Environment (Species)

8/12/2019 Environment (Species)

1/18

Author: Harish Sharma

Endangered Species in India

1

MaterialIAS


2/18

INDEX

Amur Falcons Bustards

Vulture Cheetah Asiatic Lion Gangetic Dolphin Olive Riley Turtle Indian Elephants

2

34

68

10

121416


3/18

Amur Falcons Every year, from October to November, a large number of Amur

Falcons arrive in the northeast, especially in Nagaland, from South-eastern Siberia and Northern China en route to their final destination Somalia, Kenya and South Africa.

Amur Falcons travel up to 22,000 km a year known to be one of thelongest distance migration of birds.

An estimated 120,000-140,000 migrating Amur Falcons are though tobe killed in one week in Nagaland, NE India.

The birds are trapped in nets and are later skinned and smoked, and

sold locally for consumption. India is a signatory to the Convention on Migratory Species whichmeans it is duty-bound to prevent this massacre, provide safe passage,as well as draw up appropriate action plans for the long-termconservation of this bird.

Five-day mission to satellite-track Amur Falcons in Nagaland

The five-day mission, has taken place in Nov 2013 in collaboration with scientists from the Wildlife Institute ofIndia Dehradun, the Programme Officer - Birds of Prey (Raptors), the Ministry of Environment and Forests, theConvention on Migratory Species, the United Nations Environment Programme, the Environment Agency-AbuDhabi, and the Nagaland Forest Department.,

The team of scientists tagged five Amur Falcons with satellite transmitters in the Doyang area of Wokha district.This is done to have a comprehensive understanding of the seasonal migration patterns of Amur Falcons forpreparing a Conservation Action Plan for the species.

3 MaterialIASFor more E-books, visit http://www.ebay.in/usr/materialias or mail us at [email protected]


4/18

4

Bustards

1260

745600

300125

1969 1978 2000 2010 2013

Great Indian Bustards

A bustard is a large heavy-bodied chieflyterrestrial game bird.

There are four bustard species found in India Three of them, the Great Indian Bustard, the

Lesser Florican and the Bengal Florican areendemic to the grasslands of India and are onthe brink of extinction.

The fourth one is Houbara, a migratory species. The Great Indian Bustard is currently listed

under the category of Critically Endangeredbirds, in the 2013 Threatened Bird list by theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN).

MaterialIASFor more E-books, visit http://www.ebay.in/usr/materialias or mail us at [email protected]


5/18

5

Great Indian Bustard and Lesser Florican got Shonkaliya region to breed The endangered birds, Great Indian Bustard and Lesser Florican have got a dedicated land for breeding in

the Shonkaliya Region of Ajmer District, Rajasthan .

The villagers of Ajmer District have agreed to conserve 30 hectares of land for the breeding activity of theseendangered birds.

The Lesser Floricans are available in a large number as compared to the Great Indian Bustards in the region. This move of conservation of the Lesser Floricans and the Great Indian Bustard is an initiative to use MNREGA,

the job guarantee scheme of the central government as a conservative tool. From 1st May to 30th September entry of cattle as well as people will be restricted in the protected land.

BustardsSignificant threats to the Great Indian Bustard

Reduction in the extent of undisturbed arid grassland habitat

Degradation and disturbance in existing grassland habitat Hunting Lack of importance for natural grassland conservation in policy, law and PA

network due to incorrect perception on ecological value vis-a-vis forests Lack of protection for many lekking and nesting sites Lack of cooperation between different departments/stakeholders in GIB

habitats Lack of awareness and support from local communities Livestock overgrazing and feral dogs Disturbance by photographers there is now enough anecdotal evidence

to show that photography of the species causes significant disturbance



6/18

6

VultureInternational Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has put vultures on its list of critically endangered species.

Vulture numbers decreased in India from 4 crore in the early 80s to less than 1 lakh in 2011.The three most common species of vultures and there approx. numbers in the India are: Long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus), also known as the Indian vulture (44,000) White-backed vulture (Gyps africanus) (11,000) Slender-billed vulture (Gyps tenuirostris) (1,000)

Diclofenac , a painkilling drug administered tocattle, is the main cause of mass extinction ofvultures.

Vultures, which have a digestive system robustenough to even digest disease-causing pathogensfound in rotting meat of dead, do not have acritical enzyme that breaks downdiclofenac and die of renal failure after eatingcarcasses of cattle administered the drug.

Vultures feeding on cattle either die from acutekidney failure within a few days or lose their abilityto reproduce.



7/18

7

VultureAs per a recent report by the Bombay Natural History Society (BHNS) rapid decline in the number ofcritically endangered Indian vultures has stopped. Indias vulture population has risen for the first timein last 20 years, after a sharp decline in their numbers by more than 99%.

Vulture estaurants The Gadchiroli forest division has come up with the unique idea

of feeding the scavenger population to save them from thebrink of extinction

Presently there are 3 Vulture Restaurants' in Gadchiroli forestdivision at Marakbodi, Madetukum and Nimgaon.

Also, machans are constructed near Yeoli and Navegaon toprovide safe food and to protect the dead carcass from straydogs.

People inform the forest department in case of the death of ananimal in their village and the department after testing the

dead animal and paying monetary benefits to the owner of theanimal and informer transports it to the vulture restaurant.

Apart from this, whenever a vulture nesting is found,conservation measures like providing safe food near nestingtrees, constant protection from all sorts of disturbances, etc.,are put in place without delay.



8/18

8

Cheetah Until the 20th century, the Asiatic cheetah was quite common and roamed all the way from Arabia to Iran,

Afghanistan and India.

The Asiatic cheetah, also known as the "hunting leopard" in India was kept by kings and princes to hunt gazelle;the Moghul emperor Akbar kept them for hunting gazelle and blackbucks. Trapping of large numbers of adult Indian cheetahs, who had already learned hunting skills from wild mothers, for

assisting in royal hunts is said to be another major cause of the species rapid decline in India as they never bred incaptivity with only one record of a litter ever.

By the beginning of the twentieth century, the species was already heading for extinction in many areas. The lastphysical evidence of the Asiatic cheetah in India was three shot by the Maharajah of Surguja in 1947 in easternMadhya Pradesh.

Cheetah reintroduction in India Reintroduction of the cheetah in India involves

the artificial re-establishment of a populationof cheetahs into areas where they had previouslyexisted but were hunted into extinction by theBritish colonial officers and Indian royalty.

A part of the reintroduction process is theidentification and restoration of their formergrassland scrub forest habitats.

This is within the scope of the duties of the localforest department of each State, whererelocation occurs, through the use of Indian

Central Government funding. MaterialIASFor more E-books, visit http://www.ebay.in/usr/materialias or mail us at [email protected]


9/18

9

Supreme Court stays Cheetahreintroduction project

The Supreme Court in May 2012 has stayedthe implementation of the CheetahReintroduction Programme by which theMinistry of Environment and Forests (MoEF)had proposed to import the African large-sized feline to India, without consulting thatNational Board for Wildlife (NBW) which is a

statutory body for the enforcement of thewild life law. The court, while pronouncing its order, took

note of the scientific studies, which showedthat the Asian cheetahs and Africancheetahs are completely different, bothgenetically and also in their characteristics.reintroduction of Cheetah was also against

the International Union for the Conservationof Nature (IUCN) guidelines on translocationof wildlife species.

Wild life sanctuaries in Madhya Pradesh andRajsthan were slated to be the two spotswhere the imported Cheetahs were to bekept.

Cheetah



10/18

10

Asiatic LionGir national Park and Wildlife Sanctuary is the only abode of the AsiaticLion. The last surviving population of the Asiatic lions occupies a compacttract of dry deciduous forest and open grassy scrublands in southwesternpart of saurashtra region of state of Gujarat. Compared to theircounterparts in Eastern African Savanna landscape, Asiatic lions are foundin forests and thorny thickets.

Asiatic lions are highly socialanimals, living in units calledprides.

Their prides have an average of onlytwo females, whereas an Africanpride has an average of four to six.

The males are less social and only

associate with the pride whenmating or on a large kill. They have belly fold and distinctive

tuft of hair on elbow which areabsent in their Afican counterparts.

They predominantly prey on deer(sambar & chital), antelope (nilgai),wild boar, and livestock.

SC allows translocation of Asiatic lions to MadhyaPradesh

The Supreme Court on Monday allowed translocationofAsiatic lions from Gujarat to Madhya Pradesh, saying thespecies is under threat of extinction and needs a secondhome.

Currently, there are around 400 Asiatic lions in Gujarats Gir sanctuary.Translocation of Asiatic lions from Gir National Parkand Sanctuary and surrounding areas to Palpur KunoSanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, pursuant to a decisiontaken by the National Board for Wildlife (NBW).



11/18

11

The Lion Breeding Programme creates and maintainsbreeding centres.

Carries out studies of the behaviour of the Asiatic lionsand also practices artificial insemination.

One such centre has been established in the SakkarbaugZoo at the district headquarters of Junagadh, which hassuccessfully bred about 180 lions.

126 pure Asiatic lions have been given to zoos in Indiaand abroad.

The census of lions takes place every five years. Previously indirect methods like using pugmarks of the

lion were adopted for the count. However, during the census of April 2005 "Block-Direct-

Total Count" method was employed with the help of

around 1,000 forest officials, experts and volunteers. Itmeans that only those lions were counted that were"spotted" visually.

Use of "live bait" for the exercise, though thought to be atraditional practice, was not used this time. The reasonbelieved to be behind this is the Gujarat High Court rulingof 2000 against such a use of animals.

Asiatic LionThe lion breeding programme and lion-counting



12/18

12

It is the National Aquatic animal of India. It prefer deep waters, in and around the confluence of two or more rivers. They share their habitat with crocodiles, fresh water turtles and wetland birds. They are generally blind and catch their prey in a unique manner. They emit an

ultrasonic sound which reaches the prey. The dolphin then registers this image in itsmind and subsequently catches hold of its prey.

Gangetic Dolphin

Dolphins of Ganga are into regular attack by thePoachers for its oil that acts as an ointment andaphrodisiac as well as for the flesh.

The species has been declared to be anendangered species by the IUCN.

The Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuarylocated in the Bhagalpur district of Bihar is theone and only sanctuary for preservation of thisendangered species.

Conservation Issues



13/18

13

Dolphin Day was observed on 5 October 2012 in Bihar. The state government declared to observe 5 October as the Dolphin Day in the state every year. Save Ganga, Save Dolphin, the three day campaign was initiated on 5 October 2012 by the Uttar Pradesh

Forest Department in association with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

This was an act to increase awareness about conservation of one of the rarest and critically endangeredGangetic Species.

To conserve the aquatic species the Deputy Chief Minister of the State Sushil Kumar Modi declared that aDolphin watch center would be developed at places where these Dolphins are still visible.

To raise the awareness this center will also be used as a site for tourists attraction. During the day long observation of Dolphin Day, films and documentaries related to dolphins were screened

in the state.

DOLPHIN DAY OBSERVED IN BIHAR

Gangetic Dolphin



14/18

14

Olive Riley Turtle The Olive ridley turtles are the smallest and most abundant of all sea turtles found in the world, inhabiting warm waters of

the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. These turtles, along with their cousin the Kemps ridley turtle, are best known for their unique mass nesting called Arribada,

where thousands of females come together on the same beach to lay eggs. Though found in abundance, their numbers have been declining over the past few years, and the species is recognized as

Vulnerable by the IUCN Red list. These turtles spend their entire lives in the ocean, and migrate thousands of kilometers between feeding and mating

grounds in the course of a year. The coast of Orissa in India is the largest mass nesting site for the Olive-ridley, followed by the coasts of Mexico and Costa

Rica. After about 45-65 days, the eggs begin to hatch, and these beaches are swamped with crawling Olive-ridley turtlebabies, making their first trek towards the vast ocean.

During this trek they are exposed to predators like jackals, birds, hyenas, fiddler crabs, and feral dogs lurking around, waitingto feed on them.

WWF-India, along with the fishermen community, has been involved in protecting the Olive ridley rookery at the massnesting site at Rushikulaya, in Orissa, by fencing off the nesting area and patrolling it till hatching and ensuring a safe passagefor the hatchlings to the sea.



15/18

15

Olive-ridleys face serious threats across their migratory route, habitat and nesting beaches, due to human activities such

as turtle unfriendly fishing practices, development and exploitation of nesting beaches for ports, and tourist centres. Though international trade in these turtles and their products is banned under CITES Appendix I, they are still extensively

poached for their meat, shell and leather, and their eggs, though illegal to harvest, have a significantly large marketaround the coastal regions.

However, the most severe threat they face is the accidental killing of adult turtles through entanglement in trawl nets andgill nets due to uncontrolled fishing during their mating season around nesting beaches.

To reduce accidental killing in India, the Orissa government has made it mandatory for trawls to use Turtle ExcluderDevices (TEDs), a net specially designed with an exit cover which allows the turtles to escape while retaining the catch.

However, this has been strongly opposed by the fishing communities as they believe TEDs result in loss of considerableamount of the catch along with the turtle. WWF-India, along with its partners, disproved this theory by conducting astudy to measure the loss of catch through TEDs, revealing the loss to be a very small percentage of the total catch.

This result, along with regular meetings with the fishing communities, is slowly helping to change their mindset andencourage use of TEDs, thereby aiding the conservation of Olive ridley turtles.

Turtle Excluder Devices

Olive Riley Turtle



16/18

16

Indian ElephantsThe Indian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) is one ofthree recognised subspecies of the Asian elephant andnative to mainland Asia. Since 1986, Elephas maximushas been listed as Endangered by IUCN as thepopulation has declined by at least 50% over the lastthree generations, estimated to be 60 75 years. Asianelephants are threatened by habitat loss, degradationand fragmentation.

Project Elephant

A centrally sponsored scheme, was launched inFebruary 1992 to provide financial and technicalsupport to major elephant bearing States in thecountry for protection of elephants, their habitats andcorridors.

It also seeks to address the issues of human-elephantconflict and welfare of domesticated elephants.

The Project is being implemented in 13 States/UTs,namely, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Meghalaya, Nagaland,Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh andWest Bengal.

The initial modest Plan Outlay of Rs 23 crores inthe8th Plan was enhanced to Rs 60 crores in the 10thPlan.

Major Treats Crossing the railway tracks Incessant poaching, poisoning by farmers, and

electrocution - accidental or otherwise. 1,177 elephant deaths were reported between 1999 and

2009. Of these, 434 elephants died of electrocution and106 in train accidents.

The biggest threat faced by elephants in India is itsshrinking habitat. The elephants are vegetarians and sothey need to forage for miles for food.

As the elephants move out of their habitat to humanhabitations, it leads to eventual conflict between manand animal.

318 elephants have been electrocuted in India between2003 and 2012 - either due to sagging power lines ortraps set by poachers or farmers anxious about elephantsraiding their crops.

The state of Orissa has become the biggest graveyard forthe animal in India, and has seen a dramatic decline inthe population in recent years mainly due to poaching.

A probe by the National Tiger Conservation Authoritylater found that there was a concerted effort to destroythe remains of the elephant carcasses, which amounts todestruction of evidence without registering a case.



17/18

17

Indian ElephantsSolutions

Building elephant corridors without highways, roads and railway tracks running through them. Of the 88 identified

elephant corridors in India, 40 have national highways running through them, 21 have railway tracks, and 18 haveboth. A panel appointed by the MoEF in 2011 had suggested forming a National Elephant Conservation Authority, along

the lines of India's National Tiger Conservation Authority. MoEF plans to start a pilot scheme to eletronically tag all elephants in high-traffic areas so that wildlife and forest

personnel can keep track of their movements and warn railway officials well in time. According to many deaths on rail tracks can be prevented only if the trains slow down and honk in areas where

elephants are known to be present. Another solution is building underpasses that would allow the elephant herds to cross without any harm. But until

they are built, slowing the trains down likely remains the best option.

Evolve ways to protect elephants: SC to MoEF, railways The Supreme Court has asked the environment and forests ministry and the

Railways to examine various suggestions and evolve steps to prevent death ofelephants on rail tracks.

The apex court asked them to study measures adopted last year by Karnatakagovernment that helped in minimising the casualty of tuskers.

It turned down the plea of Railways to modify its 10 December 2013 order askingto take steps to reduce speed of trains while travelling through forests inhabitedby elephants.

The court had also proposed to change rail routes passing through forests and todiscontinue the movement of goods trains at night in certain sections where suchaccidents have been witnessed .



18/18

18

http://www.ebay.in/usr/materialias
http://www.ebay.in/usr/materialiashttp://www.ebay.in/usr/materialiashttp://www.ebay.in/usr/materialiashttp://www.ebay.in/usr/materialias

Environment (Species)

Documents

Transcript of Environment (Species)