For Saurashtrians(Gujarat, India), “lions are like kin”

The people of Saurashtra(Gujarat, India) take care of lions as they would of their family members. If they spot a lion in the vicinity of their village, they take pride in the fact and protect it. These statements were made by the government in the assembly for the first time.

Minister of state for forests and environment Govind Patel – in response to a question from Nikol MLA Jagdish Panchal – informed the house that lions were found in many places of India, but they survive only in Gujarat owing to people’s conservation efforts.

“They are the pride of Gujarat and it was only because of the people of Saurashtra that the lion population grew,” Patel said.

“Even if lions attack cattle in villages, the villagers are tolerant of lions”.

Patel told the house that government has also created post of ‘van mitras’ who take care of the animal and keep a watch on the movement inside the sanctuary. He said 898 eco-clubs had been formed in the Saurashtra region.

Responding to a question Patel said that there were 411 lions – 97 males and 162 females – in the sanctuary. He further said that the state had created gene – pool centers. Five new cubs have been born in the last year at the Rampara Virdi centre. These cubs have been born to two pairs of lions captured from completely different areas and brought to Rampara to ensure that the genes different. These centre’s provide a shield against weakening genes of Gir Lions.

For example if the lioness was from Sasan (Gujarat, India), the lion would be from a far off area of Tulsishyam(Jungadh, Gujarat, India) or even Bhavnagar. The minister said that there have been no instances of villagers offering baits to lions in order to show the animals to visitors. However, he admitted that his department had penalized people caught on the spot to the tune of Rs. 93,000 to Rs 31,400.

Courtesy: Times of India.   

Of 92 lion deaths in last two years, 83 were natural

No incident of poaching: Government

A total of 92 lions have died in the last two years in Saurashtra region (Gujarat, India). Of these, 83 died natural deaths while the remaining nine died of accidental causes, like falling into open wells.

Minister of state forest and environmental Govind Patel told the House in a written reply to Lathi MLA Bhavku Unghad’s question. The government said that said that 46 lions each died in the year 2011 and 2012. The minister said that among the dead cats were 43 cubs, 20 males, while the rest were females.

The minister said that there was no incident of poaching in the any part of the state. He added that in 2011 five lions lost like in different kinds of incidents, while the number was four in 2012.

The death of 46 animals was normal as only 11 per cent of the animals are dying annually. The officer said that also there was a drop over the past few years in the number of accidental deaths. The forest department has begun a drive to cover up wells in and around Gir Forest (Gujarat, India). However, such incidents of death due to falling in a well were reported in the areas far away from the sanctuary.

The official added that of one looked at the figure more cubs have died recently. A study by Dr. V. Meena of the Wildlife Institute of India titled “Reproductive Strategy and Behavior of Male Asiatic Lions” revealed that survival rate of cubs was lowest in the first year of birth and gradually increases in second and third year, he added.

Courtesy: - Times Of India

Can Indian geneticists revive Asiatic cheetah?

A few days ago, when scientists inched closer to reviving an Australian frog species that has been extinct for the last 30 years, they also revived the world’s fascination for De-extinction – a concept that walks the thin line between science fiction and reality. Bringing to life species that have been wiped off the face of earth is a dream many geneticists have pursued for years.

“If India were to aggressively pursue it, there are at least three extinct species that can get a shot at coming back for the dead” says Sandeep Sharma of the Washington based Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.

“High on the list is the Asiatic Cheetah that went extinction in India soon after Independence. The others are the pink-headed duck and the maintain quail. There are a few pre-historic species, too, but then it might get too ambitious.”

Indian geneticists have been attempting to clone the Asiatic Cheetah – a favorite animal of the Mughal emperor Akbar who reportedly has an army of 1000 cheetahs accompany him on his hunting expeditions. But efforts to recreate the majestic predator have encountered several roadblocks. “The biggest hurdle is procuring the cell-line of the cheetah and defining protocols for somatic cell transfer. Once this happens, we have a realistic chance of reviving the cheetah in India,” says S Shivaji of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hydrabad.

Somatic cell transfer involves creating a clone embryo with a donor nucleus in a laboratory and is considered as the first step in reproductive cloning. India has recently imported a few cheetahs whose cell lines, says Shivaji, CCMB is trying to get. After that, it would be a case of attempting again and again – success rates in reproductive cloning are just about 5% till an Asiatic cheetah cub is born.

Nobody knows when this might happen. “We are still not sure what factors combine together to create the 5% success rate,” says Shivaji.

De-extinction itself is a subject that has drawn diverse opinions. Those opposing it says that is a species went extinct over a period of time – Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest propounds this is nature’s way of balancing itself – is it prudent to re-introduce it in an ecosystem where some other species may have taken over it role? Ulhas Karanth of Wildlife Conservation Society says it makes no sense at all. “De-extinction is unlikely to work because factors that caused the original extinction continue to operate”.

However, De-extinction proponents continue to be gung-ho about its prospects. “It should not be an either/or question,” says Ryan Phelan, executive director of Us NGO Revive & Restore which recently organized a much publicized conference on the subject along with National Geographic and TED. “It’s really an all one continuum. What’s good for extinct species will be great for endangered ones”.

If man does succeed in playing god, it might just be Jurassic Park all over again, hopefully minus the horror.

Courtesy: - Times of India.

Gir lioness baby – sits, feeds siblings

In display of Unusual Behavior, introduces cubs to meat early

There’s nothing like a sister’s love. A young lioness, baby sitting her three six – week - old step siblings when the mother is away hunting, has caught the eye of foresters in the Gir Sanctuary(Sasan Gir, Jamnagar, Gujarat, India) .

Experts say this is a rare sight in the wild – the three year old lioness not only watches over the cubs, but hunts for them as well.  Deputy Conservator of forests, Sandeep Kumar, who is documenting this unique behavior, says generally one and a half month old cubs are not exposed to flesh and blood. “They only survive on mother’s milk”, he says. “But in this case, we noticed that when the mother is not around, the sister not only takes care of the cubs but also gets them fresh meat and they seem to be doing well so far”.

Kumar adds that cubs first taste the meat when they are slightly older. “On a couple of occasions, the sister dragged the kill to the cubs and watched them eat,” he adds. To ensure that this premature weaning does not have any adverse effect, the foresters are regularly monitoring the health of the cubs.
 Even the mother has started hunting closer to home and bringing the kill to the cubs. She makes the kill before the cubs, but ensures that they are at a safe distance, which officials say may be a way of teaching them the first lesions of hunting.

Gujarat additional principal chief conservator of forests, H.S. Singh says, “Usually, the mother would not expose the cubs to blood before 12 weeks. At 12 weeks, they are given their first taste of blood and only after a while are they allowed to eat meat”.

“Lion cubs are nursed till about six months,” says Meena Venkatraman, who has a PhD in lion behavior from Wildlife Institute of India. “They may start to feed on tidbits of meat when the prides are feeding on a kill. This is usually around three months. However, tasting meat is not same as eating meat”.

Courtesy: - Times of India

Top 25 Photographs from the Wilderness #7

Top 25 Photographs from the Wilderness #7