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Man-Animal Interaction: Conflict & Coexistance
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ELEPHANTS & TIGERS KILL ONE HUMAN A DAY IN INDIA
AFP | Aug 1, 2017, 12:37 PM IST  *This image is copyright of its original author India has lost vast swathes of forests to urbanisation in recent decades, forcing animals into human-occupied zones. NEW DELHI: Endangered elephants and tigersare killing one person a day in India as humans put a growing squeeze on their habitat, according to new government figures. But man is in turn killing a leopard a day as the man-animal tussle for space reaches new heights. India has lost vast swathes of forests to urbanisation in recent decades, forcing animals into human-occupied zones. According to the environment ministry, 1,144 people were killed in attacks across India in 1,143 days between April 2014 and May this year. And there is no sign of the toll being cut. The ministry said 345 tigers and 84 elephants were killed in the same period, mostly in poacher attacks. Elephants are targeted for their tusks. Siddhanta Das, the ministry's director general of forests, said human encroachment into animal territory was causing the deaths. "We are running awareness campaigns to minimise the casualties," Das told AFP. Elephants accounted for 1,052 human deaths and tigers 92, according to the figures released to parliament last week. West Bengal state accounted for more than a quarter of deaths. The eastern state has nearly 800 elephants and is also home to famed Bengal tigers. Last year a herd of wild elephants went on an hours-long rampage in West Bengal, killing five people and damaging vehicles and homes before being subdued with tranquilliser darts. But tensions are also mounting elsewhere across the country. An elephant trampled to death four people, including a 12-year-old girl, in a village in southern Tamil Nadu state in June. There have also been cases of elephants knocking people off scooters. Most attacks on humans by elephants take place in so-called elephant corridors which they have used for centuries but are now being overrun by humans. According to National Crime Records Bureau statistics, nearly 950 people were killed in animal attacks in 2015. But those statistics did not specify the nature of the incidents. India has nearly 30,000 elephants and is home to half the world's tiger population with some 2,500 of the big cats roaming its reserves, according to the last official count in 2014. Both are endangered species.  *This image is copyright of its original author "Rampant killing of wildlife is ongoing in India. Hundreds of leopards, tigers and elephants are killed for their body parts," Tito Joseph of the Wildlife Protection Society of India told AFP. Fatality figures for the estimated 12,000 to 14,000 leopards living in the wild are becoming alarming, according to a 2015 census. More than 1,436 of the animals have been killed since January 2014, according to the WPSI. There are no figures on the number of humans killed by leopards, but experts say there are hundreds each year.
The Hindu's photographer K.R. Deepak captures the tense moments when a tiger came face to face with a group of workers in the Tadoba Andhari national park.
The Tadoba Andhari National Park in Chandrapur district of Maharashtra is home for about 65 tigers, and one of the oldest tiger reserves of India. Spread across over 1,700 square kilometres, it includes 625 square kilometres of reserve forest. Tigers crossing roads are a common sight during jungle safaris in this area, but a tiger confronting humans — not so much. It was a regular Wednesday for the tourists as they moved in terrain vehicles and for the workers engaged in removing forest grass until they spotted a lone tiger approaching them. A tiger cub strays into a zone frequented by humans at Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, near Nagpur in Maharashtra on Wednesday. *This image is copyright of its original author The vehicles’ engines were turned off, a protocol followed in forests in order to allow animals to cross the road unagitated. The workers took shelter behind the Gypsy cars fearing for their lives. Workers who were engaged in cutting grass at the reserve forest take refuge behind a tourist vehicle. *This image is copyright of its original author The lone tiger, later identified as a 15-month old male cub, appeared to have ventured out in search of food. Much to their relief, it left out the humans and headed towards the area where workers had stacked their lunch-boxes and water-bottles. The tiger cub moves toward the food packets kept aside by workers. *This image is copyright of its original author The tiger cub chose its favourite, a foodie bag... The tiger cub moves away with a lunch bag. *This image is copyright of its original author ...and quietly walked away with it to rejoin its group.The sub-adult tiger cub on his stay back. *This image is copyright of its original author Human-animal conflict is a long-standing issue in the Tadoba Andhari area. In May, a 45-year-old man working at the Tadoba Tiger Reserve was mauled to death by a tiger. There are over 50 villages surrounding the forest and most residents of the area are tribals. The Maharashtra government is in the process of relocating them in a bid to reduce human movement in the area. At the same time, tourism is a buzzing industry here, making the place more prone to such conflicts. He shared his new toys with his siblings. *This image is copyright of its original author
 (12-10-2017, 04:07 PM)Spalea Wrote: @Rishi : Most people who see tigers almost every now & then developed an understanding of their behaviour. Still Maharastra FD diligently taught them how to act. Notice how they just barely step on the jeep & the rest huddle-up behind it. Everybody seems calm & composed.
Tiger gatecrashes wedding in MP; runs off to Maharastra
Dec 14, 2017, 11:40 IST A cctv image captured the tiger casually rotting through the venue.  *This image is copyright of its original author NAGPUR: A full-grown male tiger from Madhya Pradesh's Katangi forest area, broke into a wedding reception in full swing before entering the Nakadongri range in Bhandara forest division of Maharastra, where it injured a woman, two days ago. The area is adjoining Pench Tiger Reserve. The couple are going to remember their wedding all too well, as a big cat entered into their wedding reception in MP. Later it moved away in Maharastra. Around 5am on Wednesday, it attacked Shantabai Zingru Karkade of Sundartola village who had gone to answer nature's call. She has been admitted at a government hospital in Tumsar. Bhandara forest officials and wildlife NGOs monitoring the big cat say the tiger stays close to human settlements and is attracted to light. Balaghat (MP) chief conservator of forests (CCF) Dhirendra Bhargava admits it is a "bold" tiger that even walks through village roads. He added that a team had been monitoring the tiger since this monsoon but said the tiger's past could not be traced. "It is possible that it has been pushed out of its territory by a younger tiger," he said. The tiger not being afraid of humans was evident when it sneaked into a marriage reception in Masulkhapa village in MP and caused panic. "The reception was on when the tiger entered the pandal. Villagers shouted and ran helter-skelter, before finally driving away the tiger towards the forest," said a volunteer of Bhandara's Save Ecosystem And Tiger. Bhandara deputy conservator of forests Vivek Hoshing said a seven-member committee has been constituted under him to monitor the tiger. He said three separate teams are monitoring the tiger. "The behaviour of the tiger seems unusual," said Hoshing. 
Motorcyclists almost got killed by 2 wild tigers in India (Tadoba). But they are saved by the people sitting in the car, jeep or SUV. When these tourist where filming the tiger, they saw a motorcyclist stopped on the the road due to tiger. They stopped, but suddenly another tiger from behind came down and start crouching. Then these 2 tigers start observing them even more closely. Luckily the Jeep and car owners realize this can be fatal for the 2 person sitting on the bike and they came to provide them protection so that they can go safely. Amazing video
(01-25-2018, 03:07 PM)sanjay Wrote: Motorcyclists almost got killed by 2 wild tigers in India (Tadoba). But they are saved by the people sitting in the car, jeep or SUV. When these tourist where filming the tiger, they saw a motorcyclist stopped on the the road due to tiger. They stopped, but suddenly another tiger from behind came down and start crouching. Then these 2 tigers start observing them even more closely. Luckily the Jeep and car owners realize this can be fatal for the 2 person sitting on the bike and they came to provide them protection so that they can go safely. Amazing video Recent footage? Amazing video indeed... Tragedy was averted buy luck (the tigers looked like sub-adults) & the good judgement of the driver. FD should take note now, before it's too late. The guys acted excellently, holding their ground & kept their calm but committed a potentially fatal mistake by turning their back on the cats. A few workshops about that & distribution of pocket fire-crackers should save many lives.
About #53: Although knowing how to react efficiently in front of lions or tigers as people seem to be trained to be this way, you must have nerves of steel. In this case, in front of dubious tigers, even sub adult, the slightest mistake could be fatal. Fortunately the driver of the car...
After 22 deaths in 14 months, PTR to adopt Gir methods to deal with man-animal conflict
Keshav Agrawal | TNN | Updated: Jan 26, 2018 Almost 70% of India's man-tiger conflict takes place in & around Pilibhit.  *This image is copyright of its original author PILIBHIT: After 22 people were mauled to death by tigers in and around Pilibhit tiger reserve in the past 14 months, the forest officials here have decided to adopt methods of Gir National Park in Gujarat to reduce man-animal conflict in the region. In Gir, which is home to 650 lions and about similar number of leopards, incidents of big cats attacking and killing humans are rare. An action plan being prepared by Adarsh Kumar, divisional director of social forestry, who had been sent to Gir by the state forest administration recently, will soon be sent to the state authorities for their approval. According to Kumar, authorities in Gir have succeeded in overcoming the situation of man-animal conflict by ensuring that its well-equipped Quick Response Teams (QRTs) of trained and experienced wildlife officials are on call round-the-clock The teams have adequate trained rescue staff who are equipped with nets, cages, tranquilizing guns, live baits and dart guns besides effective means of mobility, Kumar said. "The Gir forest authorities have an independent rescue department and the power to grant permission to tranquilize any big cat has been delegated up to the level of conservator there. Due to separate entity of rescue department, the teams are free to focus their exclusive attention on rescue operations with absolute preparedness," Kumar said. "Lions in Gir pose no threat to villagers even when they move out of the forest area but leopards frequently barge into rural habitation in search of domestic cattle as prey. Despite this, the situation has never turned alarming as the QRTs trap one leopard there almost every two days," Kumar said. Gir has an well trained & equipped QRT system.  *This image is copyright of its original author By providing full security to the people living around Gir, the QTRs have won both trust and cooperation of the community, said the social forestry official. This in turn helps in practical application of rescue strategies without any resistance by villagers. Comparing PTR with Gir, Kumar said, "The major drawback we face in Pilibhit in conducting rescue operations is the unprecedented aggression of villagers over any incident of a tiger straying into village areas. This is due to delay in our rescue operations which is influenced by lack of infrastructure, absence of separate QRTs and shortage of field force among other things." On being asked about the proposed action plan, he said he would seek requisition of at least one independent QRT comprising four to five persons, including one dart shooter, for each of the five ranges of PTR and three of social forestry division. One additional QRT would be deployed in Amaria block area where five tigers have been living for the past five years, he added. PTR had 48 tigers as per last census. 
[video=facebook]https://www.facebook.com/video.php=v1861553957197433[/video]
Another big cat in dire trouble - BRAZIL Here is a video taken from the Brazil Police website showing villagers who have captured this beautiful rare black jaguar. Brazil police have been onto this 2 days ago, but atm there is no update on this . What a magnificent beautiful creature What a brutal display by human beings..... https://www.facebook.com/cee4life.org/po...3957197433  *This image is copyright of its original author German tourist mauled by leopard in Namibia’s Kuiseb CanyonPosted on 16 April, 2018 A German couple touring Namibia lived through the horror of a leopard attack in the Kuiseb Canyon yesterday morning (Thursday, 12th April) that left Hardy Specker (61) in a critical condition. Specker and Petra Windmeisser had been in Namibia for the past two weeks, and after spending time at Swakopmund, they left through the Namib Naukluft Park three days ago. On Wednesday, they decided to overnight in the Kuiseb Canyon, about three hours from Walvis Bay. Windmeisser told The Namibian yesterday afternoon that around 01h00 yesterday morning when Specker was closing the camper window, a leopard jumped up the side of the van and caught him by the head with its claws and mouth. A fight for Specker’s life ensued when he was hanging halfway out the window as the big cat tried to pull him out while Windmeisser was pulling from the inside. “The struggle went on for some minutes. Hardy eventually managed to stick his fingers into the leopard’s eyes, which caused it to let him go. I then managed to pull him in. There was blood everywhere,” she recalled. Specker’s scalp was torn from the skull, while his shoulder and arms were shredded. He also had a wound on his throat. The couple stayed in their camper, too scared to do anything because the leopard had jumped on the roof at times and moved around the vehicle for the remainder of the night. “Specker was losing a lot of blood, but he remained conscious. We screamed and made noise and used light, but the animal remained there,” she said. Around 07h00, farmers saw the distressing scene and chased the leopard away. They managed to help the couple and summoned EMed Rescue to meet them halfway. They were taken to the Welwitschia Private Hospital at Walvis Bay, where Specker immediately underwent surgery. Windmeisser said they hope to leave Namibia as soon as possible for him to receive medical treatment at home in Germany. https://africageographic.com/blog/german-tourist-mauled-leopard-namibias-kuiseb-canyon/ |
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