Wildlife Gains 25 km Corridor in Kudremukh in Unique “Conservation Swap”

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In a precedent-setting “conservation swap” initiated by the Forest Advisory Committee (FAC) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), and the Karnataka Forest Department, a 25 km long wildlife corridor disrupted by a 220 KVA power transmission line in Kudremukh National Park has been restored. The line was originally supporting the now defunct Kudremukh Iron Ore Company (KIOCL)’s mining operations, shut down by the Supreme Court in response to litigation by local wildlife conservation groups.

The Karnataka government had … Read More

India Adopts a New Refined Protocol to Monitor Tigers

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Will make India world leader in big cat monitoring, say scientists.

In a move welcomed widely by the conservation and scientific community, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has adopted new refined protocols for intensive annual monitoring of tiger source populations under ‘Phase IV’ of National Tiger Estimation. The new protocol is expected to lead to more robust estimates of population density, change in numbers over time and other crucial parameters such as survival and recruitment rates in key wild … Read More

Grizzled Giant Squirrel, Bheemeshwari, Karnataka

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The Grizzled Giant Squirrel (Ratufa macroura) is listed as “Near Threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to habitat loss and hunting. The strongholds for the squirrel are Srivilliputtur Grizzled Squirrel Sanctuary and Chinnar wildlife Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu, and the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka.

These arboreal creatures seem to thrive at the Bheemeshwari and Galibore Fishing Camps of Jungle Lodges and Resorts (part of the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary), and the two that … Read More

Negotiating For Protected Areas: How The Forests Of Anshi–Dandeli Were Increased

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Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary has seen several drastic changes in its boundaries. It was originally notified as a game sanctuary covering an area of 127 sq km on 10 May 1956. In 1975, post the euphoria of Project Tiger, it was declared a wildlife sanctuary and its area was expanded to 5,729 sq km. In 1987, to facilitate development projects – hydro-electric, a naval base, roads, transmission lines, mining and other industries – the area of the sanctuary came crashing down … Read More

Long-billed Vulture Chick, Ramanagara, Karnataka

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The welcome sight of a Long-billed Vulture chick on the crags of Ramanagara signal some hope for the augmentation of the very low population of this bird in the south of India. As of now, the number of Vultures at this location seem to have dwindled from thirteen, a year or two earlier, to only nine or ten. The painkiller chemical, Diclofenac, which is still not banned for human use, has decimated the population of Long-billed Vultures across the Indian … Read More

Magadi Tank — Reducing The Disturbance To Wintering Waterfowl

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Madagi, a small village which is an hour’s drive from Hubli in North Karnataka. Every winter thousands (5000+) of Bar-headed Geese (Anser indicus) and other migratory species like common teal, comb ducks, etc. come to this tank from Central Asia and Europe. This year (2012), 50+ tagged Bar-headed Geese were recorded in the area.

The lake is not protected and is open from all sides. Villagers use this lake for washing clothes, vehicles and other activities.

The forest … Read More

Melanistic (Black) Panther, Bhadra Tiger Reserve

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Bhadra Tiger Reserve is seeing a few melanistic (Black) Panther sightings. Just yesterday (20th Feb 2012), tourists in the backwaters of the Bhadra reservoir saw this panther from a boat at 8am. There has been a couple of earlier sightings too. Researchers at the Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS) report of a melanistic leopard in a camera-trap capture from Bhadra in February 2009.

A black leopard is the same species as a normal-colored leopard with a high amount of pigment … Read More

Duck Hunting At Karenahalli Kere, Bangalore

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At around 11 a.m. on the Bangalore Bird Race Day, Suma Rao, Gayathri Naik, Garima Bhatia, Jainy Maria and I were birding at Karenahalli kere, one of the lakes off Kanakapura Road, just past Somanahalli in the outskirts of Bangalore. Our attention was focussed on a flock of about 30-35 lesser whistling teals, when we heard a gunshot, and the entire flock took to the air. Right across the lake from us, we could see a lone injured duck flapping … Read More

Karnataka Wildlife Sanctuaries Get Bigger

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In a welcome development, the Karnataka state government has extended the boundaries of Bannerghatta national park and four wildlife sanctuaries (Dandeli, Mookambika, Cauvery and Someshwara) adding an incremental 1,255.64 sq km to the state’s protected area (PA) network. This constitutes a 20% increase in the overall size of PAs in the state. This has been achieved by merging the existing sanctuaries with adjoining reserve forests.

Specifically, Bannerghatta grew from 102.74 sq km to 260.51 sq km (254%), Dandeli from 638.34 … Read More

Chincholi Forest In Karnataka Becomes A Sanctuary

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Chincholi forest in Gulbarga, Karnataka, has now become Chincholi Wildlife Sanctuary. The state government has notified an area of 14,958 hectares of forest land in Chincholi taluk as a wildlife sanctuary, and thus Chincholi becomes the state’s 21st wildlife sanctuary. The Principal Chief Conservator has asked the DCF to prepare a management plan for the sanctuary as per the guidelines of the Indian Wildlife Association. The notification declares that the forest area has rich natural canopy cover. Chincholi is the … Read More

Need For Elephant Corridors Throughout The Country

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A report by the Elephant Task Force (ETF) has estimated that roughly 400 people are killed in India every year in conflicts with elephants. Encroachment of elephant habitat by a growing human population creates a situation where elephants frequently raid crops. Retaliatory killings are on the rise and, for instance, in Karnataka alone, 16 elephants were killed in 2006-07, 46 were killed in 2008-9 and 41 were killed in 2009-10. The Karnataka forest department paid 4.2 crores in 2008-9 for … Read More

Bull Gaur Crossing Road, Nagarahole

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This image was taken on Tithimathi – Konnankatte road in the heart of Nagarahole National Park in Karnataka. The state transport bus driver was considerate and stopped the bus upon seeing the herd of gaur. The gaur were quite shy and hurried across the road. The bull in the frame was the last one to cross the road.

Highways and roads through protected areas can have a serious impact on wildlife behavior, survival and movement. This is especially true for … Read More

Conservationists Win Legal Battle in Bhadra Tiger Reserve

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In a tough legal battle conservationists, succeeded in stalling two projects that would have upset the ecologically fragile eco-system buffering the Bhadra Tiger Reserve in Chikmagalur district.

One was a 124 windmill project to be set-up by Karnataka Renewal Energy Development Ltd (KREDL) subleased to BB Hills Wind Farm Development for a period of 30-years on the Bababudangiri Hills and the other was a resort-cum-spa, promoted by Bangalore-based Brigade Hospitality Services, in collaboration with the Singapore-based Banyan Tree Hotels and … Read More

Wild Dog (Dhole) With a Plastic Bottle, Nagarahole

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Photographer Mahesh Bhat shot this wild dog chewing on a plastic bottle near the Sunkadakatte elephant camp in Nagarahole National Park in Karnataka.

Irresponsibly discarding garbage is one of the downsides of tourism in protected areas. This bottle could have been thrown by one of the tourists who visited the elephant camp or the forest rest house in the heart of the park.… Read More

Tiger Roadkill, NH 212, Bandipur 2003

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This tiger was killed by a speeding vehicle on the Gundlupet – Sulthan Bathery road (NH 212) in 2003.

Two major National Highways pass through Bandipur Tiger Reserve – NH-67 (Gundlupet – Ooty Road) and NH 212 (Gundlupet – Sultan Batthery Road) – and both experience heavy traffic. The traffic on NH-67 is largely tourists plying from Karnataka to the hill station of Ooty in Tamil Nadu. While on NH 212 there is heavy passenger and truck traffic plying to … Read More