidence but cannot nab the poachers. The task has to still be done by human guards and if the back up team is not alert, it is useless checking the images of the poachers later.
3. If the cameras are detected, poachers might destroy them and keep on ravaging the forests as usual.
4. Without technical know-how of how to operate and use the data gathered by the camera by all the people concerned, from the guards to the senior officers of the forest department, the camera’s simply turn to props in the jungle with no proper use.

But considering that the government has already invested in the project and is serious about the initiative especially for parks that are home to tigers and endangered rhinos, camera traps can indeed prove to be that helpful tool that can threaten the existence of poachers. Once they know that they are being watched all the time, these men will think twice before nabbing a bear cub, killing a nursing tigress or ripping off the horn of a rhinoceros. Perhaps, the candid cameras can indeed save India’s endangered species from greedy poachers.

Don’t forget to take part in our latest Poll. The Supreme Court of India recently rejected the proposal of bringing Cheetahs from Africa to India. Do you think the move is for the better? (Leave your comment through the Poll of the Week side panel)

Image of WTI field officer placing a camera trap in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve courtesy Widlife Trust of India

More Related Stories,

From the Camera of a 7 Year old

Camera Traps show Kargil now Home to Snow Leopards

Camera Traps help Catch Rhino Poachers

For the first time in the country, beginning a new phase in species conservation, fragments of locally extinct coral reefs have been trans-located and re-introduced in the coastal waters of Gujarat. The corals were collected from Lakshwadeep and relocated 1500 kms away to the coast town of Mithapur.

The project was the joint effort of the Gujarat Forest Department and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), supported by the Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL). They were also supported by Lakshadweep Forest Department including Wildlife Warden – Agatti, Abdul Rahem who have previous experience with coral reef conservation.

Rain forests of the Sea

Coral reefs are an important part of the aquatic ecosystem. They provide food and shelter to animals and are known as the rain forests of the sea because of their important role under water. But in the past years corals around the world have been destroyed due to habitat destruction and dumping of waste in the seas and oceans. The destruction of corals is an important indicator of the ecosystem of that area as their existence also ensures the existence of various other sea creatures.

“Coral reefs are called the ‘rainforests-of-the-seas’ because like terrestrial rainforests, they are among the richest ecosystems supporting unimaginably extensive food webs. However, human activities are causing undue damage to this ecosystem too and if we ignore them we risk losing this unique natural heritage,” said Satish K Goyal, Chief Wildlife Warden, Gujarat.

For the project the team collected fragments of Acropora from Agatti island, Union Territory of Lakshadweep where it is still common. These fragments were then carefully translocated to Mithapur town coasts and the marine national park in the Gulf of Kachchh.

“There is an overall decline in the distribution of Acropora in Gujarat, and live Acropora have not been sighted here for several decades now,” said Pradeep Khanna, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Gujarat. “Success of this effort will begin a new era in conservation of marine biodiversity.”

Corals are formed by sea animals known as coral polyps. These might be as small as a pin head or a foot long. According to WTI, the calcium carbonate exoskeleton of millions of these polyps fused together result in the formation of coral reefs. These corals are extremely sensitive to water condition and changes may cause the whitening of the corals and untimely deaths.

In India, four major coral reef ecosystems exist in Andaman & Nicobar islands, Lakshadweep islands, Gulf of Mannar in Tamil Nadu and Gulf of Kachchh in Gujarat.

“Marine National Park has a good coral diversity with about 49 species. Acropora used to be present here, about four decades ago, but now only dead remnants are found in most of the intertidal zone of the Park. This effort of reintroducing the species of Acropora in Marine NP is highly commendable provided this species survives. We will be observing to keep track of how the transplanted fragments fare,” said RD Kamboj, Chief Conservator of Forests, Marine NP.

“In a nutshell, the reintroduction involved collecting fragments from Lakshadweep, transporting them to Gujarat and implanting them in Mithapur and Marine NP. However, the actual process is anything but simple,” said Subburaman S, Field Officer, WTI.

Team effort

The most challenging part for the team was the transport of the corals from one place to the other. It took a journey of four days by road, ship and train to take the corals to their final destination in Gujarat.

Live corals are very climate sensitive and very delicate. The fragments had to be kept alive without any vibrations, temperature variations etc. The distance too was not short and involved a long train journey.

“In a nutshell, the reintroduction involved collecting fragments from Lakshadweep, transporting them to Gujarat and implanting them in Mithapur and Marine NP. However, the actual process is anything but simple,” said Subburaman S, Field Officer, WTI.

“Transport of live corals over such a distance has never been tried before. The challenge lied in keeping the fragments alive out of its natural surrounding for such a long time and with disturbances including vibrations, change in temperature and light conditions, oxygen content among others,” he added.

Before the actual move, the team experimented and devised the best methods of moving the corals safely.

“We observed stress in some of the fragments but these were revived and transplanted as planned. Of the 22 fragments brought from Lakshadweep, 80% survived. We are now carrying out observations to see how they fare in their new surrounding. So far the fragments are healthy,” added Goutham S, Assistant Field Officer, WTI, who was a part of the team handling the preparations in Mithapur.

The pioneering effort will surely pave way for more such projects in other parts of the country. With corporate involvement, expert help and willingness to really change the degrading environment for the better, such feats can be achieved again and again.

Here’s wishing that the team’s effort is really rewarded and the coral reefs once again make the Gujarat coasts their home.

More related stories,

Gujarat Plans to Create First Gene Bank for Animals in India

Ghost Fishing Scare at Gujarat Coasts

India’s First Marine Research Centre and Park to come up in Gujarat

Reference and image courtesy: Wildlife Trust of India

Coral image via cc/Flickr by Paul and Jill

Image courtesy Outlook India

Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park situated at the foothills of the Mehrangarh Fort in the city of Jodhpur is a classic example of how good intentions and hard work always reap rewards. A team of ecologist have restored the natural growing plants of the region and given this desert land a green cover like never before. Visitors keen to see the magnanimous Mehrangarh Fort of Jodhpur now have a new destination to cover that’s an ancient treasure too – promising a future to the long lost and forgotten plant species of the desert.

Scorching sun, dry sands and rocky land with bare traces of moisture – The fight for survival for any life form is tough in the Thar. And yet adaptability has allowed life to thrive in such unforgiving and harsh climatic conditions. The formidable and mighty Thar Desert is a unique ecosystem by itself and spreads across Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Middle East and North West India.

Desert Life

The recently inaugurated Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park is situated at the foothills of the Mehrangarh Fort in the city of Jodhpur which lies in the Thar Desert. The hilly area near the fort is made up of a brittle volcanic rock called Rhyolite, which tends to form long vertical columns with flat surfaces.

Not very long ago, this entire area was dotted with Prosopis Juliflora, an invasive shrub native to Mexico, South America and the Caribbean. The shrub is commonly called ‘Baavlia’ in Marwari and ‘Kikar’ in Hindi. The Baavlia sends its roots deep into the rocks to procure moisture and all other nutrients it requires. Very little manages to grow along side this species as it denies nutrients to the native flora as well as fauna of a region. In fact this species has been established as a weed in almost all places where it was introduced.

Greening the rocks

Year 2006 saw the inception of a marvellous plan to restore the natural ecology of the region by eradicating the Baavlia invasion, cultivating the native plants & greening the area. Pradip Krishen, a film director turned botanical expert and author of ‘Trees of Delhi’ was invited by the Mehrangarh Museum Trust to eradicate the Baavlia and reinstate the native plants in the barren patch of land below the fort.

It was a tough task. Cattle and goats do not eat the Baavlia and if cut from ground level, it simply grows back again. The Prosopis Juliflora is resilient and the only way to eliminate it is to uproot it completely from at least 35 cm beneath the rock’s surface.

This troublesome task was completed only by seeking the help of the local Khandwalias or traditional rock miners. The bigger question was figuring out whether other plants would actually be able to sustain in such a rocky terrain. The thought prevailed that the plants may be able to find the nutrients where the Baavlia did and so new seeds and saplings were grown in the niches from where the Baavlia had been uprooted. ‘Lithophytes’ the plants adapted to living in rocky habitats and indigenous to the desert region were planted.

After six years of planning and ceaseless efforts, the project finally bore fruits and in February 2012, the Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park was inaugurated. The Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park now boasts of over 300 species of trees, shrubs, Herbs, climbers, grasses and sedges. Slowly and miraculously the fauna associated with desert vegetation has also started making an appearance.

Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park

Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park is spread across 70 hectares of rocky land surrounding the Mehrangarh Fort. The entrance of the Park is about 800 metres through the Visitors Centre from the main Fort Gate. One can also reach the Park from several other points of entry.

The Visitor’s Centre is housed in a historic sixteenth century gateway to the city. Here, one can find an out-door cafe, the ticket counter, a souvenir shop, posters of the native plant life, a ticket counter, parking spot for cars and buses and rest room facilities.

From the Visitors centre one can go on to a stone staircase that leads to a non-functional ancient hand carved aqueduct. The high walls and the narrow passage of the Aqueduct serve as an adventurous walking trail, where one can observe the desert plants one after the other. It is recommended to carry the well-illustrated hand guide of the plants while walking along this trail in order to recognize the various plants and learn more about them. Depending on the season, one will be able to see one or few of the plants in blossom.

At the turn of the Aqueduct, suddenly the vista opens up and one gets a magnificent view of the fort and the surrounding area dotted with various plants.

One quickly learns to appreciate the special reticent beauty of desert with muted colors that is quite unlike the flamboyance of tropical and temperate plants. It is remarkable how these plants have adapted to the harsh desert climate and the scarcity of water and nutrients. One of the important adaptations is “Succulence”, that is the plants are able to store water in their tissues like the Cacti. Some plants develop waxy leaves in order to reduce water loss, some have a coat of fine hair on leaves and stems to reflect sunlight and reduce surface temperatures. Some do away with leaves altogether and perform photosynthesis via the stems only. Yet others adapt the simplest of all methods. They have a shortened lifespan and live and flower and bear fruits only during the rains when there is moisture in the soil. They disappear along with the rain leaving behind the seeds that will spring to life when the rains appear next year.

Here is a compact list of some of the wonderful desert trees and shrubs that one will come across at Rao Jodha Desert Rock Park:

1)      Thhor or leafless spurge (Euphorbia caducifolia) – The Thhor is a tall, multi-stemmed succulent and is one of the emblematic plants of the Thar Desert. It has two forms of flowers, mostly bright red and sometimes green and is a host to other plants and small creatures like rodents and lizards.

2)      Kheer Kheemp or Rambling milkweed (Sarcostemma acidum) – This is a rambling shrub with no leaves, smooth jointed branches that perform photosynthesis, intensely fragrant white flowers and is full of white milky latex.

3)      Jungli Pyaaz or Indian squill (Drimia indica) – This is found in rocky or gravelly places from Middle East to Africa and highly esteemed in traditional Ayurvedic medicine.

4)      Bekario or heart-leaf indigo (Indigofera cordifolia) – Bekario is the most widespread ephemeral herb of the Thar desert that springs up with the first rains and covers the sand dunes and gravelly slopes quickly. The herb has very pretty small pea sized red color flowers.

5)      Rohido or the Desert / Marwar Teak (Tecomella undulate) – This is found in sandy plains and valleys of the Marwar region. The tree has bright orange flowers and is prized for its timber which makes one of the best carving woods in India.

6)      Kumatiyo or Gum Arabic tree (Acacia Senegal) – This is a small and thorny tree found in dry rocky hills and gravelly plains and is a source of gum Arabic which is used in processed foods.

7)      Peeloo or Toothbrush Tree (Salvadora Persica) – A tree with knobby trunks and fleshy leaves, it is found in wastelands and marshy places in Arabia.

8)      Hingoto or Desert Date (Balanites roxburghii) – The Hingoto is small tree with stiff green twigs and thorns with leaves and is found in sand, clay or gravel. Animals like Porcupine, Nilgai and Jackal like to eat its woody pulpy fruit.

9)      Kharo Jal or Olive-leaved Salvadora (Salvadora oleoides) The tree with its gnarled trunk and hollows is found in sandy plains and rocky grounds and is home to many small creatures.

10)   Sargooro or bitter drumstick tree (Moringa concanensis) – This wild desert tree is found in sand dunes and rocky hills and has beautiful pink tinged white flowers and bitter fruit.

11)   Goondi or narrow-leaved sepistan (Cordia gharaf) –  This small tree is found in rocky and sandy areas and bears small orange edible berries.

12)   Bui or Desert Cotton (Aerva javanica) – A very common desert shrub that grows in the sand and has cottony flowers and fruits. Desert people use Bui cotton to stuff their mattresses and pillows.

13)   Bordi or jujube bush (Ziziphus nummularia) – Found in sandy plains, the Bordi is an intensely thorny desert shrub.

14)   Aakado or giant milkweed (Calotropis procera) -The Aakado is a commonly found large desert bush with pretty pink flowers and fruits that yield useful fibre.

15)   Oont Kantalo or globe thistle (Echinops Echinautus) – A thistle found in Sandy and rocky plains, Oont Kantalo at times can grow nearly up to a metre tall and bears tiny blue flowers in a compound head.

Park Timings

March to September – 6:30 AM to 7 PM

October to February – 7:30 AM to 6 PM

Best time to visit – Late July to October when the rain falls and the Desert Ephemerals and grasses come to life.

Entry Charges

Adults – Rs 30

Students – Rs 10

Tips for Travelers

• Please wear sturdy shoes for walking across the rocky and sandy terrain.
• Do carry sunglasses, sunblock and a hat for protection from the sun and heat.
• Wildlife enthusiasts should carry binoculars & cameras for spotting native fauna.
• A copy of the Desert plant guide available at the Visitors Centre would be very resourceful.
• Now, one can also enjoy breath taking aerial views of the Desert Rock Park and Mehrangarh Fort by taking a guided Zip tour that lasts for a couple of hours.

For more information  visit raojodhapark

More Related Stories,

Tree that helps treat Cancer Pushed Towards Extinction

Tips for Eco-conscious travelers by IUCN

Maharashtra’s Biodiversity Revealed

Image via OutlookIndia & raojodhapark

22 year old junior level boxer, Meetu Singh had a promising future. He was well built, had both the strength and agility needed by a professional boxer and had represented Himachal Pradesh at the national level. But boxing could not satisfy his greed and that is why the sportsman turned his attention to a different kind of sport killing leopards and selling the animal parts for lakhs. The boxer’s fast road to affluence ended Friday though when police caught him red handed with his latest loot.

Meetu used to coach students at school in village Rohru. But he lived a double life, of a coach and also of a poacher. By day the veteran national level boxer taught young kids to hopefully represent their country in boxing arenas and by night the villainous character would rob the same country of its natural wealth.

Collaborating with other poachers, Meetu hunted leopards in the forests of the Shivalik range in Himachal Pradesh.

‘Meetu and his partner hunted leopards in the forests of the Shivalik Range in Himachal Pradesh. By laying a clamp on the path taken by the animals, they trapped them. Once a leopard was caught, the poachers would beat the wild cat to death,’ Ashok Chand, additional commissioner of police (crime), said.

The metal traps put near water beds were chained so that once a leopard was trapped it could not run away. When the team found the trapped animal they would beat him to death taking care not to destroy the fine coat of the animal.

Police says that Meetu was also meticulous in cutting the skin in full as it meant higher price in the black market.

Police had been looking for leopard poachers in the area for quite some time and had certain clues that Meetu was involved. On Friday they caught him red handed at the GT Karnal road while he was on his way to meet a prospective customer with the leopard skin.

The boxer confessed that he had in the last five years killed at least 10 leopards and other small animals and sold their skins in Shimla, McLeodganj and Dharamshala of Himachal Pradesh.

The skin fetched anywhere between 3 to 5 lakh rupees.

‘We have seized skin worth Rs9 lakh and have identified his partner. Our teams are raiding their various hideouts to nab him,’ a police officer said.

‘This was the first time they came to Delhi to sell the skins,’ Chand said.

But the police man adds that Meetu is merely one of the gang members and this is a small victory. There are many more who need to be caught.

When the boxer gets severely punished for his hideous crime, only then perhaps it will send a strong message to others involved in the shady business. For the leopards, at least there is one human they have to be less afraid of right now.

More Related Stories,

Poachers Kill 2 Leopard in Uttar Pradesh

War Torn Kargil now Home to Snow Leopards

Urban Jungle No Place for Animals

Image and Reference

A new government approved study at the Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR), has found out that around 58 species of medicinal plants found in the Western Ghats are threatened and can become extinct if strict laws and conservation efforts are not made to save them.

The plant Korandi Palam, Eugenia singampattiana, with small orange fruits is a good cure for diabetes with its bark and fruit used in traditional medicine. But this evergreen tree along with 57 other species of plants that are medicinally important, may soon be all gone according to a new study.

The study was conducted by chief conservator of forests (Coimbatore), Manoj Kumar Sarkar. He said the major reasons for the threat of extinction of these plants is,

• Fires
• Timber Extraction
• Tea Plantation
• Reservoirs
• Private Enclosures

What is also threatening the plants is destructive harvesting and tourists or pilgrims entering the eco-sensitive areas.

“In the absence of laws or policies, indiscriminate collection of plants from forests cannot be considered an offence,” opined Sarkar.

He said that only one species of plant found here namely lady’s slipper orchid was protected. None other of the 57 species he observed, were protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, or other national or state legislations.

Sarkar has recommended that all 58 species be brought under the plant schedule of the Wildlife Protection Act or Biological Diversity Act, 2002.

Globalisation has increased the demand for herbal based medicines throughout the world and in the absence of any protection laws it is relatively easy for anyone to wipe out the entire forest without any legal hassles.

The sector is highly unorganised believe experts with 85 percent of the herbal medicine fodder coming from forests and reserves.

“Monitoring them is not an easy task. The government has to work with local people and come up with sustainable means of harvesting,” said Care Earth managing trustee Dr R J Ranjith Daniel.

The study found 772 medicinal species which are predominantly used in Ayurveda, Siddha, Tibetan, Unani, Homeopathy and allopathy in the KMTR. India being the birthplace of herbal medicine, surely there are other forest regions in the country where the same obliteration of medicinal plants is in progress. If some strict law is not made sooner, the plants and their ecological as well as economical value will be lost forever.

More Related Stories,

Tree that helps Treat Cancer Pushed Towards Extinction

Researchers Discover New Plant Species in Kerala

Karnataka Launches Major Afforestation Scheme

Reference

The 800 sq. km of Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand is now ready to fit in to a small tv screen. India’s first national park has now also become the first reserve to be equipped with E-eye high-tech infrared and thermal imaging cameras, that will allow 24×7 surveillance of the tiger reserve.

Challenged with acute man-power shortage the National Tiger conservation Authority (NTCA) launched a pilot project where the tigers of the park will be constantly under the watchful eyes of the camera allowing greater observation of the animals in the forest.

The project ‘E-eye’ (electronic eye), whose estimated cost is around Rs3.5crore, was started around six months ago when ten high-tech cameras having infrared and thermal imaging capabilities were installed on 10-20 metres high towers. The cameras have been presently installed in the southern zone of the park bordering UP where maximum cases of poaching has been registered.

Presently covering a 350 sq.km area the cameras detect anything weighing more than 20 kgs and send immediate send signals to the control rooms. The camera can zoom, tilt and work in adverse weather conditions.

NTCA’s deputy inspector general SP Yadav has been controlling the cameras sitting in Delhi – almost 300 km away from the park. He says,

“Nothing can match human patrolling but we have got fantastic results from this project in the last six months as infiltration incidents has come down drastically. We have successfully checked movement of villagers and on one occasion a tractor involved in illegal mining in the park was also caught.”

He adds that the two main advantages of these cameras are that they are replacing the shortage of almost 1500 field staff and they work non-stop which is a huge benefit.  At current the control room is at Corbett but NTCA plans to set up another control room as Delhi.

The positive impact of the E-eye is already being felt. Poaching cases and cases of unauthorized personnel or vehicles entering the park have already lowered down.

“Whenever an alert about any unauthorized vehicle or infiltrators is received, a rapid response team rushes to the spot to check it. E-eye has created fear amongst locals because of which they have stopped entering the protected zone. This is all what we wanted,” Yadav said.

“It is for the first time that such a thing has been done. Nowhere in world is such system used in a national park. We will monitor it for one year before we take a final call for doing it at other reserves across the country,” he added.

Yadav says that the project shows a promising future. It can be used to curb other problems like human-elephant conflict apart from constant surveillance of the forest dwellers.

Next time you are at Corbett for a tiger safari, keep an eye on the E-eye too.

More Related Stories,

New Site gives everyone a Chance to Count Tigers

Tiger Poaching goes Down in 2011

Tiger Numbers Increase in Assam

Reference

Image by Leopard print via cc/Flickr