Sambar in town, Alwar, Rajasthan

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The sambar (Rusa unicolor) is the largest species of deer in Asia. They are (mostly) nocturnal and live in small groups, even solitary, and occur in a wide range of habitats from dry forests to lush evergreen rainforests. But as habitats fragment and populations peak in protected areas, animals disperse through human habitation, often traversing through urban towns, cities, highways and agricultural fields in search of food and shelter.

This adult male sambar was photographed on a road junction surrounded … Read More

PK Sen: A Large-hearted Gentleman

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A personal tribute by Prerna Singh Bindra

It was early 1998. I was a rookie reporter passionate about wildlife when I first met with PK Sen, a 1967 batch Bihar cadre Indian Forest Service officer, who was then the Director of Project Tiger. He was in Mumbai for a function that I gate-crashed begging for an interview. PK—as he was affectionally known—had a packed schedule and a plane to catch. “Dukhi mat ho. Don’t be dejected,” he admonished,” … Read More

Tiger Poacher Sentenced To Five Years Imprisonment

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Jiwan Das, an associate of the notorious poacher Juhru was sentenced to five years imprisonment by a court in Alwar, Rajasthan. He is accused in six cases of tiger poaching. The Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) has assisted in the prosecution related to a case pertaining to the poaching of a tiger in Sariska on May 24, 2003. Jiwan Das was also fined Rs 40,000. Proceedings are also ongoing against two of his accomplices. Jiwan Das has also been sentenced … Read More

Ranthambore’s Isolated Tigers Face Threat Of Lack Of Genetic Diversity

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A recent study by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) says that Ranthambore’s tigers show a loss of genetic diversity over the years, due to the tigers being an isolated population without any genetic exchange. Ranthambore’s tigers used to take the Chambal river route to the Kuno sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh. But due to the flattening of the river banks, the tigers stopped using this route for dispersal and there has been no gene flow between the two tiger populations. … Read More

Sariska National Park Faces Shortage of Officials

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Sariska national park in Rajasthan faces a shortage of officials willing to stay on as District Forest Officers (DFO). Officials do not want to stay in the park because of the big responsibility and the possibility of more tiger deaths. So soon after appointment, they start pulling strings to get transferred to a new location. Rajasthan’s Chief Conservator of Forests, P.S. Somshekar contends that there is a shortage of senior officials who can take up the DFO post. Three out … Read More

Sariska Poacher Finally Convicted, Gets Maximum Imprisonment

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Alwar, June 20, 2011: In a landmark judgement, the Court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate – II, Alwar, Rajasthan convicted noted wildlife poacher Juhru and his associates, Tayyeb, Ramzan, Noora and Jiwan Das, sentencing them to a maximum imprisonment of seven years and a fine of Rs 50,000, in a case related to tiger hunting in the Sariska Tiger Reserve in 2005.

According BS Nathawat, ACF Sariska Tiger Reserve, the hunting took place in Routkhola beat of Akbarpur range, … Read More

RTI Response from Environment Ministry Indicates Nearly 200 Tigers Poached in the Last 12 Years

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An RTI application filed with the Ministry of Environment and Forests reveals that 197 tigers were killed through poaching between 1999 and 2011. The ministry also attributed the local extinction of tigers in Sariska and Panna to poaching. The worst years were 2001 and 2002, where 36 tigers were poached in each year. Two tigers have been poached already this year between January and March 17th. The ministry has not provided details of the action taken report for each case, … Read More

Infamous Poacher Narayan Chand Gets Five Years Imprisonment

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Narayan Chand, younger brother of notorious poacher Sansar Chand, has been sentenced to five years imprisonment in a leopard poaching case dating back to 2005. Narayan Chand is infamous as the poacher who was responsible for the poaching which eradicated the tigers in Sariska Tiger Reserve. Following his arrest in 2009, Narayan Chand confessed to having been involved in the purchase of pelts and body parts of 10 tigers from the Ramnagar area of Corbett Reserve. He also confessed to … Read More

Elusive Bharatpur Tiger Tranquilised; Relocated to Sariska

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Tiger T-7, an elusive and habitual wanderer was lured by the recorded calls of female tigers and tranquilized by Wildlife Institute of India’s P.K. Malik. A team comprising of Keoladeo Field Director Anoop K. R., and Sariska Field Director R.S. Shekawat, have been after the cat since February 14th. The Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Mr. Jairam Ramesh had announced last month that T-7 would be relocated to Sariska. T-7 is the sixth tiger to be relocated … Read More

Translocated tiger found dead in Sariska

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A five-year-old male tiger, translocated from Ranthambore to Sariska in June 2008, on Monday was found dead within the Sariska Tiger Sanctuary by a team of Rajasthan forest officials on the trail of another four-year-old tiger “missing” since Friday.

The ambitious project to revive Sariska’s tiger population, which lost all its tigers by 2005, began in June 2008 when a tiger was translocated from Ranthambore National Park (RNP) to Sariska in a helicopter. Since then, five tigers have been translocated … Read More

40 new mining leases granted near Sariska

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JAIPUR: The beauty of the Aravalli-flanked Sariska Reserve may soon be a thing of past with Rajasthan government granting 40 new mining leases in the eco-sensitive zone, something that’ll leave the area pock-marked with quarries and pose a threat to an ambitious tiger rehab project.

The government sanctioned the leases on Tuesday on a plea that Aravalli range, where stone mining had been sanctioned, had contours less than 100 feet, which is not considered as a hill as per state … Read More

No signal from translocated tiger in Sariska

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JAIPUR: Having successfully completed the first phase of relocation of tigers to Sariska, it is testing time for forest authorities. Since the past three days, authorities have not received any signal from the radio collar of the T-12, a male tiger, which was recently relocated to Sariska. T-12 has been rechristened as ST-4 after its relocation.

“Whenever a tiger comes to a new surrounding it is a matter of habit that it strays off to distant areas in order to … Read More