IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 3 Issue XII

This issue of IndiaWilds Newsletter tries to take a deep dive into our culture to find solutions for today’s environmental problems.

Conservation: Learnings from Mahabharata

Fear:

Several incidents and examples that I have faced or read have remained in my memory as I have not been able to get an answer.

During my childhood days, while wandering alone in the nearby hillock, I have always been fearful whether I will stumble upon some unknown animal or snake. I have no idea if it was a result of reading Jim Corbett’s experiences in his much acclaimed book “Jungle Lore” where as a child he had accidentally stepped upon a sleeping python and had immediately discharged his muzzle loading gun into it and ran away as fast as he could.  In later years, I had successfully overpowered this fear and used to sit alone in waterholes in the night waiting for animals come to drink water.

However, I often wonder why we get tensed when faced with an unknown situation and tend to kill/subjugate the other. This thought had again come to my mind when I was reading Dr. George Schaller’s experiences in the high Himalayas, especially in his book “Stones of Silence”. He had said that hardly anyone had visited Changthang and other pristine wilderness areas and had encountered animals that didn’t have any fear of humans.

Two weeks back, on 9^th December, Dr. George Schaller showed us his slides and he said that these animals had no fear of man. They were never persecuted by man, so didn’t run away when he approached close. However, these days people rundown animals using their motor cycles, if they don’t have guns. As a result, the animals develop fear and now runaway when they see an approaching human being.

In a stark contrast to the lack of fear seen in animals by Dr. Schaller, a few weeks back, fifteen bullets from an automatic AK 47 were pumped into a lactating tigress near the Kohra range in Kaziranga: http://indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8119

This senseless and arrogant display of firepower in pumping fifteen bullets from the AK 47 left many people stunned.

We always talk of sensitising the armed forces and police etc that they should not over react. Whenever, the armed forces have been given clear-cut instructions they have followed it religiously and have even given up their lives in trying to uphold those instructions. For eg. the IPKF (Indian Peace Keeping Force) in Srilanka was instructed not to fire at civilians and the LTTE militants had even taken benefit of this by hiding within civilians and firing at the IPKF soldiers. So it becomes a bit difficult to understand why the armed forces and police officers become trigger happy when they see a wild animal. Why cannot they be instructed to maintain peace in front of stone-throwing mob without firing at a tiger or leopard?

The question that comes to my mind is with no one persecuting us – except for our own brethren – why are we so insecure? Why our first reaction is to kill or maim any animal that appears on our way?

Nabagunjara:

Nabagunjara Rupa by Traditional Oriya Artists

In my childhood days we used to read the Mahabharata and I was especially fond of the carvings in the stones in various temples in Orissa. There is the mention of Krishna taking the “Nabagunjara rupa” or the form of a monster Nabagunjara to test Arjuna. The monstrous Nabagunjara had head of a rooster, neck of a peacock, left fore feet of an elephant, one hind leg of tiger and the other hind leg of horse, waist of lion, hump of bull, tail in form of a snake, and the right fore leg in the form of a human hand carrying a lotus.  However, Arjuna could immediately know that Krishna is playing a trick on him as he could see the Padma ie lotus in the human hand. While reading Devdutt Pattanaik’s retelling of the Mahabharata titled “Jaya”, I was again reminded of this. He has reminded us that this Nabagunjara story highlights an important facet of Hindu philosophy “what cannot be understood by the human intellect need not be feared because it ultimately comes from God.”

In a country where the majority of people are Hindus and since in the past we have had massive mobilisation of people for building a temple, one ought to expect that the Hindu philosophy of not fearing the unknown is followed and we don’t resort to killing any animal, bird, insect, reptile that we find near our human habitations.

Is it a product of our complicated modern life where each of us is looking to “lord over” a lesser mortal to compensate for being subjugated by someone else in the social/official hierarchy?

Or is it because we have forgotten our culture?

Dr. George Schaller had said that Conservation is all about “Culture, Economics and Politics”. With our politicians displaying the propensity to self-destruct and the economic modeling failing to take into account our nature heritage, the Culture plank may be the only hope for Conservation.

Discharging Hot Water: Learnings from Mahabharata:

At a time, when our nuclear scientists and planners are least bothered about the impact of the hot water they want to discharge in the creeks of Jaitapur where the nuclear power plant is planned, it would be pertinent to quote an incident from Mahabharata. (For details about Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6313

After the Mahabharata war, where one billion and two hundred and twenty million people were killed, Gandhari had asked Krishna as to why her 100 sons had to die. Krishna had replied that it was written in Gandhari’s fate that she was destined to watch her 100 sons die.  Krishna told Gandhari that during her younger days, while cooking rice she had poured hot water on the ground thereby destroying hundred eggs of an insect. This had made the insect curse Gandhari to witness the death of her sons the way the insect had to see the death of her own.

Stunned by this discourse, Gandhari had said that it was the act of an innocent child. Krishna had explained that the laws of Karma are like that. Every action howsoever unintentional has an equal reaction, and one has to experience it in this life or the next. So in Andhra Pradesh women are advised never to pour hot water on the ground. The hot water must be cooled or mixed with cold water before pouring on the ground.

In a country with such a rich culture and with specific examples, do we need to look elsewhere to learn how we treat our mother earth?

In the Vishnu Purana, Dharitri or the Earth Goddess took the form of a cow to complain to Vishnu that she has been milked so greedily by the kings on earth that her udders have become sore. So Vishnu promised her that Parashurama, Ram and Krishna will spill blood to teach the greedy kings will a lesson so that she can drink their blood taking the form of a lioness. In another retelling of this story by Devadutt Patnaik in his book “Jaya”, Bhisma on his death bed had told Yudhishtira, the eldest Pandava, that King Vena was killed by the sages when Dharitri or Earth Goddess tired of the exploitation ran away inform of a cow and cried before the sages. Prithu, the son of the slain King Vena, begged before the Earth goddess that without her, his subjects will die. The earth goddess had replied that her udders have been squeezed till it is sore and her back broken by the ambition of the people. This led to Prithu creating a Code of conduct for all humans based on empathy rather than exploitation for the survival of all humanity. This code of conduct was given the name “Dharma” by Prithu. By this code, the earth became a cow while kings became the earth’s cowherds ensuring there was always enough milk for humans as well as the cow’s calves. Today the kings have made way for democratically elected Governments, military rulers, greedy corporations that are often bigger than some countries and other despots.

One should take cues from this example and learn that there is one earth where we live. It is enough for our needs but not our greeds. We need to stop this exploitation of mother earth. We need to rise above this petty fight as to who is responsible for this climate change and who ought to pay/sacrifice their material comforts and ensure that we lessen mother earth’s burden and cool down her anger.

Other Conservation Issues:

Hydropower rejected by FAC – approved by Ministry:

A project developed by GMR in Uttarakhand on Alakananda river was earlier rejected by the forest advisory committee. However, the ministry has decided to give the go ahead for this project which will now come up in the ecologically sensitive area.

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8098

Climate Change: Waiting on climate is escapism: Dr Pachauri

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8251

Climate Change: India in climate change agreement with neighbours:

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7996

More than 100 leopards killed in Uttarakhand in 2011

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8200

Alarm due to Crow deaths

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8213

India Does not need Nuclear energy

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7896

Wildlife Photography:

Images shared by our members between Nov. 10th 2011 and Dec 9th 2011 that depict interesting behavior, habitat, rare species or just plain beautiful.

Blue Sheep by Hem Chander

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8003

Wild Ass by Supreet Sahoo

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7995

White Bellied Sea-eagle Pair by Abhishek Jamalabad

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8161

Ruddy Turnstone by Roopak Gangadharan

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8026

Purple Sunbird by Kalpamoi Kakati

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8019

Jumping Spider by Joshi Bhavya

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7952

Announcement:

IndiaWilds has completed three years..

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8151

I look forward to your support and inputs in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. For other interesting articles and photographs please check : http://www.indiawilds.com/forums

All the newsletters can be found online at http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter/

In case, anyone of you has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.com Others may register at www.indiawilds.com/forums/register.php using your Full Name as user id.

Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
Contact: http://www.indiawilds.com/contact%20us.htm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/IndiaWilds/132629240481www.indiawilds.com
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Forums: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/index.php

This issue of IndiaWilds Newsletter examines the present sad state of wildlife tourism, its negative impact and way forward. You comments are appreciated at the end of the article.

Toilets on top of the world:

I was startled and astonished when I came across a news article about a demand for setting up of toilets in the Everest. Their reasoning was that though the mountaineers use portable toilets, the hordes of sherpas who are employed to carry luggage relieve themselves wherever they want and hence the need for toilets.

My initial reaction changed to sadness when the realization dawned by the extent of devastation we are wrecking on our pristine wilderness areas. The highest mountain peak in the world has seen many mountaineers attempting to scale it or “conquer” it as they say. Ever since this mountain was surveyed and given the tag of the highest mountain in the world, it has caught the imagination of mountaineers from around the world. There have been hundreds of deaths while attempting to scale this peak or while returning after a “successful” summit, often these are also due to people consciously attempting a difficult route. While it is difficult and beyond the scope of this article to talk about why this fascination to flirt with danger or glory – depending upon ones point of view – has continued for several decades, the point is that with the march of technology, there are better materials available for all your needs. Infact, it has become a thriving industry to help people climb the Everest. About 9 years back someone had asked me whether I am willing to spend 8000 dollars (eight thousand US dollars) to climb the Everest. I had politely declined the offer. I knew that I was physically not fit enough to undertake a successful climb of Everest and it is beneath my dignity to take that offer and be literally pulled up by sherpas. Nevertheless, that is what happens and wealthy tourists flock to the Everest so that they can brag about their latest “conquest”.

Wildlife tourism the “In Thing”:

And this is precisely what is happening these days. People with sufficient disposable wealth want to do something to get some bragging rights. And unfortunately, visiting wildlife destinations and wildlife photography is considered to be a “happening thing”, as I was told by a few youngsters whom I met in a National Park. The effect of this fad can be seen clearly in our well known national parks.

Tourists hound this radio collared tigress in Ranthambhore

Hordes of tourists screaming at their top of voice when they see a tiger; tourist jeeps jostling with each other for space hitting each other and hurling abuses; tourist vehicles and forest department elephants blocking the path of the tiger forcing to wait for hours away from water in a hot summer day so that tourists can get to see the tiger; tourist resorts coming up in ecologically fragile places; township developing to cater to the constant influx of tourists along with the attendant problems…. The list is endless.

Ranthambhore tiger stopped from hunting by photographers

Too much of tourism:

The fact is there are too many people visiting our few national parks, and it is beyond the carrying capacity of the place. Unfortunately, instead of restricting the number of tourists entering the forests, the draft eco-tourism guidelines by the MoEF talks about a formula which means tourist vehicles move around in a procession with a particular distance between them. Is this what our forests are meant to be? Degenerated into safari parks?

Touching and feeding a Nilgai in Tadoba

The late Kailash Sankhala, the first director and creator of the Project Tiger, had raised his voice against tourism several decades back.

Quoting Shri Kailash Sankhala from his book Tiger! The story of the Indian Tiger “I would suggest we concentrate on creating reserves where man’s interference – or what he arrogantly calls “scientific management” – is minimal. I do not like the term “national parks”, for it has been too loosely used. The initial meaning of “the untouched glory of God” has been so diluted that it has lost its significance. The term “park” conveys artificiality and the word “national” limits its universal appeal. The pleasure of a visit to a natural area has been destroyed by the influx of tourists with their transistors and trailers. I would condemn even the camera, except in case of professionals who employ their skill to interpret nature for the benefit of those millions who never get the chance to visit these gardens of Eden. The casual visitor is always in a hurry, and if he takes pictures he fails to see anything around him; his mind is preoccupied with shutter speeds, lens openings and focusing. The uncertainty of the results haunt him for hours after and instead of enjoying a relaxed holiday he is tensed. Many a wildlife photographer does not hesitate to disturb, sometimes even kill an animal, pluck a flower or destroy a tree to suit his picture. The visitor to a reserve should bring with him nothing but a receptive mind, and take away nothing but the understanding that he is only a small part of the whole complex pattern of nature’s ecology.”

An analysis of the impact of tourism infrastructure in Ranthambhore can be found here:
(http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-2-issue-v/).

Wildlife tourism is supposed to be non-consumptive and have minimal impact on wildlife and wilderness areas. However, the way wildlife tourism is run in this country, it is having a huge negative impact on the wilderness areas and wildlife. A tiger cub was mowed down by a tourist vehicle in Bandhavgarh on 21^st April 2009 (for details please check here:http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-1-issue-v/) and the case meandered towards a natural death. It is a different matter that the tour operator in this case, as well as most of the tour operators call themselves tiger experts, bringing into light the issue of lack of any control or license. A year after this, a tigress was mowed down by a forest department vehicle in the night, while doing an illegal night safari for some influential persons (For details check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/bandhavgarh-tigress-runover-by-jeep/). Predictably this case too made no headway. Despite this the tour operators maintain that they are eco-friendly.

The tour operators associations say that there are a “few black sheep” in the tourism industry who bring disrepute, else more or less the tourist operators are ethical and are the champions of conservation.

Nothing can be farthest from the truth!

PIL to Ban Tourism in Core Areas:

Recently, a PIL being heard in the Supreme Court to ban tourism in the core areas of the tiger reserves has brought the conflict of tourism vis-a-vis conservation into the open. The NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority) has favoured the proposal to ban tourism in the core areas. Predictably this has irked the tourism community.

Interestingly, a part of the conservation community – NGOs, media, and a few so called conservationists – have sprung to the defence of the tourist operators. Tourism is a cash cow and many players have a stake in that which includes wildlife activists, forest officials, tribal rights activists, researchers and other NGOs. It is standard ethical practice which warrants people who have a stake in the tourism pie, should refrain from offering their views as conservationists in this issue.

This case in the Supreme Court can have far reaching consequences. The tribal rights activists say that since the conservationists have argued that there is a need for inviolate spaces – and there have been a few successful efforts to shift villages from the core areas – there should not be any human foot fall in these core areas. However, no human footfall is an impracticable idea and can’t be implemented as well.

It is a fact that we need inviolate areas for our wildlife. And it is also a fact that the tourism in its present avatar is highly counter-productive and needs to be streamlined and curtailed in certain areas. I firmly believe and agree with Kailash Sankhala that human interference should be restricted to the minimum and allow “professionals who employ their skill to interpret nature for the benefit of those millions who never get the chance to visit these gardens of Eden” and patrolling units for the protection of these forests. Road building activities inside the core area should be immediately discontinued.

Lack of Tourism Policy:

Unfortunately, the present state of affairs in the tourism arena is such that it is absolutely difficult to derive pleasure during our visits to the forests. It is sad that lack of tourism policy, is pushing our forests into such an abhorrent state. My analysis of the ecotourism practices in Botswana (http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-2-issue-iv/)was shared with the MoEF. A year later MoEF came out with its draft Eco-tourism guidelines which appeared to be hurried collated (my analysis of it appeared in the IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 3 Issue VI http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-3-issue-vi/). It is really unfortunately, that the men and women in power instead of taking a holistic view are playing the game of blind men and the elephant and interpreting this as per their convenience.

The way tourism is run in this country needs to be regulated. At a minimum the following points needs to be tackled immediately:

Ecotourism Operators:

• Due diligence should be carried out before allowing any groups or individuals to set up resorts in sensitive areas.
• Effort should be to minimize concrete or permanent structures. Absolutely no concrete inside the forests. Instead promote camping using tents.
• The individuals, groups, organizations entering into this field should show their commitment to recruit the right kind of resources, adopt best practices etc.
• The Government may help them in enriching their knowledge from time to time by creating a best practices compendium, organizing seminars etc.

Where:

• At present tourism operators are crowded around a few places. In the absence of any legislation, our tourism operators will only move to well established areas to pick up the low hanging fruit first. For example, when CC Africa (a group well known for its ecotourism practices in Africa) set up its operations in India along with Taj (India’s one of the top most ethical organization); they set up their operations in well known areas like Kanha, Bandhavgarh etc instead of venturing into little known places. In sharp contrast, Jungle Lodges, a unit of Govt. of Karnataka’s Tourism Department, popularized BR Hills as a wildlife destination after setting up their resort in a relatively unknown place like K Gudi.
• New areas should be identified, the carrying capacity measured and tourist operators invited to set up their services in a controlled manner. Tour operators in these less visited areas can provide camping experiences by taking people on treks.

How:

• EIA done by reputed professionals and open to public scrutiny. There should be annual Environment Impact Assessment of the resort.
• Local construction materials used. The design should be in sync with the landscape. The construction should be based on the local conditions like weather, fragile environment, water scarcity etc. Brick-and-mortar resorts should be avoided in environmentally sensitive areas.
• A cradle to grave approach should be used to monitor the entire lifecycle of all materials used in construction.
• The resort should have a knowledgeable ecologist/naturalist as part of the team.
• Though it is good to promote Traditional crafts and culture. It should not be made a practice to conduct tribal dance, sale of handicrafts and other items in the forest. Else, this brings in more people from outside to setup shops. A well known case is Tala village in Bandhavgarh which had around 6 original families and now it is a small town offering even massage joints.
• In case the land is already degraded, the tour operator should take action to restore it along with its original vegetation.
• The Government should create a list of plants and trees in each area and make it mandatory for the resorts to adhere to it. The ecotourism site should be landscaped with vegetation native to that area. Landscaping should not be meant as creating lawns.
• Air-conditioners go against the grain of Ecotourism. The use of local materials, natural ventilation and local trees shading the cottages would help in removing the requirement of air conditioners.
• Light pollution should be minimized by designing appropriate lighting.
• Energy conservation should be prioritized. Renewable energy, especially solar energy should be used in the ecotourism facilities. The Government should provide adequate subsidies. A monitoring mechanism should be set up. Solar panels should be used for both, heat water as well as generate electricity for select appliances such as fans, lights, and kitchen equipment, water heating etc. Occupancy sensors should be used to cut down on unnecessary electricity consumption.
• It is estimated that approximately 30% water use in resorts is used for toilet flushing. Low flush toilets should be used to cut down on the water requirements.
• All cleaners, polishes and pesticide must be biodegradable, noncorrosive, non toxic and phosphate-free.
• All buildings should be connected by raised walkways to prevent vegetation from being trampled. Ground cover and other plant and animal life continues to flourish underneath the raised walkways and tent-cabins, and the trees and vegetation whose lives we spared return the favor by protecting us and our guests from the hot tropical sun. A similar structure is present in the White Tiger Lodge in Bandhavgarh.

Our wilderness areas and wildlife cannot be subservient to anyone’s interests and should not suffer due to the negligence of forest department in implementing laws or due to the inability of the law makers to frame adequate laws. I hope the Supreme Court case acts as a trigger to much needed action. Some news articles and discussions can be found here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7895

Other Conservation Issues:

Windmill Projects and bird hits:

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7948

Navy’s Andaman & Nicobar missile test plan threatens Nicobar Megapode

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7899

Articles in IndiaWilds:

IndiaWilds invites articles written on various conservation,scientific and natural history issues. For further details you may mail at administrator@indiawilds.com

Wildlife Photography:

Images shared by our members between 10^thOct 2011 – 9^thNov 2011 that depict interesting behavior, habitat or are just plain beautiful.

A rare sighting: Red Fox by Dipankar Mazumdar

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7875

A rare sighting: Musk Deer by Kaling Dai

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7784

Blackbuck female by Jitendra Katre

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7800

Green bee-eaters in action by Atul Sinai

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7902

Coppersmith barbet by Dr. Kalpamoi Kakati

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7726

Common Crow Chrysalis by Abhishek Jamalabad

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7673

Lizard by Mohan Matang

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7737

Snail by Jitendra Katre

http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7762

I look forward to your inputs and your support in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. For other interesting articles and photographs please check: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/

All the newsletters can be found online at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter/

In case, anyone of you has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.comOthers may register at www.indiawilds.com/forums/register.php using your Full Name as user id.

Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
Contact: http://www.indiawilds.com/contact%20us.htm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/IndiaWilds/132629240481www.indiawilds.com

Diary: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/

Equipment reviews: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/equipment/

Forums: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/index.php

This issue of IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 3 Issue IV examines Tiger Census, Bamboo as minor forest produce and many more. This newsletter is available online. To view and to post your comments check at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-3-issue-iv

Tiger Census: Is it just a Numbers game?

Last month amid much fanfare, the Hon’ble Minister for MoEF announced the 2010 tiger census results. Interestingly, he was flanked by Planning Commission deputy chairman Shri Montek Singh Ahluwalia and water resources minister Shri. Salman Khurshid while making the announcement of the increase in tiger numbers to 1706. For details please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?p=31919#post31919

How correct are these estimations? The technique for estimating numbers have undergone a sea change. Initially the tiger population estimates was primarily based on casual estimates done by some experts like the 40,000 tiger numbers which was supposed to have come up during a casual discussion ( as mentioned by Dr. Salim Ali). Later the pug mark method was used to estimate the tiger population. It was another matter that this method was thoroughly abused by people either due to lack of knowledge in interpreting or due to ulterior motives. Of late, techniques like camera trapping and DNA finger printing show promise and has been used in some select resevers. We have come a long way in creating a process for scientifically estimating the population of wild tigers. However, we are yet to create a robust mechanism that includes proven scientific methodologies.

It is said that the previous census conducted in 2006 had thrown results with a considerably huge variance. The range, as officially declared, was 1165 to 1657. I am not sure who did the arithmetic, but 1411 ie. the simple average of the lower and higher limits was spoken about as the official wild tiger population. A high voltage awareness campaign by a private telecom operator – which was based on knowledge inputs provided by a leading wildlife NGO – cemented the 1411 number in public memory.

No wonder, in the recent census, the so called percentage increase in tiger numbers were based on this average figure of 1411.
It is another matter that this time there has been more areas included in the census. Nor did it worry people, that the methodology adopted is inconsistent across all territories. In some cases, images of tigers recorded in camera traps have been used where as in other cases it is not. Unless and until there is a consistent approach throughout, it will remain as much of an inexact science as the pugmark method it replaced.

It would be far better, if there are long term monitoring and studies in the tiger landscapes, so that rather than a one time effort, we can have consistent data across all regions. That would also help in conserving our wildlife and wilderness areas rather than the numbers approach in the present tiger census.

An important statistics that has emerged out of the tiger census is the loss in habitat to the tune of 20,000 kilometers. This is a phenomenal number. Not much has been discussed about it.

Interestingly, Shri Ramesh is supposed to have said – as reported by The Hindu – that “a country of 1.4 billion cannot survive on Solar, Wind and biogass alone, so we do need commercial sources of energy, but we also need to conserve these forests,” he told Mr. Ahluwalia. “We must decide whether we can afford a 9 percent growth agenda which would destroy our forests and the cultures and livelihoods that depend on them.”

A major part of the 20,000 sq. kilometers of the forest land lost is due to large infrastructure projects like dams, canals, airports, road building and increase in human habitations. Our urban planning has failed and has resulted in unequal and unsustainable growth of our mega cities. I hope the Deputy Chief of Planning Commission Shri Ahluwalia can give a thought to it.

Sadly, big is better seems to be the Mantra. So today we are turning a blind eye to the devastation unfolding in Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants in Japan and are pushing for a massive Nuclear Power Project in Jaitapur. More details can be found in the IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol 2 Issue III (http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-3-issue-iii ).

The ministers as well as the media were happily reporting the increase in tiger numbers. Numbers like 12% etc were thrown around and there were smiles in faces as if our conservation efforts have become an overnight success.

The Hon’ble Minister for MoEF was talking about sustaining a 9% year on year growth rate for the economy. However, he is happy at the so called 12% increase in estimated tiger population spread over 4 years. Since simple arithmetic has become the norm, perhaps he should have asked someone to do quickly compute the yearly percentage growth rate of tiger population. That might have had a sobering effect.

Though the census suggests that central India and Eastern Ghats have 601 tigers and Western Ghats have 534 tigers, the corridors in most of the areas have either been broken or under threat. Since none of the tiger reserves and the contiguous areas around those have a combined single population of 500 tigers – the minimum accepted number to have a genetically viable population – it is imperative that we focus on restoring the contiguities between various wilderness areas. That would help in replenishing the gene pool and maintaining the genetic diversity. The fact is tigers are prolific breeders and due to their tremendous instincts, given a chance, can repopulate areas. Last year a tiger from Ranthambhore managed to pass through sugar cane fields and sparse vegetation and reached Keoladeo Ghana National Park. Another managed to reach Kuno, though the contiguity has long been lost. So if the Hon’ble minister for MoEF and the Deputy Chairman of Planning commission and other ministers are serious, then we can certainly recreate those contiguous linkages.

However, given the fact that budgetary allocation for resettlement of villagers from tiger reserves is being reduced, I am not sure if the Dy. Chairman of Planning Commission Shri Ahluwalia is aware of the importance of recreating the linkages between wilderness areas and the importance of maintaining our amazing biodiversity.

A cursory look at the Planning Commission website makes for some interesting reading “The Planning Commission was set up by a Resolution of the Government of India in March 1950 in pursuance of declared objectives of the Government to promote a rapid rise in the standard of living of the people by efficient exploitation of the resources of the country, increasing production and offering opportunities to all for employment in the service of the community. The Planning Commission was charged with the responsibility of making assessment of all resources of the country, augmenting deficient resources, formulating plans for the most effective and balanced utilisation of resources and determining priorities. Jawaharlal Nehru was the first Chairman of the Planning Commission.” (Ref: History section)

When there is exploitation there is grief. The use of the word exploitation takes us to the so called “wood cutter” mentality which is far removed from preservation. The British with the sole idea to exploit had mercilessly cut down our forests and had planted many exotic species for timber. They had trained our foresters solely to exploit our forests. It is sad that even today we unknowingly retain the same wood cutter training of the British. It has been six decades since the Planning Commission was set up and it is unfortunate that Planning Commission hasn’t been able to truly appreciate the value of our natural heritage.

Probably, India can learn from Bolivia which is creating laws to establish 11 (eleven) new rights for nature, one of them being right of nature. The right of nature talks about “to not be affected by mega-infrastructure and development projects that affect the balance of ecosystems and the local inhabitant communities.” For further details please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6461

The article 51A of our constitution states that “it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife, and to have compassion for living creatures.” Is it not the duty of the State too?

Until that realization dawns, tiger census will remain a mere statistical exercise.

Bamboo: Is it a tree or is it a grass?

Well, the Hon’ble Minister for MoEF seems to have woken up to the fact that bamboo belongs to the grass family. Whatever may be the scientific classification, bamboo has been historically treated by the forest department as a tree. The Hon’ble Minister has issued a letter to the states to treat bamboo as minor forest produce and allow the extraction of bamboo. He has asked for creation of management plans for commercial exploitation of bamboo.

Predictably, this has been welcomed by forest rights activists and has been described as a pro-people move. Cynics say that with the UPA Government completing two years and struggling to cope with the overload of scandals, this is perhaps a conscious decision to be seen as pro people. Since the wildlife doesn’t have a vote and our traditional economic models don’t value our rich biodiversity, it becomes an easy decision.

Bamboo is not just a grass or a minor forest produce like tendu and other such items. A clump of bamboo is like a mini ecosystem. It’s leaves are browsed by many herbivores. A large part of elephants diet comes from bamboo. Apart from giving the shade and shelter to carnivores like tigers, it also is the home to birds, rodents, reptile species and host of bugs and micro organisms. There is a complex chain of inter-relationships and removing one of the elements destabilizes the ecosystem. And here, we are talking about removing the parent (or host, so to speak) around which a micro-ecosystem is built. It might be pertinent to quote Sir Richard Attenborough, who says, “The best route to conservation is to save ecosystems.”

Of course, the proponents of this idea would jump to point out that the Hon’ble Minister for MoEF has mentioned that Gram Sabhas will develop management plans in consultation with the forest departments. Perhaps this is a bit late for an April Fool joke, however, in a country where the premier Tiger Reserves and National Parks work in an adhoc manner trying to dig a water hole here or burn down grasslands in another place or tie a couple of goats for an injured carnivore, their only actions are a series of short cuts rather than well thought out action plans. It is another matter that expecting each forest department officer to create long term management plans that have a sound ecological basis is nothing but foolishness as they are neither specifically trained for it, nor they do have the sufficient wherewithal’s to do it. There have been documented cases, when even our expert wildlife organizations have failed, not due to lack of intent, but these studies require an interdisciplinary approach and vision. The talk about the management plan in the Hon’ble Minister letter can at best serve as a handle to defend his order in the future when the devastation wrought by this order becomes apparent. It is a completely impractical idea.

Unfortunately, we humans as a race are perhaps the greediest of all and are not known for our foresight. And as Jane Goodall opines, in this panel discussion, “If you did a census of all species on earth as to which species would be the best one to disappear for the future sustainability of earth and it would be us.” For more details on it see here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?p=32087#post32087

Conservation:

Leopards attacking humans to be killed:
Recent guidelines to manage human-leopard conflict:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6477

The Bannerghatta Night Safari:
The Karnataka Government’s plan to introduce night safari in Bannerghatta is now with the Supreme Court. For further details please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2799

Dolphin Poaching:
There have been recent reports of dolphin poaching continuing as fishermen are using the oil from dolphins to catch fish. The tag of National Acquatic animal has brought no respite for it. If this continues, as is likely to be, then soon Ganga may follow the footsteps of Yangtze in losing its dolphin. For further details please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6448

Impact of Pesticides:
One can no longer ignore the impact of pesticides. There has been recent reports of its impact on bees in UK (http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6379 ). Another herbicide from Monsanto having Glyphosate has been found to be causing infertility and cancer (http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6442 ).
Back here in India, the Government refuses to ban Endosulfan despite its documented impact on people. With India producing about 80% of the world production of endosulfan, the Governmet of India seems to be prioritizing business over people. If the studies conducted by the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers is to be believed, trials of neem based pesticides conducted in tea estates and in other places have not only been successful, but it has also led to regeneration. That means it is acting as a fertilizer as well. In face of the powerful pesticides and fertilizer lobby, I doubt if neem based pesticides will ever be promoted. For further details please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5539

Wildlife Photographers and Tunnel vision:
An interesting discussion started by Vikram Nanjappa. For further details please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6388

Illegal Resort:
After reports of illegal housing schemes, now comes the report of an illegal resort coming up near Bandipur. For further details please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6542

Natural History:

Striped Neck Mongoose feeding on Crocodile Eggs by Vikram Nanjappa : http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6363

Wildlife Photography:

Images shared by our members between 10th March 2011 – 9th April, 2011 that depict interesting animal behaviour or are just plain beautiful.

A Jungle Cat trying to avoid being run over by Mohan Matang
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6366

Tiger with Langur by AB Apana
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6399

Lesser false vampire bats by Mohan Raj
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6386

Stags at War by Mrudul Godbole
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6398

Tiger Drinking by Dipankar Majumdar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6264

Blue headed Rock Thrush by Dr. Jitendra Katre
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6356

Blackcrowned Sparrow Lark by Shreeram M. V
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6404

A good effort with a compact camera by Joshi Bhavya
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6355

Equipment discussions:

Filter
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6338

Benro Vs. Manfrotto Tripods
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6314

Canon launches two PL Mount Digital Cine zoom lenses with 4K capability
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6406

Canon launches 20x portable 2/3 inch HD Zoom lens with built in 2x capability
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6410

I look forward to your inputs and your support in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. For other interesting articles and photographs please check:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/

The link to this Newsletter is available at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-3-issue-iv

All the newsletters can be found online at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter

In case, anyone of you has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.com Others may register at www.indiawilds.com/forums/register.php

Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
Contact: http://www.indiawilds.com/contact%20us.htm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/IndiaWilds/132629240481

I have been longing to renew my acquaintance with the Lion tailed macaques for some time. However, due to work pressure I was postponing my visits. Finally, I could resist no more and headed towards Anamalais with Valparai as the first stop in filming Lion tailed macaques.
My trusted Safari 4×4 had a condenser coil failure the previous day. However, I could get the part replaced and the next day, I was driving towards Valparai from Chennai. I followed the Chennai – Krishnagiri – Salem – Coimbatore – Polachi- Valparai route. The road construction is still remaining in a stretch of about 50-60kms while approaching Coimbatore and is a real pain.

I had decided to stay in a tea estate and had booked a bungalow. I reached there at around 1:30 pm and discovered that the lovely bungalow named Indraprastha is about 120 years old and has been recently renovated. A few minutes were spent in unpacking and the lunch was ready. After a heavy lunch, I thought it prudent to relax. The light drizzle making my decision easier.

In the evening, after a cup of coffee, I thought it fit to go for a casual stroll. After a while, decided to sit on the culvert of a bridge to hear the sound of water flowing in the stream. It was dark outside and after an hour or so while returning back, I discovered that the staff have panicked. I was told that there has been a spate of sloth bear attacks in the recent past. The caretaker cum cook indicated to me that a bear had come near the verandah. There was a depression in the mud, but no foot prints to verify that he is indeed speaking the truth. The watchman, who was from Assam told me that Sloth bears and Gaurs routinely visit the estate. Later on the administrator told me about the sloth bear attacks. One of the tea pickers probably stumbled upon a sloth bear and was badly mauled. She was admitted in the tea estate hospital, however the bleeding didn’t stop for two days and they were forced to transfer her to a bigger hospital elsewhere. A tinge of sadness gripped me, thinking about the plight of the poor tea pluckers. I couldn’t imagine someone bleeding for two days. Not sure why the tea estate didn’t think it fit to shift the lady immediately to a bigger hospital. Probably, profit motive overrides all considerations for human life.

The next day, I drove down towards Valparai. On the road, found the two watchmen employed by NCF. They are supposed to warn motorists so that lion tailed macaques don’t get run over by vehicles.

Since the lion tailed macaques could not be found, I moved ahead. While returning, I decided to park the vehicle and take a stroll. And voila! The lion tailed macaques were there on a nearby tree.

A few of those were perched on top of a few houses of the tribals. It was interesting watching them move from one roof top to the other using the wires hanged for drying clothes. Soon one Lion Tailed Macaque mother came with its baby to the roof top in front of me and started grooming it. I couldn’t suppress my smile when I found that one lady came out of the house and started searching for lice from a small girl’s head.

I watched and filmed the Lion tailed Macaques for a couple of hours till the watchmen appeared on the scene and indicated that there were leaches. And then the struggle starts to find out where all the leaches have invaded. The only feasible solution was to rush to the confines of my Safari, so as not to strip down in the open.

The leeches secrete an anti-coagulant called hirudin and an anesthetic. The anesthetic ensures that you don’t feel the bite. I still remember the pain I felt when a local anesthesia was injected in the webbing of my fingers to set right my brokern fingers. The pain of administering the anesthesia was high. I think it would be a real book if scientists study leeches and develop better anesthesia.

The anti-coagulant injected by the leech stops the blood from clotting and the painkiller does its job so that you don’t realise. The watchman had told me that they place small strips of paper over the spot where the leech has bitten and the blood dries up and clots after sometime. Unlike the leeches found in our villages, the leeches in the forest are small in size and are shiny. To prevent leech attacks, you need to either use leech proof socks or just raise your trousers so that the leeches cannot climb up using the trousers. I was told Leeches sense their prey based on smell and vibrations as they are in the leaf litter. One leech also fell on my neck from a tree. So they remain in the trees as well and one needs to be careful.

When we were kids, in our village they used to tell us that placing salt results in the leech immediately bursting out. We used to even have fun with it. However, I realised later that if the leech if we put salt or spray any spray (leech is very sensitive to chemicals), then the leach will burst/drop but it vomits into the wound and the wound is infected. Also by pulling out the leech or crushing it, results in its teeth remaining in your body.  The best method of removing a leech from your body is to slowly put a thin stick or object between the leech and your body and slowly pull up sideways the narrow end portion of the leech. This will result in the leech stop sucking the blood and you can remove both its ends this way.

After this leech hunt was over, I was too distracted and enervated to continue with the filming. A quick lunch followed and by the time my lunch was over, the lion tailed macaques had left the place and moved away. Soon the sky opened up and it started pouring. It was time to start the slow drive in the ghat roads. A cup of hot tea from a road side tea stall lifted the spirits and reached the bungalow by 4 pm.

I hoped that the Sloth bear will make an appearance; however, the sloth bear apparently had other ideas.

The next day morning it was time again to have a date with the Lion tailed macaques. There were lot of fighting among the Lion tailed Macaques. One big male was trying to mate and another female was disrupting it. There were lot of vehicles passing very close to the Lion tailed Macaques.

Thankfully, no one was hurt. Around noon time, suddenly they all started calling each other and then left the scene. I wish, I could have recorded the sound. I cursed myself for having left my sound recording equipment in the Safari parked a kilometer away.

I thought it was better to have lunch. After lunch, I was undecided where to go, however, thought of checking the same place again. Thankfully, a group of lion tailed macaques were there. A lion tailed macaque was near a stream too. I parked my Safari and got down. Immediately, the lion tailed macaque appeared infront of the vehicle. No sooner had I got down to photograph it, the Lion tailed macaque climbed on top of the Safari. I quickly closed the doors, lest it gets inside and damages my precious photographic equipment.

After sometime, the lion tailed macaques left the spot. I could see one at a distance on a tree. Suddenly it moved and broke a honey comb and ran down the tree in a fraction of a second, so that the honey bees could not sting it. After few minutes, when the honey bees had deserted the fallen honeycomb, the lion tailed macaque picked it up and had a sumptuous feast on the honey. It was a great learning for me. I wish, I could have filmed the scene with a wider angle, as the honeycomb was only visible for a brief moment in my footage. This incident, tells how less we understand the behaviour of our endangered species. Since then there have been many more visits to different areas in search of Lion tailed Macaques, and the many pleasurable moments of watching these endangered primates.

This issue of IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 3 Issue I examines issues surrounding some of our often ignored but highly fragile Shola forests. You can post your comments below.

Save our Sholas:

When one views the rows of tea bushes immaculately manicured – yes the tea leaves are cut instead of being plucked in the tea gardens of South India – with a few tall trees planted in rows, one loves the symmetry and gets bowled over by the greenery. Tourists start flocking to have a vacation in these tea estates of Munnar, Valparai etc, which incidentally have a much cooler climate and perhaps soothes the frayed nerves of the tourists. They come back with picture postcards of their vacation in abundant greenery.

If you really think it is green in the true sense, wait a minute.

The tea estates came up when the British started clear felling the shola forests and establishing the tea estates. In those days, the estates were few. However, after the departure of the colonial masters, more and more people started colonizing these wilderness areas, replacing those with tea estates and exotic plantations.

Shola forests:

The Shola forests – which are broadly categorized as tropical montane forests – can be found in the western ghats at an altitude upwards of 1500 meters. The shola forests are generally found in patches in the depressions of mountains with grasslands bordering it.

Sholas and Mega fauna:

The shola forests and grasslands are home to an endemic species Nilgiri Tahr who are adept in escaping from predators by climbing the steep hill slopes. I found numerous scats and dungs of tiger, dhole, elephant and gaur apart from Nilgiri Tahr. In one place there was scat of tiger and dung of elephant and gaur forming a triangle of about 8-10 feet.

Sholas and Water:

This high altitude ecosystem of Sholas and grasslands helps in absorbing water and stopping the water runoff and the consequent erosion.

It is interesting to know that the term Shola was derived from the word “Cholai” in Tamil (small water body within a vegetation cover/ shaded and wet area). According to Swarupanandan the origin of the word Chola or Cholai can be traced to the word ‘Jal’ in Sanskrit, which means water. (Ref.Swarupanandan, et al., 1998)

Retention of Organic Carbon:

A study (Ref. V. Nandakumar et al) found that the shola forests show more organic carbon content in the soil than evergreen forests, grasslands and eucalyptus plantations.. The dense canopy created by the shola forests leads to less exposure to sunlight vis-à-vis grasslands or eucalyptus plantations. The unique microclimate within the Sholas with a low and steady temperature and high humidity reduces the evaporation and transpiration demands on the shola vegetation. This unique microclimate together with less soil erosion, leads to more addition of litter than its removal and hence results in net increase in organic carbon content. This role of Sholas in conserving more carbon compounds in the soil compared to dry grasslands and eucalyptus plantations has not been given much of importance till date.

The study also found that Shola forests has higher Cation Exchange Capacity and has higher organic matter, clay content, lower bulk density and volume expansion and has better protection for nutrient cations compared to grasslands and eucalyptus plantations due to the higher cation binding power.

Threats to Shola forests:

Cultivation:
The tea estates brought people to work as labourers. They in turn started cultivating vegetables which they were habituated to. Over a period of time, the tribals realised that beans, carrot, cabbage etc which were cultivated by the labourers gave much higher economic returns than the crops traditionally cultivated by the tribals. To make matters worse the tribals also learnt the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. So it is not only the tea estates who use synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, but also the tribals, polluting the fresh water streams that originate from the area.

Lemon Grass Cultivation:

The crops like beans, cabbage etc require attention, so the tribals can’t cultivate it very large areas. However, they discovered that lemon grass cultivation doesn’t require much attention. The lemon grass oil which is extracted from the lemon grass is easier to transport after distillation. So most of the high hills in the Tamil Nadu and Kerala areas in the Annamalai and Chinar Wildlife Sanctuary looks green from a distance, however, on closer look one finds that it is cultivated with lemon grass, which none of the herbivores like nilgiri tahr, gaur, elephants etc eat. So the lemon grass has no positive contribution. Ofcourse, one can say that lemon grass cultivation leads to binding of the soil and water runoff is arrested. However, the shola forests and grasslands that were there before these lemon grass cultivation started have a much higher capacity of water absorption.

The lemon grass needs to be distilled to extract the lemon grass oil. This requires huge amounts of firewood. One of the muduvan village (tribals) that I visited told us that they have collected firewood for the next five years, as they know that all the hills are denuded and there are no trees to be cut. Certainly a sad state of affairs!

The recent explosion of tourist traffic to areas like Munnar have further increased the demand of the lemon grass oil. In the last one year alone, the price of lemon grass oil has increased form With such a lucrative income available, it is unlikely that the tribals like muduvans will ever think of relocating from the forest areas. In a few places, there are efforts to provide efficient distillation units to lower the firewood consumption, however, there are no long-term solutions to control the structural changes brought out by the lemon grass cultivation. Rather, there are efforts being made to create pucca roads inside the sanctuary using the NREGA program.

Firewood Collection:
It was interesting to note that among the tribal populace, the firewood collection is mostly done by the women and children. Most of it is done from the Sholas and a small percentage from the wattle and other exotic plantations and from the estates. Firewood collection from the sholas has got a deleterious impact on the sholas. It may be pertinent to mention that the shola forests are unique in their composition with fire resistant trees on the periphery. Cutting those down will leave them vulnerable to future fire threats.

Grazing:

Grazing places a huge threat on the sholas. In an article in Ecological Economics, Perrings and Walker mentions that cattle grazing lowers the resilience of the ecosystem. It also gives rise to the chances of invasive weeds entering into the shola ecosystem.

Eucalyptus Plantation:

In the past wattle and eucalyptus plantations have been set up by the tea estates to serve their fire wood needs. However, with the increase in awareness about the deleterious impact of eucalyptus plantations, various State Governments have taken steps against it. However, In a recent visit to Devikulam range near Munnar in search of Nilgiri Tahr populations, I came across the ghastly sight of eucalyptus plantations near the shola forests at an approximate altitude of 2200 meters. Grasslands and shola forests have given way to these exotic eucalyptus plantations spread over several hills. When one comes to know that this is done by a State Govt. arm, it is indeed worrying. You can see the discussions on the two images here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5774
And here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5688

Reducing the organic matter content of these shola forests by burning, cutting down of the sholas, converting to eucalyptus plantations etc, will affect the water retention capacity of the soil. This in turn will reduce the water discharged to the streams that originate in these places. So the eucalyptus plantations have to be immediately cut down and the area left alone for natural regeneration of the native vegetation to take place.

The shola forests has been described as a Climatic climax by Champion in 1938. Shola forests have taken several thousand years to evolve into their present stage of climax. Is it not criminal to clear fell these to make way for eucalyptus plantations?

The shola forests have an impact on our water security as well as climate change. In a country where conservation perhaps starts and ends with the tiger, I hope we understand the value of the shola forests. It is a part of our irreplaceable Natural Heritage. We don’t have much of time to save our sholas.

Other conservation issues:

The Rule of the Mob: Leopards beaten to death

Another leopard beaten to death on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar! (http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5878 ) This just adds to the killing of leopards in various parts of the country. Virtually every other day we hear a story of leopard being beaten to death or trapped in a cage or burnt alive in a field or simply found dead and carcass burn (http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5851) or a venerable wildlife Institute setting on fire the trees in its campus to drive away leopard (http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4104). The other day the story was a bit different with a photo of one police officer published in the newspapers showing him shooting a leopard (http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5842 ). It is tough times for the Panther pardus.

Leopards are remarkably adaptable. Their needs are frugal and can survive in degraded forests preying on lesser wild prey as well as a goat or a village mongrel. However, this adaptability seems to be acting like a millstone around its neck, as people feel that nothing needs to be done as the leopard can survive in its own in degraded habitat or sugarcane fields.

The explosion of human population and the consequent demands has led to clearing up of forests and its herbivore population. As a result, the leopard is now completely devoid of its natural prey and has to depend on livestock for its survival. A hungry leopard moving out of the small patch of forest land in search of another habitat with adequate prey base leads it to pass through human habitations and cultivated fields. This creates unfortunate scenarios, as the people are not used to seeing a spotted feline. Also this brings into fore our hidden nature which feels happy at someone else’s pain, a regressive mentality of decimating all other species infront of us.

To make matters worse, as in the case of the mob lynching to death the leopard near Bhubaneswar, a TV camera man wanted to search for exclusive footage (a la Al Jazeera TV) and reportedly instigated the people to take law into their hands. The result was inevitable. The forest department, as is the case everywhere in India, remained a mute spectator.

This unfortunate incident should not be passed over with just a feeling of sadness.

• The TV Cameraman needs to be arrested and the footage, computers etc should be sent for forensic examination.
• In such cases, in all parts of the country, Section 144 should be immediately issued and people arrested.
• All the persons, involved in the lynching should be arrested under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. Being in a Mob should not be seen as a sure shot way of escaping being convicted.
• To save the leopard, a Project Leopard should be announced. A massive exercise to be undertaken in all the states to map the remaining suitable habitats. Suitable action plans to save the leopard to be drawn.
• We are on verge of losing the leopard. Instead of frittering our energy in creating grandiose plans for bringing in exotic species like African Cheetah and introducing them into cages, we have to act fast in saving our leopard. I would appreciate our members to raise their voice in support of this cause.

Culling orders on monkey, wild boar and Nilgai in Himachal Pradesh:

Who says that culling is only done in Africa and USA.

The Himachal Pradesh Forest department is issuing permits to shoot monkeys, wildboars and Nilgais. For further details please check here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5596

Wildlife Photography:

Images shared by our members between 10th Dec 2010 – 9th January, 2011 that depict interesting animal behaviour or are just plain beautiful.

The Rain and the Sun by Dr. Hari Venkatesh K R
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5741

Lady Paradise by Tushar Dixit
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5617

Pied Kingfisher by Praveen Siddannavar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5623

Great Pied Hornbill Mrudul
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5764

My first Frogmouth by Tushar Dixit
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5825

Tiger Cub by Mrudul Godbole
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5587

The Yawn by Bibhav Behera
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5649

Traffic sense on crazy weekends – a message – Roopak Gangadharan
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5580

Moyar Valley by Mohan Raj
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5689

Funnel Web spider by Akshay Kumar Manjunath
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5786

I look forward to your inputs and your support in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. For other interesting articles and photographs please check: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/

The link to this Newsletter is available at:

All the newsletters can be found online at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter
In case, any member of IndiaWilds forums has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.com Others may register at www.indiawilds.com/forums/register.php with their full name.
Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
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This issue of IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol. 2 Issue XII marks the completion of two years of existence of IndiaWilds as a Conservation and Wildlife Photography forum. In this issue we examine some of the often ignored areas that impact climate change. This newsletter is available online. To view and post your comments check at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-2-issue-xii

Climate Change:

A year has passed since the farce conducted in Copenhagen summit. Have we become more conscious about climate change? Has it brought any change in our behaviour? Let’s examine whether we are on the right track.

Let’s start with our popular minister for MoEF Shri Jairam Ramesh ridiculing SUV’s as Socially Useless Vehicles. A smart politician that he is, he understands that this attack on the SUVs – that were earlier considered to be symbols of the rich – is not going to harm his political career and even may help him earn a few brownie points. However, is he focusing on the root cause?

Public Transport:

If he would, then he would have expressed dismay – I don’t think if he can do any better – at the shockingly inefficient public transport system which forces individuals to buy a two wheeler or a car or hitch a ride in a fuel guzzling three-wheeler. The sale of these automobiles is helped by a nexus of lending agencies and agents who would be hit if we move towards an efficient public transport system. Furthermore, the housing tax breaks induced home buying spree of individuals, deftly manipulated by the real estate lobby and aided by the poor urban planning by our Government departments ensures that individuals buy residences that are often at a considerable distance from their place of work. These complicated relationships can often rival the intricate web of relationships between various organisms in nature. I am sure it would now be evident to all, that streamlining the public transport system would need a huge focus and commitment and hence didn’t feature in the Hon’ble Minister’s wise cracks. We need a messiah who can streamline our public transport system. However the vacancy for that job is likely to remain for a long time.

Sports and Public Events:

If SUV is a sign of conspicuous consumption, then it is time that we look at some of the wasteful consumptions that we engage in a mass scale. The sports events conducted in the night or events in airconditioned complexes immediately comes to mind. Take the case of conducting night race in Formula 1 Grand Prix, the pinnacle of motor sports.

Night Race in Formula 1:

Formula 1 Grand Prix – the pinnacle of motor sports – has a huge carbon footprint due to its fuel guzzling engines, crisscrossing the world with Boeing loads of equipment etc. As if that was not enough, in 2008 it was decided to conduct the first night race in formula 1 in Singapore, so that the race can be viewed by European viewers at a convenient time. Let us examine its environmental impact.

The F1 race track in Singapore is 5.067 kilometers long. To light this 5.067 kilometer circuit, 108,423 metres of power cables, 240 steel pylons and around 1,600 light projectors are used. Each bulb is of 2000 watts. The total power requirement to light the circuit is supposed to be 3,180,000 watts ie. 3180kwh or 3.18 Mwh. The lighting level with around 3000 lux, is supposed to be four times brighter than the lighting in sports stadiums.

Considering that there would be practice in Friday, qualifying in Saturday and race is Sunday; the race track will be lighted for atleast for a minimum of 18 hours in three days. So the power requirement for lighting the tracks on the three days would be 15*31800000 watts i.e. 18*3.18 Megawatts ie. 57.24 Mega watts. Apart from this there would be additional lights brought by the teams to light up their pit areas and lighting required for grandstands. I am sure they would have kept the track lit for an equal number of hours for testing. So the total consumption can be atleast 100 Mwh.

It is estimated that the average household energy consumption in US is about 936kwh per month. So 100Mwh can light up more than 100 houses for a month or 3000 households for a day in the USA.

Is it not a criminal waste of energy, especially at a time when the dark clouds of climate change are engulfing us?

2022 Football Worldcup in Qatar:

Formula one, though it has a massive fan following, can be branded as elitist and infact was branded as such by our sports minister the previous year. A few days back, FIFA the body that governs football worldwide announced that Qatar is going to host the worldcup in 2022. Qatar, a country where the temperature during June and July goes well beyond 40 deg. C, has decided to use air conditioned stadiums where the temperature can be brought down to around 20 degrees. Well the amazingly rich football players need not worry playing in the heat and dust of the desert, as FIFA has said that there would be air-conditioned stadiums to play in. Is it not crash consumerism that can be avoided? Unfortunately, I didn’t see a single word of condemnation for such a thoughtless action.

Cricket:

There is a saying, if you point a finger, then three fingers point back at you. Formula 1 may be doing this recently. However, Cricket – the sport that has a hysteric fan following in India – is not far behind. Lets consider the floodlighting of the stadiums. Data from MCG (Melbourne Cricket Ground) shows that the four floodlights lighting the stadium consume 360,000kWh, this is based upon a running time of 400 hours over a twelve month term. So every hour consumption is 900kw. If we use this average for the calculations for our T-20 matches, then each T-20 match spanning over three hours will consume 900*3=2700 kw or 2.7 Megawatt. Since the T-20 tournament fixture is yet to be drawn, the number of matches can be anything between 60 and 94. So the power consumed can be atleast 162 Mw considering 60 matches. Per capita consumption of power in India is 612Kwh. So the power consumed in lighting IPL matches can light up the homes of 264 people for a year or 96617 people can get power for a day.

There are far more number of One Day Internationals and T-20 events conducted in the night these days than a child can count. The reason is solely to increase the spectacle. Do we care to raise our voice against these spectacles? These sports events have become energy guzzling orgies. If we don’t raise our voice against those, solely because we love sports, or because these events are popular, then we certainly don’t have a right to engage people in trivial things. Scientists and leaders are all engaged in the blame game on small trivialities, such as impact of gas emitted by cattle on climate change; where as they are silent about these frequently occurring major energy guzzling events.

The talk of cattle reminds me of another issue that was raised by Shri Jairam Ramesh last year and laughed upon by critics – the issue of consumption of beef and its impact on climate change.

Beef & Climate Change:

Vast tracts of virgin rain forests in the Amazon are being ruthlessly razed down to the ground by machines. When one watches the video of these chainsaws cutting down hard growth trees in seconds, that took several hundred years to grow, one becomes speechless. In those areas come up industrial scale soybean farms and cattle ranches primarily for satisfying the beef demand from Europe. Today, a school kid can lecture us – provided we pause to listen – that the trees release moisture to the atmosphere and a large patch of forest often helps its cause by releasing large amount of moisture to the atmosphere which helps in rainfall.

The 2006 report of UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) titled “Livestock’s Long Shadow -Environmental Issues and Options” mentions that Livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions than the transport sector, 18% from the livestock sector vs 13% from the transport sector. As we know, increased prosperity leads to increase in consumption of not only food grains but also of animal proteins. The FAO report has confirmed that with mindboggling statistics. The global meat production is going to double from 229 million tonnes in 1999/2001 to 465 tonnes in 2050. Livestock uses 30% of the earth’s entire land surface and 33% of the global arable land is used for producing feed for livestock.

I am not sure if the developed world is going to give up on their luxuries of beef eating, as it requires a tremendous amount of awareness generation. However, a partial reduction is also going to have a huge impact.

Climate change is going to harm developing countries like India the most, as a major part of our population lying below the poverty line is going to be impacted the most. Climate changed induced diseases, submergence of coastal areas and islands, water scarcity due to perennial rivers turning seasonal are some of the few issues that is going to impact our people. With nearly half of the population yet to be connected to the electricity grid, which is at present primarily powered by power from polluting thermal power plants, and hydel projects inducing submergence of vast tracts of forests, there is no sign of green house gas emissions reducing. The aspirations of the people to ape the western lifestyle, symbolized by the SUVs may hog the limelight; however, there is no solution or will power in the political class to contain climate change is in sight.

Other Conservation Issues:

Call for banning synthetic pesticides in and around our wilderness areas:

Our wilderness areas givers birth to our numerous streams and rivers and serve as the lifeline of our country and our economy. Spraying of poisonous chemicals as pesticides leads to accumulation of those in the soil and pollute our fresh water sources. A Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers project has clearly shown that synthetic pesticides can be replaced by neem based pesticides. Hence, with a clear alternative in sight, It is time to ban synthetic pesticides around National parks, Sanctuaries, Reserve Forests, protected areas, wetlands and areas of ecological importance. For further details, please check here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5539

Supreme Court bans Plastic in pan masala sachets:

In a far reaching move, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has banned use of plastic in pan masala sachets. This is expected to reduce the amount of littering in our wilderness areas. For more details on this issue you can check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5563
Wish the Hon’ble Supreme Court can ban use of plastics in all our wilderness areas. For the deleterious impact of plastics you can check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108

Centre Issues Wetland Conservation Guidelines:

Our wetlands, are being indiscriminately filled up and concretized after being branded as wastelands. Hopefully, the issue of wetland conservation guidelines by the centre will help bring in more focus in saving our wetlands. For further details you can check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5499

Train driver jailed for running over elephants:

In a far reaching move, a train driver who had run over elephants has been handed a jail sentence by the court. I think this incident will wake up the callous railway authorities and will force them to think of long term solution to the problem and order for alternate alignment of railway tracks. For further details please check here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5429

Seizure of Pangolin Scales:
We have to be careful about our lesser known species, else they are going to be extirpated much before the tiger.
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5484

Notable Images of the Year 2010:
Images shared by our members in 2010 that depict interesting animal behaviour or are just plain beautiful….

Mammals:

Pair.. by Praveen P Mohandas
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3417

A Dream called Tiger by Subramanya CK
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3231

Elephant digger by Dipankar Majumdar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3626

Birds:

Black-winged Stilt by Gautam Biswas
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5434

Purple rumped Sunbird by Amit Kalele
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4535

Kestrel Hunt by Tushar Dixit
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5555

Landscapes:

Rain…at last! By Dr. Jitendra Katre
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4197

And clouds cover the jungle…. By Sagar Patil (with a compact camera)
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3876

Sunset Hue by Dr. Kalpamoit Kakati
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5365

Others:

The Green Predator by Dr. Hari Venkatesh K R
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4206

Master of Disguise by Vikram Gupchup
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5041

Kandil-pushpa at Kaas plateau
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5058

I look forward to your inputs and your support in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. For other interesting articles and photographs please check:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/

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Sabyasachi Patra
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I have been visiting Keoladeo Ghana bird sanctuary in bharatpur every year. The only years I missed visiting bharatpur are the years when the park faced water scarcity. Keoladeo Ghana is a man made wetland. The ruler of bharatpur had prepared dykes and had brought in water from the canal to create a bird hunting ground for himself and his guests. Spread over an area of 27 sq km, the wetland portion is about 10 hectares. When one looks at these facts, one gets the confidence that with a little bit of thought and planning, we can create enabling conditions for nature to take over.

When one hears that there were leopards in this park, one should not be amazed as there are spotted deers, sambar, nilgai, wild boar, jackals, hyenas, fishing cats, jungle cats, pythons etc in the park. A few years back a tigress had come to the park and had lived there for a few years till she died of old age. Recently, a male tiger has come from Ranthambhore and have taken its residence here. It is a mystery as to how it survived in the open fields, as there is very less of forest cover in between.

I reached the hotel and immediately started for the park, thought the light at noon is not conducive for photography. However, I wanted to get a feel of the jungle and hoped to sight a few carnivores. I took one rickshaw however, the driver was not good in bird identification. Ofcourse, his job became easier, as there were hardly any birds in the park.

All along, I had been told that there is lot of water in the park, however, when I entered into the park, I realised that it was propaganda by the hotel lobby. There were hardly any migratory species in the park in significant numbers.

On the main road to my left, I could see only 7 painted storks nesting on their regular nesting site. The rickshaw puller said that is all as far as painted storks arrival to this park is concerned. Later I saw about 10 painted storks in the same spot. There were a couple of open billed storks, 3-4 grey herons and a few purple herons. I saw a group of lesser whistling teals (about 20), cormorants about 20-30. There may be more in other parts of the park. Parakeets, Grey Francolins, a couple of kingfishers, one lesser spotted eagle, asian koel, one Indian moorehen near the entry of the park ie. about half a kilometer away from water, and a few peafowls, bulbuls, shrike etc. I saw only one male comb duck (Sarkidiornis melanotos).

In short, the number of birds and the number of species present in bharatpur as on Oct 2010, doesn’t merit a visit there. You will find more birds in your local swamp/wetland, than in bharatpur.

Other changes in the park:

The visitor entry fees has been doubled from Rs. 25 to Rs. 50. Rickshaw charges have been increased from Rs. 50 per hour to Rs. 70 per hour. Rickshaw pullers have been given id cards and they need to swipe it infront of a card reader before entering into the park (second gate near the boating area). That will help in keeping a tab on the entry and exit times.

I saw a number of roads closed to public. I was told that those roads are closed so as to prevent people from reaching the area where the tiger movement is more. Though the general public is not allowed to get in, I saw the forest department gypsy carrying presumably family members into the park after the gates closed at 6 pm and also I saw the same people returning at 6.50 am in the morning. One can easily guess, that they were on a tiger safari after and before park timings into the areas where general public is not allowed.

Infact, my rickshaw puller was banned for 7 days as he was 2 mins late. And this happened right after the official gypsy carrying the “tourists” /relatives into the park (on 22nd Oct).

There are local people inside the park collecting wood, cutting grass etc. The number of cattle grazing has increased. Earlier, one used to find the feral cattle. Now the regular milch cows are also sent to the park for grazing. So the Park authorities appear to be more intent on controlling the rickshaw pullers and tourists and turning a blind eye on the disturbances and rule violations caused by the locals.

In 2008, the Park authorities had entrusted the local villagers in uprooting the prospis juliflora plants. Areas were demarcated for each family to uproot and take the plants. I was told that each family made upto one lakh rupees. The forest department did this hoping that they will earn the goodwill of the local residents.

Though the prosopis juliflora is an invasive species, uprooting those gave rise to open areas. With increased number of cattle grazing in the park, and collection of fallen branches and wood cutting, the park is no longer dense with vegetation any more. Keoladeo Ghana National Park has got its name Ghana due to the dense vegetation in the park. These days, it would be apt to drop the name Ghana from the Keoladeo Ghana National Park.

The temperature was much higher than that in Delhi. One needs to switch on the Air conditioner in the hotels. Given the high temperature in bharatpur, the water is drying up fast. Migratory birds like ducks and geese etc may give the park a skip this year, if the water doesn’t remain. I am not sure whether the water level will dry up before January or not. Definitely, February will have no water, if there are no rains. In all probability, the migratory birds appear to be skipping the park this year. With the continued neglect by the authorities and the local people in supplying water from the dam, Keoladeo Ghana may soon be a lost cause forever.

Other Facts:
Season: Open throughout the year. Winter is good for migratory birds.

How to Reach:
In case, you are still interested in visiting Keoladeo National Park in bharatpur.
By train: Easiest to approach by train from Delhi. You can take the Golden Temple, Kota Janashatabdi or other trains as per your convenience. The Bharatpur (code BTE) station is about 2kms and 25mins away from the Park.

By Road: Distance is about 179 kms from Delhi and 56kms from Agra. If you are driving from Delhi then take the NH2 to Mathura via Faridabad, Palwal, Hodal and from Mathura to Bharatpur by the state road.

Accomodation: There are many hotels near the Park and one should be ready to search for the hotel that suits the budget.

This issue of the IndiaWilds Newsletter brings into focus our skewed sense of priorities in conserving a few mega fauna; baiting wildlife, feral dogs menace and many more.

Skewed Conservation Priorities
There have been criticism about our conservation efforts having a very narrow species specific, infact megafauna centric approach. I recollect the passionate but slightly uninformed criticism of Project Tiger by one of the artists. The common example given is that Project Tiger was specific to tigers and was not interested in anything else. It is often acknowledged that the plight of the tiger – with tour operators organizing guided tours to hunt down the tiger – and the forceful voices of Billy Arjan Singh and Kailash Sankhala and the support of WWF International had motivated Mrs. Indira Gandhi to give the go ahead for the ambitious Project Tiger. A few nature preserves were created and unfortunately named as National Parks (it is another matter that our tourists take the word park literally. For more details check this link here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1536 ) and the apex predator numbers increased. Unfortunately, later on the success of Project Tiger was evaluated by the numbers projected by the officials manning these National Parks. This coincided with a period where the knowledge of unraveling the secrets of wildlife had declined tremendously. I have seen DFOs failing to differentiate between the pugmarks of a leopard and tiger. With lack of real experts, the pugmark counting method had degenerated to a comedy of the absurd. No wonder, the official tiger estimation/census became a game of elementary arithmetic and crude logic…

However, despite the officials failing to see the light, protection accorded to the sanctuaries and National Preserves, ensured that nature displayed its amazing ability to recoup and rebuild our wilderness areas and the population of birds and bees, herbivores and carnivores, fishes and otters and other species rebounded. In short, the protection accorded to a landscape in the name of saving the tiger, had saved very many species.

However, India – even after dismemberment of vast areas into separate countries – is geographically huge and harbours several unique ecosystems with flora and fauna species. In some of these landscapes, protected areas have been created to accord specific emphasis to a particular species. However, an unfortunate tendency has creeped in where in these species specific protected areas don’t get the required attention. For eg. In the Karera Sanctuary created for the Great Indian Bustard has got the approval from Govt. for denotification following the local extermination of the Great Indian Bustards. (Read More: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3712 )
It might be pertinent to recollect that the Great Indian Bustard would have been given the honour of our National Bird, however Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had shot down the proposal as he felt that Indians with their penchant for misspelling English words would end up with a foul word.

There are many such examples of animals other than the tiger getting step motherly treatment. Infact, recent reports suggest that the leopard, despite the wily survivor it is, can become extinct before the tiger. For further details read The Plight of the Leopards: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4886

One should realise that there is a complex chain of ecological relationships among the various species. We can’t just selectively protect one species and feel that our environment has been taken care of. For eg. Read more about the role played by the smallest of the birds (http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=118 ). The common man may not be aware of this fact; however, our researchers and conservationists must be aware of it. Is it showing in their actions?

Alien Species Reintroduction – African Cheetah
With the Environment Ministry under a dynamic Minister Shri Jairam Ramesh, the ministry has been proactive and there have been many decisions in support of conservation and unfortunately a few misplaced decisions as well. One of the decisions that falls in the later category is that of the Cheetah Relocation Project.

A decision has been taken to introduce an alien species – the African Cheetah – in the wilds of India. As a child, I used to read the idea of cloning and/or procuring Asiatic cheetah from Iran. However, that idea has been a non-starter. So an easier route is being taken to introduce the African cheetah in India. One of the justifications is an emotive one, that the word cheetah is derived from Sanskrit. The other argument given is that the cheetah project would ensure protection of our grasslands. For further details on the Cheetah Relocation project please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1888

The question that comes to mind, is if we are unable to protect our existing species and wilderness areas then will gimmicks like introduction of alien species help us wake up from our slumber?

Wild Buffalo
Take the case of a species that is in dire straits – the Indian Wild Buffalo. The central Indian stock is noted as having the genetic purity. Today many people don’t even know that the wild buffalo is on the verge of extinction. The only ones that will remain will be the mixed breed with the local buffalos. These questions were asked in the Parliament last year in the Rajya Sabha and answered on 20th of July 2009 and came to our notice courtesy Shri Surjit Bhujabal, IRS and conservationist. It has been reproduced below verbatim.

[QUOTE]
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-1668
ANSWERED ON-20.07.2009
WILD BUFFALOES.

(a) whether it is a fact that there are only 5-6 wild buffaloes in the Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve;

(b) the details of wildlife census reports, including those of wild buffaloes, since 2000;

(c) the reasons is why Government failed to conserve wild buffaloes;

(d) whether it is also a fact that all the remaining Wild Buffaloes in the Udanti area have now been kept inside enclosures and if so, under plan of action prepared; and

(e) the details of the action plan along with the necessary reports relating thereto?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS

(SHRI JAIRAM RAMESH)

(a) As per information received from the Government of Chhattisgarh, presently there are seven wild buffaloes (five adult male, one sub adult male and one adult female) in Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary. However, there are no wild buffaloes in Sitanadi Wildlife Sanctuary.

(b) The estimated population of wildlife in Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary since 2001, including wild buffaloes, is at Annexure.

(c) The reasons for the decline in the population of wild buffalo are mainly attributed to habitat loss, biotic pressure and human-animal conflict.

(d)&(e) No, Sir. As informed by the State Government, only one female wild buffalo with her sub adult calf and one adult male are presently kept inside the enclosure for breeding purpose. The breeding programme of wild buffalo in Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary has been taken up under the wild buffalo recovery plan as recommended by the Wild Buffalo Task Force constituted by the State Government in compliance of the direction given by the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of Hon’ble Supreme Court.
[UNQUOTE]

It is an accepted scientific fact that the minimum numbers required for a population size to be viable is 500. However, in this case, there is one female and a calf in an enclosure. The other wild buffaloes are known to move around the fringe of the human habitations that have come up in the forests and mate with the domestic buffalo. At the earliest, the genetic purity of the last remaining wild buffalos need to be established and immediate steps need to be taken to restore the last remaining wild buffaloes of the Central Indian stock.

In 2005, I had trekked in the Sunabeda Sanctuary in search of Wild Buffalo and had found their fresh hoof marks though I couldn’t have direct sightings. However, in all those areas, where the forester had never set his foot, there were abandoned pens constructed by nomadic tribes for their cattle pens. So even in the deep forests there are chances of breeding between the Wild Buffalo and the domestic one.

A wild buffalo is one of the mega fauna. It is not a small critter that can go unnoticed or tax the imagination of the common man or the scientists. However, despite that a part of the scientific community is excited at the prospect of introducing an alien species, where as a large herbivore is going to be extinct. Is this not a matter of concern? When will our conservation focus come back on track and focus on the real issues?

Your guess is as good as mine.

Baiting Wildlife:
The Leopards of Bera, a thought provoking report by Dipankar Mazumdar regarding baiting leopards with goats for viewing and photographing them up-close.

In this report “The Leopards of Bera”, Dipankar has presented a balanced view and seeks your inputs on the way forward. You can check the report here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5043

Feral Dogs Menace:
We often talk about poaching and habitat loss impacting the population of our wildlife. However, the impact of the feral dogs in villages, cities and countryside are not noticed. Most of the times the Vultures, lose out to these dogs who drive away the vultures and grab the carcasses.

An added dimension to the problem is the pack hunting behaviour displayed by the feral dogs. They chase the cheetals, gazelles etc and hunt them down. This behaviour has been documented from all corners of India such as Keoladeo Ghana in Bharatpur, Bandhavgarh, Point Calimere etc. The problem that gave rise to the “fattening” of the street dogs is due to our improper waste disposal system, courtesy the inefficient and non-existent (at times) Municipal Corporations. And also, due to the misplaced love shown towards the feral dogs by our animal lovers. One of the incidents concerning the feral dogs can be read here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4899

UP to get exclusive force to protect Wildlife:
Hopefully this will turn out to be good news. Read more on this here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4976

Pesticide Kills elephants:
When can we see synthetic pesticides completely replaced by organic ones? It can be done on a war footing at least around our wilderness areas. Else, such deaths of our precious wildlife will continue. To read more about the death of elephants by pesticides, please check the link here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5062

Taskforce for Dugongs:
Hopefully, a piece of good news for dugongs or sea cows. I strongly believe that shelving of the Sethusamudram project will do much more for dugongs than any other effort. For further details read more here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5077

Global forest cover
An interesting forest cover mapping done by NASA is shared by AS Chandrashekaran. For further details read here:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5093

Wildlife Photography:
Images shared by our members between 10th Sept – 9th October, 2010 that depict interesting animal behaviour or are just plain beautiful..

Joga Falls by Dr Hari Venkatesh K R
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4985

An evening in Goa by Saurabh Bhatia
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4934

Glory of Colours by Dr. Kalpamoi Kakati
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4859

Small spider with Catch by Satishchandra Ranadive
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5001

Multicolored Moth by Vikram Gupchup
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4948

Tiger Beetles-pair by Jitendra Katre
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4915

Tahr Mom and Kid by Bibhav Behera:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5093

Lion tailed Macaque by Nikhilesh Mahakur
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4831

Spotted Dear by Praveen Siddannavar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5026

Crested Bunting by Amit Kalele
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4919

I look forward to your inputs and your support in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. For other interesting articles and photographs please check:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/

The link to this Newsletter is available at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-2-issue-x

All the newsletters can be found online at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter

In case, anyone of you has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.com

Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
Contact: http://www.indiawilds.com/contact%20us.htm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/IndiaWilds/132629240481

It is my pleasure to bring you the IndiaWilds Newsletter Vol.2 Issue IX. In this issue we use the mantra for success and examine who is and can be the real wildlife experts and their role in conservation.
This newsletter is available online. To view and post your comments check at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-2-issue-ix

Mantra for Success:

“Genius is 1 percent inspiration and 99% perspiration” – Thomas Alva Edison

We have been told about this statement many a times during our growing up phase. I myself had quoted this in several debate competitions. However, I had never visualized in concrete terms the extent of effort needed for a person to be successful.

In the book titled “Outliers – The story of Success” Malcolm Gladwell emphasizes the need for hard work through his 10,000 hour rule. He has clearly mentioned that only talent doesn’t ensure success. However, talent combined with honing your skills over a long period of time (10,000 hours as per Malcolm Gladwell) ensures that a person becomes expert in his or her field. He gives the example of experts like Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft; Bill Joy Co-founder of Sun Microsystems who rewrote Unix operating system; and the Beatles group among many examples to support his theory that unless and until a person engaged in scientific research, computing, athletics, legal professional or for that matter any field – clocks an equivalent of 10,000 hours of hard work – the person can’t become a true expert.

So what is the relevance of this theory to the protection of our vanishing tracts of wilderness and wildlife?

Wildlife Experts:

Too often I find youngsters proclaiming themselves to be wildlife experts. Clicking a few photographs of tigers, visiting a few National Parks, reading a couple of wildlife books and scientific journals makes people feel that they have sufficient knowledge. During my childhood days I have grown up hearing ecology and ethology being taught to MSc students, have been walking in various wilderness places, waiting alone in waterholes in the night etc. Later on in my life, I have observed tigers for several hundred hours through my tele lenses leading me to believe that I know a thing or two about tigers. And one day that belief was badly mauled by a tiger or rather two of them and I am back as a learner with all humility. You may refer to that incident here: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/tigers-in-the-dark

This brings a big question to my mind. How many experts do we have in India who really understand nature and can unravel its many mysteries?

If one goes by the 10,000 hour rule propounded by Malcolm Gladwell, I would say there are very few “real” experts in our midst.

The people who have the best chance of acquiring that expertise by spending the 10,000 hours are the many tribals who inhabit our wilderness areas. Unfortunately, many of our misguided NGOs who want our tribals to be “developed” in the narrow sense of the term are only succeeding in removing them from their areas of expertise. Today the children of the tribals no longer want to get into the forests. Rather they have been taught that watching the popular soap operas are much better than spending time in the forest. The unfortunate consequence is that they no longer know wildlife as their elders knew.

However, I won’t blame the NGOs. The NGOs are also doing what they feel is right. The main reason is that our traditional economic modeling has failed. At present we view our forests as source of timber and other non-timber forest produce. We have failed to gauge the true wealth of our wild heritage. Since we don’t value our wild heritage, we don’t value the knowledge possessed by these tribals, who know much more than any researcher can aspire to achieve during his or her PhD programme.

It may be pertinent to mention the experiences of Salim Ali, the noted Ornithologist who was the receipient of J. Paul Getty award for Wildlife Conservation and Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award in India. In his autobiography “The Fall of a Sparrow” Salim Ali has mentioned that his duck ringing programme was hampered as the locals at Bharatpur and at other locations of his operation were unskilled in catching ducks and other waterfowl. His programme could later succeed when he discovered the knowledge and ability of the Sahni and Mirshikar tribes in catching ducks and waterfowl. The wetlands of Keoladeo Ghana National Park at Bharatpur were created in the early 1900s and it is not surprising that the locals didn’t have the traditional knowledge that the Sahni and Mirshikar tribes possessed.
So it is imperative to tap the knowledge of our tribals.

The next question that comes to our mind is how do we tap the knowledge of these tribals? The obvious answer is recruiting them in the forest department. However, apart from the obvious utility in protection of our wilderness areas, they can also be used in research.

Will it work? Has it worked before?

Jane Goodall’s research project in Tanganyika is a perfect testimony that this will work. The Gombe Stream Research Centre in Tanganyika was founded by Jane Goodall who started her observation of Chimpanzees in 1960. The Gombe Stream Research Centre was primarily manned by expatriate researchers and helpers. The job of the Tanzanian field staff was limited to tracking and locating chimpanzees, and ensuring the safety of the expatriate researchers. In May 1975, one Dutch woman and three Americans were kidnapped by rebel soldiers. This ensured that it was no longer feasible for expatriates to work there. Hence the management was forced to entrust the job of data collection to the Tanzanian staff that had been trained but hadn’t got an opportunity to do the data collection. Since then, for the last 35 years, the Tanzanian staff have been doing the job successfully. (Ref: National Geographic article by David Quammen)

Is it compatible with our Culture?

The Dutch psychologist Geert Hofstede’s research on cross cultural behaviour had thrown up some interesting dimensions. Among “Hofstede’s Dimensions” an important dimension is “Power Distance Index” (PDI) which reflects the attitudes of people towards hierarchy and authority. Using his research, one can safely assume that the PDI index of our tribals would be pretty high. Hence in areas where they are required to deal with authority and hierarchy, it would not be too easy for them to stand up and speak as an equal. Similarly, in cutting through a maze of bureaucracy, others with comparatively lower PDI index than the tribals would do a better job. If the tribals are used in research, in data collection, and day to day work of the forest department in maintaining the forests, then they would do a phenomenal job without being disadvantaged by their low Power Distance Index.

A word of Caution and Way Forward:

Not everybody who is officially classified as a tribal by the Govt. of India, has deep knowledge. For example, groups like Muduvans who had moved into the forests around 900 years ago and are classified as tribals, have very little knowledge of wild animals. Infact, they live in mortal fear of the wild animals and are living in an unsustainable manner in the wilds.

Today, when we are in the process of relocating tribals and non-tribals villages from the interior of the forests – to create inviolate spaces for our wildlife – to the periphery, we need to identify those tribals who possess knowledge of the flora and fauna of the place and utilize them. We need to create a system for valuing and respecting their knowledge. This will ensure that the tribal families continue to learn and retain their traditional knowledge of the flora and fauna of the place.

Will our system allow the traditional knowledge to be valued and rewarded? It’s a billion rupee question. Look forward to your views on this. You can post your views here: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-2-issue-ix

Conservation:

MoEF to declare Elephant as National Heritage Animal:
The Elephant Task force has suggested the Elephant to be declared as National Heritage Animal. For further details: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4744

Ungulate poaching racket in BRT:
A poaching racket has been unearthed by the forest department. The poachers have been using a .22 rifle which makes less noise and firing more number of times from close range till the animal drops dead. For further details check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4727

Mahseer Angling inside Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary:
Contrary to the opinion of the MoEF, the Karnataka forest department feels that angling will lead to protection of Mahseer fishes in the Cauvery wildlife sanctuary.
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4844

Natural History:
Elephant Behaviour before Charge:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4664

Wildlife Photography:
Images shared by our members between 10th Aug – 9th September, 2010 that depict interesting animal behaviour or are just plain beautiful..

Tusker – Bandipur by Roopak Gangadharan
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4573

Tiger – Bandipur by Praveen Siddannavar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4686

Alarm call – Roopak Gangadharan
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4753

An animal with a sense of Humour – Tahr by V S Sankar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4731

Common Kingfisher – Atul Dhamankar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4621

Pied Kingfisher – Bibhav Behera
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4765

Kaas Plateau by Jitendra Katre
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4659

Lemon Emigrant by Jitendra Katre
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4760

Beautiful Frog – Dr Hari Venkatesh K R
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4775

Server and Other changes in IndiaWilds forums:

We have moved on to a new server to make indiawilds forums (www.indiawilds.com/forums/ ) faster and easier to access. Members from our smaller towns can now easily access IndiaWilds. I am sure this will help in our community building efforts.

The image size upload limit for members has been increased from 200 kb to 300kb with the longest side at 800 pixels. This will help in images with much more details being uploaded.

Look forward to your inputs and your support in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. For other interesting articles and photographs please check:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/

The link to this Newsletter is available at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indiawilds-newsletter-vol-2-issue-ix

All the newsletters can be found online at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter

In case, anyone of you has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.com

Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
Contact: http://www.indiawilds.com/contact%20us.htm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/IndiaWilds/132629240481

Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg address had eloquently outlined the principles on which the edifice of a democracy is built “all men are created equal….and that Government of the people, by the people, for the people…”. It is generally accepted that these principles are not just limited to the United States of America, but also equally applicable to any democracy in the world. So the public is indeed the Government and the elected representatives are their nominees in running the administration on behalf of the people.

Unfortunately, the Governance has become increasingly alienated from the people. The corrupt and the powerful have in many cases usurped the power and have been dictating terms and the people are at the receiving ends. There is a day light robbery of our natural heritage and most of the people choose to turn a blind eye due to the fear of inviting wrath of these unscrupulous criminals.

Of course there are a few people like Amit Jethwa, who had used the Right to Information Act (RTI) to find information about the illegal mining around Gir and had singlehandedly fought against the perpetrators of this crime. Unfortunately, he was felled by their bullets right in front of the Gujarat High Court.

It’s been a month since he was murdered however; the culprits have not been brought to book. Of course some say that there have been more audacious murders – right inside a court premises – I feel debating about the audacity of the crime or the fearlessness of activist or the seeming inability of the police in tracking down the real culprits has sidetracked us from driving important lessons from this tragic incident.

In a country where it takes ages for a case to get heard in various courts, justice is not only delayed, but also throttled if the aggrieved party is unable to pursue it with doggedness. In such a scenario, there are not many people to take on the corrupt and wrongdoers. The unscrupulous criminal elements exploit this reluctance of people and continue with their nefarious deeds. Hence the murder of a fearless activist results in demotivating the already dwindling number of activists.

So what do we do?

Do people stop raising their voice out of fear for their lives? Do we get cowed down and keep quiet when there is loot of our wild heritage?
Obviously not.

Any man, however powerful and courageous he may be, will find it difficult to face a large number of enemies. A lion heavily outnumbered by hyenas is forced to leave the kill. Strength lies in numbers!
It is important for activists to get organized into groups to take on the challenge of the mighty and the corrupt. In the past, I have been threatened of physical assault in the field. In such situations, it is important to not lose your mind, but to immediately look after your physical safety and then plan an alternate approach. One may feel that he/she retreating from the field when challenged is akin to losing a battle. Your ego may be deflated. However, please be reminded that you may lose a battle but the goal is to win the overall war.

There are many persons playing important roles in saving our wilderness areas by working behind the scenes. For them, the satisfaction of seeing the goal come to fruition is more important than public adulation. I have seen lot of youngsters tempted to hog the limelight in print and electronic news channels by using information gleaned through the RTI Act. It may give you two seconds of glory, however anything that is not planned well can hurt you as well as the cause.

Please remember that aggressiveness is a state of mind. It need not be displayed in your physical interactions with the “enemies of biodiversity”. You are all committed individuals. Your life is important. However, I am not asking you to give up your commitment towards preserving the last tracts of vanishing wilderness and wildlife. I am just asking you to change your ways of doing it.

These days it is easy for us to network. Please harness the power of the “we”. Instead of rushing headlong all alone please act as a group. Of course if you want to look like a hero in the eyes of the common man, then it is a different story. I don’t think trying to create a flash in the pan is the right approach. It is important to follow a cause that you believe in and follow it to its logical conclusion.

This was the logic behind establishing the IndiaWilds forums – to nurture and use the power of the “we”. Shri Wajahat Habibullah, Chief Information Commissioner concurred with this view. He told me that it is likely that individual activists will continue to be targeted. The remedy is through social audit of an area or project. Instead of an individual, a group of people can come together and seek a social audit under Section 2-J of the RTI Act. This Social audit can be conducted under media glare and take the corrupt people headlong.
I would like to request all of you to keep the overall goal of preserving the wilderness and wildlife in mind and work towards saving the last tracts of vanishing wilderness areas and wildlife and at the same time look after your safety. After all, getting committed and passionate people is not easy these days.

Wildlife Conservation News from States: The Good, Bad and Ugly
In the recent past, there have been several actions by various forest departments, some good and some not so good and some utterly despicable. Let us examine a few.

Assam:
The Assam forest department has taken a lead in implementing a few noteworthy actions. It has become the first state to arm its force. In a recent notification, the Assam Government has provided immunity to all ranks of forest staff from prosecution for using firearms in discharging their duties. This is a good move as the importance of forests has now been understood and the role of our frontline forest staff is recognized. I hope the next step would be the provision of food and rations for these frontline forest staff. For further details you may check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4539

In another move, the Assam forest department has inducted women into the workforce. Although, I never see this as a move towards gender equality, I think this is good because women who want to get involved in the forest department can now join. When women can undertake the arduous climb to the top of the mighty Himalayas, I am sure they can join as forest guards. In some cases, for people living on the edges of the forests, being a forest guard may be the only job they can get. And depriving someone a job just due to a gender may not be right. I believe with proper training, they can really fit in. With proper safeguards in terms of harassment policies etc, this seems to be a very workable idea. I am happy that Assam is taking a lead in innovative policies. For further details please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4536

Madhya Pradesh:
On the other hand, Madhya Pradesh which is popular for the visibility of its tigers in some of its National Parks, has introduced a policy to allow forest guards to take tourists during their patrolling duties in the tiger reserves. This appears to be a case of bowing to the tourism lobby.

As such our forest departments have insufficient staff and most of them are over aged and not physically fit. And on top of it, the level of motivation is often low due to the insufficient salaries, untimely payment of salaries etc. Too often the forest guards are found running errands for their seniors. It is needless to say that our patrolling gets very less preference. In such a situation, if the guard is asked to take tourists, then the patrolling is more or less converted into a trek. It is naturally expected that the guard has to look after the well being of the tourists during such jaunts. It would be good if the tourist oriented trekking schemes and patrolling is kept separated as it is likely to dilute the seriousness of the patrolling duties. No concrete structures should ever be constructed to help in the trekking schemes. If any trekking scheme is conceived, then it has to be based on the carrying capacity of the forest and after careful consideration of its impact. It should not be surreptitiously introduced under the garb of patrolling. Further details on this can be found here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4537

Andhra Pradesh:
The Chief Wildlife Warden of Andhra Pradesh has ordered Wild boars to be culled on the pretext of crop destruction. Further details can be found here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4626

Whether it is the permission to set up captive power plants (http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=249 ) in ecologically fragile wetlands or proposal to set up memorials in pristine forests of NSRT (http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1996 ) or the culling of wild boars, Andhra Pradesh seems to have taken a leadership role in desecrating our sacred biodiversity.

Jumbo in Revenge Attack on Trains:
In an incident that indicates the trauma the elephants would have undergone in seeing trains runover their kith and kin, a lone bull elephant has head butted trains in Gulma forests near Jalpaiguri. Elephants are intelligent creatures and can communicate over long distances. The violent death of elephants under the wheels of a train must have affected not only the elephants in the immediate vicinity, but also elephants who were several kilometers away. Parallels can be drawn from Africa, where adolescent bulls went on the rampage and started killing rhinos. This behaviour was observed after some of the elder members of the herd were culled. It is sad that despite repeated deaths, the railways are not willing to wake up to the reality. In the days of fast train services, creating alternate alignments won’t increase the time duration of the journey.
For further details please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4634

Natures’ Price Tag: An article by Ranbir Mahapatra. For further details please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4638

Government Rejects Proposal to split Indian Forest Service:

The Government has rejected the proposal to create a split the Indian forest service and create a separate department for Wildlife. I feel it would be pertinent to share the views of Late Kailash Sankhala on this topic:

“In new India, several new departments have been raised with success to meet the specialized demands of law and order, like the Home Guards, Coast Guards and Border Security Force, and of scientific management in the areas of space, environment, telecommunication, radio and television and many more. It is a pity that Wildlife Reserve Management, which is a specialized job involving the scientific conservation of nature, still continues to be in the hands of woodcutters and exploiters and the proposed department is still being endlessly debated. This is despite the successful demonstration of its functional viability, as an independent organization, by Project Tiger. They seem to enjoy the passion of possession without responsibility and that too by dictat. An Indian Forest Service for Wildlife and Reserves is imperative with its own training programme.”
For further details you may please check here: http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4637

Wildlife Photography:

Dhole killing Cheetal fawn by drowning: Praveen Siddannavar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4563

Tiger Cub at Bandhavgarh: Rajiv Gautam
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4399

What do I do with this now: Jitendra Katre
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4344

Tiger entering water: Atul Dhamankar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4484

Purple rumped subird: Amit Kalele
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4535

Small blue Kingfisher: Praveen Siddannavar
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4453

Oriental white eye: AB Apana
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4433

Indian Skipper: Vikram Gupchup
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4363

Lime Butterfly Mudpuddling – Viswanath M K
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4369

Scratchy Croc: Bibhav Behera
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4554

Natural History:
(Members need to login to view it. In case you are a not a member of IndiaWilds then you can register with your full name with a space between first name and last name. Follow this for registration http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/register.php )

Gaur Snorting
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4663

Elephant behaviour before charge
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4664

Look forward to your inputs and your support in preserving the last tracts of wilderness and wildlife left in this beautiful country. For other interesting articles and photographs please check:
http://www.indiawilds.com/forums/

All the newsletters can be found online at: http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/category/newsletter

In case, anyone of you has forgotten his/her user id and password can email the admin at the following email id administrator@indiawilds.com

Regards,
Sabyasachi Patra
www.indiawilds.com
Profile: http://www.indiawilds.com/profile.htm
Contact: http://www.indiawilds.com/contact%20us.htm
Twitter: indiawilds
Facebook: indiawilds