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Bigcats News
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Tiger illegal trading in Vietnam from 2006 to 2013
Total of 280 violations including 120 incidents of advertising and selling tiger bone, teeth, claws and products, 55 possession cases including both live and trophy tigers and 107 violations involving smuggling and trade of tigers. This includes keeping, transporting and processing tigers and their parts. A total of 28 cases involved seizures of tiger carcasses with a total of 38 tigers seized, most frozen. Twelve additional cases involved seizures of 21 skeletons (partial or whole). Four cases involved seizures of a total of nine live tigers. Sixteen tiger skins and three tiger trophies were also recovered during the period. The list was compiled by Education for Nature - Vietnam to ensure that accurate data for Vietnam in made available for use in addressing tiger trade enforcement issues regionally. "Inadequate or no reporting by range and consumer States and a failure to comply with the CITES Declaration 14.69 - information on stockpiles of captive bred or confiscated tiger body parts and derivatives and actions proposed to deal with stockpiles - is a major barrier to creating a true picture of the illegal trade in tigers and their derivatives," says TigerTime campaign manager, Vicky Flynn. "Demanding compliance and action by February 2015 forms part of TigerTime's ongoing campaign to ban the trade in tiger parts from all sources." A frozen tiger recovered in Vietnam  *This image is copyright of its original author
Staff crunch hits tiger protection in Similipal Tiger Reserve
The Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF), a dedicated force formed in August 2013 for better protection of big cats in Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR), is handicapped due to staff shortage. Official sources said the state government is sitting over the decision to deploy 63 forest guards, who were recruited in February exclusively for the purpose. At present, the STPF is running by temporarily engaging forest guards from other forest divisions. STR field director Anup Nayak said monitoring has been hit in the past four months as the temporary STPF were recalled to parent divisions. "Since there is staff shortage in the divisions as well, we were forced to allow them to return to their original place of posting," said Nayak. At present, the STPF comprises forest guards from four divisions - Baripada, Rairangpur, Karanjia and STR core division. To facilitate formation of STPF, the government had asked divisional forest officers of the four divisions to depute forest guards, who were below the age of 30. The principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife) S S Srivastav said the 63 forest guards are yet to undergo the mandatory training. "We have moved the government to exempt them from training and induct them in the STPF. The forest guards can be imparted training after joining the STPF," said Srivastav. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which is the competent authority to take decision on formation of STPF, had sanctioned 112 dedicated forest staff for the protection force. The STPF was formed to monitor 1195 sq km of core area in the STR. The government had estimated Rs 2 crore would be spent annually for STPF operation. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/...175381.cms
Tiger sentinels poorly armed to tackle poachers
Bissegowda (name changed) was pulled out of his bed one night about two years ago. He was part of a six-member team of forest guards and officers told to head straight to Bheeman Bidu, 10km from Bandipur, to nab poachers. It was pitch dark but these men of the Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF) at Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR), didn't even a single torch. Yet, the guards managed to spot the poachers but before they could pounce on them, the poachers unleashed machetes at them. Sadly, the guards were not armed with guns. With machetes swishing a hair's breadth away, the guards managed to repel the poachers who fled in panic. Two years later, Bissegowda breaks out in sweat as he recalls the incident. But he adds that these things have become commonplace as his force continues to remain poorly equipped and yet is expected to brave adversities in the wild. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/...108456.cms
Poacher arrested with help of an identification mark which was caught on camera trap.
 *This image is copyright of its original author
Commotion at Nagzira wildlife sanctuary
A group of tourists from Nagpur and Wardha went wild at Nagzira wildlife sanctuary in Gondia on Sunday. At around 9.10am tourists sighted a tigress near a waterhole. They followed other vehicles and reached compartment No. 129 where a tigress, suspected to be A-mark, was resting in the bushes and was partially visible. Tourists also saw a sambar kill nearby. Even as tourists were quietly enjoying the sighting, two Gypsies also reached the spot. Eyewitnesses told TOI that guide and driver of one of the Gypsies were seated on the backseat and one of the tourists was driving the vehicle . "Tourists in both the Gypsies were shouting loudly and disturbing the tigress. When the group leader was confronted by other tourists, he started abusing them. He also stepped out of his vehicle and beat the guide," said Ninad Mairal, an eyewitness. Other tourists in the Gypsies also stepped out and there was commotion leading to fight among tourists and guides. "I heard the person in the Gypsy threatening guides that he would get all of them dismissed though they were not at fault," said Mairal. Getting down in the park is against wildlife laws. A section of tourists said it was all happening just 50 metres away from the spot where the tigress was resting. The brawl went on for about 10 minutes. After 20 minutes, forest guard HS Goswami reached the spot. However, he showed helplessness in taking any action against violators who had left the spot. After returning to Pitezari gate, Mairal lodged a complaint in a notebook as complaint register was not available. "I also asked the concerned forest guard DS Sonawane to impose a fine against violators but he was reluctant. However, a fine of Rs 500 was imposed a tourist Swapnil Ghadge (and his group) only after I threatened to complain about the incident to higher ups," said Mairal. Another violation which Mairal noticed was that Gypsies were carrying at least 8-9 tourists. Normally, the capacity is not beyond 6 persons. "I don't understand how such vehicles enter the park," he asked. Pitezari RFO DV Raut said, "It is a serious issue. If the complaint holds ground, we will suspend the vehicle and its guide for eight days. I will seek a report on the incident," said Raut. Parks open till June 30 Even as national parks and sanctuaries witnessed last minute rush anticipating they will be closed from Monday, the parks in the region including Tadoba and those falling under Pench and Navegaon-Nagzira tiger reserves will remain open till June 30. "Navegaon national park and Navegaon, Koka, Nagzira, New Nagzira sanctuaries will remain open," said field director Sanjay Thaware. TATR field director GP Garad said that all the specified routes will remain open till June 30. "A fresh plan for tourism in monsoon will be sent to chief wildlife warden soon," Garad said. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/...659313.cms
Tiger leaps onto boat, snatches fisherman in mangrove swamp (kolkata, India)
A Bengal tiger snatched a man off a fishing boat in eastern India, dragging him away into a mangrove swamp as his children looked on in horror, the man's son said Friday. The attack happened Thursday as Sushil Manjhi and his son and daughter were crab fishing in a stream in the Sunderbans National Park. The tiger leaped aboard the boat and clamped its jaws on Manjhi's neck, said Sushil's son, Jyotish. The tiger "quickly flung my father on his back and gave a giant leap before disappearing into the forest," Jyotish said by telephone from his village of Lahiripur in West Bengal state. He said he and his sister tried to beat the animal with sticks and a knife, but the thrashing had no effect. His father was dragged away and was presumed dead. The attack underlines the difficult existence of millions of poor Indians who make a living by scavenging in forests and rivers, often at risk from wild predators. Many villagers fish for crabs in the Sunderbans — even though it's illegal in the protected reserve — because they fetch a good price at markets in nearby towns. The national park is one of the largest reserves for the royal Bengal tiger. Thursday's attack was the fourth deadly assault by a tiger this year in the Sunderbans, wildlife officials said.  *This image is copyright of its original author photo of a Royal Bengal tiger prowls in Sunderbans, at the Sunderban delta, about 130 kilometers (81 miles) south of Calcutta, India. An Indian fisherman says a tiger has snatched a man off a fishing boat and dragged him away into a mangrove swamp. (AP Photo/Joydip Kundu)  *This image is copyright of its original author Sunderbans tiger, known to kill maximum number of humans every year. Iran tries to save Asiatic cheetah from extinction Iran is rushing to try to save one of the world's critically endangered species, the Asiatic cheetah, and bring it back from the verge of extinction in its last remaining refuge. The Asiatic cheetah, an equally fast cousin of the African cat, once ranged from the Red Sea to India, but its numbers shrunk over the past century to the point that it is now hanging on by a thin thread — an estimated 50 to 70 animals remaining in Iran, mostly in the east of the country. That's down from as many as 400 in the 1990s, its numbers plummeting due to poaching, the hunting of its main prey — gazelles — and encroachment on its habitat. Cheetahs have been hit by cars and killed in fights with sheep dogs, since shepherds have permits to graze their flocks in areas where the cheetahs live, Hossein Harati, the local head of the environmental department and park rangers at the Miandasht Wildlife Refuge in northeastern Iran said. At the reserve, rangers are caring for a male cheetah named Koushki, rescued by a local resident who bought it as a cub from a hunter who killed its mother around seven years ago, said Morteza Eslami Dehkordi, the director of Iranian Cheetah Society. "Since he was interested in environment protection, he bought the cub from him and handed it to the Department of Environment,'' he said. The cheetah was named after his rescuer's family name. With help from the United Nations, the Iranian government has stepped up efforts to rescue the species — also with an eye to the potential for tourism to see the rare cat. Rangers have been equipped with night vision goggles and cameras have been set up around cheetah habitats to watch for any threat. They have also been fitting cheetahs with UN-supplied GPS collars so their movements can be tracked. Authorities built shelters in arid areas where the cats can have access to water. They've also reached out to nearby communities, training them how to deal with cheetahs and promising compensation for livestock killed by cheetahs to prevent shepherds or farmers from hunting them. Also, any development projects in cheetah habitats must be approved by Iran's environmental department. The efforts were given a symbolic boost at the ongoing World Cup in Brazil, where Iran's team wore images of the cheetah on their uniform. The country has also named August 31 as Iran's National Cheetah Day since 2006. Once known as "hunting leopards", Asiatic cheetahs were traditionally trained for emperors and kings in Iran and India to hunt gazelles. They disappeared across the Middle East about 100 years ago, although there were sightings in Saudi Arabia until the 1950s. They vanished in India in 1947 and ranged in Central Asia as far as Kazakhstan up to the 1980s. Gary Lewis, with the UN Development Program, said the dropping numbers in Iran are alarming. "There are no other Asiatic cheetahs like the one that you have here in Iran, so it is essential for us as human beings to conserve our biodiversity by protecting this animal," he said. Iran also hopes to attract more foreign tourists under moderate President Hassan Rouhani, who has vowed outreach to the west. "It is an endangered species. The cheetah is considered to be one of the most charismatic cats," said vice-president Masoumeh Ebtekar, who heads Iran's department of the environment. "It is important for, for example, our ecotourism when many people who enjoy coming just to visit our natural habitats for the cheetah and to see, to have a glimpse of the cheetah." said Ebtekar. "So we are working very seriously with international organizations as well as our national specialists and experts to protect this species." African cheetahs are also a threatened species, with an estimated 10,000 adults remaining. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/...238900.cms
Sathyamangalam becomes top haven for tigers
The newly-declared Sathyamangalam tiger sanctuary has emerged the largest tiger country in Tamil Nadu, with at least 60 tigers stalking the sprawling jungles. According to the latest official count, the population of the big cats has more than doubled and about 60 tigers have been captured on the hidden cameras in just four blocks of the 1405 sq.km Sathyamangalam jungles in Erode district, which was once an infamous haunt of bandit Veerappan. “We have visual evidence of a vibrant tiger population with an attractive prey base in the Sathyamanglam jungles. The camera trappings have spotted between 50 and 60 tigers. However, the sprawling forest has the capacity to carry at least 100 tigers,” the Erode Conservator of Forests, I. Anwardeen told.  *This image is copyright of its original author http://www.deccanchronicle.com/140628/na...ven-tigers
Credit to TigerTime
He is a rare Indochinese male Tiger. According to TigerTime He's been defying the odds and managing to survive, despite an injury to his right eye and numerous other challenges (such as fights with other males). Fewer than 250 Indochinese tigers remain in the forests of Thailand, threatened by poaching, habitat loss and loss of prey.  *This image is copyright of its original author
China’s Threat to Wild Tigers
A wonderful article, that shows china's culture is biggest threat to the tiger. Few parts of the article- Quote:The demise of the tiger, the world’s most endangered big cat, was hastened by demand for traditional Chinese medicine, which ascribed healing properties to nearly every part of the cat, from whiskers to tail. Quote:Tiger parts are now consumed less as medicine and more as exotic luxury products. Quote:It’s a deadly commerce fueled by China’s commercial captive breeding farms, which hold more than 5,000 tigers and maintain stockpiles of frozen carcasses and body parts. These farms spur poaching of wild tigers by perpetuating the market in tiger parts. Quote:Tigers command a small fortune on the black market, and demand is rising. A loophole in the country’s wildlife protection law allows the breeding and “utilization” of certain products derived from captive-bred endangered species. This has made industrial-scale “tiger farming” big business. Quote:Some farms are run as animal parks, where the few healthy animals perform before cheering tourists. The rest are hidden from public view. Though these parks are thinly disguised as educational or conservation initiatives, they in no way help the species. A captive tiger has never been successfully released into the wild. And here is the full article source http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/29/opinio...igers.html  (07-01-2014, 12:13 AM)'sanjay' Wrote: Credit to TigerTime By far, my least studied Tiger sub species. I need to start doing to more research on these Indo-Chinese tigers. I have read a few hunters speak of massive tigers hunted in Vietnam, some even saying they were the largest, which I highly doubt. |
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