If capture bid fails, tiger may be shot

 

THE HINDU BUREAU

, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, January 25, 2023

Amid mounting pressure following the tragic death of a tribal woman at Pancharakolly, the Forest department has launched frantic steps to capture the tiger that mauled her while she was collecting coffee beans on a plantation.

Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran has said the tiger will be shot and killed if all attempts to capture it fail.

Chief Wildlife Warden Pramod G. Krishnan issued a formal order late on Friday to capture the tiger in accordance with the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued under the Wildlife (Protection) Act.

The first course of action will be to attempt to capture the animal using a tranquilliser or trap. “If the problematic tiger cannot be captured or tranquillised and remains dangerous to human life by turning into a man-eater, then the said tiger shall be hunted in strict adherence of the SOPs of the National Tiger Conservation Authority,” the order states.

Mobilised resources

To address the escalating situation, the department has mobilised significant resources to the region.

Personnel from the Thalappuzha and Varayal forest stations, equipped with 12 bore pump action guns, have been deployed to patrol the Pancharakolly area and its surroundings. Additional staff from the Irulum and Pulpally forest stations have also been sent to strengthen the ongoing efforts.

Cages have been set up in the area, and camera traps from the North Wayanad Division have been installed. More camera traps are being rushed from the South Wayanad Division. Thermal drones and standard drones have been brought in for aerial surveillance, while the Sulthan Bathery Rapid Response Team (RRT) is stationed at a base camp at Pancharakolly to maintain vigil in the area.

A team of expert shooters and veterinarians led by Chief Veterinary Officer Arun Zachariah has been deployed to the conflict zone. The department is also deploying kumki elephants from the Muthanga elephant camp, which have proven useful in capturing tigers in the past.

To coordinate the response to the unfolding situation, an incident command has been established, with K.J. Martin Lowel, Divisional Forest Officer, North Wayanad, appointed as the operation commander. The operation is being supervised by Chief Conservator of Forests (Northern Circle) K.S. Deepa.

Patrolling

Mr. Saseendran highlighted that patrolling in the region will be intensified, considering the potential risk posed by tigers and other wildlife, including elephants, which may be migrating into Wayanad from the neighbouring Bandipur region in Karnataka.

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Mangrove restoration project to be launched along Kerala coast

 

THE HINDU BUREAU, 

KOCHI, January 23, 2025

Buimerc Foundation in collaboration with M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) will launch a three-year mangrove restoration project along the Kerala coast as part of efforts to protect the coastal ecosystem.

The first year pilot programme will cover 10 km along the Vypeen coast during 2025 and see the development of 20,000 saplings for planting and distribution to places facing shortage of saplings.

Setting up a mangrove field school to educate young people and local communities about the importance of sustainable coastal management is part of the programme, said Buimerc chairman R. Balachandran here on Wednesday. The mangrove field school will be led by Murukesan, known as the ‘Mangrove Man of Kochi’, under the guidance of MSSRF. The team at the field school will collaborate with local bodies, residents, and local organisations to implement the restoration programme.

The initiative is to equip people, especially youth, with the tools and knowledge to participate in conservation efforts, said G.N. Hariharan, executive director of MSSRF. Ernakulam has a 46-km coastline accounting for 8% of Kerala’s total coastline.

The mangrove conservation programme will include seed collection, developing and nurturing a field nursery, planting saplings and monitoring their growth. The Rhizophora Mangrove Field School and Nursery at Vypeen aims to preserve and restore the fast depleting mangrove vegetation, strengthen coastal resilience, and foster community-driven conservation.

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Bauxite mining may soon commence in Kasaragod

 

K S SUDHI, 

KOCHI, January 20, 2025

Bauxite mining rights in two blocks in Kasaragod will be auctioned off shortly.

The State government is in the process of finalising the auction process of bauxite in Narala block in an area of 1.5 sq. km in Mulleria and 2.8 sq. km area in Ukkinadka block, Badiyadukka and Enmakaje villages in Manjeswaram taluk in the district.

Various government agencies as well as private players can bid for the mining rights. The State government is also actively considering another proposal to explore the platinum group of minerals.

The State government decided to auction the mining rights of bauxite, a naturally occurring mineral used in a host of industries including Aluminium and cement, after studies conducted by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) confirmed the presence of the minerals at commercially explorable levels, sources indicated.

The G2 level of exploration done for the detailed mapping and sampling of minerals to identify potentially economically viable zones has been completed in Narla.

It has been estimated that 0.2113 million tonnes of high-grade bauxite and 5.1417 million tonnes of aluminous laterite could be exploited from the block.

G2 level studies

The potential yield from the Ukkinadka block will be known by next month when the GSI will complete the G2 level studies. Indications are that cement-grade bauxite is available in the region, which could be consumed by cement factories, sources said.

The Narula block is located in the fringe area of the Kadakam Reserve Forest, which is an acacia plantation of the Forest department. Private individuals and the government own the land that comes under the Ukkinadka block, say officials.

The government anticipates a revenue of around ₹5,000 crore from the auction of the mining rights. A high-level committee headed by the Principal Secretary (Industries department) will be formed shortly to take forward the bidding process. The State may also appoint a transactional advisor to lead the auction.

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Survey adds 24 species to Munnar fauna

 

THE HINDU BUREAU, 

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, January 19, 2025

A faunal survey in the Munnar Wildlife Division has led to the addition of 24 new species of birds, butterflies, and odonates to its checklist.

The exercise, undertaken by the Forest department in association with the Travancore Nature History Society, simultaneously surveyed the Mathikettan Shola National Park (MSNP), Pambadum Shola National Park (PSNP), Anamudi Shola National Park (ANP), Kurinjimala Wildlife Sanctuary (KWLS), Eravikulam National Park (ENP), and Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary (CWLS) from January 8 to 12. The area, lying between 500 and 2,800 metres in elevation, was surveyed by 21 teams comprising 78 delegates.

A total of 217 species of birds were documented, including 11 new species, thereby increasing the bird population in the Munnar Wildlife Division to 258. The additions include the Brown Hawk Owl, Barred Buttonquail, Spotted Owlet, Mottled Wood Owl, Baya Weaver, Red Munia (Red Avadavat), Richard’s Pipit, Jerdon’s Bushlark, Golden-Headed Cisticola, Large Grey Babbler, and Chestnut-Bellied Nuthatch.

Other notable species spotted included the Nilgiri Wood Pigeon, Mountain Imperial Pigeon, Great Eared Nightjar, Steppe Eagle, Bonelli’s Eagle, Montagu’s Harrier, Eurasian Sparrow Hawk, Lesser Fish Eagle, Peregrine Falcon, Indian Eagle Owl, Spot-bellied Eagle Owl, Indian Grey Hornbill, and Blue-eared Kingfisher.

The MSNP recorded 84 species, PSNP recorded 72, ANP 53, KWLS 68, ENP 115, and CWLS 173 species.

Munnar continues to be home to several species of butterflies with 166 species recorded, including eight new records, bringing the checklist to 246 species. The highest number of butterflies was recorded at Chinnar with 148 species, followed by Eravikulam (79 species), and Mathikettan Shola (57 species).

Endemic butterflies such as the Red-disc Bushbrown, Palni Bush-Brown, Palni Fritillary, Palni four-ring, Nilgiri four-ring, Nilgiri Clouded Yellow, and Nilgiri Tiger were observed. Grass Jewel, the smallest butterfly in the State, was abundant at Chinnar. The largest Indian butterfly, the Southern Birdwing, was also recorded in most of the camps.

As many as 33 species were observed, despite the cold weather prevailing in the region. With an addition of five new records, the total number of odonates in Munnar has increased to 58 species.

Five relatively common odonates of lower elevations, which were previously unrecorded in Munnar, were also reported in this survey. These include Cratilla lineata calverti (Forster, 1903), Macrodiplax cora (Kaup in Brauer, 1867), Palpopleura sexmaculata (Fabricius, 1787), Tholymis tillarga (Fabricius, 1798), and Lestes elatus Hagen in Selys, 1862.

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Quarantine animals with bird flu symptoms, Centre tells States after tiger, leopard deaths

 

A.M. JIGEESH, 

NEW DELHI, The Hindu

With Maharashtra reporting India’s first case of avian influenza among animals, the Union Animal Husbandry Ministry sent a circular to all States on Sunday, urging them to quarantine infected or symptomatic tigers and other feline species to prevent transmission to humans and other animals.

Three tigers and one leopard died of the H5N1 virus, better known as bird flu, at an animal rescue centre in Nagpur in the last week of December.

Avian influenza is crossing the species barrier, Union Animal Husbandry Commissioner Abhijit Mitra told The Hindu on Sunday. Citing cases in the U.S. and Vietnam, he said that avian influenza has been found in cattle and goats, as well as in wild species, particularly tigers.

Cause of infection

“In Maharashtra, the case was reported from a rescue centre and after post-mortem, the samples were sent to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases at Bhopal. There, the samples tested positive for avian influenza,” Dr. Mitra said, noting that this is the first time that bird flu has been reported among animals in India. “They are precious animals. We have isolated them and are treating them. The National Joint Outbreak Response Team has reached there and is implementing the steps to be taken in such a scenario,” he said, adding that the Ministry will issue detailed guidelines on the matter within a week.

The Ministry is also examining the reasons for the infection.

“The animals are in a rescue centre. Maybe the chicken served to them could be the reason for the disease. We are examining it and have alerted the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change too,” Dr. Mitra said, adding that there is no need to panic at present. “The human beings who came in touch with the animals during the treatment and the post-mortem are also being screened,” he said.

Biosecurity protocols

In its circular, the Ministry directed that any affected establishment will have to be temporarily shut to the public and initiate enhanced biosecurity protocols. “Restrict the movement of personnel, veterinarians, and labourers. Under no circumstances should they move from infected pens to healthy pens,” the directive said.

It also directed the States to strengthen biosecurity and carry out thorough disinfection in the entire area where deaths have been reported.

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Indigenous know-how to mitigate wildlife conflicts

 

THE HINDU BUREAU, 

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, January 3, 2025

Expressing concern over the disturbing trend of tribal fatalities in wildlife attacks, Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran has promised steps to study the factors leading to the alarming pattern.

He was inaugurating a State-level workshop on Gothrabheri, an initiative aimed at integrating indigenous knowledge into wildlife conflict mitigation strategies, here on Wednesday.

Mr. Saseendran said while various human-wildlife conflict mitigation projects initiated by the Forest department had begun to show results, the loss of tribal lives remained a pressing issue. He pointed out that 67 people lost their lives in wildlife-related incidents during 2024-25. Of these, 34 were due to snakebites and 19 due to elephant attacks. Alarmingly, 13 of those killed by elephants belonged to tribal communities.

Chief Wildlife Warden Pramod G. Krishnan pointed out that the trend was unusual since tribespeople were traditionally known to coexist harmoniously with wildlife. He emphasised the need to examine whether changes in animal or human behaviour or other external factors were contributing to this shift.

Scheme objective

The Gothrabheri programme has been conceptualised to collect, document, and incorporate tribal ecological knowledge into official conservation and conflict mitigation policies.

As part of the initiative, 18 regional seminars were held across Kerala, engaging as many as 1,016 tribal representatives from all 360 unnathis (tribal hamlets) in the State. Insights gathered from these interactions are being consolidated and studied for implementation.

The initiative is a collaborative effort involving the Scheduled Tribes Development department, the Kerala Forest Research Institute, and other agencies, including the State Planning Board and the Kerala Startup Mission, to convert tribal insights into actionable government programmes.

Head of Forest Force in-charge and Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (APCCF) P. Pugazhendi presided over the inaugural session.

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