After more than three decades, Gujarat has regained the status of a 'tiger-present state', with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) confirming the presence of a tiger in the state.
A bench of Justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath was told by the Centre in its application moved by additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati that a status report in this regard will be filed before the court within six months on the basis of the advice of the experts on the tanslocation of Asiatic lions from Gir to Kuno.
President Droupadi Murmu visited the Gir National Park and interacted with members of the local tribal communities at Sasan Gir.
As per the May 2015 census, there were 523 Asiatic lions in Gir, an increase of 27 per cent from 2010.
Modi had a night halt at Sinh Sadan, a forest guest house managed by the state forest department, in Sasan after his arrival from Somnath where he offered prayers at the Lord Shiv temple, the first among 12 jyotirlingas, on Sunday evening.
8 Asiatic lions in the zoo in have tested positive for COVID-19 after their saliva samples were thoroughly examined by CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad, Rakesh Mishra, advisor of the premier research institute said.
Haresh Pandya tries to find out what ails the rare Asiatic lions of Saurashtra's Gir forest and why they stray out of their only habitat in the world.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and visited the wildlife rescue, rehabilitation, and conservation centre in Gujarat's Vantara, which is home to more than 2,000 animals across various species and over 1.5 lakh rescued, endangered, and threatened animals.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that he will hand over his social media accounts to women achievers from different walks of life to mark International Women's Day on March 8. In his monthly "Mann Ki Baat" address, Modi said these successful women will talk about their work and experience on his social media accounts. He also renewed his appeal to people to take measures to deal with the growing problem of obesity and encouraged people to visit research laboratories or planetariums to mark National Science Day on February 28. Modi highlighted India's progress in space science and artificial intelligence, and emphasized the importance of celebrating and respecting the indomitable spirit of women. He also spoke about the diversity of India's wildlife and the importance of conservation efforts.
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.
There was much speculation on a likely meeting between Bhagwat and Adityanath, especially in the backdrop of the BJP's recent electoral reverses in Uttar Pradesh.
After three cheetahs died in just over a month last year in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park, the National Tiger Conservation Authority in May 2023 called in experts from Reliance's wildlife facility in Gujarat to review health monitoring protocols, official records show.
Glimpses of the spectacular drone show over the Sabarmati riverfront as Ahmedabad prepares for the National Games 2022 opening ceremony
The country also reported 3,397 fresh COVID-19 cases, including 169 from dormitories for migrant workers.
The court of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha Mayee directed the state government to file an affidavit and kept the matter for the next hearing on October 12.
After releasing cheetahs in special enclosures at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told 'cheetah mitras' (friends) to protect the carnivores and ensure that human-animal conflict is avoided.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday visited Gir National Park, the only abode of Asiatic lions, during his two-day Gujarat tour. Here are glimpses from his lion safari.
For the first time in Tamil Nadu, a lion has died of coronavirus while nine others in the pride have tested positive for the infection at a zoo near Chennai, an official said.
'Some fear that Gujarat's tourism potential will be lost. That's wrong. Gujarat has such wonderful places. And they have developed such a wonderful system of tourism for the Asiatic lion. That will continue.' Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel discusses the April 15 Supreme Court order -- where a pride or two of lions will move from the Gir forest in Gujarat to Madhya Pradesh, with Dr Asad R Rahmani, director, Bombay Natural History Society.
A bench of Justices K S Radhakrishnan and C K Prasad has given six months time to the wildlife authorities concerned for trans-locating the lions.
Addressing the nation on Independence Day, the prime minister also spoke on renewable energy and the need to maintain a balance between development and the environment. Referring to the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP), launched in January 2019, Modi said, "A special campaign is being worked out to reduce pollution in 100 selected cities with a holistic approach."
Cyclone 'Biparjoy' has an extensive damaging potential and it is likely to impact Kutch, Devbhoomi Dwarka and Jamnagar districts of Gujarat the most, the India meteorological department said on Tuesday.
Gujarat has lost 46 lions and 37 cubs in the Gir forest area in the last two years, the state Assembly was informed on Wednesday. All these deaths, barring one, in the protected area which is the last abode of Asiatic lions, were due to natural causes, Forest and Environment Minister Ganpat Vasava said in a written reply to a question from Jawahar Chavda (Congress).
The Bengal Tiger, the Asiatic Lion and the more widespread leopard have had to swallow their pride. Rarely has the prime minister turned up in person, sun hat and camera at the ready, to welcome a member of the big cat family, notes Shyam G Menon.
Cyclone Biparjoy has left a trail of destruction in Gujarat's Kutch and Saurashtra regions as some 1,000 villages are still without power with hundreds of electric poles getting damaged, while several coastal villages were flooded due to heavy rains and incoming seawater, officials said on Friday, a day after the storm made landfall.
In a written reply to a question asked by Congress MLA from Lathi, Bavku Unghad, Minister of State for Forest and Environment Govind Patel told the state assembly recently that nine lions died of accidents, including by falling in open wells.
The Gujarat government has once again strongly opposed the Centre's persistent move to translocate a certain number of Asiatic lions from the Gir forest on the Saurashtra peninsula to the Kuno-Palpur wildlife sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, contending that they would not be safe there.
When asked if the African cheetahs will adapt easily to the Indian habitat, she said that the species are adaptable and India has a history of their presence.
Yet another Asiatic lion has died unnaturally on the periphery of the Gir forest in Gujarat. The four-year-old lion, is reported to have been bitten to death by a snake near Pipardi village of Amreli district in eastern parts of Gir.
An old Asiatic lion, who ruled literally like a king in the Dedkadi range of Gir forest on the Saurashtra peninsula of Gujarat, died on Sunday. The cause, according to forest authorities, was an attack of pneumonia coupled with old age
History repeats itself, it is said. Asiatic lions used to roam on the Barda hills near Porbandar in the 19th century. They were gradually wiped out for reasons yet unknown.
Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on Thursday pressed Gujarat to part with some of its lions, saying they should be translocated and have a second home in Madhya Pradesh. The minister, who visited Sasan Gir Sanctuary in Junagadh district, the only abode of Asiatic lions, said he is hopeful that the Narendra Modi government will agree to the proposal of having a second home for Gujarat lions in MP. The Gujarat government has already rejected the proposal.
Modi had released the first batch of eight eight spotted felines -- five females and three males -- from Namibia into a quarantine enclosure at Kuno on his 72nd birthday on September 17 last year.
'The media hype that the Gir lion species is in danger is totally wrong.'
'Delta continues to be the dominant lineage for new cases across all parts of India in recent samples and remains the most rapidly rising lineage globally that is responsible for multiple outbreaks, including across Southeast Asia, which shows the fastest growth in new cases globally,' the INSACOG said.
Seven decades after they became extinct in India, eight Cheetahs arrived in the country from Namibia by a special flight on Saturday morning and were released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Madhya Pradesh's Kuno National Park (KNP).
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
The post-Godhra riots, in Gujarat, last year had brought down the number of visitors.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday questioned Bharatiya Janata Party MP Dinu Bogha Solanki in connection with sensational murder of RTI activist Amit Jethwa who had filed a plea before the Gujarat high court against illegal mining in Gir forests.
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