Rajkot: In a bizarre incident in a village in Kodinar taluka of Junagadh district, a leopard was cemented inside a concrete slab for last 20 days. It was discovered on Tuesday when it managed to break a brick. A major operation was carried out to rescue it.
According to sources, the incident was reported from Kadodara village where labourers built a wall around a leopard which had hidden in a hollow chamber on the third storey of an under-construction house. They did not know that the animal was inside.
Range forest officer (Jamwala Forest Range-Gir) LD Parmar told TOI, “The leopard was found from the house being constructed by Natu Vala, chairman of a sugar factory here. The village is about 8 km
away from Kodinar town. The supporting slab under the roof of the house was inadvertently cemented from all sides during the finishing of the bungalow 20 days ago.”
“It is a wonder that the animal was alive even after 20 days. In the morning, when a labourer was splashing water on the site, the leopard broke a brick and started growling,” he said. “We waited for night fall to rescue the big cat as it would be resting then. We built a contraption to place a cage at the height of the third floor and thus the leopard was rescued and rushed for medical checkup,’’ Parmar said.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Leopard kills girl near Khambha
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Rajkot: A girl was mauled to death by a leopard early on Monday morning at 4 am on the outskirts of Bhad village (Tulsishyam forest range) in Khambha taluka of Amreli district.
According to deputy conservator of forests (Gir east) Maniswar Raja, the incident took place in a field where the girl was asleep along with her family members outside their makeshift shanties.
“Laheri Chauhan, 8, was dragged away by the animal. In the m e a n t i m e, family members woke up and started shouting for help. They managed to scare away the beast, which dropped the girl and ran away,”Raja told TOI. Unfortunately Laheri died on the spot. Laheri’s family belongs to Rajasthan and were working in Manu Sorathiya’s farm in Bhad village. The Rajasthani family had come to earn a livelihood in the area and has been staying in huts in the open area in the farm which make them vulnerable to wild animals.
The forest department has declared compensation of Rs 1 lakh for the family. “We have placed seven cages in the area to nab the leopard. We have also urged the farmers and labourers not to sleep in the open to avoid such incidents,’’ Raja said.
Rajkot: A girl was mauled to death by a leopard early on Monday morning at 4 am on the outskirts of Bhad village (Tulsishyam forest range) in Khambha taluka of Amreli district.
According to deputy conservator of forests (Gir east) Maniswar Raja, the incident took place in a field where the girl was asleep along with her family members outside their makeshift shanties.
“Laheri Chauhan, 8, was dragged away by the animal. In the m e a n t i m e, family members woke up and started shouting for help. They managed to scare away the beast, which dropped the girl and ran away,”Raja told TOI. Unfortunately Laheri died on the spot. Laheri’s family belongs to Rajasthan and were working in Manu Sorathiya’s farm in Bhad village. The Rajasthani family had come to earn a livelihood in the area and has been staying in huts in the open area in the farm which make them vulnerable to wild animals.
The forest department has declared compensation of Rs 1 lakh for the family. “We have placed seven cages in the area to nab the leopard. We have also urged the farmers and labourers not to sleep in the open to avoid such incidents,’’ Raja said.
Friday, March 26, 2010
116 lions have died since ’07
Gandhinagar: In another startling revelation related to Gir lions, the state government stated in the Assembly on Thursday that 116 lions had died in Gir Sanctuary between January 2007 and January 2010. Of these, 108 are said to have died in the natural course and seven were hunted to death. The sanctuary, in the last census, had reported 359 lions in the forest of which 291 were in the Gir Sanctuary, which makes the figure more alarming. Four lions died in the month of January this year alone.
Replying to a question by Congress’s Porbandar MLA, Arjun Modhwadia, the state government said that only one lion had died by falling into an open well, which had become risky for lions in the sanctuary covering 1,450 sq km.
However, former principal chief conservator of forest, GA Patel, said, “The life span of a lion is 15-18 years and if one goes by the maximum age, that is 18 years, then 20 per cent of them die every year. Besides, the survival rate of cubs was very less at 25 per cent hence the death figure of about 55-60 per year, was natural.”
A state forest department official told TOI that since the question pertained to the sanctuary, only those specific to the sanctuary were given. The official said that besides the sanctuary, lions were also found in Girnar hills, coastal areas and Bhavnagar. The last census covered all these spots and the latest is due next month.
Forest officials also said that it had increased security cover in the area, initiated new security measures, and security staff and other forest officials have been provided with sophisticated equipment for patrolling in the dense forest areas.
Govt studying lion-tiger exchange proposal: The state government also mentioned that it was studying the proposal by the Centre offering tigers in lieu of lions, for the Kuno Palpur project. Replying to Vagra MLA, Iqbal Patel, the state forest department said, the standing committee of the National Board of Wildlife had on July 17 last year, offered tigers to the state and that the government was still studying the proposal. TNN
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Lion axed to death near Gir
RAJKOT: In a bizarre incident, a lion was axed to death by some villagers in the greater Gir concept area of Junagadh district on Monday. Before it was killed, the lion had attacked seven people, including three of its attackers, who were hospitalised after the incident, forest officials said.
“It appears to be an act of self-defence,” said in charge deputy conservator of forests Anita Karne of Junagadh Sasan Gir.
The lion, aged between three and five years, was first spotted near Chorvadi village, 4 km from Gir sanctuary. Deputy sarpanch Mahesh Baldaniya, 65, was attacked and injured on his leg by the lion, which then walked into a farm in Mandalpar village. On way, it reportedly attacked Chandu Chovadiya, 45, a farm labourer, Gopal Mor, 70, and a forest beat guard PD Gharsanda before it was found dead at 11am in the farm.
Karne said, “Foresters found a felled tree next to the lion’s carcass. From the wounds it appears to have been attacked by a sharp object, possibly an axe, which cut the blood stream to the brain.”
The attackers — Karim Pathan, 42, Salim, 32, and Abdullah Pathan, 45, all residents of Junagadh — are woodcutters.
“Preliminary investigation suggests that these persons — labourers hired to fell trees before monsoon — were working when the lion attacked them,” Karne said, adding that the spot falls under the revenue area and not the sanctuary. It’s not yet certain how many woodcutters were present.
In charge conservator of forests Sudhir Chaturvedi said, “This kind of a multiple attack on humans by a lion is extremely rare. It needs to be studied as to whether there was any provocation”.
“It appears to be an act of self-defence,” said in charge deputy conservator of forests Anita Karne of Junagadh Sasan Gir.
The lion, aged between three and five years, was first spotted near Chorvadi village, 4 km from Gir sanctuary. Deputy sarpanch Mahesh Baldaniya, 65, was attacked and injured on his leg by the lion, which then walked into a farm in Mandalpar village. On way, it reportedly attacked Chandu Chovadiya, 45, a farm labourer, Gopal Mor, 70, and a forest beat guard PD Gharsanda before it was found dead at 11am in the farm.
Karne said, “Foresters found a felled tree next to the lion’s carcass. From the wounds it appears to have been attacked by a sharp object, possibly an axe, which cut the blood stream to the brain.”
The attackers — Karim Pathan, 42, Salim, 32, and Abdullah Pathan, 45, all residents of Junagadh — are woodcutters.
“Preliminary investigation suggests that these persons — labourers hired to fell trees before monsoon — were working when the lion attacked them,” Karne said, adding that the spot falls under the revenue area and not the sanctuary. It’s not yet certain how many woodcutters were present.
In charge conservator of forests Sudhir Chaturvedi said, “This kind of a multiple attack on humans by a lion is extremely rare. It needs to be studied as to whether there was any provocation”.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Spece technology to identify whale shark of Gujarat
New Delhi, Feb 19 (IANS) Indian scientists will try to distinguish individual whale sharks off the Gujarat coast, using a technique employed by NASA to identify galaxies.
Just as each tiger is distinguished by its stripes, whale sharks too can be identified through a unique pattern of spots that form points of numerous triangles on their bodies, say experts.
As the whale shark grows, the distance between these spots increases, but angles of these triangles remain the same, thus identifying the whale shark.
“The whale shark aggregation is less understood but from the satellite images it is clear there are large plankton blooms off the coast of Gujarat compared to any other maritime state and this could be the reason for such frequent sightings,” Joshi told IANS.
“To date, Ecocean has identified 2,109 whale sharks worldwide, from 9,800 whale sharks sighted in 43 countries. Many identified sharks have been re-sighted on several occasions,” Norman told IANS.
Ecocean has received support from the UN Environment Programme to promote the global whale shark library.
Just as each tiger is distinguished by its stripes, whale sharks too can be identified through a unique pattern of spots that form points of numerous triangles on their bodies, say experts.
As the whale shark grows, the distance between these spots increases, but angles of these triangles remain the same, thus identifying the whale shark.
“The whale shark aggregation is less understood but from the satellite images it is clear there are large plankton blooms off the coast of Gujarat compared to any other maritime state and this could be the reason for such frequent sightings,” Joshi told IANS.
“To date, Ecocean has identified 2,109 whale sharks worldwide, from 9,800 whale sharks sighted in 43 countries. Many identified sharks have been re-sighted on several occasions,” Norman told IANS.
Ecocean has received support from the UN Environment Programme to promote the global whale shark library.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
March 20 to be celebrated as World House Sparrow Day
March 20, 2010 will be observed as World House Sparrow Day (WHSD) to focus on raising awareness about the decline of the common House Sparrow and to throw light on the problems faced by the House Sparrow in its daily fight for survival.
The World House Sparrow Day (WHSD) is an international initiative by Nature Forever Society in collaboration with Bombay Natural History Society, Cornell Lab of Ornithology (USA), Eco-Sys Action Foundation (France), Avon Wildlife Trust (UK) and numerous other national and international organisations across the world.
In India, Mohammed Dilawar of India's Nature Forever Society, is heading the World Sparrow Day. He is also working for the return of the winged beauty back everywhere.
Mohammed Dilawar, an award-winning, Nashik-based former lecturer of environmental studies, said: "We've noticed a rapid decline in house sparrows in India. Some places used to be home to hundreds of them but they're rapidly disappearing." Scientists first started to notice a decline in the number of House Sparrows in the 1990s.
The theme for WHSD 2010 is, “We will save our House Sparrows. We invite all national organisations, NGOs, clubs and societies, universities, schools and individuals across the world to highlight WHSD 2010 by organizing awareness-raising programs, festivals or other related events on this year's topic during the weekend of 20 March 2010,” Dilawar said.
The UK celebrations for the first World House Sparrow Day on 20 March will be lead by Avon Wildlife Trust. The Bristol-based charity will be working longside organisations from as faraway as India, Kenya and Hong Kong.
The trust is asking people to report their House Sparrow sightings, so they can build up a picture of where the bird is surviving in the region.
The House Sparrow (passer domesticus) is a species of passerine bird in the sparrow family Passeridae. In India, it is popularly known as goraiya in the Hindi speaking districts. In Tamil Nadu and Kerala it is known as kuruvi and also known as chittu kuruvi.
In Telugu it is known as the pichhuka, and in Kannada, gubbachchi. The Gujaratis call it chakli whereas the Maharashtrians call it chimani. It is known as chiri in Punjab, chaer in Jammu and Kashmir, Charai Pakhi in West Bengal, and gharachatia in Orissa. In Urdu it is called chirya while in Sindhi, it is known as jhirki.
Many reasons are attributed for their apparent “disappearance”: The introduction of unleaded petrol is one, as the combustion of which produces compounds methyl nitrite, which is highly toxic for small insects that forms a part of a chick's diet.
Old houses had eaves and tiles that were comfortable perches to build nests on. External wirings and framed pictures too were “habitats”. But sleek modern concrete structures no longer have these and so “feathered neighbours” lost their habitats.
Mushrooming supermarket culture in urban areas, replaced the old fashioned grain shops which offered their spills as feeds. Urbanisation has done away with home gardens, which had worms and insects for the young sparrows. Besides extensive use of pesticides have proved lethal for their survival. The most recent reason for their disappearance is the mobile phone towers, the waves from the tower, it is said, are capable of destroying the life in the eggs.
Asiatic Lion
Asiatic Lion is one of the seven sub-species of lions on this planet. Its scientific name is "Panthera Leo Persica". Gir, popular name for part of Gujarat in India is the only place where this magnificent animal is found today.
Asiatic lions feed on wild pigs, cattle, antelope and deer in the wild. Present population of Asiatic Lion is 359 and is increasing every year because of conservation efforts of local people and Government of Gujarat...
Asiatic lions feed on wild pigs, cattle, antelope and deer in the wild. Present population of Asiatic Lion is 359 and is increasing every year because of conservation efforts of local people and Government of Gujarat...
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