Dr Sonali Ghosh, the first woman to head the Kaziranga National Park and the first Indian to win the IUCN's Kenton Miller Award, has turned her childhood love for nature into an inspiring career in wildlife protection and leadership.
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 recent assessment of tiger population is based on determining spatial occupancy of tigers throughout potential tiger forests and sampling such forests using camera traps in a statistical framework, Minister of State in the Ministry of Environment and Forests S Regupathy said in a written reply. However, the minister said this assessment is not comparable to the earlier total count using pugmarks owing to several shortcomings.
As India celebrates its growing tiger population, Sonil Dedhia/Rediff.com shares some incredible moments he has spent in the proximity of tigers over the years.
Sri Lanka stays with you not just in memory, but gently reminds you what a society can achieve when heart and heritage guide the way.
India has lost 1,059 tigers since 2012 with Madhya Pradesh, which is known as the 'tiger state' of the country, recording the highest number of deaths of striped felines.
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.
Have India's tigers increased by 30 per cent in the last four years?
A new study has indicated that methods commonly used in censuses of tigers and other rare wildlife put the accuracy of such surveys in doubt.
Four Years Later shines in various moments that instantly resonate with you, thanks to Shahana Goswami, observes Divya Nair.
He has single-handedly planted over 100,000 trees and shared more than 40,000 saplings with others -- all at no cost.
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.
Due to the differences in circadian rhythms between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, some cheetahs developed thick winter coats during the Indian summer and monsoon last year, anticipating the African winter (June to September).
The female tiger, named Nadia, is believed to be the first known case of an animal infected with COVID-19 in the US. It is suspected that she contracted the virus from a caretaker who was asymptomatic at that time.
A study published in the journal Environment and Planning F has revealed that cameras and drones originally intended for conservation activities in Corbett National Park are being misused by local government officials and men to surveil women without consent. The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Cambridge, found that forest rangers intentionally flew drones over local women to scare them and prevent them from collecting natural resources, despite their legal right to do so. The researchers argue that these technologies, deployed under the guise of wildlife monitoring, are being used to intimidate and exert power over women, invading their privacy and altering their behavior in the forest. This has had a negative impact on women's mental health, with one woman interviewed for the study being killed in a tiger attack.
According to the data, the tiger population in the country increased from 2,967 in 2018 to 3,167 in 2022.
100 square kilometre of Panna Tiger Reserve could go under water, writes Nitin Sethi.
a team led by ecologist Uma Ramakrishnan and her student Vinay Sagar from the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, have discovered that the coat colouration and patterning which make the wild cats appear dark boil down to a single mutation
According to the new data, India accounts for the most with 2,226.
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.
Currently, only one cheetah, named Pavan, is roaming free, with officials noting that he is difficult to spot and capture.
'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.'
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.
Environment ministry is organising various programmes at Sesaipura related to Project Cheetah.
Expressing surprise over the reports that China was planning to lift its ban on trade in tiger parts, India has sought clarification from a United Nations forum in which China a few days ago had pledged to the contrary.
The committee said there was no operational coordination among veterinary professionals and the team which killed the tigress on November 2 in Yavatmal and that the dart for tranquillising the feline was fired unauthorisedly.
Presently, the eight cheetahs at Kuno are killing a prey every three-four days and are in good health, officials said.
Thanks to sustained conservation efforts, the tiger population in the country has risen to 1706 compared with 1411 in 2006, a 12 per cent increase that excludes the big cats of Sundarbans, the latest Tiger Census said on Monday.
'Not disclosing information to the public indicates that there is something wrong with Project Cheetah.'
In the jungles of the Pench National Park and Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, 28 brave women walk 20 km every day. They often come across tigers, leopards, bears, bison and other wild animals. But there is another species far deadlier that often crosses their path: Humans.
'We are rushing to 'develop' without carefully valuing natural areas.' 'With careful land use planning and scientific zonation at least 5 to 10 per cent of the country's land can be secured for tigers and other such species, and another 5 to 15 per cent kept under low-impact uses to support biodiversity that can coexist with human uses.'
Filmmaker and wildlife conservationist Dhruv Singh explains why tigers are important and what you can do to improve the numbers.
Shaurya was found not walking properly by the tracking team around 11 am after which the wild animal was tranquilised and efforts were made to revive the feline, but they failed, said the statement.
Standing at the edge of Dholavira is witnessing history textbooks crammed in school coming to life. One is suddenly standing face to face with a 4,000-year-old civilisational site that is now but a ruin.
'Animal populations are increasing. Human populations are increasing. So there is no way the man-animal conflict going to go away.'
'Why do you want the tribal communities to come out of the jungles?' 'For development?' 'Why cannot their development take place over there?' 'The Modi government is diluting the Forest Rights Act in the name of industrialisation and Project Tiger.'
In the jungles of the Pench National Park and Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, 28 brave women walk 20 km every day. They often come across tigers, leopards, bears, bison and other wild animals. But there is another species far deadlier that often crosses their path: Humans.
'The space required for wild cheetah populations to thrive was grossly under-estimated.' 'Cheetahs, because of their social system and ecologically fragile nature, live at only 1 cheetah per 100 sq kms even in the best habitats of Africa.'
Have you encountered a tiger? Tell us about it!
A Namibian cheetah has given birth to three cubs at the Kuno National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur district, a Union minister said on Wednesday.
