Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Nawabganj bird sanctuary,India ,season 2009-10
Nawabganj bird sanctuary,UP,India is teeming with birds this season thanks to the relentless efforts of the wildlife authorities and local administration this sanctuary has regained its former glory.Its ecosystem has revived and is playing host to a large no. of migratory birds.Presented below are some photographs clicked during my recent visit to the sanctuary.
A flock of Gadwalls in the sanctuary.
Purple Heron
Intermediae Egret
Black hooded Oriole
Eurasian Wigeon with Chick.
White Throated Kingfisher
Indian Pond Heron
Lesser Whistling Duck
Asian Openbill In flight
Sarus crane couple
Bronze winged Jacana
Monday, July 6, 2009
White breasted Kingfisher
Clicked this magnificent bird today on a cloud laden day.It seems to be enjoying the weather under the canopy of green tree leaves.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Further update on stray tigers.
The followers must be wondering why I have changed the headline of my blog post from case of a stray tiger to tigers.During the time gone by after my last post the scenario in the jungles of Uttar pradesh has witnessed the trend of tigers increasingly heading from the confines of protected forests to nearby inhabited areas.The cases of stray Tigers have been reported from four places including Barabanki the case I have already reported on the other Districts are Ghazipur,Lakhimpur near Dudhwa and latest being Sitapur where the tiger was spotted yesterday and he seriously injured a man there. In my view this are both negative and positive developments.
During the last few days reports related to straying Tigers have unnerved coservationists and Wildlife lovers alike and various theories and speculations are floating around in all the Media spheres.
Some views I have come across relate to the rapid pace of human encroachments around the parks and sanctuaries of Uttar Pradesh,what is needed is creation of actual buffer zones between the parks and sanctuaries and human habitation around them.As with the growth of human population there comes the problem of livestock population also growing in the area.This leads to the livestock grazing in the forest area and buffer zone which leads to depletion of the food for the herbivores of the forest which is a natural prey of the Tigers.Also the livestock becomes an easy prey for the Tigers who wander into the populated areas to prey on them.
Most of the Tiger areas in UP are located near the sugarcane farming areas and when the crop is ripe Tiger mistake it as an extension of the forest and sometimes seek refuge in them.
Their seeking refuge in this fields lead to cofrontation between the the animal and humans as sometimes they treat the trespasser humans as intruders in their territory and maim and kill them,fortunately none of the tigers have shown the traits of being maneaters although they have killed and maimed humans but have not become habitual offenders.
Because of this the authoriies are still concentrating their efforts on capturing them alive as they do believe that senseless killing of Tigers will only harm their cause and will lead to unwanted controversies which no one wants to invite.
Now at the end I see a silverlining in this whole episode which a few conservationists have been underlining that is a phenomenonal increase in the population of Tigers in the jungles of UP which might have lead to increase in the young Tiger population in jungles and subsequently might have forced the young adults to seek new areas after they were driven out by mature adults to seek new areas of domain.
I am still of the opinion which I have spoken about earlier that Tigers need a homeland of theirs to survive naturally and needs a strong initiatives and measures to ensure their survival even if it involves a strong and unpopular initiatives and decisions to be taken.Here the onus rests on the shoulders of political leadership to give leadership on this issue.
During the last few days reports related to straying Tigers have unnerved coservationists and Wildlife lovers alike and various theories and speculations are floating around in all the Media spheres.
Some views I have come across relate to the rapid pace of human encroachments around the parks and sanctuaries of Uttar Pradesh,what is needed is creation of actual buffer zones between the parks and sanctuaries and human habitation around them.As with the growth of human population there comes the problem of livestock population also growing in the area.This leads to the livestock grazing in the forest area and buffer zone which leads to depletion of the food for the herbivores of the forest which is a natural prey of the Tigers.Also the livestock becomes an easy prey for the Tigers who wander into the populated areas to prey on them.
Most of the Tiger areas in UP are located near the sugarcane farming areas and when the crop is ripe Tiger mistake it as an extension of the forest and sometimes seek refuge in them.
Their seeking refuge in this fields lead to cofrontation between the the animal and humans as sometimes they treat the trespasser humans as intruders in their territory and maim and kill them,fortunately none of the tigers have shown the traits of being maneaters although they have killed and maimed humans but have not become habitual offenders.
Because of this the authoriies are still concentrating their efforts on capturing them alive as they do believe that senseless killing of Tigers will only harm their cause and will lead to unwanted controversies which no one wants to invite.
Now at the end I see a silverlining in this whole episode which a few conservationists have been underlining that is a phenomenonal increase in the population of Tigers in the jungles of UP which might have lead to increase in the young Tiger population in jungles and subsequently might have forced the young adults to seek new areas after they were driven out by mature adults to seek new areas of domain.
I am still of the opinion which I have spoken about earlier that Tigers need a homeland of theirs to survive naturally and needs a strong initiatives and measures to ensure their survival even if it involves a strong and unpopular initiatives and decisions to be taken.Here the onus rests on the shoulders of political leadership to give leadership on this issue.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Update on Stray Tiger.
In continuation of my last post I am delighted to inform you that the Tiger I reported on is alive and leading a normal life. This has been possible due to a change of heart of the UP forest authorities who saw reason due to sustained pressure of press,conservationists and more importantly from the National Tiger conservation authority.
In my view the straying Tiger was a Tiger on mission although it had to suffer hardships but it was successful in sensitising authorities on why Tigers stray from their natural habitat.It was successful in bringing fore the plight of Wildlife in UP to the consciousness of the nation.
Its case was strong enough to draw the attention of NTCA and was instrumental in NTCA designing a three year programme for developing Dudhwa as a viable Forest to be funded by central Govt.
This project has been handed over to Wildlife trust of India [WTI].Under this programme the first effort of WTI will be to make the area protected for wildlife.It will make a start by making efort to remove the 165 km long Nanpara Mailani rail track that crosses Dudhwa. This track passes through Pillibhit, Dudhwa,North and South Kheri and Katarniaghat.In this the 33 km track in Dudhwa and 30km track in Katarnia need special attention .The Katarnia rack has killed 37 animals and track in Dudhwa has claimed the lives of 28 in the period between 1993 and 2008.
Also this proposal has been forwarded to Chief wildlife warden UP for his formal response and NTCA will be following a policy of mitigation wherein to reduce the incidence of man animal conflict a study will be conducted in the areas surrounding the Tiger habitat and will involve Hitech measures like camera trapping and special software to track Tiger's movements and incase of this particular stray Tiger efforts are on to trap and traquilise it and relocate it.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
The case of a stray Tiger.
Imagine being dislocated from your home and being a wanderer without knowing the destination you are heading to, and suddenly realising that you are unwanted and percieved being a threat for the residents of the area you thought is your utopia.this exactly is the plight of the Tiger who has been making headlines for the past one month in the state and national dailies and news channels in India.
To give you an idea I am talking, about a Tiger about two to Two and half year old who started his wanderlust about a month ago from the jungles of District Pilibhit in UP, india and after covering a considerable distance it reached the outskirts of Lucknow, the capital city of state of Uttar Pradesh in india that is when it became a serious threat to the citizens of the State.A large posse of wildlife officials and four elephants drawn from national parks and sanctuaries of UP were deployed to track it down and the plan was to tranquilise and capture it.A considerable time passed and in the period it was sighted over 30times but the experts were unable to capture it.
Suddenly the life of the Tiger took an unexpected turn In its hideout in the jungles of Barabanki it came face to face with the child of the species it was hounded by and losing its temper it attacked him and killed him.That was the defining moment in his life his one act of misdemeanour gave the wildlife authorities an excuse to declare him a maneater and shoot-at-sight orders of the Chief wildlife warden and cash award of Rs.5000/- could end his life in a day or Two.Also as per newspaper reports as a result of official announcement ,villagers have started firing on the Tiger.
In this Grim scenario Some sane voices have emerged The National Tiger Conservation Authority has dispatched two missives to Forest officials In UP to revise their Decision of shooting down the Tiger as a single incident by a Tiger under stress, and him killing a human being on a chance encounter cannot be a ground of signing his death warrant. It has also requested the dept. to make more efforts to trap the Tiger alive and if the situation warrants help of Wildlife institute of India can also be taken.
I am closely following this story on daily basis and till the time of posting this blog there is no bad news which has emerged from the jungles of Barabanki and I pray for the safety of the Tiger and long life
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