48 lesser floricans counted at Black Buck National Park

Velavadar Grassland is an Ideal Habitat for their Breeding

The forest department has counted 48 lesser floricans, the critically endangered smallest bustards od the world. In Velavadar Blackbuck National Park (BNP) in Bhavnagar district. The counting was done on Saturday and Sunday.

According to assistant conservator of forests, BNP, D.P. Baghela, of the 48, 44 were males and four were females. Forest officials said BNP is the only grassland in north western Indian that has observed a steady population of lesser florican. Last year, 54 were counted here.

“This year we first spotted lesser floricans in first week of July. This grassland provides an ideal habitat for lesser floricans for breeding during monsoon and started leaving before winter,” Vaghela added.

Lesser florican is endemic to the Indian subcontinent and list under Schedule 1 species under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

“Degradation of grasslands in Gondal, Rajkot and Jamnagar earlier attracted lesser floricans. But they are seldom seemed here. Velavadar National Park is the only grassland in north western Indian where floricans are reported in good number, largely due to better grassland management and protection,” he said.Forest officials said earlier, lesser floricans were found in many parts of the region, but now these birds are found at very few places in the state.

Two years ago, researcher G.S. Bharadwaj of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) carried out a study on lesser floricans from across the country. They study observed that most of the potential florican habitat in the state were converted into cotton fields where large quantities of pesticides are being used, the greatest threat to floricans here.

“Lesser florican is best known for the leaping breeding displays by males during the monsoon,” an official said.




Courtesy:- Times Of India. 

Lions should be allowed to migrate naturally, says report

A report submitted by an NGO, Empower Foundation, to the forest department has stated that lions should not be trans-located and the big cats should be allowed to migrate naturally only.

The report has suggested that even if the need arises, the lions should be given a safe passage and should be given a natural corridor to any other place, but they should not be trans-located to Kuno Palpur in Madhya Pradesh, which will result into a failed translocation and extinction of the endangered lions from the new proposed habitat, a big loss to the wildlife.

The report has stated that lions are not present only in the Gir National Park, but over a period of time have migrated naturally hundreds of kilometers away to places like Amreli, Savarkundla, Liliya Porbandar, Paniya, Mitiyala, Barda, Una, Chhara, Sutrapada, Babariya, Kodina, Visavadar, Hipavadli, Jamvada, Jasdhar, Girnar, Bhavnagar and Palitana. The 1,412 sq km abode of Asiatic Lions has now spread across 10,500 sq km, thus mitigating concentration rick in one area.

Jalpesh Mehta of Empower Foundation said if an epidemic can kill all lions in Gujarat, it can also kill all the tigers in the Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra (Pench-Kanha-Bandhavgarh-Ranthambhor) and south India’s Karnataka – Tamil Nadu  belt (Mudumalai – Nagarhole – Bandipur – Waynad) as the distance is almost similar between Gir and other areas as compared to tiger reserves.

The report has further stated that Gujarat should stop using Gir Lions, in fact the Gujarat Government should communicate that they are found everywhere and should mention lions in Gir, outside Gir or in Greater Gir or Saurashtra region to correct the world’s perception on the issue.

Courtesy:- Times Of India

Sarus cranes flock to Dantiwada Dam(Banaskantha, Gujarat, India)

A large number of Sarus crane have flocked to Dantiwada dam site these days much to the delight of bird lovers.

“I was surprised to see a large numbers of beautiful cranes in the shallow water,” a professor in local R.R. Mehta Science College Dr. Suresh Prajapati said. He added that is was pleasure to see around 70 cranes feeding on fishes.

He said the dam located about 30 km from Palanpur in Banaskantha district (Gujarat, India) is an arid place and these cranes rarely come to such a place.

“In all we counted 73 adult cranes. It indicates that no breeding had taken place here and all had migrated from some other place,” assistant conservator of forests at Banaskantha N.M. Bhatol said. He said, “These birds are placed under a threatened category. It is great to spot them here in the arid land. Millet fields with shallow waters and generation of awareness to some extent has led to these birds arriving here”.

Prajapati pointed that in 2010 he had spotted hardly 10 birds at the site. A bird lover Nirdosh Gupta said Sarus cranes are spotted during pre-monsoon season when the dams having meager water in their shallow bottom are ideal place for picking fishes.

Courtesy:- Times Of India

Act before it’s too late for Great Indian Bustard, says experts

Conservation portal urges Gujarat CM to take action

Experts and conservationists believe that a project on the lines of Project Tiger has to be launched in order to save the Great Indian Bustard (GIB) that is threatened with extinction.

Prerna Singh Bindra, member of the National Board for Wildlife, said that Conservation India (CI), a wildlife conservation portal, has urged Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi to take immediate measures for conservation of the threatened bustard species. “If action is not taken, this bird could become the first mega species to go extinct in the country since the cheetah. Only a ‘Project Bustard’ can save the species, just as ‘Project Tiger’ did for our national animal”, said Bindra.

According to CI’s campaign paper, “Act Now! Or say Goodbye to the Great Indian Bustard,” there may be less than 200 Great Indian Bustard left in India. In Gujarat, 50 of the threatened bustard species are to found in Kutch.

The bird has already disappeared from more the 90 per cent of its former habitats. “What is worse, the 

meager remaining number is fragmented into small populations across several Indian states, making the bird even more vulnerable to extinction. If urgent and targeted conservations actions are not taken immediately, the bird will almost certainly go extinct within the next decade or two,” says CI co-founder Ramki Sreenivasan.

The Great Indian Bustard (GIB) is found in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The largest population of about 100 birds is in Rajasthan where it is the state bird.

The GIB is threatened with extinction because of the reduction in undistributed arid and grassland (its habitat), degradation of and distribution to its existing habitat, hunting, lack of projection for many traditional “lekking” and nesting sites, and lack of a management and conservation policy for natural grassland.

Apart from these issues, there is lack of cooperation between different departments and stakeholders in GIB habitats. Livestock overgrazing and disturbance by tourists and photographers, especially during breeding season, have also contributed to reduction in GIB numbers.

According to the campaign paper, there is a need for urgent and coordinated actions, including setting up of a secure and fully protected ‘lekking’ sites, where male bustards gather to attract females. Also there is a need to constitute a GIB task force in every state where these birds are to be found.

A full – scale ‘Project Bustard’ on the lines of Project Tiger needs to be launched for the threatened bustard species, conservationists say. The Ministry of Forests and Environment has demanded that the possibility should also be looked into.

Courtesy:- Times of India. 

No Drought of winged beauties

Despite the erratic rainfall and drying water bodies around the city, there is a silver lining. Ishwaria Lake on the outskirts of Rajkot (Gujarat, India) has literary turned into an oasis for thousands of wetlands birds. Spread over 40 hectares of wasteland at Madharpar village, Ishwaria (Rajkot, Gujarat, India) plays host to thousands of migratory birds from far away places like Siberia and Mongolia in winter and resident birds through out the year. the lake is a major attraction for bird lovers from far and near.

Courtesy:- Times of India

WORTH Flocking to Thol (Ahmadabad, Gujarat, India)

Paris of Sarus crane beckon bird-lovers.

If you thought, Thol (Ahmadabad, Gujarat, India) was only about migratory birds, another visit to this lake is due!. Flocks of majestic Sarus cranes have descended in the lake and near - by fields. there are at least 50 Sarus cranes here. No wonder then that bird watchers and shutterbugs are flocking to Thol (Ahmadabad, Gujarat, India) these days, braving the blistering heat.

Courtesy:- Times of India

Watch towers to deter poachers

Nalsarovar (Ahmadabad, Gujarat) also gets allocation for information network

Now on, the watchful eyes of foresters will be trained on the winged visitors from overseas that flock to Nalsarovar (Ahmadabad, Gujarat) every year. The state forest department has decided to set up watchtowers near the bank of three villages where poachers has been rampant. Officials have also decided to allocate special funds to set up an information network for Nalsarovar, a Ramsar site.

Official in Nalsarovar said that at meetings between senior officials on Monday, it was decided to have watchtowers in three sensitive villages – Darji, Ranagadh and Vekariya (Gujarat). These have sizeable population and notorious for the poaching of birds. In all, about 9000 people in these villages hunt and eat wild animals.

The meeting was held after two people from Ranagadh Village (Gujarat) were caught with 60 coots that had been trapper and whose legs and wings were broken to keep them from escaping.

These watchtowers will be equipped with closed circuit cameras and in order to prevent damage, one hidden camera will also be installed to catch poachers who will manage to find the visible ones.

Sources in the department said that against the sanctioned strength of 12, there are just six staffers – including the deputy conservator of forests and assistant conservator of forests. With just half the sanctioned strength, officials have to keep watch over 1.5 lakh winged visitors and thousands of tourists to the wetland spread over 120.82 sq km.

“There are only three guards to secure the highly sensitive site, which has communities known for poaching living nearby”, said a source. It was decided at the meeting that staff strength would be increased to ensure illegal activities are monitored efficiently. 

Courtesy:- Times Of India.