Lives of others

BEYOND USUAL SUSPECTS A case for neglected species in wildlife research and conservation For most of us wildlife is represented by large mammals like elephant, rhino, lion and tiger, may be birds like hornbill, raptors, peafowl and waterfowl and awe inspiring reptiles like marine turtles, crocodiles, python and king cobra. The fact is that wildlife ranges from very small insects to gigantic trees and from coral polyps to whales. Unfortunately, only a very small number of species have received attention of researchers and conservationists. While charismatic species largely drive the conservation scenario, they also seem to be the focus of wildlife research mainly because of the availability of funds and the role of charismatic species in setting our wildlife policies.

Radio-collared leopard killed by speeding vehicle in Thane

Science And Technology - Briefs

ASTROPHYSICS Clue to cosmic rays’ origin

Leopards in our alley

We have been brought to believe that all wildlife is restricted to wildlife sanctuaries and tiger reserves. True, our forests are repositories of wild animals and plants, most of which would not be able to survive outside the protected ecosystems. But they make up 5 per cent of the country’s land area. This is not enough for the myriad forms of wildlife India is home to. Nowhere in the world wild animals understand park boundaries.

Leopards in my backyard

Recent research on leopard behaviour shows capturing the problem animals and releasing them elsewhere only shifts the locale of the people-animal conflict. At first glance Akole taluka in Ahmednagar district seems like any other taluka in western Maharashtra’s sugarcane belt. It has densely populated and chaotic settlements, virtually no forest cover and a landscape that is dominated by a mosaic of agricultural fields.

Tribals won’t budge

SEVERAL people living in Patyachapaani, a tribal hamlet inside Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in suburban Mumbai, have been mauled by leopards in recent years. But they do not want to shift and are protesting the forest department's plan to relocate them in the forest fringe.

Vanishing deer

Debate on Orissa's Vedanta mining project sidelines animals

vendata's proposed mining project in Orissa was a matter of intense legal debate in the Supreme Court (sc) from May 16 to 18. Initially, the company, and its lawyers, seemed to have answers to every conceivable hindrance that the opposition, in this case the Central Empowered Committee (cec), might throw in their way. Everything could be "compensated". Forests? No problem.

Sighting of leopard in Orissa's Niyamgiri hills raises debate on mining

while the Supreme Court was deliberating if mining for bauxite at the Niyamgiri hills would irreplaceably affect wildlife there, out at the proposed site, on May 17, a big cat quietly padded past a Down To Earth photographer. Appearance of the leopard (Panthera pardus)--enlisted as endangered species by the Zoological Survey of India and as a Schedule I mammal

Tiger terror in Terai

FEAR stalks people in Chanda Bhudaria village in Uttarakhand's Udham Singh Nagar district. A tigress attacked Jagannath Singh, when he went to defecate on the dusk of January 15, 2007. Jaggannath, who is 65 and infirm, was using the field next to his home, adjacent to the village road.