Rare Imperial Eagle spotted in Kole fields

 

THE HINDU BUREAU, 

THRISSUR, november 20, 2024

A rare imperial eagle has been spotted in Pulluzhi Kole wetlands.

Wildlife photographer and birdwatcher Jijoy Immatty spotted the rare eagle, scientifically known as Aquila heliaca, from the Kole fields. According to data from the birdwatching website eBird, the Imperial Eagle was last reported in Kannur in 2003.

The Imperial Eagle primarily breeds in southeastern Europe, and west and Central Asia. During the winter season, they migrate to regions in northeastern Africa, the West Asia, and parts of southeast Asia. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the Imperial Eagle as a species with a potential risk of extinction, highlighting the urgency of its conservation, according to ornithologist Manoj Karingamattal.

The Thrissur-Ponnani Kole fields has been a hub for birdwatching activities organised by Kole Birders Collective, a civic-research group focused on ornithology. Numerous birdwatching programmes have been conducted in this region.

According Mr. Karingamattal, several species of eagles, including the greater spotted eagle, Indian spotted eagle as well as the steppe eagle, have been spotted in Kole fields this season.

All of these species are considered to be at risk of extinction or near extinction, according to the IUCN Red List.

This sighting emphasises the importance of preserving and monitoring the Kole fields, which is a Ramsar-protected area.

The ongoing conservation and observation efforts in these regions are critical for the protection of migratory birds and their habitats.

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The Kadar tribe takes charge against alien species

 

MINI MURINGATHERI, 

THRISSUR, october 26, 2024

In a first, the Kadar tribe of Vazhachal in Thrissur, has taken on active restoration of natural forests degraded by invasive alien species.

This collaborative effort involving the Local Self-Governments department, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Scheduled Tribes Development department, WWF-India, and Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI) marks a significant step towards freeing natural forests from degrading exotic species.

Supported by the WWF-India, the KFRI had undertaken the mapping of invasive plants in the Vazhachal and Parambikulam forest divisions and 29 and 31 such species had been recorded in these divisions, says T.V Sajeev, chief scientist, KFRI.

“By involving tribal community members in a participatory mapping process, we identified the most degraded areas for restoration,” he says. The spread of invasive plants has severely limited forage space for wildlife, leading to increased human-wildlife conflicts. Additionally, these invaders have diminished the availability of non-timber forest products, threatening the livelihoods of the indigenous communities.

With technical support from the KFRI, the tribal community has started the removal of invasive species such as Lantana camara, Chromolaena odorata, Mimosa diplotricha, and Mikania micrantha.

Follow up

The work will be followed up by planting of species such as Myristica beddomei, Canarium strictum, Garcinia gummi-gutta, Hydnocarpus pentandrus, Curcuma neilgherrensis, Acacia sinuate, Phyllanthus emblica, Entada rheedii, Desmodium gangeticum, Pseudarthria viscida and Sapindus trifoliate, all of which yield forest products usually collected by the community. Over the years, these plants had been displaced by the aggressive invasion of alien plants.

“This initiative not only supports the environment but also enhances the livelihoods of local tribal communities by increasing labour opportunities through the MGNREGA,” says K. Rijesh, ward member, Athirappilly grama panchayat.

The pilot project is being held at Pothupara, a newly established tribal hamlet under the Vazhachal division after a landslip displaced the people from Anakkayam in 2018. This community received Community Forest Resource (CFR) rights under the Forest Rights Act (FRA) in 2014, along with eight other tribal settlements, creating the first CFR area of its kind in Kerala, covering 400 sq km. The nine tribal gram sabhas have already approved their conservation and management plan, which incorporates this vital restoration work.

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Solar fence to be set up on PTR border to keep off wildlife

 

THE HINDU BUREAU, 

IDUKKI

The Forest department has decided to install a solar fence at Thondiyar, near Vandiperiyar, Idukki, to tackle the human-wildlife conflict at Thondimala, which borders the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR). According to Forest department officials, the fences are being set up on a war footing after a wild gaur attacked a woman in the area.

The department is continuing with its drive to chase back to the deep forests the wild gaur that attacked Stella, a cardamom plantation worker and a resident of 63rd Mile, on Tuesday.

Stella, who was attacked while she was working in the plantation on the Thondiyar estate, sustained severe injuries and is undergoing treatment at a private hospital at Mundakkayam.

After the incident, a farmers’ movement had launched an indefinite hunger strike demanding immediate action against wild animal attacks.

The protest was temporarily suspended after Kottayam Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) N. Rajesh, PTR deputy director Patil Suyog Subah Rao, and Assistant Field Director Suresh Babu promised them of immediate solution. “Drone monitoring continues in Thondiyar. Two patrol teams monitor the presence of wild animals in the area and chase them back to the PTR. The location borders the PTR, and wild animals at times enter the cardamom plantation,” said Mr. Rajesh.

Mr. Suresh Babu said the PTR would construct a 3-km-long solar fencing at Thondiyar.

“The project’s tender process has already begun and is expected to be completed within a month. The estimated cost of the solar fencing is ₹10 lakh,” said the official.

Residents’ demand

Meanwhile, Azhutha block panchayat member Shaji Pynadathu said the people in Spring Valley, Wallardie, Vandiperiyar, and Thondimala faced severe threats from wild animal attacks. “Due to the increasing wild gaur attacks, the workers keep off cardamom plantations. We want these animals to be tranquilised and translocated deep into the forest. Now, the Forest department chases back the animals to forests bordering human habitations and the animals return within two days,” said Mr. Pynadathu.

In March last week, a 46-year-old man was seriously injured in a wild gaur attack at Spring Valley, near Kumily, in Idukki.

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Kerala seeks to limit its ESA to 8,712 sq km in 98 villages

 

THE HINDU BUREAU, 

KOCHI, September 19, 2024

Kerala has proposed to limit its ecologically sensitive area (ESA) to 8,711.98 sq km in 98 villages by confining the ESA to forests and protected areas including wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, and tiger reserves of the State.

The State has excluded human habitations and plantations from the purview of the ESA in the process. It has also added a rider to its draft proposal submitted to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change that it may come up with a final proposal later, according to a communique from the Chief Minister’s Office.

Draft proposal

The draft proposal was submitted in response to an initiative from the Ministry, which had sought the views of the Western Ghats States to notify the ESA in the mountain ranges.

The Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel report and the subsequent High-Level Working Group report on Western Ghats had evolved as socially and politically sensitive issues in the State with a section of the Church and most political parties opposing the recommendations. The State governments had been treading with caution on ESA notifications fearing that any wrong move would lead to a political backlash in the hill districts of the State.

Though the Kasturirangan panel had identified 59,940 sq km as ESA for Kerala, an expert committee appointed by the State government had recommended limiting it to 9,993.7 sq km, which included 9,107 sq km of forest and 886.7 sq km of non-forest areas. The draft ESA notification issued by the Ministry on July 31, 2024 went by the recommendations of the State to limit the ESA to 9,993.7 sq km though the number of villages that came under the ambit of the ESA went up to 131 from the earlier 123, the Chief Minister’s Office pointed out.

The increase in the number of villages was due to the formation of new villages in the State by dividing the earlier ones. There is no increase in the extent of the proposed ESA. The State further reduced the extent of ESAs after considering reports from the districts, according to the government.

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AI cameras gun for poachers

 

jACOB KOSHY, 

NEW DELHI, september 17, 2023

Wildlife officials at one of the most populous tiger zones in India are experimenting with a new set of camera traps — or cameras with infrared sensors deployed in forests to count wild animals or monitor the movement of potential poachers — that harness the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

In experiments under way at the Kanha-Pench corridor in Madhya Pradesh, the system has, for the first time, caught poachers on camera that — a year down — helped forest authorities secure a conviction, according to a person involved in the experiment.

Cameras set up in remote regions are a key tool in surveys and census counts of tigers and elephants but have limitations such as requiring personnel physically access the machine to prise photos. They are also bulky and are not always optimised to conserve charge to keep the instruments running.

The new kind of camera set-up, called the TrailGuard AI camera-alert system, being tested are slim devices that can be inconspicuously set up within the foliage of trees.

Shaped like a pen, 13.8 cm long and 1.4 cm wide, it is wired to another ‘communications’ unit, the size of a notepad.

The system has embedded software that can be instructed to take pictures of specific species of interest. In the usual camera set-ups, the motion-triggered devices will snap pictures of anything — from a falling leaf to a jungle fowl that comes in its line of sight. The TrailGuard system can be set to specifically capture humans or species of interest — lions, tigers, cheetahs.

A team of researchers and developers involved in developing and testing the system, in an article published in the journal Biosciences report that 12 TrailGuard AI camera-alert systems were tested from mid-May to mid-July 2022 on the Kanha–Pench corridor along with seven camera-alert systems in the Dudhwa Tiger Reserve in early September 2022 to mid-December.

“Researchers and forest department officials received notifications of tiger presence via email or push notification between 30 and 42 seconds after detections. These notifications included tiger detections from three units that were within 300 meters of a village and from which there were also daily notifications of villagers grazing cattle or collecting forest products,” they note.

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NTCA count records rise in tiger population in Kerala

 

SARATH BABU GEORGE, 

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, the hindu, august 1, 2023

Kerala’s tiger population has increased to 213 in 2022 from 190 in 2018, according to an estimate released by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

While the Periyar and Parambikulam Tiger Reserves which fall under the Western Ghats landscape have recorded significant population growth, the former is also adjudged the best managed tiger reserve in the country for the second time on the trot by topping the Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE) of tiger reserves.

According to the Status of Tigers: Co-Predators and Prey in India 2022 report released by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on the occasion of Global Tiger Day on July 29, the Periyar Tiger Reserve has recorded a tiger count of 31 with a standard error (SE) of 0.2. The number of tigers found to utilise the reserve is pegged at 43 (SE 4.5).

Floating population

The Parambikulam Tiger Reserve is found to have 31 residents (SE 0.3), while 42 tigers (SE 4.4) including the floating population make use of the protected area. The findings indicate an increase from populations of 26 tigers each found exclusively in both reserves in 2018.

Chief Wildlife Warden Ganga Singh attributes the increase in tiger population to the State’s wildlife conservation efforts derived from accepted global practices.

The Periyar reserve tops the fifth cycle of the MEE exercise of tiger reserves in 2022 with a score of 94.53% to be rated ‘excellent’.

The Parambikulam reserve comes 8th in the evaluation with a score of 84.09% and a ‘very good’ rating.

At the Global Tiger Day observance held at Corbett Tiger Reserve recently, Periyar was also among six tiger reserves to be accorded the Conservation Assured|Tiger Standards (CATS) accreditation by the global coalition of Tiger Range Countries. Parambikulam attained the coveted status for meeting a set of standards for effective conservation of big cats two years ago.

A model one

Periyar Tiger Reserve field director P.P. Pramod says the tiger reserve, being a pioneer in management and conservation efforts, welfare of local population and eco-development activities, is viewed by many others across the country as a model one.

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Despite enforcement, illegal trafficking of protected species rife in the State

 

NAVAMY SUDHISH, 

KOLLAM, The Hindu, July 2, 2023

Owls may be considered inauspicious by some in Kerala, but the nocturnal bird is an indispensable part of occult practices in rural Karnataka and some northern States. It is often sacrificed to ‘‘ward off’’ bad luck, while there are communities that still follow the superstitious custom of dabbing its blood on the main entrance of commercial establishments.

Red sand boa, locally known as ‘iruthala moori’, is supposed to bring prosperity and the reptile continues to be a fancy item among poachers.

Both have high demand in trafficking circles and they are frequently spotted on clandestine virtual platforms where they are sold for exorbitant prices.

Despite strict preventive and enforcement measures in place, wildlife traders are using social media and private online groups to market protected species.

Many fake products

According to the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), while everything from pangolins to musk pods are available, many products being sold are fake.

“It’s nearly impossible to infiltrate sophisticated wildlife trafficking networks. You need multiple references to enter such groups, but we have access to some groups and have carried out several operations based on the intel,” says an official.

Wildlife traders usually use devices that are not easy to trace while exchanging pictures of protected species and conducting auctions. “Tracing them with the help of the cyber cell is often a time-consuming exercise and at present we do not have the resources to expedite the process. It is a huge challenge,” adds the official.

Despite wildlife activists and enforcement authorities joining hands to prevent illegal purchases, poaching and trafficking continue due to the demand. “It is a fake trade with overhyped price tags. Lot of wildlife captures are happening due to baseless myths and superstitions. The musk pods available are not original but just some kind of scent wrapped in fox skin, and the tiger claws are made of cow horns,” says Jose Louies, chief of enforcement, Wildlife Trust of India.

Invasive species

Meanwhile, the inflow of illegal invasive species into the State poses another serious threat. Mr. Louies says Kerala is a State with huge domestic market as it has many animals protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

“Kerala is only second to West Bengal when it comes to exotic pet stock. The State has a huge population of captive exotics and this is going to affect the biodiversity of Kerala. People buy these pets, keep them for some time and release them and this will have a severe impact on our ecosystem. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed,” he says.

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