Largest Bear Sanctuary in the World  December 27, 2007: Largest Bear Sanctuary in the World Celebrates Fifth Birthday on Christmas Eve The most successful bear rescue centre in the world marks its 5th Anniversary on Christmas Eve this year. The Agra Bear Rescue Facility (ABRF), a landmark collaborative project between Wildlife S.O.S and Uttar Pradesh Forest Department India gave shelter to the first rescued Dancing Bear on Christmas eve 2002 and today is a happy home for over 200 bears rescued from the horrendous dancing bear trade.    The rescue center was conceptualised by Wildlife S.O.S (WSOS), an Indian NGO after a two year investigative survey into the issue of Dancing Bears in India. The center is run with support from its international partners i.e - International Animal Rescue (IAR), Free the Bears Inc. Australia, One Voice Association France and HSI Australia. Wildlife SOS have rescued over 420 bears till date. The Agra Bear Rescue Facility, a few kilometres from the Taj Mahal has today become the single largest such facilty in the world for rescued Dancing Sloth Bears. Wildlife S.O.S has established other Bear Rescue centres in the states of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh & Karnataka in collaboration with state Forest Departments using the Agra Rescue Center as a model. Christmas Eve 2007 marks a major milestone in the campaign to bring an end to the cruel practice of Dancing Bears in India. There are about 350 - 400 dancing bears still performing on the streets of India. Wildlife SOS is hopeful that this practice can be brought to an end completely by 2010.

Christmas Eve 2007 marks a major milestone in the campaign to bring an end to the cruel practice of Dancing Bears in India and nearly 200 bears rescued from the horrendous dancing bear trade.

Wildlife Corridor for Elephants In India  Karnataka, Decmber 21, 2007: A formal MOU signed between the Karnataka government and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) transfers the land, known as the Edayargalli-Doddasampige (E-D) corridor, to the Forest Department. In return for the title deeds, forest officials will maintain the corridor as a safe passage for elephants. The agreement brings the corridor officially into the existing Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) Wildlife Sanctuary, improving the ability of forest guards to protect the strip of land. The 25.5 acres of land was privately purchased by International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW)in 2005 to ensure a viable habitat was protected from future development. WTI field staff will monitor the usage of the corridor by wildlife and ensure the movement of elephants is not hindered. Fred O’Regan, President of IFAW, said: "The E-D corridor in Karnataka is also home to wild tigers and leopards, so by protecting the habitat of elephants we are also able to provide safe passage for other endangered species and wildlife in the area."   Elephant numbers have dropped over 50 per cent in the last twenty years. Today, there are approximately 35,000 to 45,000 Asian elephants remaining in the wild. In India there are an estimated 25,000 wild elephants. The major threats to elephant populations within Asia are poaching, habitat loss and fragmentation.

The major threats to elephant populations within Asia are poaching, habitat loss and fragmentation.

Tigers in Ranthambore being collared  Jaipur, December 18, 2007: The  forest department of Rajasthan is planning to put radio collars on some tigers in the Ranthambore National Park  to keep track of the tigers who went missing about a month ago.  In April, the forest department had collared a tiger in Ranthambore, about 175 km from here, and is now planning to collar two more tigers. A team of experts from the Wildlife Institute of India will arrive here on Dec 23 to collar the tigers. 'The radio collars are usually fitted on tigers aged between 20 to 24 months. These will help us learn about the habitat, travelling patterns and eating habits of tigers in the park. A tiger usually covers an area of about 20 to 40 sq km,' an official said.    The drive to collar tigers in Ranthambore is being taken up since a tiger called Yuvraj who went missing from the park about a month ago has still not been found. Wildlife experts feel it would have been easy to locate the tiger had it been collared.  'We have constituted teams to find the tiger. We have also announced a cash prize of Rs.1,100 to the person who gives us any information about the tiger,' a forest  department official said.  Ranthambore National Park, situated in Sawai Madhopur district, is one of the finest tiger reserves in the country. It covers an area of around 400 sq km and was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1957. It got the status of a national park in 1981. As per a recent census conducted by the state government, the tiger population in the park has increased to 32 from the earlier count of 26 in 2005.

Ranthambore National Park, situated in Sawai Madhopur district, is one of the finest tiger reserves in the country.

26 endangered crocodiles have been found dead  in Northern India   LUCKNOW, December 14, 2007:  As many as 26 endangered crocodiles have been found dead over the last three days in northern India and experts attribute the rare mass deaths to cirrhosis of the liver, authorities said on Friday. The reptiles died in the waters of the Chambal river, which runs along the borders of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh and the central state of Madhya  Pradesh, baffling experts as it is considered their natural habitat. "Autopsies confirm liver cirrhosis as the cause of death," D.N.S. Suman, Uttar Pradesh's top wildlife official, told Reuters from Etawah town on the banks of the Chambal where experts have camped to investigate the deaths. Poisoning was not suspected as fish in the river had not died, Suman said, adding that scientists would test the water for the presence of any liver-damaging toxins. Cirrhosis is marked by the loss of liver tissue, leading to the loss of function of the vital organ.  Source: Reuters Wildlife poaching case investigation by CBI Chandigarh, November 22, 2007:  The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) shall be probing the wildlife poaching case involving world trap-shooting champion and Khel Ratna awardee for 2006, Manavjit Singh Sandhu. The case was recommended for investigation to CBI, Delhi, by the UT Administration, Chandigarh, after the preliminary report submitted to the UT Forest Secretary by the inquiry officer (UT Wildlife Warden) found Manavjit and his father Gurbir Singh Sandhu, a former international trap-shooter, guilty of killing schedule I and schedule III wild animals.

India's Wild Tiger Population Drops NEW DELHI, November 2, 2007 (AP): The Indian government wants to recruit retired soldiers to patrol tiger sanctuaries in the hopes of saving the last of the cats after an official report confirmed a drastic drop in wild tiger numbers. Conservationists  praised the decision, saying that at least Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his government were finally taking the plight of the beleaguered tiger seriously. The plan was among a series of proposals presented Thursday by the government-run Wildlife Institute of India to the National Wildlife Board, which Singh chairs, as part of a two-year survey on India's tigers.   The report confirmed initial findings that there are no more than 1,500 tigers in India's reserves and jungles — down from about 3,600 just five years ago and an estimated 100,000 a century ago. It called for appointing a senior police official to head the recently created Wildlife Crime Bureau, set up to halt the killings and punish poachers. The report also recommended speeding up the relocation of villages from within reserves, filling empty park ranger posts and laying out "eco-tourism" guidelines to benefit local populations.

There are no more than 1,500 tigers in India's reserves and jungles — down from about 3,600 just five years ago and an estimated 100,000 a century ago.

Donkeys have a hospital for themselves in Rajasthan  Dundlod (Rajasthan), October 31, 2007:  Donkeys in Rajasthan now have a hospital exclusively for themselves, set up by "The Donkey Sanctuary", a U.K-based organisation. The hospital has an ambulance that reaches anywhere in the region to treat the wounded donkeys. The treatment offered is free of cost. The hospital also repairs the carts so that donkeys don't get hurt while pulling them.    "A donkey costs around rupees 500 to 1,000. It doesn't look viable to the owners to spend on them for treatment. You can see wounded donkeys straying on the roads here. The owners of donkeys are more than happy to have such a hospital. They are poor people and find it difficult to spend money on the treatment of the animals.     The Donkey Sanctuary has already set up similar hospitals in Sholapur (Maharashtra), Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), Delhi and Ahmedabad (Gujarat). It was decided to set up a hospital in Dundlod areas of Rajasthan after finding out that 75 per cent of the donkeys in India are found in this region.or the poverty-ridden people of Dundlod, donkeys are the only mode of commuting, transportation and income. (ANI)

Donkeys in Rajasthan now have a hospital exclusively for themselves.

6 Elephants Electrocuted in India GAUHATI, October 24, 2007 (AP): Six Asiatic wild elephants were electrocuted as they went berserk after drinking rice beer in India's remote northeast, a wildlife official said Tuesday. Nearly 40 elephants came to a village on Friday looking for food. Some found beer, which farmers ferment and keep in plastic and tin drums in their huts, said Sunil Kumar, a state wildlife official.   They got drunk, uprooted a utility pole carrying power lines and were electrocuted in Chandan Nukat, a village nearly 150 miles west of Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya state, Kumar said. "There would have been more casualties had the villagers not chased them away," said Dipu Mark, a local conservationist. The elephants are known to have a taste for rice beer brewed by tribal communities in India's northeast. Four wild elephants died in similar circumstances in the region three years ago.    India's northeast accounts for the world's largest concentration of wild Asiatic elephants with the states of Assam and Meghalaya alone estimated to have 7,000 of them. "It's great to have such a huge number of elephants, but the increasing man- elephant conflict following the shrinkage in their habitat due to the growing human population is giving us nightmares," said Pradyut Bordoloi, former Assam Forest and Environment Minister.

An Asiatic lion: Under threat  Ahmedabad, October,19, 2007: The carcasses of five Asiatic lions have been dug up in spots near the Gir sanctuary. Forest officials said the lions had been electrocuted. A farmer has been arrested from the area, located in Prempara of Amreli district. Officials haven’t accused him of poaching, but of having electrified the fence around his land to keep the animals from straying in. The carcasses, of three cubs and two females, were found buried in separate places. The incident comes months after the carcasses of two lions, killed by poachers, were dug up in Bhavnagar district, about 100km from the Gir sanctuary. The twin deaths were reported after poachers killed six lions in quick succession on March 3 and March 6 in the Babariya range within the sanctuary. The Wildlife Protection Society of India said 32 lions have died in the national park this year.

Nandankanan Zoo initiates microchipping captive animals Bhubaneswar, October, 7, 2007: The Nandankana Zoo in Orissa today introduced a hi-tech mode of keeping track and taking better care of animals kept in captivity. This arrangement has been made especially for five adult elephants and Pangolins of this Zoo, who were micro chipped today. Nandankanan Zoo Director Ajit Kumar Pattnaik said micro chipping of captive animals of Nandankanan Zoological Park was initiated today on the occasion of the Elephant Day.He said the next step would be to microchip all the lions living with pride at the Lion Safari. Such hi-tech methods would help the Park Authorities to track each and every animal and provide better medical treatment.    The park, he said, had undertaken a conservation breeding programme for Pangolins and the implantation of the microchip would be extremely useful for tracking these nocturnal and burrowing animals. Microchips would also be used in conservation breeding of vultures as they do not show sexual dimorphism, Mr Pattnaik  said. The Nandankanan Zoo Director said these microchips had been particularly useful in the management of wild animals and birds bred in captivity where they live in herds, or in case of birds where sexual dimorphism is not there.    Each chip, he said has a number that becomes the ID number of the animal on which it is implanted. A microchip reader decodes the chip's encrypted ID and thus can be gets to know all  details regarding the animal.   Source:  UNI

India's tigers in crisis, less than half estimated New Delhi, September 27, 2007: India's tigers are facing their severest crisis with only between 1,300 and 1,500 left in the wild, less than half the population of endangered big cats previously estimated, conservationists said on Friday. The estimates are based on a tiger census by the government-run Wildlife Institute of India, due to be made public later this year. It is based on a new counting method and contradicts the previous figure of 3,642 reported by the 2001 and 2002 census.   "These are estimates done with what the government considers ... a robust scientific process and is a benchmark," Valmik Thapar, a renowned natural historian and tiger expert, told a WWF meeting called to discuss the tiger's plight. "We all believe, in and out of government, that it is somewhere between 1,300 and 1,500 - that's shocking that we allowed it in five or six years to reach this dismal, abysmal state."   India is believed to have around half the world's surviving tigers. But their numbers have fallen drastically due to poaching to meet a demand for skins as well as bones and other body parts for use in traditional Chinese medicines. Thapar said the new figures were gleaned from the agenda for the forthcoming meeting of India's National Board of Wildlife, which will be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and is expected to take place within the next month.  Source: Hindustan Times

India's tigers are facing their severest crisis.

The 16th rhino killed this year at Kaziranga on Sept. 16, 2007  Guwahati, September 16, 2007: Rangers and forest guards today scoured the sprawling Kaziranga National Park for a rhino calf whose mother was shot dead by poachers in a tea estate near its flooded habitat just after midnight on Saturday.  It was the 16th rhino to be killed this year at Kaziranga, which has seen a resurgence of poachers in recent months. A park official said poachers shot dead the rhino at Hatikhuli tea estate, contiguous to the sprawling park, around 12:30am. “We rushed there on hearing gunshots and found the body. The poachers failed to take away the horn because the rhino slumped into a drain with its head down. They did not get the chance to pull out the rhino either because our guards were there in no time.”    Once the guards identified the slain rhino as a mother, a search was immediately launched for the missing calf. “The calf is only a few months old and, as such, vulnerable to carnivorous animals and floodwaters. We are using our entire force to locate the calf,” the park official said.   Of the 16 rhinos killed in the national park this year, 10 were shot inside the park and six outside it. Three more rhinos were killed elsewhere in the state. Rhinos stray out of Kaziranga during floods and head for the safety of the Karbi Anglong hills across National Highway 37. As many as 20 rhinos have been taking shelter there since floodwaters entered the park. The area where the poachers struck last night is half-a-km from Kohora police station and in the vicinity of the Paharline camp of the Karbi Anglong forest department.   Source: The Telegraph - Calcutta

3,000 Indian bullfrogs seized in Assam Guwahati, September, 6, 2007:  Wildlife authorities in Assam have seized an estimated 3,000 endangered Indian bullfrogs from a roadside fuelling speculations about a thriving trade of the amphibians to France, officials Thursday said. A wildlife official said a police patrol spotted 14 jute bags lying on the side of a highway near the Kaziranga National Park, about 220 km east of Assam's main city of Guwahati. 'At least 300 to 400 of the frogs had died of suffocation when we opened the bags,' Dharanidhar Boro, a senior park ranger, told IANS by telephone.The species was identified as the Indian bullfrog (Hoplobatrachus Tigerinus). The Indian bullfrog is the largest Indian frog and they grow up to 15 cm (6 inches) in length. They are coloured yellowish or olive green and have dark irregular markings. Earlier, this year police at the Guwahati railway station arrested a smuggler with 85 Indian bullfrogs concealed in a container.   Source: Nature Environment News

The Indian bullfrog is the largest Indian frog and they grow up to 15 cm (6 inches) in length.

At least 77 leopards killed in India in past one year   New Delhi, Aug 29: At least 77 leopards have been killed in the country in the past one year with maximum casualties being reported from Assam (16) followed by Orissa (11), the Lok Sabha was informed Wednesday. There are reports of several man-animal conflicts in the country, Minister of State for Environment S Regupathy said in a written reply.     He said increasing human and cattle population, fragmentation of habitats and shrinking of prey base and changing cropping patterns which attract wild animals were some of the major reasons for increasing man-animal conflicts in the country. Talking about some of the steps taken by the government to protect endangered animals like leopards, the minister said stringent penalties are imposed on the offenders of the wild life act while a network of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries have been set up across the country. Besides, he said, focus is being given on involvement of local people in protection works through eco-development and joint forest management programme.

Leopards in Indian origion.

10 rhinos killed in Kaziranga this year   NEW DELHI, July 21, 2007 : Kaziranga National Park, recognised by Unesco in 1985 as a world heritage site, has always been popular with tourists but this year, it's attracting a different kind of visitor. One motivated by greed instead of a love for wildlife. Lured by the huge price a rhinoceros horn commands in the clandestine international market, poachers have already killed 10 one-horned rhinos in the sanctuary this year.   Behind the sudden spiral in poaching cases are organised, well-equipped gangs with "local collaborators." "They are a professional lot, frequently changing tactics to give guards the slip. Everything indicates a global poaching racket," says Utpal Bora, divisional forest officer of the park. "In India one rhino horn fetches between Rs 5-6 lakh and this goes up four to five times before it reaches its final international destination," says Ashok Kumar, vice-chairman of the Wildlife Trust of India.   Source: Times of India  Rajasthan to appoint 1000 former soldiers to guard wildlife  Jaipur, July 16, 2007: Rajasthan goenment decided to appoint 1000 former soilders to help guard wildlife sancturies throughout the state.   125  Security pesonal will be deployed in Ranthambore.  100  in Saiska  75   in Udaipur  70   in Chittoregarh  55 each in Jaipur and Kota. Source: IANS Rajasthan orders probe into panther death Jaipur, June 26, 2007: Rajasthan has ordered a probe into the death of a panther in Sariska tiger reserve last week. The panther was found dead June 16 in Bhairunghati area of the forest. While the forest department claims the panther died fighting other wild cats, the medical board say gunshots killed the animal.  Doctors, who conducted post-mortem of the panther, did not share the report officially. According to sources, the doctors had found gunshot marks on the panther's body and also a hole in its liver.  Reports of poaching of a panther in Sariska has once again raised concerns over safety of wild animals in the reserve that has already lost all of its tigers due to poaching. R.N. Mehrotra, chief wildlife warden of Rajasthan, said early estimates of the census indicated an increase in the panther population in the sprawling desert state. According to the 2004 wildlife census, there were over 550 panthers in Rajasthan.   more...     Sariska  Wildlife Sanctuary

India one rhino  in Kaziranga    National Park

Save Tigers in India  New Delhi, May 23, 2007:  India's tiger population has fallen drastically. Initial estimates from 16 of the country’s 28 tiger reserves in 2006-07 indicate a 50 per cent fall in the number of tigers in four central Indian states in the last five years, according to estimates released on Wednesday by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII). There are only 490 tigers in the 16 reserves across Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Chattisgarh (excluding the Indravati reserve), down from 1,233 in 2002. A final census is expected by the end of 2007.   The government’s first tiger census, conducted under the Project Tiger initiative begun in 1973, counted 1,827 tigers in the country that year. Since then the tiger population had seen a steady rise to reach 3,700 tigers in 2002. The WII estimates showed that tiger numbers had fallen in Madhya Pradesh by 61 per cent, Maharashtra by 57 per cent and Rajasthan by 40 per cent. Dr YV Jhala, chief scientist at the WII, said: "It is extremely important to remove the anthropogenic (human) presence in tiger habitats."

Peacocks are not safe  Sikar, May 20, 2007: In Danta Ramgarh, Sikar (Rajasthan)  23 peacock were found dead in the last one week. The real cause is unknown, but the government says it is due to dehydration and non-availability of their food. But state government has so far failed to arrest the increasing death toll of peacocks. Maximum deaths are taking place in the Ajmer, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh and Shekhawati belt of the state. About 250 peacocks have reportedly been killed in these places in the last four months. Most of the times, poaching of the national bird takes place outside the forest areas and forest officials are reluctant to probe the matter. It is alleged that tribal people usually kill peacocks for the meat. The high value of the male peacock feather in international markets is also responsible for the frequent killings by poachers.   The peacock, India's national bird, is not safe in Rajasthan anymore with as many as 10 of the birds being killed daily in the state, an animal protection group has said. Expressing concern over the increased killing of peacocks, Rajasthan Forest Minister L.N. Dave said: "We are taking steps to stop the killings."

17 Asiatic loins were killed by poachers in and around Gir in Gujarat Ahmedabad, April 16, 2007  It is no longer a secret any more that loins, for some times now, have been victims of rampant poaching in the Saurastra region of Gujarat and within the Gir game reserve- the only home of Asiatic loin. But now the authorities have been prompted to sit up and take the notice of the problem.   After 17 loins lost their their lives in and around Gir in 2007, eight of 17 killed by poachers between March 3 and April 14, the state government and the forest department have strengthened security and vigilance within the game reserve. The head count of the loins in and around sanctuary has also been taken. Degenerated carcasses of two adult loins were found on Saturday near Palitana in Bhavnagar district, about 200 km from the sanctuary.    Source: HT

* 17 loins have been killed in      2007.   *  8 of 17 have been killed by      poachers between March 3      and April 14.

Six rhinos killed, global poachers involved  New Delhi:  April 16, 2007   At least six endangered one-horned rhinos have been killed since January, including two this month, by poacher gangs at the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, say officials. "Six rhinos poached in about 100 days, including two killed in the past week, is a matter of grave concern," said park warden Utpal Bora.   The 430 sq km park, 220 km east of Assam's main city Guwahati, is home to the single largest population of the one-horned rhinoceros. As per latest figures, 1,855 of the world's estimated 2,700 rhinos live in the wilds of Kaziranga -- their numbers ironically making them a favourite target for poaching. "We are certain that the recent hunting for their horns was done at the behest of a very organised international poaching syndicate that has pumped in lot of funds to attract shooters to kill the animals," Bora said.    Carcasses of the six adult rhinos bereft of their horns were found at the park. The poachers had used rifles and carbines to hunt the animals.  Organised poachers kill rhinos for their horns, which many believe contain aphrodisiac qualities besides being used as medicines for curing fever, stomach ailments and other diseases. Rhino horn is also much fancied by buyers from the Middle East who turn them into handles of ornamental daggers. Elephant ivory tusks are primarily used for making ornaments and decorative items.    Profits from the illegal rhino horn trade are staggering - rhino horn sells for up to Rs 1.5 million ($35,000) per kg in the international market. The fresh incidents of poaching come at a time when authorities believed the endangered one-horned rhinos were charging back from the brink of extinction. "There was a time when poachers slaughtered about 50 rhinos annually in the early 1990s. But things have slowed down in recent years due to stepped up vigil. Now all off a sudden we see a spurt in poaching again," Bora said. Five rhinos were poached last year and seven in 2005.  According to government estimates, poachers have killed about 500 of the beasts during the past two decades.   Source: Hindustan Times

Rhino in Kaziranga     National Park in    Assam