Environment India

  Chennai airport turning into hub for star tortoise smuggling Chennai international airport seems to be turning into south India's hub for the smuggling of star tortoises, and two back-to-back seizures from there of the animals have sent the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) on high alert. Air intelligence at Chennai airport had, in the past couple of months, seized several star tortoises that were bound for South Eastern countries and Gulf countries. Air intelligence sources told that in a seizure that was executed in the first week of April following a tip-off, 3,600 live star tortoises were recovered. 👉 Daijiworld Forest area surrounding Tirupati engulfed in flames As summer has started and the temperature is soaring, the Seshachalam forest area, which surrounds the hill shrine of Tirumala Tirupati, was engulfed in flames on Tuesday evening. Representative pic Fires spread rapidly in the forest area near Elephant Arch on the First Ghat Road ...

  Vultures in Assam die by pesticide poisoning targeting stray dogs On March 17, carcasses of 100 Himalayan griffon vultures and one steppe eagle were found in Assam’s Chaygaon. Pesticide poisoning is suspected to be the cause of death. The intended target for the poisoning was not the raptors but the stray dogs which have been attacking village livestock. The incident at Chaygaon is not an isolated incident of vultures dying after consuming contaminated carrion. A fortnight before the Chaygaon incident, 30 vultures died after feeding on a poisoned carcass in Dibrugarh and earlier in January this year, 23 vultures died under similar circumstances. Even three years ago, 19 and 39 vultures had died in two separate incidents in Sivasagar district. However with increasing awareness about the role of vultures in the ecosystem and the impact of pesticides along with the forest department’s efforts in vulture conservation, there seems to be hope in protecting the birds an...

SALINITY, RECHARGE ISSUES AND EXTRACTION HAVE SPELT DOOM In Gothra and Khanpur Khurd: HARYANA Gothra village is located in Charkhi Dadri, Haryana’s newest district on the state’s border with Rajasthan. It looks like any other dusty village in north India. Except that it is suffering extreme water shortages which, if not controlled, will soon make the village a desert. The village has fallen prey to excessive salinity in its groundwater, caused by lack of recharge due to decreasing rainfall and consequent extreme groundwater extraction. All this has led to the village being caught in a vicious cycle which is now so bad that it neither has potable drinking water nor water for its crops .Gothra is in the ‘over-exploited’ category as far as groundwater is concerned, according to the Central Ground Water Authority. This means that more groundwater is being drained out than necessary. The groundwater in Gothra continues to fall, according to the Haryana Water Resources (conservation, regulat...

  Birds, animals killed in Paschim Medinipur hunting festival: W.Bengal A traditional hunting festival in Paschim Medinipur district killed several birds and animals on Monday, alleged animal activists who accused the forest department and police of inaction. A Calcutta High Court order in 2019 put a complete embargo on ritual hunting in various districts of south-west Bengal. In another order dated March 21, 2021, the court iterated its earlier order, saying that all such illegal activities have to be completely stopped by the state by exercising police power, if needed. Animal lovers fear a rerun of the massacre of a range of wildlife on several upcoming dates of ritual hunting in the southwestern districts of Bengal — Paschim Medinipur, Bankura, Jhargram and Purulia. The kills included wild boars and birds like orange-headed thrush, said members of HEAL (Human and Environment Alliance League), who were in Paschim Medinipur to track the alleged hunters. "The...