<p>Order of the Supreme Court in the matter of M K Ranjitsinh & Others Vs Union of India & Others dated 21/03/2024. The matter related to protection of Great Indian Bustard (GIB) and Lesser Florican.</p>
Walk down the narrow bylanes of Shahpur in the Walled City and you might hear the chatter of lovebirds. If you show some interest, a young man will tell you
Buy a home in Shahibaug and get peacocks for free! This is one of the USPs listed in those glossy realty brochures. Imagine having the national bird perch on the balcony of your high-rise apartment and peck at chapatis. The similar sight of a langur though may not be that inviting. But a census conducted by urban wildlife in Ahmedabad shows that the city is home to over 4,000 peafowls and over 2,000 langurs. So adapted has the peafowl become to urban infrastructure that it can now nest on rooftops, weather sheds and corners of gardens. As for langurs, they have learnt to cross the road, without getting their tail under speeding wheels! This was revealed during a population estimation carried out by the forest department in various parts of the city. The estimation also revealed that both langurs and peafowl have adapted to food eaten by humans. Officials involved in the population estimation say that in the census conducted in 1998 there was just 1,500 peacocks in the city, but in 2004 they had risen to 4,193 peacocks, a record growth of 280 per cent. And now it could have risen even further. The 2004 survey also revealed that the city also had a good number of wild animals like civets, mongooses, fruit bats and white backed vulture. The city was demarcated into five zones covering an area of 220 sq km. The Walled City area, which is congested and barely has green patches had 41 per cent of the peafowl inhabiting in it, besides the cantonment area in Shahibaug. Western parts of the city, which are also the posh areas, reported around 1,500 peafowl. Officials doing the survey also received complaints of the menace this urban wildlife had become, although there is a section of the city which follows a tradition of feeding these wild animals. Many times, peahens which usually nest on treetops were found nesting on rooftops or garages. Deputy conservator of forest, Amit Kumar said that the wildlife in the city is migratory by nature. "Whenever the area inhabited by these wildlife is used for construction, they migrate to another place where there is greenery around.' He said that food is one factor which is also keeping these animals within the city limit. Chief conservator of forest, (research) HS Singh says, "The animals in the city usually have a sense of security which they do not have in the jungle. Wild cats and leopards are a threat to the peacock. Monkeys also find themselves secure and have adapted themselves to the human environment and their eating habits.' CHANGE OF NATURE 66 pc of peacocks found in city are in their natural habitat, 19 pc in industrial zone and only 15 pc in residential areas. Peafowl and Langurs are used to noise, air pollution and human activities Peahens have adapted to new nesting sites like rooftops, weater sheds, corners of gardens. Langurs have developed a sense of cautiousness while negotiating traffic on the road.
A 10-km stretch around the Nal Sarovar bird sanctuary has been declared as an Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) as per the Supreme Court guidelines for conserving wildlife. Nal Sarovar sanctuary is spread over 120 sq km and thus a total of 197 sq km on its periphery will be declared as eco-sensitive, which means all activity that could harm the sanctuary will be prevented.
Livestock officials culled 95,000 chickens at the bird flu-infected poultry farm at city's Uttar Badda as the culling continued for the second consecutive day yesterday. The government, meantime, decided to set up 16 more laboratories in the country next month for testing and identifying bird flu viruses as more and more areas are coming under avian influenza infestation.
Endangered: Poaching, poisoning has threatened the survival of the peacock. Information gathering on the status of the India's national bird, the peacock, is to be intensified in the wake of increasing concern over their numbers and the absence of any base data on them. The status assessment, initiated by the Endangered Species Management Department of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in 2004, is still underway.
For many nature lovers leading busy lives, Sunday's Mumbai Bird Race 2008 was a pleasant change. Starting 6 am, nearly 350 professional and amateur bird watchers from all over Mumbai, Alibaug, and some even as far as Pune set out to sight the winged species found around the city. Armed with binoculars, bird guide books and log books, the bird watchers spent the entire day observing, studying and making notes.
The highway from Pune to Ahmednagar is an interesting one. Farmers in traditional white peaked caps zip past you, some in fancy new cars. Signs of prosperity are apparent, although the region battled with severe drought just a couple of years ago. A few kilometres down the highway, beyond the small town of Chikrapur, a left turn reveals the road that leads to our destination
Human infections of bird flu have been entirely avian in origin and reflect strains circulating locally among poultry and wild birds.
A pull of the neck and then a twist is all that is needed to bring silent death to a hen or a duck. In scientific terms, the bird
It is ironical that bird flu should deal a crippling blow to the West Bengal countryside shortly after the Government of India declared that the country was free from the scourge.
