The forest cover in the country has decreased by 367 sq kms with the green area decreasing in 14 states, as per a forest report released here today.
According to India State of Forest Report-2011, forest cover has decreased in 14 states including Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Assam, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Meghalaya and Tripura, an official release said here today.
However, the forest cover has increased in Bihar, Goa, Haryana, Jammu-Kashmir, Karnataka and Andaman-Nicobar.
Three states – Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and Sikkim – have maintained their forest cover, the release said.
Madhya Pradesh is still on top in the country with total 77,700 sq kms forest cover followed by Arunachal Pradesh with 67,410 sq kms, an official release said here today while quoting the State of Forest Report 2011.
Next in the list is Chhattisgarh with 55,674 sq kms, followed by Maharashtra with 50,646 sq kms and Odisha with 48,903 sq kms of forest cover.
Madhya Pradesh Forest Minister Sartaj Singh has directed officers to facilitate increase in density of forest cover by planting maximum saplings in moderately dense areas and further strengthening forest protection arrangements.
Out of the total forest cover in the state, there are extremely dense forests over 6,640 sq kms and dense forests in 34,986 sq kms, whose density needs to be increased.
Moderately dense forest area is spread over 36,074 sq kms while open area is 16,989 sq kms.
In terms of percentage, seven per cent of the total forest cover is extremely dense, 36 per cent dense, 39 per cent moderately dense and 18 per cent open area, the release added.
ROARrrrr for Jungle Tigerhttp://www.facebook.com/pages/ROARrrrr-for-Jungle-Tiger/166490116742359
MUMBAI: Animal Planet celebrates the wildlife of India this month with a series called ‘India: Wild Encounters’.
From Ranthambhore to the Western Ghats, the series seeks encounters with India’s wildest and rarest
animal species like the fabled Bengal Tiger, the wild dogs (dholes), the rare Asiatic Lion and many more. Viewers meet some fascinating people and track animals that make any visit to India such a rich experience. Travel with wildlife explorers – Jeff Corwin, Austin Stevens and Dave Salmoni as they set out on their adventures to learn more about the wild animals of the country.
The series also covers the exotic stories on survival of black bear; the ibex and the snow leopard from the treacherous slopes of the world’s highest mountain range – the Himalayas.
The show airs every Sunday at 8 pm on Animal Planet.
Not A Fairy Tale:
Rescued orphan Cinderella desperately needs your help. There simply isn’t enough funding to keep her through the winter. She is due to be released into the wild in spring 2013. You can help save her with as little as £10.
Please help, we have the opportunity to save this beautiful tigress.
See her story here: http://bit.ly/SaveCinderella and to donate: http://bit.ly/TigerTimeDonate.
This needs to be said: We’re losing the war on poaching. It’s far from over, but right now we are definitely in the losing position. Carter Roberts, president of the The World Wildlife Fund, says on his organization’s site, “We face an unprecedented poaching crisis. The killings are way up. We need solutions that are as sophisticated as the threats we face.” That means it’s time to get serious− like crime-fighting, super-hero, spyware-technology-using serious. And that means we’re calling up the drones− not to attack poachers, but to catch them before they kill.
This week, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announced its receipt of a $5 million grant, courtesy of Google’s Global Impact Awards to test advanced technology in the fight against animal crime. If it works, the new system will include sensors placed in wildlife environments and on the animals themselves, which would be monitored by a network of surveillance drones overhead. When poachers are detected, the drones will signal mobile ranger patrols on the ground to move in, hopefully stopping the poachers’ attack.
MORE: In India, Poachers are Now Killing Elephants with Electrified Power Lines
|
Become an Anti-Poaching Advocate!
|
Over the summer, TakePart reported that drones were being tested by the Nepalese chapter of the WWF to combat poaching in the country’s Chitwan National Park. The lightweight machinery can be launched by hand, flying up to an elevation of about 650 feet sustaining travel for about 18 miles. The drones’ cameras allow ground crews to spot would-be poachers, especially in areas that are difficult to access on foot, and it can all be controlled by an iPad.
But with Google’s new funding, these efforts will now be tested in four more sites in Africa and Asia.
In addition, part of the funding will go to investigating a method of using animal DNA to track animal parts sold globally, uncovering pathways of sale within the black market operation. This information could definitively connect the dots between those doing the killing, and the private collectors doing the buying.
According to Popular Science, WWF’s initiative is a build-out of previous systems used to stop the illegal hunting of endangered species. One of those utilized, was the installation of a GPS-tracking chip into the horns of endangered rhinos. The chip was linked to a specially-programmed cellphone, sending alerts depending on what the animal was doing and where it was moving.
But the conservation agency says something much larger in scope is needed now, preferably one that tracks bigger picture activity versus only focusing on one animal at a time. According to Roberts statement, “We need solutions that are as sophisticated as the threats we face. This pushes the envelope in the fight against wildlife crime.”
The organization reports that in the past 50 years, the level of wildlife crime has never been as high as it’s been in the past 12 months. It estimates that up to $10 billion is profited from the illegal (and barbaric) killing of lions, tigers and rhinos. If aerial surveillance hinders the process in even just a small way, it could have a huge impact on the lives of the animals we’re killing.
ROARrrrr for Jungle Tigerhttp://www.facebook.com/pages/ROARrrrr-for-Jungle-Tiger/166490116742359
Dehradun, Dec 19, 2012
Deccan Herald News ….
A two-year-old leopard was killed today after being hit by a motorcycle in Prem Nagar area in the city, police said.
The incident occurred around 9 am this morning when two students, who were on their way to the Petroleum University on a motorcycle, suddenly encountered a leopard crossing the road.
They got nervous and hit the big cat, killing it on the spot, they said.
The students also received minor injuries in the incident as they fell from the bike after it knocked down the leopard, they said.
They were rushed to a nearby hospital from where they were discharged after first aid.
The carcass of the leopard has been handed over to Forest Department officials, police added.
Benue Zoo Animals Appeal – Cee4lifehttp://www.facebook.com/BenueZooAnimalsAppeal
To all our fantastic supporters, we wish you all a wonderful Christmas & a safe New Year ~ Sybelle, Dawn & Donna
Pantherahttp://www.facebook.com/pantheracats
The fall edition of Wildhope Magazine features a photo essay, “Eye of the Tiger,” by Panthera’s Media Dir. & NatGeo photographer, Steve Winter. Read the issue online @ http://bit.ly/WildHopeFall2012 to learn more about Steve’s travels across Asia & how his photos help Panthera’s tiger conservation efforts. Wildhope is a free e-magazine where travelers, wildlife, & activism meet- subscribe @ http://bit.ly/TzYUXX
Plodprasop and senior RFD official Manop Laoprasert are accused of pushing through the export of 100 tigers from the Chon Buri’s Sri Racha Tiger Zoo to the Sunya Zoo in China from September 9 to December 24, 2002, without following the legal criteria, procedure and conditions. As per the Animal Exchange Law, private firms are prohibited from trading animals. Both zoos are privately owned.
After the Department of Special Investigation filed this case with the National Anti-Corruption Commission, it was discovered that this accusation had grounds and subsequently led to the public prosecutor asking the court yesterday to punish the minister. However, Plodprasop pleaded “not guilty” and set up a team of lawyers to defend him. The evidence from both sides will be reviewed on April 22.
Plodprasop said he is happy for being given a chance to prove his innocence in court after waiting for more than 10 years.
 |
In light of three serval cats, who resemble small cheetahs, escaping from a Los Alamitos apartment recently, Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) today renewed her call for a federal law prohibiting private possession of big cats except at facilities like accredited zoos. “This incident in Orange County is alarming and underscores the need for better regulation of private ownership of big cats,” Sanchez says in a statement from her office.
After bobcat spottings were reported around the 4100 block of Farquhar Avenue in Los Alamitos Saturday night, a game warden and officers from Long Beach Animal Care Services, which serves Los Alamitos, captured a serval cat.
It was wearing a collar with the owner’s name and address, and when officers went to the apartment in the 4400 block of Howard Avenue, they were told two other serval cats were missing. One was found nearby and the other returned to the apartment on its own.
The cats were taken to an animal sanctuary, while their previous owner was issued a citation from the state Department of Fish and Game for owning the animals. Officials also recommended the district attorney file three misdemeanor counts of possession of a restricted animal against the ex-cat owner, who would face a fine with a conviction.
Incidents involving illegally kept wild animals are popping up all over the country. Sanchez’s office pointed to 49 animals being slaughtered–including 18 Bengal tigers, 17 lions, six black bears, a pair of grizzlies, three mountain lions, two wolves and a baboon–after the owner of an unlicensed wildlife preserve in Zanesville, Ohio. let them loose in October 2011 before killing himself.
Sanchez and Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) this year introduced H.R. 4122, the “Big Cats and Public Safety Protection Act,” which aims to curtail “an alarming number of wild cats [that] are being bred, sold, and even kept as domestic pets in the U.S.,” and thereby threatening public safety. Fortunately, no one was harmed in Los Alamitos.
“Big cats are not pets,” Sanchez observed. “They require high-quality facilities and proper care. Orange County’s first responders and community members were put in unnecessary danger as they responded to this call.”
Sanchez says she is seeking bipartisan support for her legislation in the upcoming congressional session. John Kerry (D-Massachusetts) introduced a companion bill in the Senate.
|
Dec 19, 2012 14:21 Moscow Time
|
|
|
Photo: RIA Novosti
|
As of today, there are about 50 species in Russia, the head of the presidential administration Sergei Ivanov said addressing the meeting of the Eurasian centre for studying and restoring the leopard population.
Mr. Ivanov reminded the audience that a national park reserve was set up in the Primorye district in April, 2012, to accommodate most of the leopards inhabiting the Far Eastern region.
Four new female leopards have been spotted in the area recently, scientists say.
Of course in the end it did fall down, but Felix was too lazy to follow.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Wild-Animal-Sanctuary/44130834484
Picture of the day! To swim or not to swim – that is the question!
http://www.wildanimalsanctuary.org/animals/photogallery1.html
A must you need to have in your Book Collection!!!….I swear once you go on this Journey….you will never look back, and your soul will be forever changed xoxGreatcatsofthe”World”
December 16, 2012 at 4:41 pm (World)
sybellefoxcroft.wordpress.com
In these last days of the creatures on earth, the battle to save them has become more like a warzone, and very little to do with actually saving an animal purely because of conservation, ecological balance or biodiversity reasons.
That may sound like a dramatic statement, but its not. Its factual and frightening. The wild creatures on earth, particularly the ones targeted for Traditional Chinese Medicines, are facing certain extinction because of ego, money and attempts to hide the devastating truth.
Let me tell you a true story ( species of animal, and location withheld).
Once upon a time, there were 3 little wild cats. Their mum was killed by a predator, and they were left alone in the wild. Miraculously they survived the night, but the predators were closing in on them. In the area where the wild cats lived, were some wonderful people, who were professional and qualified to rescue them, rehabilitate them, and raise them wild until they were old enough to be released back into the wild. They were more precious than anyone realised as they were the last of only 6 wild cats subspecies left in that area. For reasons unknown, at the time, a wildlife service refused to listen to common conservation sense or scientific fact and showed zero concern for the nearly regionally extinct wild cats or protecting their bloodline. The wildlife service took those wild cats and placed them in the most highly unethical situation.
As this case went along, it became more and more apparent, that the conservation value of these precious wildcats blood lines meant nothing to the wildlife service, and that the priority of the wildlife service was to save face to the world.
So the little wild cats were moved into a zoo like environment. They were put in a cement room, with no sunlight, and were hung up by their tails and thrown around. They lived like that for months. There were denials of any unethical wrong doing, there were denials about cruelty, and then…. the film of this abuse and unethical care became public.
What happened next – A hunt went on for the people involved who were fighting for conservation and ethical for these wild cats. A campaign of fear erupted on the zoo like place, innocent people lost their jobs, gruelling interrogations went on over a few weeks, various people recieved threatening phone calls, people were being followed, phones were being tapped, people were made to fear for their lives, and much much more…..
All this was done to save face, to deflect the real issue of their complete ignorance and take the focus off the mistakes they knew they had made, to save their pride and inability to say “we did the wrong thing” … everything was done except doing the right conservation action for the little wild cats…. and then one precious regionally critically endangered wild cat died….
The wildlife service got their way and kept the surviving wild cats in the zoo, but they never saved face….
Then there is another true case where documented film evidence of numerous animals starved to death because a zoo that refuses to feed their animals .. again, after this was investigated and information presented to authorities in that country, all the denials started again, then the threats, then the intimidation, all the scare tactics etc All because this is causing embarrassment to the authorities, or so they say..
So, apparently the embarrassment of horrific animal abuse, whether wild or captive, must be covered up all to save face for authorities and others….. but again, this is not going to save their face in any way shape or form.
Do they know that doing the right thing would make them shine in the publics eyes? Get them voted back in…??
Then we can have a look at the virally spiralling to extinction Tigers. Within the wildlife services in the Tigers range states, there alot of talk about saving Tigers, alot of photos of pumped up chests and heroic statements, but there is very little being done. Any poaching incidents, particularly ones identified as having involved authority figures or relatives of authority figures, is covered up and written off. The multi millions of dollars raised to protect the Tigers is yet to find its way to the Tigers to the full capacity that those multi millions of dollars can do. In fact, less than 5% of funds raised for protecting the Tigers has made its way into Tiger protection. Meanwhile, the murderous poaching, snaring, shooting, stabbing, beating, setting on fire, grenade attacks on the Tigers continues, and the Tiger population drops.
The even more ridiculous thing is that the public knows all this, and people in (temporary) positions of authority are fooling themselves if they think they can pull the wool over the eyes of the public…. not any more.
So where is that money going? People in positions of authority or high placed people take their cut and line their pockets (because they want to throw a function or buy a new car or house or have a Tiger skin….. = status, ego = shallow, materialistic etc), while in the meantime another Tiger is viciously and illegally murdered. Possibly, run down by a vehicle inside a National Park after closing time, driven by some authorities and their relatives, that attended the function, which the Tigers fundraised money paid for …. the Tigers continue to die…. another true story, Jhurjura Tigress – India.
Now, you try and address that issue, and you will find yourself in the midst of shocking coverups, threats, intimidation, people screaming and out of control, hiding everything, and in some cases it will get to the point where the person trying to address the illegal slaughter suddenly and mysteriously disappears.
Silence the honest, kill the innocent, because of money money money…. it seems to be a running theme throughout wildlife conservation and especially where authorities or people in positions of authorities have been involved.
Save face, save ego, who cares about the animals…..
Then on top of all those walls, barriers and obstacles, you have the poachers weasling around, the scammers scamming the public for money, and the multi billion dollar wildlife trade rolling over the earth and sucking it dry, all in the name of greed and the fake mythical traditional medicines.
What an absolute nightmare.
Sometimes I ponder the enormous funds poured into the large conservation organisations and what I could do with those same funds.
For instance – $1 million dollars AU.
Because my org, is economically staffed and has close to nil administration costs, this is what we would be able to do with 1 million dollars for the Tigers of India.
Fully equip, pay wages to antipoaching team members, and totally run 10 - 15 anti poaching and rescue teams constiting of 9 - 12 members each team, plus veterinary staff throughout India hot spots for the next 2 years, and build a holding centre for any human/animal conflict animals for rehab and release back into the wild.
In effect, that would protect millions of dollars in tourism revenue, ( had to say that first because it is all about money…. disgracefully) and therefore finally securing the safety of the Tigers.
Give us 1 million dollars and I will show you a miracle.
But you know what, even if this occurred, I know without doubt, there would be some bastard somewhere that would have his ego all in knots because anti-poaching teams and protection teams may mean the end to his lucrative little money making illegal wildlife scheme…..
Its so dangerous to try and simply protect the last of the creatures on earth, to the point of frightening.
But what else can we do? We must protect them.
The creatures on our earth are our survival, if you kill them all you will annihilate human life too.
We are the keepers of our earth.
The simple act of saying “please save these animals” or “please implement ethical care for those animals” causes intense warzones littered with the most vile human ingredients that you can imagine. It is shocking what conservation has become, and what good people must deal with.
Money is what these animals are being killed and die for, and sadly, it is only Money that will also save them.
But, the Money has to be placed in the hands of the good, honest, and brave.
Sybelle
Cee4life
Our precious African ELEPHANT, RHINO, LION AND CHEETAH are all in grave danger, being killed mercilessly by hunters and criminals daily. Please help these beautiful beasts by signing and promoting these (SIX) 6 critical petitions – your voice WILL MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE: https://www.facebook.com/events/456460841068824/
The illicit trafficking of wildlife took center stage at a recent, high-level briefing for United Nations (UN) ambassadors in New York, reported worldwildlife.org. Wildlife trafficking has reached an unprecedented level, worth at least $19 billion per year, and only surpassed by narcotics, counterfeiting and human trafficking. But the smuggling of wildlife—including endangered species, unregulated and unreported fisheries and illegal timber—is often viewed by governments as an environmental problem. Robert Hormats, the U.S. Department of State’s under-secretary for economic growth, energy and the environment, and World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) CEO Carter Roberts stressed it needs to be treated as a transnational crime and injustice issue. It is believed profits from wildlife trafficking are funding terrorist-related activities, financing civil conflicts and purchasing of weapons.
“Drug and human traffic are getting a lot more attention than illicit wildlife trafficking,” Hormats said. “And just as we intensify our efforts to combat drug trade and human trafficking, we also need to intensify our efforts to combat illicit wildlife trafficking…. They all need to be addressed through bold and consistent actions by the international community.”
Criminal syndicates slaughter elephants and rhinos from South Africa nearly out of existence. Their bones are used for ivory, which is laundered and sold in jewelry form, primarily in Thailand, which has the biggest unregulated market for ivory in the world. Tiger cubs are being smuggled in crates from Thailand to Laos, where every part of the cub from its whiskers to its testicles are sold as folk medicine and as ornamental pieces that have become a status symbol.
The WWF, forest rangers, infantry, border patrol police and special-ops army force rangers have been leading an anti-poaching patrol for elephant ivory and tiger parts in Thailand. But high-level traders are rarely arrested, prosecuted, convicted or punished for their crmes. And combating illicit wildlife trafficking is a dangerous job, costing the lives of 1,000 workers in the past decade.
The WWF encourages everyone to take action to stop illicit wildlife trafficking by pledging to never buy products made from endangered species and joining the WWF campaign.
ALLAHABAD: The police on Friday arrested a poacher near Gol crossing Attarsuiya and recovered two leopard skins from him. The skins had been brought from Sonbhadra to be sold in Madhya Pradesh. The accused was identified as Mehboob, a resident of Robertsganj (Sonbhadra). A four-wheeler with police logo was also seized from him.
District police chief Mohit Aggarwal said acting on a tip-off a police team led by ASP Rohan P Kanay was assigned to nab the smugglers. The police team swung into action and checked an Indigo car near Gol Crossing, Attarsuiya and seized two leopard skins.
The accused told the police that he along with his accomplices had brought the leopard skins from Sonebhadra. Mehboob’s two aides, Satyendra Kumar of Sonbhadra and Rajesh Kumar of Allahabad, however, managed to escape. The accused after killing the wild animals in the forests of Sonbhadra sold their animal skins to customers on higher rates. SSP has announced Rs 5,000 cash reward for the police team.
http://www.facebook.com/LionEncounter
The FWS will be accepting comments in two forms: electronic and regular mail. Here are instructions taken directly from the FWS:
How to comment electronically: “Go to the Federal eRulemaking Portal, http://www.regulations.gov/. In the Search field, enter Docket No. FWS-R9-ES-2012-0025, which is the docket number for this action. Then click o
How to comment via regular mail: Send your comments to Public Comments Processing, Attn: FWS-R9-ES-2012-0025, Pision of Policy and Directives Management; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, MS 2042PDM; Arlington, VA 22203.
Feel free to use language found our facts webpage, or from our sample letter below. (To maximize their effectiveness, please personalize your comments to the extent you can.)
Our sample letter:
As a supporter of Born Free USA and a lover of wildlife, I implore you to list the African lion as “endangered” under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. This magnificent species is under attack from many directions, including habitat loss, retaliatory killings and disease.
But possibly the biggest major threat to lions comes from the United States, which is — by far — the world’s largest importer of lions and lion parts. By listing them as endangered, we will assume a leading role in lion protection, and no doubt will inspire other countries to at least pay attention and probably follow our good example.
In the past quarter-century, African lions’ population has been more than cut in half. It now is estimated that fewer than 35,000 live in the wild today, and if those numbers drop much more, the species survival across its range will be in grave doubt.
Please list the African lion as “endangered” under the United States Endangered Species Act. Thank you for your consideration, and for doing the right thing for lions.
| Press Trust of India / New Delhi December 16, 2012, 11:45 |
A pair of puma will soon arrive from Russia to join other several foreign-origin species like grey kangaroos and South American jaguars currently housed at the National Zoological Park here.
The Central Zoo Authority of India (CZA) has approved the exchange of a white tigress from Delhi Zoo for a pair of Puma, also known as cougar, mountain lion or panther, from Krasnoyarks Park of flora and fauna ‘Roev Ruchey’ in Russia, officials said.
A cat of many names, the puma (Felis concolor), weighs around 60-100 kg, has a small, broad head with small rounded ears, a powerful body with long hind legs and tail, which is tipped with black.
|
||||||
The geographic range of the near threatened species is the largest of any terrestrial mammal in the Western Hemisphere — from Canada through the US, Central and South America to the southern tip of Chile.
The understanding between the two sides was reached during the third meeting of the sub-group on Tiger/Leopard conservation between India and Russia held in Moscow in September.
According to the agreement, India will provide a 1-2 years old Royal Bengal white tigress from the Delhi Zoo to Krasnoyarks Park located along the Trans-Siberian.
“The exchange of species is expected to happen in three months,” P S Bonal, member secretary of CZA, told PTI.
He said that there is a need of documentation from CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) administration authorities both in Moscow and New Delhi to complete the process.
“It is in the process,” he said.
According to WWF, a nature conservation organisation, the male puma can often patrol areas in excess of 100 square miles, although these will overlap the territories of several females who maintain smaller ranges. The cubs are born with spotted coats which fade as they mature.
The puma, while hunting, uses the strength of its powerful hind legs to lunge at its prey with single running jumps that can reach in excess of 12 m (40 ft). The puma makes many sounds, including an almost human-like scream when courting, but it cannot roar, it says.
A pair of grey kangaroos (Australia), three African antelopes (Red Lechwe) and a pair of jaguars (South America) have been introduced in the zoo in the past.
Wild for Wildlife and Naturehttp://www.facebook.com/WildforWildlifeandNature
Clouded Leopard ♥
Please SHARE our Wild for Wildlife and Nature page.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Wild-for-Wildlife-and-Nature/279792438707552
For wild tigers around the world, rangers mean the difference between life and death. These brave protectors work tirelessly under harsh and sometimes dangerous conditions to fight wildlife poaching and ensure tigers continue to survive. Their efforts often put their very lives at risk.
Learn how these rangers help tigers >> http://wwf.to/Zv1L9z
http://www.echoofarunachal.com/?p=32779
ITANAGAR, Dec 15: Two orphaned Royal Bengal tiger cubs were ‘rescued’ on Thursday from a dry water tank in Angrim Valley, a settlement near Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary in Dibang Valley district of Arunachal Pradesh.
The cubs were wandering the area without their mother for more than a month, occasionally lifting poultry from local households for survival. A report was filed late November by the local residents.
A team from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) – Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) led by Ipra Mekola, member of Arunachal Pradesh State Wildlife Advisory Board reached the area on Dec 6 to assist the Forest Department in tracking the cubs.
“There were four cubs according to the information from the local people. They had been lifting mainly poultry, and had made unsuccessful attempts at larger livestock. One of the cubs was reportedly injured,” said Mekola.
On Dec 11, the team found out that three of the cubs had been trapped in a dry water tank, reported IFAW-WTI biologist Soumya Das Gupta. The villagers had the tank covered with wooden planks and branches to prevent the cubs from escaping till the rescue team arrived.
Two of the cubs were healthy and were successfully sedated and removed from the tank by WTI veterinarians Dr Jahan Ahmed and Dr Nupur Ranjan Buragohain. The third was severely ill when first sighted, and succumbed in the morning.
The cubs are about one year old. The rescued cubs were a male and a female, while the one that passed away was a female. Post-mortem revealed pneumonia, starvation and hypoglycaemic shock as the cause of death. The status of the fourth cub is unknown.
The two rescued cubs will be moved to Roing and kept under observation till they are stabilized. “After discussing with experts and the Forest Department to select a suitable release site a soft release method will be followed. The cubs will be put in a big enclosure in the forest with provisional food which will give them opportunities to hone their hunting skills on live prey and get habituated to the wild before we finally release them,” said Dr Bhaskar Choudhury, Regional Head and Principal Veterinarian, WTI- Northeast.
“Dibang valley is a very good tiger habitat and very rich in wildlife. However, no studies have been done on this landscape – on the tiger or any other species. This area has the potential to even be declared a tiger reserve, which is going to benefit the wildlife as well as people here,” said Mekola.
He also thanked the locals who supported the team, particularly the village head Chipi Molo, who had filed the report on behalf of the village. Molo hosted the team at her home through the operation, and helped crowd control during the rescue.
“People here consider tigers equal to humans. We should use this traditional belief to save the tigers here before things change for the worse,” Mekola said.
Meanwhile, Anini Social Forestry Division’s DFO cum Ex-Officio Wildlife Warden, Aduk Paron said that most probably, the tiger cubs might have fallen inside the tank while chasing a deer as, carcass of deer was also found inside the dry water tank. Unfortunately, one of the tiger cubs succumbed to the injuries before the rescue team could arrive. Both the alive ones have been handed over to the DFO, Mehao Wildlife Sanctuary Division, Roing and kept at Mini Zoo, Roing.
“Just as we need to intensify our efforts to combat drug trade and human trafficking, we also need to intensify our efforts to combat illicit wildlife trafficking…They all need to be addressed through bold and consistent actions by the international community.”
-Robert Hormats, Under-Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy and the Environment, USA
A new report on the crisis of illegal wildlife trafficking details its unprecedented scale and global impact. See the key findings: http://wwf.to/XTjI1g
“Wildlife poaching is a major problem in the region. The tiger reserve of Suhelwa is under constant threat from poachers. After declaring the area as a critical tiger habitat, this step (involving Tharu community) would be another initiative for combating wildlife crime and managing tiger conservation in the sanctuary,” District Forest officer Manish Mittal told TOI.
Society for Conservation of Nature in co-ordination with Suhelwa Wildlife sanctuary will organise a host of related events in villages dominated by the Tharu tribe living on the fringes of the sanctuary in the coming days, he added.
“During our interactions, we will emphasise why the forests and tigers or other wild animals need to be protected,” said Rajiv Chauhan, secretary, Society for Conservation of Nature. Though the main focus of the exercise would be to check crime against wildlife, particularly tiger poaching, it will also check destruction of habitat of wild animals.
“We are also working on the master plan across the Suhelwa Wildlife Sanctuary, which covers an area of 452 sq km dotting Balrampur, Gonda and Shrawasti districts across Indo-Nepal border,” Chauhan added. The area would be further divided into seven ranges and security arrangements would be made at all the strategic points in all the ranges,” said another senior forest official adding that the department would also increase the number of checkposts particularly near the Nepal border to prevent poachers from entering the sanctuary area.
“Apart from training, the community will be sensitised about wildlife Acts. Since poachers who enter the sanctuary through bordering areas of Nepal are equipped with modern equipment, the forest security personnel at the checkposts too will be given latest security gadgets including arms and ammunition, communication tools and satellite tracking devices. They will also be given regular training for updating their skills,” said an official.
Besides, to assimilate members of the Tharu tribe into the mainstream, several events will be organised around the wildlife sanctuary.
These include plantation programmes, conservation rallies and nature games for children of the community who would also be made aware of the importance of nature and wildlife conservation. Film shows on wildlife and nature conservation will be conducted apart from other activities like painting competitions and quiz, he said.
http://www.facebook.com/iranian.cheetah
According to the latest population surveys in Iran, “cheetah population does not exceed 70 individuals”. There has been recent controversial in the Iranian community about cheetah population size in the country which has been extensively discussed in the media. On the basis of recent camera trapping efforts ongoing since last winter by the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS) in collaboration with Iranian Department of Environment (DoE), Conservation of Asiatic Cheetah Project (CACP) and Panthera, the most robust conclusion for declaration is “less than 70”. Formerly, it was believed that 70 to 100 cheetahs exist in the country. Meanwhile, a big question remains open for further discussion that if the population has decreased or if it has been a small population which was suspected to be larger. Presently, there is no indication of population growth in the country and infrequent occurrence of cheetah families has created serious concerns among Iranian biologists.
Recently, some environmental activists in the country criticized Iranian Department of Environment on efficiency of its protection measures and mentioned in the media that we should consider the cheetah as an extinct species, like Asiatic lion and Caspian tiger, because camera traps have shown that the cheetahs are few. However, biologists are confident that there are still ways to save the cheetahs and more collaboration with communities should be established to safeguard the last remains of Asiatic cheetahs in Iran.
A snare is not complicated — just a thin wire with a noose that, when triggered, closes over an animal’s leg.
The device in question was anchored to a mesquite tree near Peñasco Canyon in the remote Atascosa Mountains, about 20 miles west of Nogales and just north of the Mexican border.
Trail cameras designed to monitor wildlife had recently taken photographs of a male jaguar in the area, and researchers found a likely footprint from one of the rare spotted cats.
Biologist Emil McCain of the Borderlands Jaguar Detection Project set the trap on Feb. 4, 2009, and instructed his assistant, Janay Brun, to place an attractant nearby: feces from a female jaguar in heat at the Phoenix Zoo.
Because McCain was about to leave for Spain, he gave detailed instructions on what to do if a cat was snared. He told Thornton “Thorry” Smith and Michelle Crabb, biologists with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, that trapped jaguars are so frantic and powerful they may “just rip their arms out” trying to pull free.
McCain advised Smith to carry a rifle loaded with an anesthesia-filled syringe because he might not be able to get close enough to use the pistol that works for trapped mountain lions and bears. He noted that the snare was rigged “the most jaguar-friendly way possible” with a short anchor, swivels and a bungee cord to reduce the potential for injury. Tape was applied at the tightening point to prevent wire cuts to an animal’s leg.
Smith drove to Flagstaff for the rifle. Days passed. Then, sometime on Feb. 18, 2009, an aged feline known as Macho B stepped on the tripping mechanism with his left front paw. No one witnessed what happened next. Based on injuries and evidence at the scene, however, there is little doubt that the creature’s escape efforts were panicked and prolonged.
One of the jaguar’s legs was cut and severely swollen. A canine tooth was broken off at the root. Claw fragments, hair and fluids were recovered from the tree trunk. A javelina tooth was inexplicably stuck in the jaguar’s tail.
Brun has described the cat’s struggles in an online interview, based on her visit to the site afterward. “Macho B fought,” she said. “I don’t know how long he fought, but he was climbing this tree, clawing the tree, biting the tree, banging himself against (a boulder). He fought and used probably every last ounce of strength he had. … It just absolutely killed him.”
A winter frost covered the ground when Smith and Crabb set out to check cameras and snares that same day. Hiking into Peñasco Canyon with the long gun and a special jaguar collar, they first noticed the footprints leading past one snare and toward another. They followed. Macho B lay on the ground, panting.
“I approached relatively unchallenged to within five meters and darted the jaguar in the left rump,” Smith told Game and Fish officials later. “The jaguar leaped to its feet, spun around (and) hissed/growled as I backed away.”
The dart syringe contained Telazol, a hallucinogenic drug with a knockout dosage for six hours. The Game and Fish workers waited until the jaguar was unconscious. “We gave him a quick poke — checked his eyes and stuff,” Crabb told investigators later. “Then we put a mask over his face.”
Smith and Crabb hobbled Macho B with rope, weighed him, put liquid tears in his eyes, placed a bag over his head, got DNA swabs, removed scat from his colon and sprayed iodine on leg wounds. An anal temperature showed the cat was hypothermic. They covered him with a sweatshirt.
Done with the work, they waited six hours. Smith recalled later that the cat finally raised his head and gave “a deep, throaty growl, identical to an African lion.” Then, America’s only wild jaguar staggered to his feet and wobbled away, still half-drugged, with a tracking collar on his neck and a yellow tag in his ear.
He would not last a fortnight.
The furor over Macho B’s death — publicly blamed on McCain as a rogue biologist — persists to this day. Yet the truth about his demise has remained hidden for nearly three years.
An Arizona Republic investigation revealed that Macho B was caught and killed in a web of intrigue involving environmental politics, border security, greed and scientific egos.
According to investigative files, state wildlife employees were complicit in the exotic cat’s capture, motivated in part by their quest for government research funds that were being offered to study the impact of a border fence on wildlife.
Documents obtained under public-records laws also reveal that the federal government’s “jaguar lead,” the person responsible for protecting the endangered cat, was advised that snares were set in Macho B’s territory. During a criminal probe, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigators wrote that she obstructed justice and committed fraud by deleting evidence from her computers. She was not prosecuted or disciplined in connection with Macho B’s death.
Records make it clear that the saga of Macho B continues: Some of those directly involved in his demise are today profiting as contractors from a $771,000 Homeland Security grant to survey and conserve jaguars along the U.S.-Mexico border. Their work, financed by U.S. taxpayers, could result in new regulations and policies for public land in southern Arizona and might influence border- security efforts.
That project is administered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service “jaguar lead,” Erin Fernandez, who was involved in Macho B’s case. She declined comment. The federal agency and the University of Arizona, which won the contract, both refuse to discuss their research and withheld key records.
Story debunked
When Macho B was captured, Arizona Game and Fish officials first claimed the jaguar accidentally stepped into a research snare set for lions and bears.
At the same time, they celebrated the event as an opportunity for conservation. In theory, biologists tracking a jaguar’s movement via radio collar would better understand the animal’s behavior and habitat needs. So Game and Fish administrators sent e-mails of congratulations and gratitude to McCain and others who took part in Macho B’s capture.
But the 16-year-old cat, perhaps the oldest jaguar ever documented in the wild, faltered from his stressful encounter with humans. After 12 days, he was recaptured and euthanized based on a diagnosis of kidney failure.
A guilt-ridden Brun went to the media, divulging the truth: Macho B had been intentionally lured into the snare. With the government’s first narrative debunked, state wildlife officials put forth a second story asserting that McCain had acted without the agency’s approval or sanction, and had duped the department employees who helped him.
A federal criminal investigation, an Interior Department inspector-general probe and an administrative review at the state Game and Fish Department produced an estimated 14,000 pages of evidence and testimony.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office eventually received criminal referrals naming five suspects. In the end, only two people — McCain and Brun — were prosecuted for the capture and death of an endangered animal. Neither was a government employee.
McCain, a big-cat specialist who worked under contract for the Game and Fish Department, maintained public silence after the scandal broke. But, in e-mail interviews over several months with The Republic from Spain and South Africa, where he continues to do wildlife research, McCain said Arizona officials encouraged him to trap Macho B and, afterward, to conceal the crime.
“Simply put, I was set up,” said McCain. “I think that my case is much more one of being ‘lured into a trap’ than that of Macho B. … They have made me out to be a cold-blooded killer of the animal I cared so deeply about and worked so hard to protect for so long.”
McCain also lashed out at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, alleging that he advised federal officials that snares were set in the jaguar’s territory, and they did not protest or intervene.
“Basically, everybody wanted the jaguar collared, but the agencies knew there was no way in hell the capture was ever going to be authorized,” McCain said. “If everything went well, they could be on the cutting edge of modern conservation biology, and they would probably even thank me. But if something went wrong, they had an easy out: ‘It was that darn egotistical Emil. He deceived us. Hell, he wasn’t even working for us.’”
In interviews and an online publication known as “Just Seeds,” Brun agreed with McCain’s analysis — even though she expressed contempt for his conduct.
“I think they all just saw it as, ‘Here’s our chance, the only jaguar in the United States, we’re gonna get a collar on that guy and we’re all gonna be famous,’” Brun told the online magazine. “And Emil just made himself to be like the fall guy. … A lot of people involved have gotten away with everything. And nothing has changed for the benefit of the jaguar at all.”
Terry Johnson, former endangered-species coordinator for the state Game and Fish Department, said he believes Macho B was captured because researchers got caught up in the quest for prestige and a federal “pot of gold” being offered for studies of jaguar transborder movements.
“I think everything boils down to two things: One is ego and the other is money,” said Johnson. “When the (U.S.-Mexico) border fence started to go up, and the prospect of millions of dollars to support (wildlife-research) projects went up, then immediately the interest was broadened.”
“I do believe there was intent … to capture Macho B, and in turn to influence the issuance of those monies.”
Johnson acknowledges that as the state’s endangered- species overseer he was culpable for “misfeasance.” Though retired from Game and Fish, he continues working for the agency as a contract consultant on jaguars and wolves.
Gary Hovatter, assistant director at the agency, said he is still examining records from the criminal probe. Although about a half-dozen state employees were dismissed or disciplined, Hovatter said, he is discovering new evidence of misconduct and negligence.
“This is a hell of a mystery,” he added. “There are a lot of lessons to learn about personalities and motivations, ego and ambition. I’d love to know the absolute truth.”
Iconic image
The jaguar (Panthera onca) is the world’s third-largest feline, behind tigers and African lions, and the lone representative of that family in the Americas. It is also the only big cat in the Western Hemisphere that roars.
Long before the white man arrived with guns and poison, biology historians say, jaguars thrived in the Southwest and ranged farther into the U.S.
Today, jaguars are found from the U.S.-Mexico border through South and Central America. The nearest breeding population is in Sonora, about 130 miles south of the international line. In recent decades, only an occasional male has wandered north into the U.S.
Because of their rarity and majesty, jaguars are regarded as “charismatic” creatures in the U.S. wildlife pantheon: They inspire the imagination, provide an iconic image for environmentalists and attract money for conservation. Their presence — or potential presence — also foments controversy.
Even before Macho B was first spotted in Arizona, environmentalists pressed the U.S. government to list jaguars as endangered, and to designate “critical habitat” that would encourage repopulation.
But many ranchers and hunters, supported by the Arizona Game and Fish Department, opposed that plan. They argued that jaguars are no longer viable in the U.S. They said assigning an endangered status and “critical habitat” would be a fruitless and costly conservation move that would alienate cattle ranchers and interfere with the use of public and private land.
The dispute went beyond rhetoric. The Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity filed federal and state lawsuits to establish jaguars as endangered and to force government conservation efforts.
Against that backdrop, Macho B made his first Arizona appearance in 1996, when he was treed and photographed in the Baboquivari Mountains, a range 50 miles southwest of Tucson, by a houndsman named Jack Childs. The cat, recognizable because of a rosette on his coat resembling Pinocchio,provided environmentalists with a mascot for their cause.
Game and Fish authorities in Arizona and New Mexico, fearful of federal oversight and regulations, obtained permission to take charge of jaguars in both states through a new government entity known as the Jaguar Conservation Team, or JagCT. Despite the moniker, members advocated only one conservation measure: to catch a jaguar and put a tracking device on it.
Johnson, an opponent of endangered-species status and habitat designation, was chair of JagCT. Childs, a wildlife enthusiast who advocated capture, founded the Borderland Jaguar Detection Project, a non-profit organization created to use state money to place motion-activated cameras along game trails in the hope of capturing images of a big cat.
By 2006, McCain, a Humboldt State University graduate student focused on jaguars, had partnered with Childs and taken over field work with cameras. He also began trapping bears and lions under a government contract.
According to state and federal records, those carnivores were fitted with tracking devices as surrogates so that scientists might learn from them about jaguar travel on the border. It was unclear if the research was valid, because no one knew whether jaguars and lions behave similarly. That question could only be answered if a jaguar was collared.
Johnson worked with Childs and McCain to develop capture plans over the objections of environmentalists, who knew that McCain had previously trapped at least one jaguar in Mexico that died during a botched snaring attempt. In fact, trapping the spotted cats for conservation had proved problematic throughout the Americas because of fatalities attributed to the stress of capture.
Nevertheless, JagCT unanimously elected to go for it. The team even produced a slide show that ended with a picture of the state’s iconic jaguar and this message: “Macho B — the man for the job.”
The next step was to get approval from the Arizona Game and Fish director.
Before that occurred, however, news of the project leaked to the media. The Governor’s Office was swamped with furious mail from naturalists and animal lovers, and the politicians blinked.
“They were all afraid to make a decision,” recalls Childs. “It caused a lot of frustration because everybody wanted to catch the thing except the environmentalists.”
Plans to collar a spotted cat were stymied, but not abandoned.
Exhibit A
By 2007, illegal immigrants and drug smugglers had magnified Macho B’s political importance.
Then-President George W. Bush had approved an 18-foot-tall fence and other barriers along the Arizona-Sonora border. The project, in itself controversial as a border-security measure, also incurred the wrath of conservationists who said the fence was blocking wildlife travel routes.
The endangered jaguar loomed as Exhibit A. When the federal Fish and Wildlife Service issued a finding that jaguars were such infrequent visitors to the U.S. that conservation efforts “cannot be defended as essential,” environmentalists went ballistic and noted the lack of solid data to back such a position.
The debate over critical habitat had collided with border-fence politics. A year later, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security responded by announcing plans to finance border-wildlife studies.
Competition for research grants is often stiff. According to investigative files, Arizona Game and Fish officials began making inquiries and writing up proposals. They also exchanged e-mails with McCain and Childs, whose Borderland Jaguar Detection Project already was doing similar work, and who had been complaining that they were out of money.
A timeline reflects the developments.
In February 2008, Game and Fish officials traded e-mails with McCain about a $50 million Homeland Security plan to “study and mitigate the negative impacts that the border fence would have on endangered species.” Messages note that the telemetry collaring of a jaguar would create “funding opportunities” for the state, and for the Jaguar Detection Project.
On Aug. 8, 2008, McCain complained in another e-mail: “Feds won’t let me catch any cats. … Mostly they fear the implications of the data from a GPS collar.”
Three months later, McCain messaged Ron Thompson, the Game and Fish administrator for lions and bears, with a recent jaguar photograph from the border and a note that “Macho B is alive and well.” Thompson answered: “Great news of Macho B. I would like to reemphasize the need to watch the trapping situation and to know if there is a possibility of snaring him soon.”
About the same time, the head of research for Game and Fish was working on plans “in case we catch one of the spots,” according to an e-mail from Smith to McCain. In interviews, McCain said Thompson had told him department Director Larry Voyles also had been advised and “would support a jaguar capture.”
In early December 2008, McCain, Thompson and other Game and Fish employees attended a conference with the Fish and Wildlife Service to discuss the chance of getting cash for border-carnivore studies. The event was convened by Fernandez, the federal “jaguar lead.” E-mail records from late 2008 through early 2009 indicate Fernandez was advised of Macho B’s presence in the trapping area.
Days later, McCain said, he and an assistant met with Thompson at McCain’s house in Patagonia. According to McCain, Thompson’s conversation was all about catching a jaguar for prestige and federal money. “He stated several times, ‘What you need to do is get a GPS collar on a jaguar — not in Mexico, but in the U.S., on Macho B.’”
The next morning, McCain said, Thompson “placed a paper bag in my truck containing fresh jaguar scent. … In a later phone call he asked if I had found the ‘little present.’”
Thompson denied each of McCain’s allegations. He said he did not know about or encourage any effort to capture Macho B, and had not been aware that McCain used jaguar scat as a lure at camera and snare sites. “We now know he lied about this and much more,” Thompson added.
Fernandez did not respond to interview requests.
Facing a dilemma
At Game and Fish headquarters, administrators faced a dilemma: On the one hand, environmentalists were sure to raise a ruckus over any capture plan. On the other hand, a federal jackpot was looming to study transborder movements. The Jaguar Conservation Team wanted to collar a cat, and McCain also was clamoring for money.
On Dec. 4, 2008, according to federal investigative records, Johnson presented a question to Voyles: “Do we pull the trigger on authorization or not?” The two Game and Fish officials later told criminal investigators the answer was a decisive “no” because Macho B was too old and presumably feeble to withstand such a trauma.
But Johnson did not issue a memo or advise colleagues of that decision. Instead, he sent Thompson and others a message under the heading: “Jaguar: Homeland Security Funding.” In it, he wrote something very different: “I also discussed Macho B with Director Voyles again yesterday. I am now putting the final touches on an authorization – to – capture – and- collar memo. The TENTATIVE plan is for Larry to brief the Governor next week.”
Johnson closed the e-mail with a warning: “Please don’t take any of this information outside of this loop. That includes agency folks. I do not want to see another anti-trapping postcard/letter/e-mail campaign.”
In interviews, Johnson insisted a capture was to be approved only if a younger jaguar showed up. He said Voyles planned to speak with then-Gov. Janet Napolitano because she was about to become director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. “Janet was the deep pocket,” Johnson noted.
The meeting with Napolitano never occurred.
Assertions that Macho B was not the target appear to be contradicted by a Game and Fish report published Feb. 2, 2009, outlining a proposed budget of more than $3 million to catch a jaguar. The draft document announced that Arizona, New Mexico, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and JagCT “propose to capture, collar (with GPS and satellite technology) and monitor jaguars in this region. To start, likely a jaguar referred to as Macho B would be selected for monitoring.”
In interviews with The Republic, Johnson took responsibility for the report but said its reference to Macho B was flat-out “wrong.” He said he cannot explain the error, then added, “I am truly shocked that, given its content, the document never surfaced” during the criminal probe.
Johnson said he had a series of strokes and underwent brain surgery during the time leading up to Macho B’s death, and still suffers from migraines. He said he did not encourage, approve or know about a plan to capture Macho B, but believes others conspired to do so.
An agent for the Fish and Wildlife Service discussed possible motives while interrogating a witness during the criminal investigation.
“The fence is a big issue,” he noted, “and it kind of plays into this. The environmental community stood to gain a lot of information by having to collar a jaguar and then noticing it bouncing back and forth through Mexico. And it would have been a good thing to tell Department of Homeland Security, ‘Don’t finish this fence. We’ve got an endangered jaguar coming in here.’
“And there’s all this DHS funding being pushed around, everyone from Game and Fish chomping at the bit to get their hands on that money.”
Baiting the snare
On Feb. 3, 2009, McCain sent a new trail-camera photo of Macho B to state and federal wildlife officials. “Look at that!” he wrote. “Now, some have called him geriatric. I’d like to see them say that to his face.”
Fernandez, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist responsible for jaguars, answered, “Macho B is looking good!”
At the time, McCain was preparing to visit his girlfriend in Spain and needed someone to take over his field work. On Feb. 4, 2009, he led Game and Fish biologist Smith on a tour of the camera and snare lines with Brun, the volunteer for Borderlands Jaguar Detection Project.
According to investigative records, McCain brought a bag of scat obtained from a female jaguar at the Phoenix Zoo and warned the others, “It’s kind of hush-hush.”
Brun said McCain directed her to place the feces next to several cameras while saving some for a snare. She followed instructions. Brun recalled in her online interview that she hesitated and questioned him, but he insisted, “Everything’s cool, everything’s legal. We’ve got permits, don’t worry.”
McCain disputes one portion of her account: He claims it was he who baited the snare, not Brun.
A day later, McCain flew to Europe. In an e-mail to his doctoral adviser at Humboldt State, he wrote: “We are now running snares exactly where Macho B has been in the last (redacted). No need to talk about this until it happen(s), if it ever does. Game and Fish will have officially caught him inadvertently. … The higher ups in the agency are fully aware of what is happening and we are all on the same page. The timing may be perfect for me to be out of the country.”
10 December 2012 Last updated at 14:45 ET
Footage of a Sunda clouded leopard, one world’s most rare and elusive cats, has been captured by a biologist on holiday in Malaysia.
Dr Jyrki Hokkanen, a wildlife videographer, spoke to BBC World to explain how he came across the young female leopard, which was resting in the forest.
www.azcentral.com
MORE ON MACHO B