The Kerala forest department is of the view that unrestricted entry of vehicles for ferrying pilgrims into the Pullumedu trekking path was one of the factors that paved the way for the January 14 stampede that claimed the lives of 102 Sabarimala pilgrims.
There have been no reports of casualties. Neither is the cause of the fire known.
The Centre on Wednesday said Avian Influenza, or the bird flu outbreak, has been reported at 12 epicentres in four states -- Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh -- and advisories have been issued to contain further spread of the infection in poultry ducks, crows and migratory birds.
One adult male and two sub-adult female lions were found to have turned man-eaters and 'guilty' of killing locals.
Three more lions were enmeshed by the Forest department on Sunday from nearby Ambardi village in Gujarat's Amreli district located near Gir Wildlife Sanctuary
During the heavy rains through the week here and other regions of Tamil Nadu not only inflatable boats, but preparedness, determination and presence of mind came in handy for personnel including policemen and women, civic and forest workers who rescued people, animals and snakes.
The second round of reallocation today was carried out to pacify Madhuswamy, who was said to have been contemplating resigning as minister, after Republic Day celebrations on Tuesday, official sources said.
With the tropical cyclone Tauktae set to cross the Gujarat coast and make a landfall as an 'extremely severe cyclonic storm' by Monday night, the state government has shifted over 1.5 lakh people to safer places and mobilised disaster response teams.
A report says that six tigers and 86 leopards were killed in Uttarakhand in a span of 14 months since the beginning of 2012 with unnatural factors like illegal poaching and accidents responsible for the deaths of 32 of them.
The victim sustained multiple wounds on her hand and thigh and is stated to be out of danger.
'Tiger reserves were created to protect areas from developmental activities.' 'If we go ahead with these projects, then it is a complete mockery of our institutions and our laws, it is against everything we have stood for, our Forest Conservation Act, our Wildlife Biodiversity Act.'
Ramesh Jarkiholi got the plum portfolio of major and medium irrigation which he was eyeing. Anand Singh got food, civil supplies and consumers affairs portfolio, Srimant Patil was given textile while K Gopalaiah has been assigned small scale industries.
Former Maharashtra minister Dharamrao Baba Atram, charged with killing of a chinkara deer, was on Friday arrested by Forest Department officials at Bhor in Pune district.Atram surrendered before the Sub-Divisional Forest Department office on Thursday, meeting the deadline set by the Bombay High Court after it rejected his anticipatory bail plea.The arrest took place after two days of intensive interrogation of the Nationalist Congress Party leader, by forest officers.
The case was filed by the forest department following recovery of a live cheetal and cheetal and tiger skins along with some photographs depicting Shahabuddin posing with a rifle over a dead cheetal from his house at Pratappur in Siwan.
Drowning, followed by inhalation of water leading to lung failure was the immediate cause of death of the elephant, said the preliminary report prepared on May 28, a day after the elephant, estimated to be 15-year old, died in Velliyar River.
Indian cricketer Ravindra Jadeja was let off by the Gujarat forest department on Tuesday after he paid a fine of Rs. 20,000 for taking a selfie with lions at the Gir Wildlife Sanctuary at Sasan in Junagadh, an act strictly prohibited by law. Since Jadeja is out of the country, his father-in-law Hardevsinh Solanki, a resident of Rajkot, gave the statement on behalf of Jadeja and paid the fine recently, Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF), Junagadh, A P Singh said. The inquiry report is yet to be sent to authorities.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram's budget may have evoked mixed reactions across the country but it has brought a smile on the faces of officials in the Forest Department. The Forest Department in Karnataka, which is all smiles after the state was ranked second in tiger conservation, says the additional allocation of funds will help them go about their job better.
Kumar's son Prashant Bishnoi is a national-level shooter.
Expressing concern over the alarming level of air pollution in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has directed concerned officials for banning 15-year-old diesel vehicles in the state capital among other measures to improve the situation.
The wildlife officials said the female adult blue bull has sustained injuries on her legs and the wounds are being treated by the department.
'Instead of making this a four-year phenomenon, when you look at us and get thrilled, do it more regularly.'
Fadnavis said preliminary reports made available to him stated that the tigress was shot after she attacked the forest staff trying to tranquilise her.
Meanwhile, the administration claimed it was fully prepared to deal with fresh fires in case they break out anywhere in the state due to a change in the weather.
The forest department has issued a show cause notice to the DFO Rajesh Kumar Chandel seeking his reply within a week.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin's Cabinet, including him, would be 34-member strong and he has retained senior leaders like Duraimurugan and over a dozen shall be ministers for the first time.
Shailajanand Mishra lists The Top Videos of the Week.
The case is against Salman Khan for killing chinkara.
Meanwhile, a wild boar bit a person in another part of the city on Thursday.
"Every time we cut trees, we plant more. It is a rule of the forest department," Javadekar said.
The apex court, while hearing a separate plea on the issue on June 7, had directed the state and the Faridabad municipal corporation to remove "all encroachments" in the Aravali forest area, saying "land grabbers cannot take refuge of rule of law" and talk of "fairness".
Babu R was trapped in a mountain gorge without food or water for two days till the Indian Army rescued him in a daring mission.
Elephants were trapped by a sudden release of flood waters at the Mundali Barrage. Five of them were swept away from the herd
Tigress Avni, who is believed to be responsible for the deaths of 13 people in the past two years, was killed in Maharashtra's Yavatmal on Friday as part of an operation.
With his name or without, Jim Corbett continues to live on in his home in Uttarakahand's Kaladunghi and in the jungles he loved.
Mumbai recorded over 250 mm of rain in just three hours (between midnight and 3 am), touching 305 mm by 7 am on Sunday, a meteorologist said.
A mysterious flying object has reportedly been sighted by shepherds over Indian Space Research Organisation's Mahendragiri centre and neighbouring forest areas.
A whale corpse washed ashore on Juhu beach on late Thursday night, spotted initially by joggers at around 9 pm on Friday morning.
For years, elephants have gone through unspeakable torture and abuse at the hands of human beings -- from hunters and poachers targeting them for sport or their tusks, to people trying to tame them for entertainment purposes -- they have been beaten, shocked, and whipped into submission Since there's no concrete way to curb this violence, Kerala has come up with a unique initiative to help them - an elephant rehabilitation centre. Take a look at the home for the gentle giants situated at Kottoor, an ecotourism village situated nearly 35 km from Thiruvananthapuram.
An advisory issued by the Delhi development commissioner said that residents can distract the locusts by making high-decibel sound through beating of drums, utensils; playing high-volume music, bursting crackers, and burning neem leaves.
Delhi, Uttarakhand and Maharashtra on Monday confirmed bird flu cases, adding to the list of seven states -- Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh -- which had already reported avian deaths due to the disease.
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