The Lalit Blog

From CREW archive Sahara Time STATES THE TROUBLED TIGER SANJAY SHARMA, BHOPAL 21 - Jan - 05 Poachers are the biggest threat to the survival of the tiger in its natural habitat in Madhya Pradesh," Crusade for Revival of Environment and Wildlife (CREW), an NGO devoted to the cause of environment and wildlife, had warned the State Government in its hard hitting investigative report "The Vanishing Stripes" that was released in the first fortnight of June 1999. The situation in the tiger state, home to over 30 percent of the Indian tigers, is no better even now. As per the population estimates of 2002, there are 711 tigers and 1,086 panthers in the state. The recent recoveries of the carcass of a tigress and her cub and the remains of a tiger within days of each other are an indicator of the dismal picture. The remains of a tiger killed by poachers inside the Pench National Park were found last week. Only three days prior to it the carcass of a tigress and her cub were found

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Environment and Climate Change Environment and climate change are complex issues. As we grope for answers to dilemmas of development while trying to preserve the purity of the environment, the Centre attempted to create awareness of the different issues involved. The Centre has been collaborating with an NGO, Toxics Link, for several years to organise lectures on environment and related issues, both topical and popular. The areas covered in the lectures were: ‘Bhopal–Tragedy Lingers On’; ‘Must the River Die?’; ‘Urban Sewage: A Dirty Reality’; ‘Bio-Fuel: An Alarm Bell on Food Safety?’ ; ‘Gharial–On the Verge of Extinction' ; ‘Use Renewable Energy. Make your House Energy Efficient’; and ‘Preserve the Future’, films from the UK Environment Film Fellowship on wildlife and environment.

The Hindu June 29, 2008 Staff Reporter "Study will yield vital new information on their habitats " NEW DELHI: "We could be closer than ever before in understanding the real cause of the death of more than a hundred gharials at the National Chambal Sanctuary since December 2007," said Gharial Crisis Management Group chairman Ravi Singh here . Participating in an Environment and Public Health Lecture Series organised by Toxics Link and India International Centre, he added: "Fundamental gaps in the knowledge of gharial biology were highlighted in the course of investigation and we are hopeful that telemetry test now under way on gharials will fill in gaps in our understanding of this species." Mr. Singh said the study would yield vital new information on gharials and their habitats including assessment of health and status of population in the crisis zone. More than 100 gharials have been lost in the National Chambal Sanctuary since last December. Team set up

The Hindu 24/12/2004 By Our Staff Correspondent BHOPAL, DEC. 23. One more tiger was killed in the Thuepani beat falling under the Gumtara range of the Pench National Park on Sunday night. With this latest killing, the total number of tigers found killed inside the Pench National Park and its buffer area has gone up to four within just one week. Earlier the carcass of a tigress and her cub, slaughtered by poachers, was found in the buffer area of Pench National Park on December 17. On the basis of information passed by an informer after this poaching incident, a resident of Kurai village was arrested as he was found possessing few tiger nails. During interrogation, he passed information that led to the seizure of another tiger's skeletal remains from Kurai Ghati deep inside the Pench National Park on Sunday. The number of tigers poached or killed under mysterious circumstances in the Pench National Park and its buffer area has gone up to four after the villagers fro

The Hindu Sunday, Dec 19, 2004 By Lalit Shastri BHOPAL, DEC. 18. Poachers continue to strike at will in Madhya Pradesh and the latest case of poaching has been detected in Seoni district where the carcass of a tigress and her cub were found lying just outside the Pench National Park on Friday. When State Tiger Cell sources were contacted here, they told The Hindu that the tigress whose carcass was found outside the Pench National park on Friday had been poisoned two or three days ago. They said that the tigress and her cub had been skinned and their flesh had been left behind. One person belonging to the Pardi tribe had been rounded up for interrogation and further investigations were on. The latest tiger poaching incident is a pointer that the local contacts, who are mainly tribals carry out the real killings. They are in turn linked to international gangs having contacts in Nepal and China. During a short period in May-June this year, the Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPS

The Hindu 28/03/2005 By Lalit Shastri BHOPAL, MARCH 27. Wildlife experts have questioned the official claim — based on a census conducted in the protected area (PA) from March 18 to 24 — that there are 34 tigers and a cub in the Panna Tiger Reserve of Madhya Pradesh. A spokesman of the wildlife wing of the State Forest Department told The Hindu that a large team, including officials from the Kanha, Pench and Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserves, joined the census operation. On analysing the pugmarks and other evidence, the team confirmed the presence of 20 female tigers, 14 male tigers and a cub in the Panna Tiger Reserve. Raghunandan Singh Chundawat, who has done extensive field research in the Panna Reserve, has reacted sharply to the latest census projection. He says the authorities claim to have counted 13 tigresses within the territory of a single, monitored tigress. The "absurd claim" flies in the face of everything that is known about the natural history of tigers, he said. &q