Also in danger but ignored

[Mrudul Godbole]

Also in danger but ignored
Atul Sethi | Apr 3, 2011, 06.30am IST

In India, leopard conservation is often clubbed with tigers because many leopards are in tiger reserves. But, no reliable count is available. Conservationists believe this has affected their systematic protection. According to data released by the ministry of environment and forests in 2008, India has more than 11,000 leopards. But numbers are falling on account of poaching and conflict with humans. "Leopards are a soft target for poachers," says Brig (retd) Ranjit Talwar, formerly with World Wildlife Fund India. "It is easier to shoot a leopard since it is a smaller animal compared to the tiger." Leopards' natural traits—a high level of adaptability and the ability to live in wideranging habitats—also put them in danger because they often venture into human settlements in search of prey. In the most recent episode (on March 23) irate people in Dhamdhar village in the Corbett tiger reserve burnt a leopard alive. The unfortunate animal had been captured by forest officials. The Delhi NGO, Wildlife Protection Society of India, estimates 148 leopard deaths last year. This year's toll is already 66 and we are just three months into 2011. How many more will it take before the spotted cat is better protected?

Asian elephant

India has almost 25,000-27 ,000 elephants. As far as numbers go, this may seem sufficient. But, one of the biggest threats facing the elephant in India is gradual loss of habitat. Historically, elephants were found in many areas across the country, but they are now confined to about 110,000 sq km of fragmented forests. "Many of these isolated elephant habitats are further threatened by fragmentation due to developmental activities," says Sandeep Kumar Tiwari of the Noida-based Wildlife Trust of India. Obstruction of their natural migratory path has resulted in many more cases of conflict with humans. Raman Sukumar of the Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Science, has researched elephants for three decades. He says that "if we can protect the elephant's habitat from further degradation, both humans and elephants can co-exist harmoniously. " A crucial factor for elephants to survive is the establishment of corridors to connect their habitats. To some extent, this has been facilitated by the government's Project Elephant. But experts say more needs to be done, especially improving existing corridors. Else, the elephant might well go the way of the tiger or the cheetah in a few decades.

Asiatic black bear

The commercial trade in bear parts—especially the gall bladder, which is used in traditional Chinese medicineposes a major threat to the Asiatic black bear. Besides poaching, there is loss of habitat and increased confrontation with man. Only a small portion of the bear population in the country is within protected areas. Since bears move to different habitats and elevations depending on the season, they come into conflict with humans. S Sathyakumar, head of the department of endangered species at the Wildlife Institute of India, says that "bears become increasingly territorial during their breeding season in summer and tend to attack whatever resources are available." Cases of mauling also tend to increase, making human-bear conflict common, especially in mountainous regions. Most of the bears found in India are spread across the hill states of Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and the North East. A comprehensive count of Asiatic black bears in India is not available but estimates put their number at anywhere between 6,000 and 7,000. However, their numbers could fall if poaching continues and the habitat shrinks further.

Greater one-horned rhinoceros

Urgent conservation efforts have ensured that the onehorned rhinoceros has improved its position somewhat. It has gone from the "endangered" to the "vulnerable" category in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species. But conservationists remain worried. The number of rhinos remains low in India. Guwahati-based naturalist B K Talukdar says that "the current estimates are between 2750-2850 rhinos, of which about 2350-2400 are in India while about 400-450 are in Nepal." Most of India's rhinos are in Assam's Kaziranga National Park. According to the 2010 census, it has 2,048, which is almost 70% of the world's population of one-horned rhinos. Conservationists say it is important to spread the population more widely so that the species' survival is not dependent on the Kaziranga rhinos alone. It may be a prudent move. Poachers, another major threat, had wiped out the entire rhino population of Manas National Park in western Assam by the year 2000. It was once home to a hundred rhinos. Right now, a catastrophe in Kaziranga could well spell doom for the species.

Link - Also in danger but ignored - The Times of India

[Sabyasachi Patra]

It is actually unfortunate that we don't look beyond the tiger. The tiger is the most charismatic among the species and perhaps the most magnificent creation of God. Though Project Tiger was triggered due to the precarious situation of the tiger, the creation of the reserves was also meant to accord protection to the other species inhabiting in the landscape. It is a different matter that the individual managers of the protected areas started counting tigers (and of course inflating their numbers) and used it as a measure of success. In this counting exercise, the other wildlife species lost out.

A majority of our wildlife live in the areas outside the boundaries of our protected areas. The Elephant due to its large range necessitated by its food needs, is under major threat due to poaching and fragmentation of its habitat. The poachers after mostly finishing off the tuskers with large tusks have now set their eyes on the elephants of Orissa. Unfortunately, our level of protection and prosecution is abysmal. Large infrastructure projects like Canals, dams etc are proving to be an insurmountable obstacle for the elephants. Especially since the walls of the banks of the canals are made so steep that even if the elephant is able to negotiate the strong currents, the steep incline makes it difficult to climb out of the canals. Similarly fragmentation of habitat and loss of many fruit bearing and other trees that used to form part of its diet has led to a tough situation for elephants. Human animal conflict due to the rapid urbanisation, resettlement of people in elephant corridors, cultivation in the elephant corridors etc is another issue.

The Leopard due to its secretive nature has managed to survive. Though it is believed that they prey on the village mongrel, goats etc and survive in degraded forests, sugarcane fields, the leopards in such places are also known to kill large carnivores like Sambar etc. Cursory examination of the scats of leopards suggest large prey. The situation probably is different in parts of Maharashtra where leopards are known to stay in sugarcane fields, however knowing how easily the leopards can adapt to their surroundings there cannot be one theory fits all as far as its food habits are concerned. Too often, leopards have invited the wrath of the villagers as the leopards are sighted while wandering out of the forests in search of prey, as was the case on the outskirts of bhubaneswar. Without any systematic estimation of leopard population and studies, their protection is a distant dream, as the local villager/poacher knows the whereabouts of this cat more than the forest department. Our conservation, inadvertently has taken a narrow tiger centric approach and as a result the beautiful leopard is ignored.

The Bear is a highly misunderstood creature. We have been hearing lot of stories in our childhood days about the bear which can at best be termed as figment of imagination. Though the victim of bear attacks present a sorry picture, one needs to look at the reasons for the conflicts with bears. While driving through the wilderness areas, most of the time one stops by the road side to buy fruits like crusted apple, berries etc. All these fruits come from the degraded forest lands, buffer areas etc which are home to the sloth bears. When we take away their food, what will they do? Invariably they wander around and get into conflicts with humans in sugarcane fields and other such places. When you step on a sleeping sloth bear, which is not renowned for its intelligence, the inevitable mauling happens. With rapid urbanisation these sloth bears are facing tough times. Similarly the Himalayan black bears are also facing habitat loss and are increasingly found on the outskirts of villages scavenging for fruit. It is sad that such a beautiful and big creature has been converted to a scavenger near our villages.

Of late the poaching pressure on the One horned rhino has increased. With protection given to the rhinos in Kaziranga, their numbers have increased. A few have been recently translocated from Pabitora to Manas. More than two decades back a few rhinos were translocated from Kaziranga and Nepal to Dudhwa. Unfortunately, these rhinos are still in an enclosure despite spending more than two decades. These majestic creatures need protection as well as suitable habitat to thrive.

I hope we can save our magnificent wildlife and wilderness areas.
Cheers,
Sabyasachi