TREE HOUSE IN SASAN GIR FOREST

Cheetahs fall ill at Sakkar Baug Zoo in Junagadh, removed from public view

Express News Service Posted online: Tuesday , Feb 02, 2010 at 0537 hrs

Rajkot : Sakkar baug Zoo in Junagadh, which has the distinction of housing two pairs of African Cheetahs, has removed the felines from public view due to illness.

The animals have been put under critical care for the second time since their arrival from Singapore in March 2009. Zoo officials said on Monday that three of the four cheetahs — a male and two females— have taken ill, and that the condition of one of them is critical.

Zoo Superintendent Y J Rana said the animals have developed infection in the respiratory system and swelling in the liver. Besides local veterinarians, an expert from Anand has been called in. They are also in constant touch with experts from the Singapore Zoo.

Sources, meanwhile, said that two cheetahs have responded well to the treatment and have reportedly started taking food, while one has not taken food for the last two days.

The state government had brought the four felines from Singapore in exchange of three Asiatic lions. To take proper care of the animals, zoo officials were imparted training in Africa and Singapore.

Gir National Park – Home of the Asiatic Lion!!

Gir National Park – Home of the Asiatic Lion!!

Sunday, 4 October, 2009

Of days gone by...this January during my solo all India motorcycle journey…

Gir National Park, which is the only abode of the rare Asiatic lion is situated in the south west of the Saurashtra peninsula. The Gir forest, stretching over an expanse of 1,412 sq km, is one of the largest tracts of dry deciduous forests in the world. The entire landscape is drained by seven perennial rivers. A large chunk of the forest land falls under what is known as the Deccan trap, one of the largest volcanic provinces in the world. Thanks to volcanic rocks, the area has black cotton soil and sandstone. After relaxing a couple of days at Diu, I took sparsely populated country roads to reach Sasan Gir to begin my tour of the world of the rare Asiatic lion. Sasan Gir is a dusty and badly managed one-road stretch where most of the hotels and restaurants do business. The buses and the fish carts run chaos here. But, since I was here to enjoy the exotic wildlife here, I tried to forget my dusty surroundings and checked into the budget hotel “Rajashri Guest House’ that is opposite the Sinh Sadan Guest House, the forest department run tourism centre. During my 3 day stay here, I took 3 morning and 2 evening safaris into different parts of the Gir Jungle. One can get their entry tickets, book their forest guides and book the jungle safaris at the reception desk in the Sinh Sadan Guest House. A lot of tourist guides here are of African origin and they share the buffer zone of the Gir forests with the lions and the other jungle denizens. As history goes, the Nawab of Junagadh ordered a lot of slaves from Africa during his merry days. Today, these folks are as much an Indian citizen as the rest of India and enjoy the privileges that the Indian citizenship offers. Having been in India for generations, these guys speak Hindi and Gujarati fluently, but still retain their native dialects and scripts. Recently, these folks of African origin





were made popular by the Bajaj Discover TV advertisement. Each jungle safari offered me sights of different breathtaking beauties and thus added variety in spice. It was the very first morning safari (Route 5) and I was just 15 minutes into our drive when I spotted 2 male Asiatic lions (brothers) slowly ambling in front of the jeep and on the soft ground. As we know, most of the felines have sensitive paws and thus prefer to walk on the soft mud-covered jeep tracks. I stood transfixed in my jeep admiring this proud and powerful species. I was hoping to hear them roar, but it looked like these lion brothers in front of me were happy to take a leisurely morning stroll. Locals here told me that an adult lion’s roar can be heard till as far away as 9 kilometres from the lion. Now isn’t that some mighty roar!! The Gir forest has an estimated 352 lions. But, the story here is that these 352 lions share the same gene pool as they were bred from less than 20 specimens. What this means is that a single epidemic, to which these lions are exposed could wipe out the species entirely! I went to different parts of this jungle. Whether it be dry scrub land (Route 5), yellow grass land (Route 6) or the green terrain near Kamleshwar dam, Gir is extremely rich in wildlife and is a birdwatcher’s paradise. The bold pride of lions, a jackal basking in the early morning golden sun, a crested serpent eagle (female) guarding its nest, the very exquisite looking painted sand grouse, the national bird of India – the peacock, a scampering ruddy mongoose, scores of nilgai, sambar deer, spotted deer and other birds is what I got to see at this amazing place. After my first morning trip where I spotted the lion brothers, I wasn’t able to sight any more of this rare beauty till my 5th and final jungle safari (Route 6). This happened to be the evening shift. It was late in the evening close to dusk hours when I spotted a lioness and her female cub. My forest guide told me that the female cub was no older than 2 years, but till date I doubt his judgement as I was awed at the sheer power that the female cub oozed even at such a young age. The overall wildlife experience was fabulous for me, but the only thing that pinched my heart were the umpteen smoke belching small scale industries that have propped up around the boundaries. These small scale industries not only increase the air and water pollution levels, but also bring in a larger population. Hopefully, the government will prevent the Gir forest and the pride of Gujarat from any further degradation. Following were the mammals I spotted during my 3 day stint here: Asiatic Lion, Asiatic Lioness and her cubs, Jackal, Ruddy Mongoose, Common Mongoose, Common Langaur, Nilgai (Bluebull), Spotted Deer (Chital), Sambar deer, and Wild Boar. Following were the birds I spotted during my 3 day stint here: Shikra, Blue cheeked bee eater, Peacock, White-breasted kingfisher, Rose-ringed parakeet, Asian Robin, Spotted Owlet, Common Buzzard, Oriental Tree Pipit, Rufus tree pie, Red Vented Bulbul, Red Wattled Lapwing, Darter, Small Blue Kingfisher, Indian Pond Heron, White-Breasted Kingfisher, Crested Serpent Eagle (female), Purple Sunbird, Oriental White Eye, Common Tailor Bird, Yellow Legged Green Pigeon, Little Cormorant, Common Babbler, Black Ibis, Little Egret, Eurasian thick knee, Painted Sand grouse and Little brown dove. To see India through the eyes of a motorcyclist’s lens, visit the album below.

Will CM gift forest land to industry?

Will CM gift forest land to industry?

DNA By Kapil Dave

In a major setback to decades of forest and wildlife conservation efforts in Gujarat, the state government may decide today to de-notify hundreds of hectares of forest land in four sanctuary areas of Gujarat. If chief minister Narendra Modi approves the Gujarat Wildlife Board's agenda, there will be a severe threat of industrial and human activity in Gujarat's four prime forest areas - the Wild Ass Sanctuary in the Little Rann of Kutch, Girnar Wildlife Sanctuary, Velavadar Black Buck Sanctuary and Narayan Sarovar Bird Sanctuary.

Highly placed sources told DNA on Friday that influential industrial houses are likely to have their way if the forest department and the Board don't vehemently oppose the move. Highly placed sources expressed profound sorrow about the fact that "Gujarat's wildlife is facing major problems like poaching and increased human and industrial activity, but the Board is pressing for discussion on 11 issues, of which a majority are proposals of industries to take away forest land."

The board has proposed diversion of 89.74 hectare land in the Wild Ass Sanctuary for the power transmission line of Adani Power Ltd and 241.59 hectare land for Power Grid Corporation's transmission lines. It has also proposed diversion of 7.28 hectare land for Usha Breco Ltd for ropeway construction in Girnar Sanctuary; 4.40 hectare land from Velavadar black buck Sanctuary for Gujarat State Road Development Corporation (GSRDC) for construction of a six-lane Sarkhej-Vataman-Bhavnagar central spine road; 0.315 ha land diversion for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd for laying of fibre optic lines in Balaram-Ambaji Sanctuary, 0.45 ha land diversion for Vodafone Gujarat Limited for laying of fibre optics in Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary and 0.45 ha land diversion for Reliance Communication Gujarat Ltd in Narayan Sarovar Sanctuary.

Ironically, the state government on Friday admitted in the assembly that because of increasingly serious man-animal conflict in Gir and Dangs forests, 23 people had lost their lives in the last two years. It also admitted during the ongoing assembly session to charges of misuse of land allotted in Gir.Highly placed sources in the government said, "The State Wildlife Board will hold a meeting, to be chaired by chief minister Narendra Modi, on July 4 at the Secretariat. The main agenda of the meeting is to give land in protected sanctuaries to various private companies for commercial use." The other items on the agenda include a presentation on wildlife, formation of Leo-genetic lab for Gir lions, modern communication facilities for the management and protection of the animals in Gir and erecting of walls on the two sides of the road in Gir sanctuary.

However, the forest department prefers to remain quiet about the move to de-notify the forest land which it is supposed to protect! Principal chief conservator of forests ML Sharma was not reachable, while PCCF (wildlife) Pradeep Khanna refused to comment

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_will-cm-gift-forest-land-to-industry_1270959

The Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica)

The Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica)

The Asiatic Lion (Panthera leo persica) is a subspecies of the lion which survives today only in the Gir Forest of Gujarat, India where it is also known as the Indian lion or Persian lion. In 2005, the Gujarat government reported that 359 Asiatic lions were sighted in the Gir forest The Asiatic lions once ranged from the Mediterranean to the north-eastern parts of the Indian subcontinent, but excessive hunting, water pollution and decline in natural prey reduced their habitat. Historically, Asiatic lions were classified into three kinds – Bengal, Arabian and Persian lions. Asiatic lion are smaller and less aggressive than their African counterparts. Asiatic lions are similar to African forms, though they have less swollen tympanic bullae, shorter postorbital constriction, and usually have divided infraorbital foramen. The colour ranges from reddish-brown to a highly mottled black to sandy cinnamon grey.

In adult males, the maximum skull length is 330-340 mm, while that of females is 266-277 mm. They reach a weight of 150-220 Kg. for the males and 100-150 Kg. (n=2) for the females. The scientific record for the longest male is of 292 cm, while the maximum height to the shoulders reported is of 107 cm. The Captain Smee hunted a male of 268 cm long, which weight 222.3 kg, excluding the entrails. The largest known wild male, in the hunting records, was exactly 3 m (9.9 ft) in length.

Scope of a second home for Gir lions remains mired

SCOPE OF A SECOND FOR GIR LIONS REMAINS MIRED
New Delhi (IANS): India's Asiatic lions are the most vulnerable of all the big cats as they live in a single area in Gujarat, making them prone to diseases as well as other threats, and yet calls for creating a second home by the scientific community have been repeatedly ignored, say experts.

The sprawling Gir National Park in western India is home to some 350 Asiatic lions, the last refuge for these cats. In the past, the lions had roamed in almost the entire Central Asia.

The Wildlife Institute of India (WII), a leading scientific organisation, recommended the Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh for setting up a second home for the Gir lions.

But the Gujarat government rejected the proposal, saying it lacks scientific backing and security.

Experts believe Kuno in central India is part of the lion's historical home range.

Gujarat says if Madhya Pradesh cannot protect their tigers, how can they protect the lions.

Supreme Court lawyer Ritwick Dutta, who has taken up the case filed by the Biodiversity Conservation Trust of India, a Delhi-based NGO, in the Supreme Court for transfer of the lions, told IANS: "If the issue is not resolved, there would be a huge economic loss."

"The 24 villages that were inside the Kuno reserve have been resettled elsewhere to make room for the Gir lions and an estimated Rs.15 crore has been spent on the project," said Mr. Dutta.

However, with the recent admission by the Madhya Pradesh government that there are no tigers left in the Panna reserve, it might just assure the Gujarat government of its case.

But Faiyaz Khudsar, a wildlife biologist who heads the NGO and has worked in Kuno for the lion relocation programme, says, "Wild animals confined to a single area can spell death knell to their long-term survival, and this has been proved by science."

"Some years ago in Serengeti National Park in Tanzania, at least 25 per cent of the African lion population there was wiped out due to the canine distemper disease, (a fatal viral disease) and the rest of the lions fell sick. This shows how a single epidemic can wipe out the entire lion population in the park," said Mr. Khudsar.

The Serengeti Park, a Unesco World Heritage site, is spread across more than 14,000 sq km, whereas Gir has an area of just over 1,000 sq km. Despite the sprawling size of Serengeti, the African lions fell to the onslaught of the viral disease, he maintains.

Besides, inbreeding over a period of time can render a population confined to a single area genetically weak, as they don't get the chance to mate with stronger partners from other geographical areas, making them more prone to diseases, he said.

Gir lions are also threatened by poaching, man-animal conflict and accidents. Many lions have died recently after falling into the wells created to provide water for flora and fauna of the park.

"If Gujarat says that there is a security issue in Kuno, then why are the lions straying out of Gir. Some of the lions are even reaching Daman and Diu," said Mr. Khudsar.

"The only solution left is to create different populations in different areas. The geographical barriers might help the lions evolve stronger genes in the near future that would ensure their long-term survival," he explains.

Source: http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200906220982.htm

FM provides for gene pools in budget

FM provides for gene pools in budget
Gujarat Samachar
Briefly translated from Gujarati

Finance Minister of Gujarat Shree Vajubhai Vala today presented the budget for the year 2009-10. In this budget he has generously provided Rs. 8 crores (1.7 Mn dollars) for gene pools at Sakkarbaug, Rampara and Umat in Rajkot district. This is a praise worth step by state Govt. in conservation of Asiatic lions.