In the Anamalais, highways and the resulting fragmented canopies, are a huge threat to lion-tailed macaques. The highways department has been widening and improving the quality of roads to cater to the growing tourist population. There has been a sharp increase in the number fairly silent cars that speed through such roads. Macaques have also been emboldened by tourists feeding them, and thus hang out by the roadside. All this has led to a growing number of roadkills to this … Read More
Mudumalai Masinagudi Road Teeming With Vehicles
This road teems not just with crossing wild animals, but also vehicle traffic. In an attempt to catch a glimpse of the wild, vehicles often stop, blocking the road for other vehicles. Sometimes people go to the extent of annoying animals, like elephants, to get pictures and videos of “mock charges”, attacks and so on. I have personally observed an elephant calf get separated from its mother, unable to cross the road. The mother had to charge and drive vehicles … Read More
Lion-tailed Macaque with Ice Cream, Anamalai Hills
We came across some Lion-tailed Macaques (LTMs) at Pudhuthottam estate near Valparai. While some of the LTMs were feeding on fruits and shoots, this one was feeding on Ice Cream irresponsibly discarded by tourists. This species is in constant conflict, with some of the males even entering the main town of Valparai. Ice Cream should be the last thing this endangered species needs.
The Lion-tailed Macaque (Macaca silenus) is an endangered and endemic macaque found only in the … Read More
A Narrow Escape
Two Nilgiri Tahrs were having a fight on the slope just above this road. Suddenly one slid and fell down. You can see the dust kicked up by its slide and fall. A jeep was travelling on the road and would have hit the animals, if not for the driver who braked suddenly and managed to stop in time. Thankfully, this was possible because the jeep was being driven at a reasonable speed. Sticking to speed limits in and around … Read More
Red Fox and Langur Road Kill on Nainital-Kaladhungi Road
While returning from Nainital in November 2010, I came across these road kills. The langur was first killed by a vehicle. Some time in the night, while a red fox mother with her grown up pup (a female) were presumably scavenging on the kill, they met with the same fate as the langur. I took this photograph early in the morning on the Nainital-Kaladhungi road that used to be a bridleway until three or four decades ago. There are several … Read More
Hog Deer Roadkill
The mauled remains of a hog deer lie on National Highway 37 that forms the southern boundary of Kaziranga National Park. Animals fleeing the rising waters of the Brahmaputra during monsoon floods face the daunting task of crossing the busy Highway in order to reach the Karbi Anglong hills.
The Highway is one of the serious threats to conservation in the Kaziranga landscape. The least that can be done immediately is to implement a ban on night-traffic, something that has … Read More
Morning Rush, Nagarahole
The Mysore-Mananthavadi road passes right through the Nagarahole National Park. This particular stretch of the road is quite smooth and most vehicles zip across, at good speeds. People who have visited this park have seen a lot of wildlife around this stretch and know how dangerous it is when so many vehicles drive past every day.
This image is the last elephant of a herd that crossed the road one evening inside Nagarahole National Park, as safari jeeps and regular … Read More
Road kill of Indian Jackal on NH-121, Corbett landscape, Uttarakhand
The carcass of an Indian Jackal that was killed in a road accident on NH 121 that runs through Corbett Tiger Reserve, and on to New Delhi. This picture was taken near Peerumadara, on the stretch of the highway between Ramnagar and Kashipur. The animal was found on 10th of December 2011 at approximately 7:30 hours. The animal might even have been a pregnant female.
This highway poses a serious risk for all wildlife as it passes near Corbett Tiger … Read More
A Lion-tailed Macaque By The Roadside, Anamalai Hills
How do you feel when you see this photo? Don’t you think that this is one of the ugliest and saddest sights to witness? The lion-tailed macaque Macaca silenus is an endangered and endemic macaque found only in the tropical rainforests of the Western Ghats. Instead of living freely in the canopy of the rainforest, here is a male by a roadside, looking for food.
This individual has been forced into looking for food in passing vehicles. The habitat of … Read More
Bull Gaur Crossing Road, Nagarahole
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
Framing Ecologically Sound Policy on Linear Intrusions Affecting Wildlife Habitats
In the 20th meeting of the Standing Committee of the NBWL held on 13 October 2010, it was discussed that linear intrusions were a serious issue and a sound policy needs to be framed consulting various experts. The Chairman requested the member of the Standing Committee from the Nature Conservation Foundation, Mysore, to prepare a background paper that could be discussed at the next meeting to move towards the formulation of a policy on linear intrusions at the national level. … Read More
Tiger Roadkill, NH 212, Bandipur 2003
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
Leopard Cat Roadkill, Western Arunachal Pradesh
Sights like this are common as India builds new roads and upgrades existing ones. In this case, the road from Tezpur all the way to Tawang near the China border is maintained by the army for defense purposes. Traffic is heavy 24/7 on these roads and roadkills are high.… Read More
Environment Ministry Seeks Restoration of Night Traffic on Highways Through Bandipur
The Karnataka High Court had banned night traffic, between the hours of 9 PM and 6 AM, through the two national highways that cut through Bandipur Tiger Reserve. The Karnataka Forest Department had provided evidence that wildlife including elephants and tigers were being regularly killed after being run over by vehicles and were also being driven out of the forest due to sound and light disturbance. Based on these evidences, the High Court had passed the order. However, the Ministry … Read More
Golden Langur Conservation Awareness in Manas
Locals in Manas, joined hands with the Bodoland Territorial Council, the Assam Forest Department and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) – Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) to create an urgent campaign to save the highly endangered Golden Langur. Less that 2500 individuals are estimated to be found in the wild today. The species has suffered tremendously due to habitat loss and fragmentation, which forces them to descend to the ground where they are vulnerable to accidental death and … Read More
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