Good inititaive: Lights on for elephants

The dark hulks ambled in a single file across the stark green landscape of thigh-high tea bushes. Without a pause in their stride, the elephants made their way towards a tiny patch of forest. Save for the tree crickets, there were no other sounds. Had it been daytime, the elephants would have been harassed by people behaving like neurotic monkeys. On such occasions, despite their size, the elephants seemed so vulnerable, with nowhere to hide from their human hecklers.

About 150 years ago this was all prime elephant country; today it is a neatly manicured sea of tea punctuated by small fragments of forest. What could be of interest to the pachyderms here? Well, Valparai is surrounded by the forests of the Anamalai-Parambikulam Elephant Reserve and the animals routinely traverse the plateau as their great-grandmothers and fore-mothers did before them.

In 2002, when Ananda Kumar of the Nature Conservation Foundation began work here, it was a public relations nightmare. People said there were “lots” of elephants causing problems “everywhere”. True, the animals didn’t eat tea but they demolished houses, broke into school kitchens, and punched gaping holes in the walls of ration shops to get at grain, lentils, sugar, salt and other choice objects of elephantine desire.

These were not the notorious bull-elephants that were butting heads with humans elsewhere. They were family herds of mothers, aunts, sisters, grandmothers and babies; they were supposed to be gentle, timid and cause no trouble. But in Valparai they were accused of killing an average of three people a year. People were angry, frustrated and terrified of the animals.

As soon as the elephants entered their estates the tea companies chased them out again using tractors, jeeps and captive elephants. One estate would chase a herd onto the neighbouring plantation and a few hours later, the neighbour pushed it back. Sometimes this went on all day long. Despite their large size and fearsome reputation, the animals were being shunted around like pawns.

Frequently, the harassed elephants were stranded in the middle of tea plantations with no shelter or forage. When night fell, the starved and thirsty pachyderms fell on the nearest food source — shops, houses and kitchens. Then seven years ago the situation began to change.

Ananda began to pinpoint these incidents of damage on a map, identified individual elephants and tracked their travels until a pattern began to emerge. The elephants were not indiscriminately attacking all shops and houses. Three herds of about 40 animals regularly travelled along specific routes every season and this is where buildings were being damaged. Once you know this, then the solution sounds easy: just move those shops and don’t stock food in the school kitchens. The number of incidents dropped by half! The other random incidents caused by chasing elephants also declined when two companies agreed to stop chasing them and instructed their staff to stay away from them.

Now, for the most problematic issue: human deaths. About 1,00,000 people live in widely scattered settlements on the Valparai plateau. The few people who were killed were walking without a torch after dark when elephants were about. They didn’t see the animals and blundered into them. Clearly the witless

estate labour force did not have the savvy of the 6,000 tribal brethren living peacefully with elephants in the forests of the adjoining Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary.

Ananda began providing the location of elephant herds every day to Valparai Television Channel who broadcast it as a news ticker scrolling across the bottom of the screen. Now people had the information they needed to avoid accidentally running into the large pachyderms. During the 32-month experimental period, there was not a single human death caused by elephants. With fewer traumatic encounters, the animals were allowed peaceful right of way.

People with televisions have access to the information but what about people who don’t have one or those who arrive from other places? Such a situation occurred not so long ago. A man got off a bus at Iyerpadi at 11 pm. As he was walking down the slope, unbeknownst to him elephants were climbing up the same path. An alert watchman at a nearby factory flashed his torch in warning. The man retreated to the bus stop and stayed put until the elephants crossed. Had it not been for the watchman, he may have been severely injured or killed.

This incident provided the cue for the next phase of Ananda’s work. With funding from the Mohammed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, LED lights fixed on 10 foot poles are to be installed in 17 colonies and seven bus stops near areas frequented by elephants. Niagara Automation Company, who build the circuitry for mobile phone activated agricultural pumps, helped to devise a similar system for these beacons. Each is operated by five registered mobile phone users who will trigger it if elephants are in the vicinity, alerting all residents and new-arrivals to be cautious.

Once Ananda demonstrates that this innovative model is sustainable and replicable, it is hoped that the Tamil Nadu Forest Department’s Anamalai Foundation will take over the job of providing information on elephant movements.

Here’s how sustained effort and a touch of imagination can achieve major conservation success. It is also a prime example of how applying conservation in human landscapes can further the interests of wild animals.

http://expressbuzz.com/magazine/lights-on-for-elephants/218209.html

Its a Jungle Out There - not a Zoo

US has 10000 pet tigers in their backyards. We also have few hidden in our Tiger Reserves which are duly fed in the name of conservation.

You feed in the name of emotional outpour to help them survive dark days of orphaned childhood - sickness - old age but you also expect them to survive the harsh wild out there with other tigers who are fighting out for territory and food. You expect them not to wander out in search of easy meal like cattle from villages in and around.

What do you want? A wild pet who will tune to your fancies of feeding him for a month and then when he looses his wild instinct to kill and gets comfy with the served meal you expect him to hunt or fight.

Laws of nature says Survival of the fittest! This helps in the circle of jungle life too - old/weak dies and their territories are occupied by strong fitter ones so that they can healthily breed and give way to good breed of tigers. Its not a number game out there - its a healthy emnironment and balanced population.

So what do we achieve by hand feeding wild animals? He looses his natural
wild instinct and goes round killing cattle's in villages and even
looses the power to battle it out in the wild - result untimely deaths on territorial fights!!And incase a tiger has to be treated for very long and fed - there is a way of doing that by putting him under controlled environment - then letting him loose in calculated steps where he can horn his natural skills all over again.

Donot feed a tiger/wild animal in its natural environment - we often see this on notice boards - do you wonder why?

There are few in RTR and Bandhavgarh who could have died long back making way for younger and healthier animals but no - humans had to intervene for their vested interest and keep them alive - result: more of young transcient tigers - more of bloody territorial fights - more of stray cases for easy meals.

One case in Bandhavgarh:

One adult tigress in BNP, she is Known as CHURBHERA TIGRESS(a.k.a- SIDHBABA FEMALE, LAXMI & LANGDI), she has been limping for quite a long, since 2 years or so, initially FD thought that it was some minor injury or sprain but latter when there were no signs of recovery they thought of tranquilizing her to have a look into her injuries, but it was not done because she was pregnant at that point of time, now she has 2 cubs, who are 1 year old. She is doing well to feed her cubs, she sometime makes successful kills, sometimes not, sometimes she lifts cattles also from nearby villages. FD is keeping a close eye on her, if she is not able to kill for 5-6 days, She is Baited by the FD, The only thing of concern is, her cubs are learning the art of killing, and they are only learning to kill the cattle. Very rarely she is able to make a kill in the wild.

One in RTR:

Macchli - 15+ no canines - kept alive since she is a star - she has her territory.
The other one is above - Samba.

Its not a zoo out there - its a jungle and we as well follow the rules of it or accept defeat in the hands of nature.

Strong message: India refuses to let WB play big brother in Project Tiger

In a snub to the World Bank (WB), the government has informed the latter that it won`t allow the lending institution to play big brother and manage and monitor its efforts to conserve the Indian tiger under the Global Tiger Initiative (GTI), a recently floated project that is highly favoured by bank president Robert B Zoellick.

The GTI has organised a summit of heads of state of countries having tiger population in Russia in November. But India will only be sending a ministerial-level delegation to the meeting. The Prime Minister would not be attending the summit, where the WB along with some foreign conservation NGOS are expected to hold fort.

WB has been keen to get India on board, as it would be odd to sell a global project to save the tigers when the country with the largest population of the big cat in the wild is unwilling to be a part of it. Earlier, the bank had lobbied hard that India borrow money from it to conserve and protect tigers. But the government has recently made it clear that it neither required money nor expertise from other countries.

However, not intending to outright reject a proposal from the multilateral funding agency it decided to participate in the GTI to enhance global cooperation on issues that did not involve direct conservation work in the tiger reserves.

The Indian government has informed the GTI that conservation of tiger is a sovereign issue, and it would not accept that the WB dictate terms to it. Having learnt its lesson earlier when a WB-funded project on Tiger led to displacement and agitation by tribals and increased corruption in some tiger reserves, the government has told the GTI that its interference would only lead to alienation among the local population. Though most conservationists had backed the government, some high profile `tiger-wallahs` were keen to get WB involved in it.

Read more: India refuses to let WB play big brother in Project Tiger - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/India-refuses-to-let-WB-play-big-brother-in-Project-Tiger/articleshow/6783528.cms#ixzz12y1cZnDJ

Good Initiative: Squad set up to ban entry into forest

Almost a week after an alleged tiger-poaching case was reported in Jalgaon district, the Forest Department has beefed up security.

The department has now deployed a special squad to restrict entry of villagers and passers-by into the forest.

"We have restricted entry of villagers as we don't want trespassers to take away anything from the forest without permission," said Assistant Conservator of Yawal forest department A U Patil.

"The poaching case has taken a twist with eyewitnesses turning hostile."
Rajendra Nannaware of the School of Environment against whom the forest department plans to file a complaint for allegedly bribing witnesses to give false statements, said, "There are various instances where people poach animals or cut wood from the forest.

The step should have been taken long back. The forest department has finally awakened."

Patil revealed that the eyewitnesses have been called for an inquiry again. "All those people who have given their statement to the media have been called.

We have also called ayurveda practitioner and local teacher Mustafa Thadvi who claimed to have heard the big cat's cries when he was in the forest to pick herbs.

His house is locked and he has not reported to school on duty," said Patil.

According to Patil, everyone is being called again as Jalgaon Collector Niranjan Sudhanshu has asked for an inquiry.

MiD DAY had reported on October 16 that NGOs in Jalgaon had sought a high-level inquiry into the case by the collector, a day after eyewitnesses in the case turned hostile.

The NGOs have now decided to meet the principal chief conservator of forests (wildlife), seeking his
intervention in the case.

"We will be meeting him to seek his cooperation. We want the truth to come out," said Abhay Ujagare, wildlife warden of Jalgaon district.

Case History

On October 6, Mustafa Thadvi, an Ayurveda practitioner and a professor, registered a tiger poaching case with the Yawal forest department.

Thadvi said that he was in the forests looking for medicinal herbs when he discovered bloodstains and pugmarks, pointing to the disappearance of a tigress and her two cubs. However, Thadvi later turned hostile.

http://www.mid-day.com/news/2010/oct/181010-Forest-Department-tiger-poaching-case-Jalgaon-ban.htm

FD initiative: Govt to involve NGOs in tiger census process

The census (2009-10) for estimating the population of tigers in the country will kick off in November this year. But amid widespread concern over their dwindling numbers and allegations of ‘fudging of data and non-transparency’, an extra-cautious Centre has decided to involve, for the first time, as many as 10 national-level and scores of State-level-non-Governmental organisations (NGO), — selected by Governments of 17 States, in the process that will conclude in December 2010.

A decision for the census of the country’s national animal was taken at a meeting between the WII and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) recently.

However, if Naxalite-infested reserves like Indravati and Palamu will still be out of bounds of the census, the tiger count at the Sunderbans will be taken up as a ‘standalone project two years from now’. Tiger count in the North East too would continue to be a problem even as the entire process will involve about one lakh personnel — 88,000 of them being Government employees — and will incur an expenditure of Rs 8 crore.

Technically, though, the process will be set into motion from September 28 itself, when the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) — a Central Government institute and the nodal agency for the census, will conduct the first of its series of workshops to provide hands-on training to all the personnel and officials from the State forest departments and NGOs.

“The methodology for the census this year will remain the same as that undertaken last time. The difference lies in the involvement of the about ten national-level NGOs like the World Wildlife Fund, Wildlife Trust of India, Wildlife Conservation Society and Aranyak among others besides the local NGOs selected by the 17 State Governments concerned in whose jurisdiction the 37 tiger reserves fall,” Dr YV Jhala, a senior scientist with the WII and the nodal officer for the census, told The Pioneer on Wednesday.

The involvement of NGOs, he said, was both to avoid any allegations of fudging of data and non-transparency as also the result of a change in the approach of the Environment and Forest Ministry.

Remote sensing, geographic information and global positioning systems in combination with high-resolution spatial data and field data, based on sign surveys, camera trapping, and distance sampling, will once again be conducted both within and outside the protected areas besides the forest areas.

The study of tiger distribution pattern and the state of its habitat by the field staff and the tiger count by the teams of researchers would be undertaken between November 2009 and December 2010. The last census, whose report was made public, only last year, had revealed the alarming decrease in the number of big cats in the country. It estimated their population to be 1,411, which was over 2000 less than what the pugmarks-based census in 2001-02 had estimated.

“More than 40 tigers died since January this year, with 10 of them being poached. Since the last survey, Panna has already lost all its tigers,” an official of Environment Ministry said. Different reports suggest the death of around 70-100 tigers so far in the last year and a half.

The census will be conducted even as the NTCA has dispatched special teams of experts to eight critical tiger reserves to take stock of the ground realities and has already finalised the names of a dozen-odd wildlife experts to undertake an independent evaluation of the reserves on the basis of the 42 parameters outlined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.