A group of retired forest officers has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding the immediate scrapping of the 10,000-acre safari project in Haryana's Aravallis, arguing that it will harm the environment and wildlife. They highlight the "alarming destruction" of the Aravallis due to mining, quarrying, real estate development, and deforestation, and warn that the project could disturb aquifers crucial for water-starved districts. The retired officers also emphasize the importance of protecting the Aravallis, which is the only significant forest cover in Haryana, for its role in restoring humidity and rainfall in the region.
A 'man-eater' tiger that killed a woman two days ago was found dead in Kerala's high-range district of Wayanad on Monday and an autopsy on the dead cat revealed the presence of the victim's hair, dress, and a pair of earrings in its stomach, forest officials said.
One of the teams rescued two lion cubs that had fallen into an open well in Jasadhar Range of Gir East division during the cyclone's landfall on Thursday evening, the official said.
A forest department staffer in Yavatmal district of Maharashtra has been suspended for allegedly violating the model code of conduct by keeping a WhatsApp status message that raised question marks over the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), an official said on Thursday.
'The true measure of Project Tiger's success is not just rising tiger numbers, but our ability to ensure harmonious human-wildlife coexistence'
The Madhya Pradesh forest department has refused to provide information under the Right to Information Act on management of cheetahs brought from Africa and their cubs born in India.
India is set to bring eight cheetahs from Botswana in two phases, with four arriving by May 2025. This follows the successful reintroduction of cheetahs to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, with the population now at 26, including 14 cubs born in India. The initiative aims to boost cheetah conservation efforts and create inter-state collaboration for their protection. The project has already seen significant investment, with over Rs 112 crore spent on cheetah rehabilitation.
The Gujarat forest department has advised tourists and locals against taking "selfie with lions" to discourage them from getting dangerously close to the wild animal and putting their lives at risk, an official said.
'We need to understand and respect wildlife behaviour.'
The proposed changes, as per the draft, could continue some of the existing conflict between wildlife protection regulations with the implementation of Forest Rights Act, 2006, which gives rights to tribals in all kinds of traditional forest lands -- including the wildlife zones, such as national parks. The new proposed law, just as the original one from 1972, does not explicitly recognise these rights in all wildlife areas.
Speaking to PTI, Environment and Forest Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said the additional chief secretary of the forest and environment department Ravi Shankar Prasad has been directed to look after the allegation following a reply to a social activist under the Right to Information Act.
According to the locals, Afsana was sleeping in her house in Pandohia village when a wolf attacked her and the marks of the animal's teeth were visible on her neck.
Generally, tigers that attack humans apart from circumstances like defending cubs or trying to save one's own life are referred to as conflict tigers.
After three days of intense search operations, forest department officials tracked the wild cat in the city's outskirts at Kudlu Gate near Electronic City in Bengaluru South.
The Centre has set up an 11-member high-level steering committee to review and monitor the progress of the cheetah reintroduction programme and provide suggestions on the opening of the cheetah habitat for eco-tourism.
An invasion of wolves is keeping the forest authorities on their toes in Bahraich, where the animal is suspected to have killed at least six people and wounded several, all within a very short span.
The winners of the Natural History Museum's prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition were announced at an awards ceremony in London. American photographer Karine Aigner was announced as this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year.
The wolves had been behind several attacks on villagers in Bahraich. The Uttar Pradesh Forest Department is taking the wolf to a rescue shelter.
As Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich grapples with wolf terror, an expert has said the series of attacks on the residents of Mehsi tehsil might be due to wolves "seeking revenge" for possible habitat loss or killing of their cubs.
The Assam government on Tuesday began clearing nearly 1,900 hectares of forest and government land in Sonitpur district, affecting 12,000-odd people who were allegedly staying there illegally for decades, a senior official said.
The forest department has launched an investigation into the reported death of 18 to 19 monkeys in a village in Chhattisgarh's Bemetara district and recovered four rotten carcasses, a senior official said.
More than two dozen officials of the Uttarakhand forest department have been transferred following allegations of large scale felling of trees and illegal constructions in Corbett Tiger Reserve's buffer zone.
'With just 2.4 per cent of global landmass, India houses six to eight per cent of planetary biodiversity and hence is a prime target of wildlife criminals.'
A leopard strayed into a village in north Delhi's Wazirabad early on Monday, creating panic in the area and injuring eight residents before being tranquillised by forest department officials after an over five-hour-long rescue operation.
An eight-year-old boy was injured in a wolf attack while playing outside his home in the Mahsi tehsil in Bahraich, his family alleged on Friday.
So far, carcasses of 32 flamingos have been recovered from Ghatkopar area, the police said.
Sena MLA Sanjay Gaikwad's announcement of a 'reward' for anyone chopping off Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's tongue had set off a huge political row.
The roads will reduce the distance to the border considerably and make easier the movement of Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel, who at present have walk up to 25 kms to reach there, officials said.
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
India as a sovereign democratic republic completed 75 years of its eventful journey on Sunday, with the stage set at the Kartavya Path in New Delhi for the ceremonial parade during which the country will showcase its military prowess and rich cultural heritage.
'Not disclosing information to the public indicates that there is something wrong with Project Cheetah.'
Sixteen people in five Jharkhand districts have been killed by a tusker in the past 12 days, with four in a single block of Ranchi district on Tuesday, forest officials said.
A group of 91 retired bureaucrats has appealed to the Centre to withdraw the Green Credits programme, which they claimed may facilitate diversion of forest land to private entities. "Quick, smooth and easy diversion of our forest lands in favour of user agencies is apparently the sole intention of this set of Green Credits rules. "We urge the MOEFCC to recognise this danger and withdraw the Green Credits notification expeditiously," the group of former civil servants wrote in an open letter to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
A formal signing of an agreement is holding up their inter-continental translocation, wildlife experts have said.
Nuh Superintendent of Police Varun Singla, who was on leave when the communal clashes broke out in the district, has been transferred, an official order said on Friday.
The Madhya Pradesh forest department has asked the Centre for an "alternate" site for cheetahs currently introduced at the Kuno National Park, which has seen the death of two felines in less than a month, with officials citing lack of logistical support and space.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi went on a 'safari' at the Bandipur Tiger Reserve in Karnataka on Sunday, as part of programmes to mark 50 years of 'Project Tiger'.
The apex court directed the CBI, which is already probing the case, to file its status report in the matter within three months.
At a time when none in Kerala's Left politics questioned the chief minister's authority, MLA P V Anvar hurled a series of accusations against Pinarayi Vijayan's government, notes Shyam G Menon.
As the Karnataka forest department analyses the data gathered during the six-day tiger census conducted in the state in January, various wildlife organisations have chipped in to identify the population of the big cats based on DNA fingerprinting.
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