Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
May 23, 2006
With only a few hundreds left in the wild, the wild buffalos (Bubalus Bubalis) in India could soon turn extinct unless an urgent action for their conservation is initiated. Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) in collaboration with the Chattisgarh forest department
started a three year plan for its revival from the present small population in the state.
An estimate by the forest department suggests 120 individuals in the state. Udanti WLS is considered to hold the maximum number-about 60 individuals, followed by Indravati NP - about 49 individuals and Pamed WLS about 8 individuals. From the other two, Sitanadi
and Baihramgarh Wildlife Sanctuaries considered extinct.
Wild buffalos are said to originate only in two states, Chattisgarh in central India and Assam in northeast India. Assam has the maximum number, about 3000 individuals.
IUCN in 2004 estimated that the total world population is certainly less than 4000 but it may be less than 200 and possibly no pure bred wild Asian buffalo left in the wild. Read the full story at
http://www.wildlifetrustofindia.org/html/news/2006/060215_chattisgarh_story.html
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
May 23, 2006
Jerdon’s Courser - which is a small nocturnal bird found in the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh was thought to be extinct till it was re-discovered in 1986. But the Telugu-Ganga Canal Project, which runs through the Sri Lankamaleswara Wildlife
Sanctuary (SLWLS), threatens to destroy the habitat of the bird.
"Endemic to a country where some 13 per cent of the world’s birds have been recorded, the Jerdon’s Courser clings to existence in a tiny habitat of scrub forest threatened by livestock grazing, quarrying, and canal-building"
says P. Jeganathan and Dr. Asad Rahmani
Read the full article at
http://www.sanctuaryasia.com/features/detailfeatures.php?id=779
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
May 23, 2006
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
May 23, 2006
Ashok Jhunjhunwala of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, is the key expert behind innovation of cordDECT technology,a low-cost advanced Wireless Access System.
What is CorDECT Technology?
It is a wireless in a local loop (WiLL) technology. What it means is that the connection from an exchange to any home is on wireless, very much like mobile, instead of copper wires. It is a fixed wireless connection, which can be used not only for telephony
but also for Internet connectivity. It is tailor-made for broadband deployment and for rural areas.
Read more about it at
http://www.egovonline.net/interview/interview-details.asp?interviewid=42
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
May 21, 2006
The MOU for starting the canal work to link the Ken and Betwa was signed in August 2005. The canal will originate at the Daudhan Dam and four more dams will be constructed in the Panna National Park. These will submerge a large part of this protected area.
A major flaw of the link is that
" The entire stretch of the canal diverting the waters of Ken will pass through hilly and rocky terrain. The land slopes from south to north and from east to west. All the rivers and underground aquifiers flow in this general direction. The canal will block
this natural flow of water, leading to water logging in the southern par of the region."
Another expert questions the the very purpose of the linkthat it will mitigate floods and droughts.
"Both Ken and Betwa flood at the same time. The Betwa enters the Yamuna upstream of Ken. If the Ken's waters are added to the betwa, there will be regular floods along the section of the Yamuna between Hamirpur and Chilla. Conversely, there will be droughts
immediately downstream to Chilla. The project will not mitigate floods or droughts, it will exacerbate them."
( Excerpts from article" More Development" by Nitya Jacobin The Hindu dated 21 May, 2006)
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
May 19, 2006
Former Vice president of the U.S.A Al Gore has produced the documentary
"An Inconvenient Truth" which premiered in May 2006.
"Al Gore strips his presentations of politics, laying out the facts for the audience to draw their own conclusions in a charming, funny and engaging style."
Paramount'd Classics has committed five percent of their domestic theatrical gross for the film with a minimum guarantee of $500,000 to be donated to a new bipartisan climate effort, Alliance for Climate Protection. Alliance for Climate Protection will campaign
to motivate a critical mass of the public and influential constituencies to demand action to cut U.S emissions and to make solving global warming a national political imperative.
More details on
http://www.wildbytes.tv/index.aspx?vid=wnjx6KETmi4
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Posted by
aditya
on
May 14, 2006
As every bird watcher knows morning time is best time for bird watching or evening time.
But any time have You tried What are the activities at afternoon?
Yesterday I went with my friend
Dr. Pramod Bansode[ One of the best bird watchers and Wildlife photographers] to see the afternoon activities. The tremendous heat and initially no activity, which make us feel bored. But since we had expected it, we waited with patience. and as we
know "Sabra ka phal Mitha hoto Hai!" .After Locating one small pond with water which was surrounded by many trees, we took our positions and started observing the birds. In starting there are 2 pairs of Red whiskerd bulbuls in
the water and their water play was going on and suddenly 6
jungle babblers arrived and started playing in water along with them; 1 pair of
Magpie Robins and pair of Common indian
Mynahs joined the water party. A wonderful play of all these birds we were watching on that day. There are other party animals too look Brahminy Skink, Rat snake and One
Common Indian Mangoose. For actual Detail report of this Article mail on
adi_sawant@rediffmail.com
adi_sawant10@yahoo.com
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
May 14, 2006
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
May 12, 2006
Jason Antony and Ankur Chaturvedi:
I found this extremely interesting article on the website of Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun. Here is an excerpt
---"For example, elephants use their powerful infrasonic calls in long distance communication, which can be monitored from a long distance using infrasonic recorder. Earlier studies reveal that the elephants strongly respond to their conspecific calls playback
even up to 7 km. distance. Till now, surveys of forest elephants have been based on systematic counts of dung. Cornell Laboratory of Bioacoustics, USA, is developing a new technique known as ‘acoustical monitoring system for elephants’ census.Long
distance acoustical monitoring of the elephants not only useful in population estimation but also be used to alert the peoples living on the edges of forests, regarding the movements of elephants."
The full article by Ani Kumar, discussing sounds made by birds and other mammals is available at the link below
http://www.wii.gov.in/publications/newsletter/annual2002/article11.htm
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Posted by
Susan Sharma
on
May 10, 2006
Hi Harshad,
I found this message in yahoo group "Naturepix" which will interest you.
jugal tiwari jugalt2000@yahoo.com wrote: Mount Abu in India is a great place for Reptiles. Atleast 16 species of Snakes are here (I have in my photo collection). The great work of Reptile rescue is being done by
Kiran Chavda, Shailesh patel and the team. This forsten's cat snake is a rarity in Mount Abu. There are only 4-5 rescues from residential areas in 18 years time. They live in pairs, this one was rescued by Shailesh patel from the St. Mary School building.
Jugal Tiwari 09414026156
Message from Yahoo group Naturepix message No. 6606
You can read the message at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/naturepix/messages/6602?viscount=-100
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