The Dhole or Asiatic Wild dog Cuon alpinus is a highly social and cooperative animal, living in organised packs of around 10 individuals and occasionally over 30. The best remaining populations are probably confined to the wildlife reserves and protected areas in central and southern India, but even their
Recent news that the Indian Central Government, in the first meeting of the National Ganga River Basin Authority, chaired by the Hon. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had decided to declare the Ganges dolphin, Platanista gangetica gangetica, as national aquatic animal was most welcome to cetacean specialists and enthusiasts and environmentalists generally.
Today, climate change is the most potentially dangerous environmental threat facing human beings and other life forms. The impact of climate change will be particularly severe in the tropical areas such as South Asia. South Asian countries already face tremendous pressure due to increased population growth, urbanization, industrialization and other economic developments.
The Asiatic Lion has been of concern for many years as the population is said to have diminished to a scant twenty to one hundred or so animals. Previoulsy, reintroduction and translocation efforts had been undertaken to try and establish another population but these efforts were not successful due to lack of proper planning and methodology. Recent research has underscored the speculation that even the wild population may be suffering from inbreeding depression. July 2007
A question that quizzes the minds of senior and field officials of Wildlife Wing of Madhya Pradesh as well as those of the knowledgeable visitors to the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary is to why tigers are mere occasional transients and are not establishing even as a small poulation to start with, given the high habitat productivity, the excellent availability of thermal and breeding shelters and the abundant prey base. July 2007
Isolated populations of endangered species are at much greater risk compared to populations that are well distributed. The risk is even more acute if the species in question survives as a single, small population confined to a single locality. Currently Asiatic lions (Panthera leo persica) are up against precisely such odds. July 2007
