Madhya Pradesh unsuitable for big cats: Study

25-06-2013
Madhya Pradesh unsuitable for big cats: Study
Times of India
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-25/flora-fauna/40184824_1_two-tigers-madhya-pradesh-palpur-kuno

Madhya Pradesh is a major poaching ground with a strong gun culture. This was the finding of Empower Foundation, a Mumbai based NGO working on Sanjay Gandhi National Park's man-animal conflict.

The NGO in its report submitted to the forest department has stated that lions should not be translocated to Kuno as Madhya Pradesh is known to be a major poaching ground and the state has lost 453 tigers out of 710 (63% loss) in a decade. The state as per the 2011 census has only 257 tigers. The loss of tiger in Madhya Pradesh was 50 per cent of the total loss of the tigers across the world.

Jalpesh Mehta has claimed that between 2000 and 2010, about 1079 tigers have died across the globe and of these 453 were in Madhya Pradesh itself.

It was also pointed out that Sariska and Panna have recently lost all their tigers. The two sanctuaries had 28 and 25 tigers respectively and Palpur Kuno had only two tigers. Once upon a time, Kuno used to have 25 tigers.

Sheopur district has 4800 fire arm licenses for a population of six lakh and the sanctuary area was once a hub of dacoits from Chambal. As these are licensed guns, one cannot estimate the illegal fire arms present in the area. Also the state has an adjoining sensitive location - situated on the border of three states namely Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Geographically, Mehta said that the hilly terrain of Kuno-Palpur forest with very little water sources unlike Gir region will also not support translocation.

The government of Madhya Pradesh has declared Sheopur as a drought-prone area and district affected by natural calamity. These conditions are unfavourable for lion translocation.

Further, he added that tigers and bears live in Kuno-Palpur and this would lead to in-fighting and territorial wars among the wild animals, further increasing the chances of man-animal conflict.

Shifting Gir lions will bring disaster: Experts

25-06-2013
Shifting Gir lions will bring disaster: Experts
DNA
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/1852708/report-shifting-gir-lions-will-bring-disaster-experts

The issue of translocation of Asiatic Lions from Gir sanctuary to Madhya Pradesh has hit another wall — this time that of an NGO. The social organisation has opposed the move on various grounds, including the fact that most of earlier translocation attempts carried out in independent India had failed, often endangering the animals.

The NGO's analysis of the arguments, on which the translocation of lions was finally allowed, shows that several factors relating to shifting the big cat were either not considered or ignored while allowing the translocation.

The NGO, Empower Foundation's analysis titled — 'Failure of the proposed lion translocation to Kuno Palpur, Madhya Pradesh' —  also found that the government has not strongly positioned the fact that the lion habitat in Gujarat goes much beyond Gir.

Jalpesh Mehta and his team who carried out the analysis said the argument regarding an epidemic killing the entire populace of lion does not hold true as the lions are not concentrated in Gir alone, but have dispersed far and wide.

"If an epidemic can kill all the lions, the same thing can happen to all the tigers in the MP-Rajasthan-Maharashtra belt and Karnataka-Kerala-Tamil Nadu belt as the distance in these areas is more or less similar between Gir and other areas where lions are found," said Mehta.

The NGO  also talks of the stress suffered by animals during capture and transfer to new locations apart from citing several cases of failed translocations particularly those concerning carnivores.  

The NGO argues that there is no history of any major successful translocation in India. The study mentions 10 cases of failed translocations of elephants, gaurs, leopards, rhinos, African and Asiatic Lions (from Gir to Chandraprabha Wildlife Sanctuary in UP in 1956), which show only 16% success rate in a study of 119 cases of translocated animals. In the rest of the cases, the animals returned causing major conflicts, dying or being killed by locals due to severe man-animal

Lion translocation: NGOs cite 10 failures in the past!

25-06-2013
Lion translocation: NGOs cite 10 failures in the past!
Daily Bhaskar
http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/GUJ-AHD-lion-translocation-ngos-cite-10-failures-in-the-past-4301886-NOR.html

The issue of translocation of Asiatic Lions from Gir sanctuary to Madhya Pradesh's Kuno-Palpur has hit another wall — this time that of an NGO. The social organisation opposes the move on various grounds, including the fact that most of earlier translocation attempts carried out in Independent India ended in failures, often endangering the animal itself.
 
The NGO's analysis of the arguments, on which the translocation of lions was finally allowed, shows that several factors relating to shifting the big cat was either not considered or ignored while allowing for the translocation.
 
NGO, Empower Foundation's analysis titled, 'Failure of the proposed lion translocation to Kuno Palpur, Madhya Pradesh' also found that the government has not rightly and strongly positioned the fact that the lion habitat in Gujarat goes much beyond Gir.
 
The analysis argues that there is no history of any major successful translocation in India. The study mentions 10 case of failed translocations covering elephants, gaurs, leopards, rhinos, African and Asiatic Lions (from Gir to Chandraprabha Wildlife Sanctuary in Uttar Pradesh in 1956), which show only 16% success rate in a study of 119 cases of translocated animals. In the rest of the cases, the animals returned causing major conflicts, dying or being killed by locals due to severe man-animal conflicts. Mehta said that even in case of captured leopards, they were released in areas similar to their earlier homes, but it was observed that the animals found their way to their original habitat.
 
Jalpesh Mehta and his team who carried out the analysis opine that the argument regarding an epidemic killing the entire populace of lion does not hold true as the lions are not concentrated in Gir alone, but have dispersed far and wide."If an epidemic can kill all the lions, the same thing can happen to all the tigers in the MP-Rajasthan-Maharashtra belt and Karnataka-Kerala-Tamil Nadu belt as the distance in these areas is more or less similar to that between Gir and other areas where the lions are spread," said Mehta.
 
The analysis also talks of the stress suffered by animals during capture and transfer to new locations apart from citing various cases of failed translocations particularly those concerning carnivores. It also mentions other problems associated with releasing an animal into a new location including predation, starvation and movement away from the actual release site.
 
"There was some success in translocation of rhinos in Assam. But then the one-horned rhinos are herbivores," Mehta explained.
 
Apart from the above points the analysis has also made references to MP's high incidence of poaching and Kuno-Palpur's drought-prone status.
 
The NGO has already sent a copy of the analysis to Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi and the state forest department too.

Forest department orders study to thwart MP bid for Gir lions

07-06-2013
Forest department orders study to thwart MP bid for Gir lions
The Times of India
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-07/ahmedabad/39814206_1_dr-richard-kock-gir-lions-des-petits-ruminants-virus

he forest department has ordered random tests on Gir lions for detection of possible presence of dangerous viruses, to prevent Madhya Pradesh from using possible outbreak of viral disease in Gir as a reason for shifting some of the big cats to the sanctuary in Kuno Palpur.

The tests will be conducted by the veterinary department and Anand University and their study is likely to be completed before Diwali this year.

t may be mentioned here that a deadly virus had killed a large number of wild lions in the African Serengeti in the mid-1990s. Sources in the forest department said that the bogey of a deadly virus wiping out all the Asiatic lions in Gir is being raised in support of the proposal to transfer some of the lions to a new but hostile habitat in Madhya Pradesh.

A report released this year claims that scientists in India had 'recently' found Pestes des Petits Ruminants Virus (PPRV) behind the death of a lion in Gir. PPRV is the same virus that had killed 1,000 lions in Serengeti in 1994. However, this lion had died in 2006, the sources said.

The officials further said that they are not taking the matter lightly and that they are aware that Madhya Pradesh will raise this issue in the apex court. "Hence, we want to be ready with the test report so that it can be produced in court the day MP raises the issue. The state government is also aware that the neighbouring state will try to show as if every lion in Gir was suffering from PPRV and each lion death was caused by the virus," an official said.

Officials said that they could easily nullify the report on which the MP government is relying, simply by saying that the death took place way back in 2006. "Thereafter the lion census of 2010 had shown that the population of the big cats was increasing. As for the virus, the department can argue that it has not hit the lion population in the last seven years. In fact, the lion population in Gir has increased from 360 to 411 during this period," said the official.

But the forest department does not want to take any chances. It has asked Anand University and the veterinary department to take up the study of the health of lions. The choice of laboratory for the examination has to be taken by the veterinary department as they are technically qualified to take the decision.

He further said that in case the court orders further investigation, this report would come in very handy. The alarm regarding the threat to Gir lions was raised by Dr Richard Kock of Britain's Royal Veterinary College.who has been quoted as saying: "The lions in India are a small vulnerable population and widespread infection with such a virus can kill at least 40% of the Gir lions." Dr Kock plans to visit India in September to conduct tests with the help of Wildlife Institute of India ( WII).

Three Pardhis from Katni held in Nagpur for tiger poaching

12-06-2013
Three Pardhis from Katni held in Nagpur for tiger poaching
The Times of India
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-12/bhopal/39924093_1_tiger-poaching-katni-big-cat-population

A section of Pardhis from Madhya Pradesh have yet proved to be the biggest threat to wild life; particularly the big cat population in India. Very recently they are reported to have smuggled half a dozen tiger hides to an international syndicate from their base in Katni district. And all this while wild life officials, busy pitching for lions from Gir in Gujarat to the state, appeared blissfully ignorant.

The poaching racket headquartered at Katni was busted on Sunday with the arrest of three Pardhis by a crime branch team of Maharashtra police from Nagpur. The arrests were made from a village in Nagpur on specific inputs from an organisation working for wildlife.

The accused Chika alias Krishna, Badlu alias Mangru and Shiri - all residents of Katni's Sagoni village -have confessed to selling five tiger hides so far to a Haryana-based trader. The deal was worth Rs 20 lakh for three tiger hides, said sources.

One of the tiger, they said, was poached from Mandla district. However, no tiger hides have been confiscated so far.

Now, the forest officials in four states - Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh - are on the lookout for 30 more Pardhis, from two villages (Sagoni and Billhari) in Katni district. Pardhi families from Katni disappeared from these two villages a day before the trio were arrested, said sources adding that the information got leaked.

Most of the accused on run are close relatives of the 37 Pardhis arrested from Katni for poaching lions from Gir national park in Gujarat in 2007. Teams have been dispatched to different locations tracking cell phones.

According to forest officials, the Maharashtra police had placed several Pardhis of Katni on surveillance besides intercepting their calls while the deal was being made. The arrest was made only after the skins were sold.

The 30-member gang got Rs 35,000 each from the first deal, said sources. They kept on changing their locations from one place to the other while striking the deal. Reportedly, the police could confiscate a few bones from them, which has been sent for forensic examination for identification of the species.

Leopard attacks farmer

15-06-2013
Leopard attacks farmer
The Times of India
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-15/rajkot/39992238_1_leopard-attacks-farmer-forest-officials-cabin

A leopard attacked a farmer in Kotharia village of Manavadar taluka in Junagadh district on Saturday. According to forest officials, the leopard pounced on the farmer, Shailesh Danger just when he opened the cabin in the farm. Danger was seriously injured in the attack with 15 stitches in his head. "The leopard had sneaked into the cabin and attacked Danger when he opened it. He injured the victim on his head with its paw. However, Danger acted swiftly and locked the beast inside the cabin and informed us," said a forest official. The forest officials later captured the big cat from the cabin.

Cat’s out of the bag!

15-06-2013
Cat's out of the bag!
Hindutan Times
http://www.hindustantimes.com/Books/Chunk-HT-UI-BooksSectionPage-BookExtracts/Cat-s-out-of-the-bag/Article1-1076535.aspx

Exotic Aliens; The Lion and the Cheetah in India. (Photo credit: Koushub Sharma and Valmik Thapar)

Exotic Aliens; The Lion and the Cheetah in India
Valmik Thapar, Romila Thapar, Yusuf Ansari
Aleph Rs. 599  pp 345 Lions might adorn the Ashoka Pillar but neither they nor cheetahs are native to India, says Valmik Thapar. HT presents an

 excerpt from the prologue to his new book that convincingly makes this argument.

Captain Thomas Williamson, the author of the epic book about India's animals, Oriental Field Sports, says that in the 1780s, while pig-sticking, one was likely to encounter tigers that had strayed into the open, but never lions, or for that matter, cheetahs... he believed that there were no lions in Hindustan...
The debate about the origins and prevalence of lions and cheetahs in India must have been vigorous in the eighteenth century and later but I was intrigued by the fact that... in the twentieth century, most serious observers just took it for granted that lions and cheetahs were indigenous to India… Why is it that the comments about lions and cheetahs and their rarity remain unchanged over hundreds of years, especially from people who travelled across India in search of game?

Why are pictures of lions as hunting trophies so rare and the few that exist tend to have been taken after 1886 in Gir? Where are the cheetahs in the hunters' bags? After all, according to commentators, hunters were responsible for destroying both these species.

As I researched my thesis, I grew convinced that I had stumbled upon the biggest myth perpetrated about these two species in India. Tigers and leopards were everywhere in historical records... but lions and cheetahs were almost invisible...  What I believe — and this is what my co-authors and I explore throughout the book — is that lions from Persia and Africa were being imported into the country 2,500 years ago (and then on) to meet the demand of Indian royals, and being bred and propagated as court symbols and for hunting; this imported animal was erroneously called the Asiatic lion.

The story of the cheetah is much the same but its inability to breed in captivity meant that many more had to be imported. Both species in India were genetic mixtures of animals brought in from elsewhere, and their own inbreeding; their genetic makeup can be best described as a khichdi of genes...

As I am not a geneticist, let me quote Stephen J. O'Brien who, in his eye-opening book, Tears of the Cheetah: The Genetic Secrets of Our Animal Ancestors says, '[The] physical traits in Asian lions are manifestations of extremely severe inbreeding in their very recent past. The evidence for our conclusions was encrypted in their genes.' He writes that Asian lions from the zoo or Gir forest had 'virtually zero genetic diversity' compared to the African lion...

Stephen O'Brien was very clear that ...The bottleneck that compromised the Gir lions' genetic variation dated back not just one century but three millennia! Whatever might have happened around 2,500 to 3,000 years ago to cause severe inbreeding in the lion, this was also the time where I believe the lion as an exotic animal entered India and was propagated by man…

Romila Thapar states: '... If there were lions here, why do they not occur on Indus seals...? It would seem that there were no lions in this area during the period of the Harappan cities...' If there were no lions 4,500 years ago and they remained rare in the periods that followed... then it must have been an exotic import all along as there is no gradual decline in the species.

I believe that the lion came to India just before or with Alexander's invasion of India around the third or fourth century BCE. It was from this time onwards that lions were bred, either in designated hunting parks or royal zoos, just like the Gir lion was bred in the late nineteenth century.

The breeding of lions in ancient times was for the hunt, or to keep in menageries or in the court of the king as symbols of royal power...

The evidence that my co-authors and I have unearthed... has duly underlined the basic premise that I began this book with — that the Indian (or Asiatic) lion and the Indian (or Asiatic) cheetah are not distinctive subspecies but are exotic aliens that live (or lived) in the land of the tiger...

Poachers slay two blackbucks

14-06-2013
Poachers slay two blackbucks
DNA
http://www.dnaindia.com/ahmedabad/1847939/report-poachers-slay-two-blackbucks

Carcasses recovered, poachers escape; cops say animals killed near Barwala.

The carcasses of two blackbucks were recovered from two suspected poachers astride a motorcycle in Barwala taluka on Thursday morning, giving rise to suspicion that the animals could have been poached from, or in and around, the Velavadar Blackbuck Sanctuary nearby.

According to Barwala police sub-inspector CA Parmar, the two carcasses were found during a routine check. "Around 10.30 am, we were carrying out routine checking on the road connecting Chanchariya and Refda village of the taluka, when two men on a bike, who were about to be checked, turned away and escaped," said Parmar. Soon, a chase ensued and a gunny sack the men were carrying slipped and fell in a puddle near Chanchariya bus stand.

"The two men escaped leaving behind the gunny sack and the bike which had an Ahmedabad registration number," Parmar said. On opening the bag, the cops found the carcasses of a male and female blackbuck inside. Police also recovered a crude pistol from the spot where the men had dropped their booty in a bid to escape.

Cops believe that the animals may have been poached either from the Velavadar Sanctuary or its surrounding area. Sources said further investigation revealed the bike had been stolen. While the police insisted that the two were caught in the morning, a forest official, whom dna spoke to, said that the two were apprehended at 1 am. Another theory doing the rounds is that the villagers near the sanctuary had constantly been complaining of poaching and the police laid a trap for the two, but changed its story after the two escaped.

The police however rubbished the talk as rumours.

Meanwhile, chief wildlife warden CN Pandey acknowledged the incident saying, "Yes, we are aware and the matter is being investigated by police. We are condifent of finding those responsible. Poaching could not have taken place inside the sanctuary, and blackbucks are also found in the area around it. The details will only be clear once the two men are apprehended.

A wildlife activist who has closely studied blackbucks said that poaching of the animal is prevalent. "This due to the fact that a large number of the species roams outside the sanctuary area, where it is difficult to protect them. There are certain communities that feast on the animal as well," he said.  According to the activist, many of the killings are retaliatory in nature. Blackbucks cause damage to standing crop and farmers in the area retaliate by killing the animal.

"But this may not be the case in Velavadar, where there is enough fodder," he said. It should be noted that three men were nabbed by the forest department for killing a blackbuck in June 2011.

‘Mines could block possible lion corridor’

03-06-2013
'Mines could block possible lion corridor'
The Indian Express
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/-mines-could-block-possible-lion-corridor-/1124790/

The five limestone mines halted by the standing committee of the National Board of Wildlife (NBWL) have a total expected annual capacity of almost 1.2 lakh tonnes of chemical grade limestone and are located in the Dharampur-Kajawadri region of Porbandar's Ranavav taluka, which stands between Barda, where lions are not found but slated as their future home, and Gir further south, where lions thrive.
The mines have been operating for decades (1959) and the most recent opened 20 years later, the same year Barda was declared a sanctuary and when many existing wildlife and environment laws had not yet come into force.

The current proposals are for renewal of mining leases, and Gujarat's Chief Wildlife Warden had in 2009 stated in a letter to the Union Environment Ministry that the sites did not fall in any proposed eco-fragile zones.

Partly on this opinion, the expert appraisal committee of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests granted environmental clearances to the mines in 2009 but stipulated a go-ahead from the NBWL had to be obtained before operations began.

When the issue came up before the NBWL's standing committee in its latest meeting, members raised objections, with one member stating that besides blocking a possible lion corridor, "prevalent wind direction help carry the dust and the noise of the mining operations into the precincts of the adjacent Barda Sanctuary".

"Abandoned mines are not a problem and may in fact be part of the solution. Lions can shelter there but mines in operation, that will be a major block for lion movements," said an senior officer based in Gandhinagar.

Plans to translocate lions into Barda cannot be hurried without proper assessments of available prey and trial runs where the carnivores are acclimatised to the new terrain, and that the department would await what the site inspection by NBWL members recommends, said an official requesting anonymity.

"We don't want to put lions in cages, haul them over in trucks and release them in some other forest. There is no such requirement as the lion population is increasing and they are extending their home range on their own. Our job is to prepare safe habitat for them to move in," said a top forest officer in Junagadh.

Where have lions dispersed so far?

Besides the Gir forests' 1,412 sq kms across Junagadh and Amreli districts, lions have fanned out to gauchar, wasteland and revenue areas that spread from east to west over 400 sq km in Amreli, Bhavnagar and southern parts of Porbandar districts.

These areas are known as Greater Gir and host six metapopulations of lions settled across Gir National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary, Girnar Sanctuary, Mitiyala Sanctuary, Paniya Sanctuary, and coastal and inland areas of Junagadh, Amreli, Porbandar and Bhavnagar.

Lion that attacked guard, others dies

03-06-2013
Lion that attacked guard, others dies
The Indian Express
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/lion-that-attacked-guard-others-dies/1124789/

A lion that went on the rampage and attacked three people inside the Girnar Sanctuary due to an alleged painful toothache died from as yet unknown causes after forest officials captured it for treatment.

A post mortem has been unable to identify the cause of death and viscera (internal organs) samples have been sent to veterinary facilities in Junagadh and Anand, a senior official said.

The lion, believed to be about 10 years old, was observed drinking water from a water-point Saturday morning by a forest guard in the northern part of Girnar sanctuary. The animal suddenly attacked the guard and injured him but retreated after an accompanying labourer shouted and advanced in order to shoo it away. The lion also damaged a forest department vehicle used for patrolling.

It later attacked two maldharis who were tending to their herd in another area, injuring both before the men's buffaloes rammed into the carnivore and chased it away.

Toothache sends lion on rampage

02-06-2013
Toothache sends lion on rampage
Times of India
http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-06-02/flora-fauna/39690263_1_male-lion-gir-forest-guard

Toothaches can drive anyone up the wall with pain and frustration. However, in the case of a lion, it drove him to attack humans, and damage a motorbike and a utility vehicle.

In Jambudi forest inside the Gir sanctuary, one such lion, suffering in pain from a cavity, attacked three persons including a forest guard. It damaged bikes and even attacked the rescue vehicle of the forest department. The drama continued for 6 hours, after which the lion was finally caged by the forest department

Initially, forest officials thought that the lion was irritated from being disturbed during mating, but later they realized it had a painful tooth cavity, which resulted in such behavior.

On Saturday morning, Kan Buchiyo (as he is called by the department staff) a male lion in the age group of 9-12 years was so agitated that it attacked the sleeping forest staff. One of the staff, Nandabhai Khavdu was attacked. Two others who came in the utility vehicle were also attacked.

Senior officials were informed and it was decided not to allow any person to go inside the jungle, not even for cattle grazing. Also the permits for moving between the two villages which were issued got temporarily suspended.

Meanwhile the lion also happened to come across two bikes and damaged them. The lion then came across four Maldharis who entered the forest with 40 buffaloes and 50 odd cows. The department had warned the Maldharis, but in vain. According to Jaysangh Madhubhai, "As we moved in, the lion attacked Ghughabhai Lakhbhai (80 years) and his son Dharamsinh. The two were injured and when we went to save them, it ran towards us. We got into the herd of cattle but it tried to break the cattle cordon. The buffalos attacked him forcing him to leave." Later, it moved back to the Jambudi post, and entered a room which was used as a kitchen.

"The staff was aware that the lion was irritated, but they gathered the courage and managed to close the door. By this time the rescue team from Sakkarbaug Zoo had already reached the spot," said Aradhana Sahu, deputy conservator of forest.

Sahu said that the once the lion was locked, the rescue team tranquilized it and found that the lion was suffering from tooth cavity. It was treated and sent to Sakarbaugh Zoo where it will be kept for a considerable time.

Officials said that "if the behaviour of the lion was found to be perfect later, it would be released back in the wild, but if this behaviour continued, he would be kept permanently in the zoo."

Male Lion may have died due to rabbis; claims one Nature lover. A vehicle released few dogs inside the jungle at Patwad Kotha area, he says.

04-06-2013
Male Lion may have died due to rabbis; claims one Nature lover.  A vehicle released few dogs inside the jungle at Patwad Kotha area, he says.
Gujarat Samachar
Print Edition