POACHING: Even as the nation is busy conducting the third synchronised national tiger census across the country, the death toll due to poaching tells a grim tale, with this year’s figures showing highest number of tigers killed in the last seven years. According to Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI), 39 tigers have fallen prey […]
Supreme Court Plays Traffic Cop: Trains to Slow Down in Forest Areas
CONSERVATION ACTION: Indian elephants may finally breathe easy while crossing railway tracks. Considering the high figures of wildlife death due to locomotive accidents, the Supreme Court of India has ordered the railway ministry to instruct engineers to slow down all trains while passing through dense forests. The news comes as a relief to wildlife enthusiast […]
New Species of Mangrove Discovered in Sunderbans
NEW DISCOVERY: The rich and diverse flora of Sunderbans mangrove forests has sprung a surprise with a new find – one more species of mangrove. What is even better is that this discovery came after a span of 54 long years. Acanthus Albus, the new species was discovered accidentally by workers of an NGO, Nature, […]
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 […]
Tripura’s Vanishing Vultures to be Bred in Captivity
The future of vulture species in Tripura remains an uncertainty as their numbers continue to rapidly decline. In a recent survey by the state forest department it was discovered that only 55 vultures remain in the entire state. This shocking revelation has prompted the forest department to initiate a captive breeding program for vultures at […]
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 […]
Critically Endangered Great Indian Bustard Spotted in New Habitats
NEW SIGHTING: Isn’t it a great irony that the Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps), which was once a proposed candidate for the title of ‘National Bird of India’, stands today on the throes of extinction? As the new IUCN Red List of Threatened Species once again tags this magnificent bird as Critically Endangered (CR), sightings in new […]
2013 marks 15 Indian Bird Species as Critically Endangered
As per the 2013 Red List of Birds, prepared by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), 15 species of birds from India continue to remain Critically Endangered (CR). In fact, the report shows that three new bird species, which were earlier in the Least Concern (LC) category now face potential extinction, and have […]
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 […]
Butterfly Park attracts Hundreds of Colourful Winged-Visitors
A butterfly park, setup by a college lecturer, Sammilan Shetty, in August this year, has already attracted over 118 species of butterflies. The regular winged visitors to the new park include a few rare species such as the Blue Nawab and the Southern Birdwing (Troides minos), which is the largest Indian butterfly with a wingspan […]