1,576 families to be moved out to make room for tigers

As per NTCA directive, tiger reserves in state will be cleared of all human habitation over the next five years

Alongside the quadrennial tiger census spanning eight days that took off on a grand note on Monday, the four major tiger reserves (excluding Bandipur Tiger Reserve) are bracing up for a massive rehabilitation programme: A whopping 1,576 families will move out of the tiger zones. 

The move is billed as the largest such programme after the one in Bagalkot for the Upper Krishna Project at Alamatti. Local people supported by their representatives have refused to move out of the forest in the past. Now, the government has directed the forest department to rehabilitate all the families and has earmarked Rs 35 crore for the purpose. The whole exercise will cost over Rs 161 crore (see box). 

The 'Rehabilitation of families living inside Tiger Reserves, National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries' will take wing from the current financial year. The programme has been set a deadline of five years. Families that voluntarily move out of Nagarahole, Bhadra, Dandeli-Anshi and Kudremukh reserves will be paid compensation as per the guidelines laid down by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). "For those willing to rehabilitate voluntarily from these protected areas, the government has consented to give a compensation package as directed by the NTCA at a cost of Rs 35 crore," the order said. 

As per the detailed assessment made by the forest department, more than 6,000 people need to be rehabilitated under the programme. All villagers inside Bandipur Tiger Reserve have already been rehabilitated, but the government could not continue the same in the remaining four reserves following intense protest all these years. But the government has no option now but to follow the directives from the Union government. In Nagarahole National Park area alone, falling in the backyard of chief minister Siddaramaiah's home district of Mysore, 818 families have to move. 

An edited version of this article can be read from the link below:

http://www.bangaloremirror.com/bangalore/others/1576-families-to-be-moved-out-to-make-room-for-tigers/articleshow/27660966.cms

Tiger census begins. Karnataka confident of burning bright

The All India Tiger Census, which is conducted once in four years, will be held in Karnataka from Monday. Officials of the Bandipur Tiger Reserve are expecting to return with top honours when the census ends on December 20. About 350 people from all over the state will take part in the census, which is the biggest in the country, according to forest officials.

As a first step, the enumerators will be trained by the forest officials for two days at Bandipur, Biligiriranga Tiger Reserve, Malai Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary, Chamarajanagar, Dandeli–Anshi Tiger Reserve, Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, Nagarhole National Park, Kudremukh National Park and Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary.

According to director of Bandipur Tiger Reserve, SK Kantaraju, the entire country will undertake the exercise from Monday, the first two days of which will be set aside for logistics training. 

According to the census of 2009, there were 1,740 tigers in the wild in the country and Karnataka topped the charts with 400 tigers. “We expect it to be more this year and the final number might reach 1,800 when the census concludes. But again, we do not know the nature’s ways,” Kantaraju said.

This time an additional wildlife sanctuary has come into being in Malai Mahadeshwara Hills, which is a part of Chamarajanagar district. District forest officer Javed Mumtaz said of the total of 400 tigers in Karnataka, Malai Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary alone has over 100 tigers.

“If the enumeration goes as planned, I am sure Karnataka would top the list in the number of tigers in the country,” he said.

An edited version of this article can be read from the link below:

http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report-tiger-census-begins-karnataka-confident-of-burning-bright-1936002

Black panther makes surprise appearance in Dandeli

A rare sighting of a black panther was reported from Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve Safari on December 2 by a group of naturalists, including B B Mallesh, director of the reserve.

According to Mallesh, he was in the forest along with wildlife photographers Praveen Siddannavar, Mohan Thomas and Vijayan Thomas when they sighted the panther around 6pm.

Black panthers are commonly found in dense evergreen forests and low light forests. "Sighting a black panther is quite rare. Black panthers look like leopards, but without dots. They're listed as a threatened species by the IUCN," he said.

Very shy by nature, black panthers move during the nights and hunt small mammals like the chital, barking deer, mouse deer, hare and birds. They have sharp eyesight and sense of hearing. Poaching, loss of natural habitat, environmental degradation and construction of dams and roads are the primary reasons for them ending up as a critically threatened species.

Mallesh said very rarely are black panthers seen in the Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve. The area is very dense and spread over 1303 sqkm, and home to tigers, leopards, elephants, gaurs and other herbivores.

The DCF said the reserve has a good number of black panthers distributed mainly in the evergreen forests of Anshi, Diggi, Kumbarwada, Castlerock, Kuveshi and in the dense forests of Gund, Pansoli, Ulvi, Kulgi and Nagazari valley of Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve. But they're very rarely spotted.

An edited version of this article can be read from the link elow:

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-10/bangalore/45033566_1_black-panthers-mice-deer-forests

Man-animal Conflict Likely to Rise in High Density Areas, Says Karanth

The tiger which killed three people in the Bandipur-Nagarhole region has finally been caught. This region has been considered a success story in the conservation of tigers across the world. But experts now feel that some conflict may definitely arise in such high density areas.

The Bandipur-Nagarhole region has been identified as a prime habitat for tigers. At present, it supports more than 150 animals. According to wildlife experts, tigers are territorial animals. Young or too old animals without territories are pushed to edges through intra-specific aggression. In some sense, the conflicts are a consequence of the past conservation successes. Noted international authority on tigers and director for Science-Asia, Wildlife Conservation Society, K Ullas Karanth said: “The current tiger population is high. We need to protect other areas such as Kaveri, MM Hills, Kudremukh and Anshi Dandeli to hold more tigers. However, in the long run, some conflict on the edges of high density areas is inevitable. Long-term planning, establishment of professionally trained animal damage control units at strategic locations, creating a cadre of trained officials, biologists and veterinarians are needed.” According to Karanth, the three recent attacks near Bandipur were clearly of a single tiger which has been persistently hunting human beings. “This is possibly due to some disability or being forced to the edges by other tigers,” he said.

Wildlife Conservationist D V Girish said: “There are two possibilities for these attacks; a conflict situation or an old, incapacitated animal finding new areas as it has been pushed by others. With villages abounding here, humans become easy prey for such tigers.”

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Vinay Luthra, who took charge on Thursday, was in Bandipur to oversee the operations. He said reserves may have a population of old and infirm tigers. It is difficult to ascertain when they turn killers. “Although it was a tough task we had enough people to tackle the situation. Four teams had been combing the area which is a large habitat.”

To a question if the area has been affected by man-animal conflict because it is surrounded by nearly 300 villages with people on the periphery of the reserve involved in farming, Karanth said: “We have squeezed wildlife into the last few patches such as Bandipur-Nagarahole and other major tiger reserves. In the last 150 years, the tigers’ range has shrunk by 93 per cent across Asia. Wildlife protected areas form less than four per cent of India’s land area.”

An edited version of this article can be be read from the link below:

http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/Man-animal-Conflict-Likely-to-Rise-in-High-Density-Areas-Says-Karanth/2013/12/06/article1930894.ece

Stray dogs kill spotted deer in Joida

A spotted deer which had strayed near Maruti Temple in Joida from a nearby forest has been attacked and killed by the stray dogs here on Thursday morning. Even though villagers tried to save it and also passed the information to Forest Department, the attempt went in vain since the deer stopped breathing before the arrival of Veterinary doctor since it was succumbed to severe injuries.

Joida RFO Shri Satish Pujar filed the case and disposed the carcass according to the procedure.

Please find the attachment below for more details:

Man trampled to Death by Elephant near Joyda

A farmer is found dead after being attacked by an elephant at Panjeli near Joyda on Monday Morning.The victim has been identified as Mahadev Appaji Desai of Panjeli village. It is said that the incident happened on Sunday night when he was going to his field and suddenly the elephant attacked him which was grazing nearby.Due to severe bleeding and injuries he died on the spot. The incident came to light on next morning when his brother saw his body. 

Immediate Response from the Forest Department:

Soon after the incident, the forest department responded quickly by paying the compensation to the victim's family. Karwar Division Forest Officials in association with Dandeli Wildlife Division have given a Compensation Check of 2,00,000 Rs to the victim's wife at the spot and also assured the family that additionally 3,00,000 Rs compensation will be given once the case gets resolved.

Please find the details below:

ಆನೆ ದಾಳಿಗೆ ರೈತ ಬಲಿ

ತಾಲೂಕಿನ ನಾಗೋಡಾ ಗ್ರಾಪಂ ವ್ಯಾಪ್ತಿಯ ಪಾಂಜೇಲಿ ಸಮಿಪದ ಕಾಯಲೋವಾಡಾದ ಮನೆ ಎದುರಿನ ಹೊಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಭಾನುವಾರ ರಾತ್ರಿ ಆನೆ ಏಕಾಏಕಿ ದಾಳಿ ಮಾಡಿ, ಓರ್ವ ರೈತನ ಎದೆ, ಹೊಟ್ಟೆ ಭಾಗವನ್ನು ಮೆಟ್ಟಿ ಸಾಯಿಸಿದೆ.
ಪಾಂಜೇಲಿಯ ಕಾಯಲೋವಾಡಾ ಎಂಬ ಮಜರೆಯ ರೈತನಾಗಿದ್ದ ಮಾದೇವ ಅಪ್ಪಾಜಿ ದೇಸಾಯಿ (45) ಭಾನುವಾರ ರಾತ್ರಿ 10ರ ಸುಮಾರಿಗೆ ಅನತಿ ದೂರದ ತನ್ನ ಹೊಲದ ಕಾಲು ದಾರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸಾಗುತ್ತಿದ್ದ. ಹೊಲದ ಬದಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನೆಟ್ಟಿದ್ದ ಬಾಳೆ ಸಸಿ ತಿನ್ನುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ಆನೆ ಹಠಾತ್ತನೆ ದಾಳಿ ಮಾಡಿ, ರೈತನನ್ನು ಸಾಯಿಸಿದೆ. ತೀವ್ರ ರಕ್ತಸ್ರಾವದಿಂದ ಆತ ಸ್ಥಳದಲ್ಲೇ ಮೃತಪಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಾನೆ. ತುಸು ದೂರದಲ್ಲೇ ಆತನ ಮನೆ ಇದ್ದರೂ ಮನೆಯವರಿಗೆ ಯಾವುದೇ ಶಬ್ದ ಕೇಳದೇ ಇರುವುದು ಆಶ್ಚರ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಕಾರಣವಾಗಿದೆ. ಬೆಳಗಿನ ಜಾವ ಆತನ ಸಹೋದರ ಬಂದು ನೋಡಿದಾಗ ಮಾದೇವ ಸತ್ತುಬಿದ್ದಿದ್ದು ಕಂಡುಬಂದಿದೆ. ಆನೆ ದಾಳಿಗೆ ತುತ್ತಾಗಿ ಮೃತಟ್ಟ್ಟ ಮಾದೇವನ ಕುಟುಂಬಕ್ಕೆ ಅರಣ್ಯ ಇಲಾಖೆ ವನ್ಯಜೀವಿ ವಿಭಾಗದ ಸಹಕಾರದಲ್ಲಿ ಸ್ಥಳದಲ್ಲೇ ರು. 2 ಲಕ್ಷ ಪರಿಹಾರದ ಚೆಕ್ಕನ್ನು ಆತನ ಪತ್ನಿ ಪಾರ್ವತಿ ದೇಸಾಯಿಗೆ ನೀಡಲಾಯಿತು. ಪ್ರಕರಣ ಇತ್ಯರ್ಥವಾದ ಬಳಿಕ ಉಳಿದ ರು. 3 ಲಕ್ಷ ಪರಿಹಾರ ನೀಡುವುದಾಗಿ ಅಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳು ಭರವಸೆ ನೀಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಅರಣ್ಯಾಧಿಕಾರಿಗಳು ಮೃತನ ಅಂತ್ಯ ಸಂಸ್ಕಾರಕ್ಕೆ ರು. 5 ಸಾವಿರ ಧನಸಹಾಯ ನೀಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ.

An edited version of this article can be read from the link below:

http://kannadaprabha.com/districts/mandya/%E0%B2%86%E0%B2%A8%E0%B3%86-%E0%B2%A6%E0%B2%BE%E0%B2%B3%E0%B2%BF%E0%B2%97%E0%B3%86-%E0%B2%B0%E0%B3%88%E0%B2%A4-%E0%B2%AC%E0%B2%B2%E0%B2%BF/66244.html

Tree Poles seized in Anshi

Tree Poles worth around thousands of rupees which were stored at a house in Baaki village, Anshi have been seized by the Anshi Wildlife Range officials and staff.

Acting on a tip off RFO Manjunath has raided Narasimha Govind Velip's house who had illegally stored these tree poles to construct his house.A case has been registered for the same.

Please find the attachment below for more details: