Order of the National Green Tribunal in the matter of In Re: News Item titled "Nayar river is vanishing - a yatra reveals conservation goes beyond science and policy" appearing in ‘The Down To Earth’ dated 03.06.2025. The original application was registered suo-motu based on the news item titled "Nayar …
IT'S DARK, almost midnight, and in the darkness a torch flashes light over the dark waters of Paraguay. The global detective is lying in waiting for the crime to take place. All is silent except for the gentle sound of the waves. Then, in the space of a second, the …
THE sharp decline in frog and toad populations worldwide has disturbed amphibian watchers (BBC Wildlife, March 1994). The findings of the Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force, a network set up by the Species Survival Commission of the World Conservation Union, reveal that amphibians are struggling for survival all the way …
ONCE upon a time, the beautiful blackbuck (Antelope cervicapra) lorded over the Velavadar National Park in Gujarat. But in the early '80s, the blackbuck's territorial sovereignty was challenged by a formidable enemy -- the wolf (Canis lupus pallipes). Earlier, the wolves had been casual visitors to the park; the past …
TRADITIONAL systems of biological resource use are staging a comeback after having taken a beating from the invasion of technology, capital intensive systems of use and catastrophic erosion of our biological resource base. The time is now ripe to consider the feasibility of promoting traditional systems in terms of tangible …
A PARROT is a gloriously long-lived thing, often chalking up half a century -- but only in its own wild kingdom. Make an apparently brattish pet out of it and its life stalls and plunges to 5 years, says the United Kingdom's Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA). The EIA has conducted …
ABOHAR Wildlife Sanctuary in Punjab is not your average preserve. The 18,700 ha sanctuary - situated 15 km from Abohar town in Ferozepur district - is spread over 13 villages and is one of only two private reserves in India. The other is the Abubshahar sanctuary in Haryana. And, there …
In February, the third blackbuck census was carried out in Abohar Wildlife Sanctuary in Punjab. The first two censuses were held in 1978 and 1986. Says chief wildlife warden of Punjab, Gurmit Singh, "The state government sanctioned the Rs 25,000 we had applied for, so we decided to carry it …
The plans of the International Airports Authority of India (IAAI) to use trained falcons to scare away birds that pose a risk to aircraft near airports has run into rough weather. IAAI's move, based on a similar experiment conducted successfully at Heathrow a couple of years ago, seems to be …
THE FAILURE of the Siberian cranes to pay their annual migratory visit, in mid-November, to the Keoladeo Ghana National Park in Bharatpur is fuelling anxiety that these birds may be on the brink of extinction. The number of Siberian cranes coming to Bharatpur has declined steadily since 1969. In 1964, …
A BHUTANESE princess, Deiky Wang-chuck, was arrested in Taiwan for trying to smuggle 22 Asian rhinoceros horns into the country, in the largest ever seizure of such horns (New Scientist, October 16, 1993). Taiwanese authorities say Wang-chuck admitted she expected to sell the horn -- weighing 14 kgs -- for …
IN BUT one example of the heady new world opening up to civilian scientists after the end of the Cold War, biologists used the US navy's formerly top secret underwater listening devices to track a blue whale for 43 days. Marine biologist Adam S Frankel said the surveillance system has …
Wildlife officials recently disclosed they had confiscated a 100 kg consignment of the wool of the endangered Tibetan antelope in June. The contraband, which was seized in New Delhi, had been smuggled in from Nepal. Authorities estimate 2,000 kg of the wool was smuggled into Leh and Srinagar last year, …
THOUGH under increasing pressure from conservation groups, Kathmandu is yet to impose a moratorium on giving away baby rhinoceroses to friendly countries as gifts. Animal lovers contend the government is actually selling the animals, because they are being shown as gifts against payments for rehabilitation and conservation. Conservation groups also …
ALASKAN authorities seeking to rebuild the state's dwindling caribou herds have decided to allow airborne slaying of wolves to the extent that their population is halved. But beset by protests by US wildlife enthusiasts, such as the New York-based Fund for Animals, the helicopter proposal has been temporarily grounded. The …
THE JUNGLES of Vietnam hide a hitherto undescribed mammal. Basing their claim on remains such as skins, skulls and teeth recovered from local hunters, zoologists reckon an adult specimen of the mysterious mammal -- named Pseudoryx nghetnhensis -- weighs about 100 kg, is 80-90 cm high at the shoulder and …
THE POPULAR fish, Palla, or Ilish as it is known in Bangladesh, is an endangered species, says a Panos Features report quoting Mirza Arshad Beg, former chairperson of the Pakistan Council for Scientific and Industrial Research. Beg says dams have restricted the fish's movement in the last few decades and, …
WITH ITS long, angular body, supple spine and cleat-like claws, the cheetah can chase down a car, speeding at over 115 km an hour. But its specialised aerodynamics are also precipitating its extinction. Take, for example, Namibia, which has the world's largest cheetah population, but where the species has declined …
IN US President Bill Clinton's nightmares, an endangered owl species must play a starring role, for he is trapped in the dilemma of protecting it or the jobs of thousands of loggers. The spotted owl once haunted his predecessor, George Bush, but Bush decided in favour of the timber interests …
"MARBLE, no; water, yes," shouted demonstrators at a recent rally in Kathmandu, demanding an immediate end to quarrying in the Godavari hills of the picturesque valley in which the capital nestles. The rally organised by Kathmandu Upatyaka Batabaran Bachau Andolan, warned the agitation would intensify if the government did not …
UNCONTROLLED commercial exploitation is threatening the extinction of about 50 Indian orchid species, including such popular ones as jewel orchids and lady slipper orchids (Current Science, Vol 63, No 12). Though orchids have vast commercial potential, mass multiplication techniques have not been implemented in India. This has resulted in rapid …
