Elephant census begins on May 17 in Kerala

E.M. Manoj, Kalpetta The Hindu, May 12, 2017 An elephant census will be held in southern India from May 17 to May 19. It is estimated that there are more than 6,000 elephants in the Wayanad, Nilambur, Anamudi, and Periyar elephant reserves of the State. The last census in 2012 had put the number of elephants at 6,177. P.S. Easa, wildlife...

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Walking to revive a near-dead Varattar

Radhakrishnan Kuttoor, PATHANAMTHITTA  The Hindu, May 11, 2017 Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Isaac will lead a ‘river walk’ along the Varattar, a more or less dead tributary of the Pampa, on May 29 as part of the government’s proposed Varattar rejuvenation project. The initiative is to collect first-hand information on the original...

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AHADS projects cut a sorry figure

K A Shaji, Attappady The Hindu, May 11, 2017  With the State government backtracking completely from initiating follow-up action to preserve its gains in areas of eco-restoration and tribal empowerment, the once celebrated Attappady Hill Area Development Society (AHADS) has turned into a complete wastage of public money. Lack ...

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Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary hitches wagon to star tortoises

Ignatius Pereira,  KOLLAM The Hindu, May 08, 2017 An ambitious project of the Kerala Forest Department at the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS) to rehabilitate Indian star tortoises (Geochelone elegans) seized from smugglers has turned into a major success. This makes the CWS the only rehabilitation centre for star tortoises in...

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Leopard entangled in steel net dies

The Hindu,May 07, 2017 KOLLAM,   A wild leopard that strayed into human habitat close to forest areas at Edapalayam here got entangled in a steel net and died following suspected fatigue as it tried in vain to free itself. The net was spread by farmers to keep crop-raiding wild boars at bay. Aryankavu forest range officer Jiyaz Jamaluddin Labba said the male leopard was around 9 years old. The net was spread...

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Varattar rejuvenation soon

The Hindu,  PATHANAMTHITTA May 03, 2017 The State government will soon prepare a comprehensive action plan to rejuvenate the Varattar river, a tributary of the Pampa, and execute the same in a time-bound manner, Finance Minister T.M. Thomas Issac has said. The Minister was inspecting the badly degraded Varattar riverbed at...

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Water shortage: Crop loss pegged at Rs 724.5 crore

Times Of India, May 3, 2017 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Water shortage has brought about crop damages to the tune of Rs 724.5 crore this summer, agriculture minister V S Sunil Kumar said in the assembly on Tuesday. The estimates were based on preliminary findings and the damage figure could go up once final tabulation is done, the minister said. Water scarcity has damaged crops in about 41,592.3 hectares across the state. ...

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