Manali: It was not only a big surprise but a matter of thrill for the locals and also the tourists when three snow leopards were sighted together near a village here.
According to a senior forest officials, the highly endangered snow leopard numbering three were spotted in village Komic by the locals and also the tourists who without wasting time captured the rare images in their respective cameras.
He said that the cold deserts of Spiti in the hill state of Himachal Pradesh is considered a safe and conducive habitat for breeding of this rare feline species. “Probably this alone is the reason why on some occasions, the locals and now the tourists have been lucky enough to have a glimpse of this beautiful animal,” said the forest official.
As per estimates of conservation organisations, the number of snow leopards in the wild in 12 countries of the world where they are found stood at around 7,000.
“It was for the first time that three snow leopards were spotted together and in all probability it was a mother with its two full grown cubs,” said an expert adding that snow leopards are solitary animals and as such only one individual is sighted generally.
The forest official said that a number of tourists visit Spiti valley to take a chance of spotting snow leopard, which otherwise is a rare sight.
Apart from ibex and blue sheep which are wild prey animals for snow leopards these carnivores also prey frequently on domestic livestock like goat and sheep of villagers. This also is the reason for snow leopard being sighted in vicinity of villages.
Tigress delivers four cubs in Pench Reserve
Bhopal: Certainly a development to rejoice as a tigress in Pench Tiger reserve has given birth to four cubs.
Pench Tiger Reserve has over 50 adult tigers
A senior forest officials said that it was the seventh litter of the tigress which is popularly known as “Collarwali” as it was a radio collared by authorities to monitor its movement in the reserve. “Till now, this tigress has given birth to 26 cubs in its seven litters and this is a record for a tigress in the wild of the state,” pointed out the official.
He said that a week back, the four cubs with the tigress were spotted by the forest guards on their routine patrol.
The Collorwali tigress in question is also called as ‘Queen of Pench’ and by some as ‘Pench princess’.
The forest official said that this tigress had given birth to 18 cubs between 2008 and 2013 and out of that 14 survived.
“Four cubs in a litter is rarity but but owing to genetics or chromosome configuration some tigress have more than two cubs and is normal but rare, ” said an expert.
He said that if prey is plentiful in the area where this type of phenomenon is observed, chances of survival of all the cubs born in the litter are very high.
It may be mentioned here that Pench Tiger Reserve has over 50 adult tigers.
Wildlife smugglers arrested, 23 red crowned roof turtle recovered
Agra: At least 23 rare species of red crowned roof turtle, popularly called `lal tilakdhari’, were recovered from international wildlife smugglers by a team of forest and police officials in a joint operation.
According to a senior forest official, in a joint operation by the forest department and the UP STF, success was achieved in nabbing wildlife smuggler Ajay Singh and his accomplice Deependra Singh. From the arrested wildlife smugglers 23 rare species of turtle, the red crowned roof turtle (Batagur kachuga) was recovered. The consignment was being transported to Chennai, said the forest official.
The forest official said that the critically endangered seized species of turtle is protected under Schedule (I) of the Indian Wildlife Act.
Though as per information, there had been regular inputs from the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) about these turtles being smuggled in huge numbers but not a single turtle was seized in last five years but with the change of guard, the priority of the administration seems to have changed and the result is there for one and all to see, said a wildlife expert.
Sources in the police said that the arrested wildlife smuggler had been actively involved in poaching for at least five years. He had been poaching the turtles from Yamuna and Chambal and then from there transporting the turtle to Chennai and Bengal for selling them in international market to fetch lucrative price.
“This was confessed by the arrested poacher during interrogation,” said a police official.
He said that the seized variety of turtle (red crowned roof turtle) are normally sold at the rate of about Rs 4,000 per turtle and the same fetches a whooping sum of Rs 1.5 to 2 lakh in Thailand and Singapore.
The recovered turtles will be released in their natural habitat, said the forest official.
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Showing posts with label Agra. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Agra. Show all posts
Sunday, 23 April 2017
Tuesday, 30 August 2016
INDIA: For Your Own Safety, Don't Wear Skirts Says Tourism Minister
India’s tourism minister has said foreign women should not wear skirts or walk alone at night in the country’s small towns and cities “for their own safety”.
Discussing tourist security in the north Indian city of Agra, site of the Taj Mahal, Mahesh Sharma said foreign arrivals to India were issued a welcome kit that included safety advice for women.
“In that kit they are given dos and don’ts,” he said on Sunday. “These are very small things like, they should not venture out alone at night in small places, or wear skirts, and they should click the photo of the vehicle number plate whenever they travel and send it to friends.”
He added: “For their own safety, women foreign tourists should not wear short dresses and skirts Indian culture is different from the western.”
The welcome kit, geared at female travellers and introduced last year, is one of a suite of measures introduced to address declining rates of female tourism after the high-profile gang-rape and murder of a Delhi medical student in 2012, and a number of subsequent attacks on female tourists.
The kit says: “Some parts of India, particularly the smaller towns and villages, still have traditional styles of dressing. Do find out about local customs and traditions or concerned authorities before visiting such places.”
It mirrors the UK Foreign Office advice to women travelling in India, which suggests they “respect local dress codes and customs and avoid isolated areas, including beaches, when alone at any time of day”.
Sharma clarified his remarks later on Sunday, denying they amounted to a dress code for foreign women. ”We have not given any specific instructions regarding what they should wear or not wear. We are asking them to take precaution while going out at night. We are not trying to change anyone’s preference,” he said.
“It was very stupid, not a fully thought-through statement,” said Ranjana Kumari, the director of the Delhi-based Centre for Social Research, a thinktank focusing on gender equality in India. “The minister doesn’t realise the implications of such irresponsible statements.”
Kumari said the remarks reflected “the syndrome of blaming women” for what they wore and where they were. She said: “But the problem is men and boys in India. They go for all kinds of misogyny and sexual acts, rapes and gang-rapes. It’s important for [Sharma] to have said how to punish the perpetrators of crime and stop the nonsense of ogling women and following them. Why should any girls come to India when it is becoming famous for not being safe to girls?”
India toughened sentences for rape and introduced fast-track courts for sexual assault trials after the fatal 2012 gang-rape focused world attention on violence against women in the country.
National crime statistics show 92 women are raped each day in India, mostly in rural areas, though the figure is widely believed to be an underestimate. Street harassment and violence, sometimes called “eve-teasing”, is even more common, experienced by 79% of Indian women according to a recent survey.
Tourists can be subjected to the same harassment and worse, most recently in July 2016 when an Israeli national was sexually assaulted by a gang of men in the Himalayan resort town of Manali. A Japanese woman was kidnapped and sexually assaulted in 2014 in Bihar and a Russian assaulted by an auto-rickshaw driver in Delhi in 2015, among other cases.
Sharma’s remarks trended on Indian social media on Monday and earned rebukes from political rivals.
Discussing tourist security in the north Indian city of Agra, site of the Taj Mahal, Mahesh Sharma said foreign arrivals to India were issued a welcome kit that included safety advice for women.
“In that kit they are given dos and don’ts,” he said on Sunday. “These are very small things like, they should not venture out alone at night in small places, or wear skirts, and they should click the photo of the vehicle number plate whenever they travel and send it to friends.”
He added: “For their own safety, women foreign tourists should not wear short dresses and skirts Indian culture is different from the western.”
The welcome kit, geared at female travellers and introduced last year, is one of a suite of measures introduced to address declining rates of female tourism after the high-profile gang-rape and murder of a Delhi medical student in 2012, and a number of subsequent attacks on female tourists.
The kit says: “Some parts of India, particularly the smaller towns and villages, still have traditional styles of dressing. Do find out about local customs and traditions or concerned authorities before visiting such places.”
It mirrors the UK Foreign Office advice to women travelling in India, which suggests they “respect local dress codes and customs and avoid isolated areas, including beaches, when alone at any time of day”.
Sharma clarified his remarks later on Sunday, denying they amounted to a dress code for foreign women. ”We have not given any specific instructions regarding what they should wear or not wear. We are asking them to take precaution while going out at night. We are not trying to change anyone’s preference,” he said.
“It was very stupid, not a fully thought-through statement,” said Ranjana Kumari, the director of the Delhi-based Centre for Social Research, a thinktank focusing on gender equality in India. “The minister doesn’t realise the implications of such irresponsible statements.”
Kumari said the remarks reflected “the syndrome of blaming women” for what they wore and where they were. She said: “But the problem is men and boys in India. They go for all kinds of misogyny and sexual acts, rapes and gang-rapes. It’s important for [Sharma] to have said how to punish the perpetrators of crime and stop the nonsense of ogling women and following them. Why should any girls come to India when it is becoming famous for not being safe to girls?”
India toughened sentences for rape and introduced fast-track courts for sexual assault trials after the fatal 2012 gang-rape focused world attention on violence against women in the country.
National crime statistics show 92 women are raped each day in India, mostly in rural areas, though the figure is widely believed to be an underestimate. Street harassment and violence, sometimes called “eve-teasing”, is even more common, experienced by 79% of Indian women according to a recent survey.
Tourists can be subjected to the same harassment and worse, most recently in July 2016 when an Israeli national was sexually assaulted by a gang of men in the Himalayan resort town of Manali. A Japanese woman was kidnapped and sexually assaulted in 2014 in Bihar and a Russian assaulted by an auto-rickshaw driver in Delhi in 2015, among other cases.
Sharma’s remarks trended on Indian social media on Monday and earned rebukes from political rivals.
Thursday, 12 May 2016
INDIA: Special Train Coaches To Be Dedicated For Tourists
Two coaches in every special train passing through 25 railway stations most frequented by domestic as well as foreign tourists may get improved and special facilities. These 25 stations, to be named ‘Adarsh Railway Stations’, will have a tourism help desk, special toilets, rest rooms, besides having the guide facilities, a source said.
A team of officials from Tourism and Railways Ministries will be formed who would identify in two months 25 railway stations which are most frequented by tourists, the source said.
It was discussed during a meeting between Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma and Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu in the presence of other senior officials here today. Police personnel who are trained for managing the tourists grievances and volunteers from NCC and NSS will also be deployed at these stations.
Two coaches, specially dedicated to domestic and foreign tourists, in the special trains which pass through these Adarsh Railway stations are also being considered, the source said.
These coaches, which would be coloured differently, will have special fares, facilities as well as reservation criteria, he added. The team would also come up with solutions for ferrying the tourists from these railway stations to tourist destinations.
Railway station at Delhi, Agra, Amritsar, Guwahati, Puri and Varanasi may find the place in the list of 25 Adarsh Railway stations, according to the source. During the meeting, it was also decided to make a provision for group booking customers to get seats in a same coach, the source said.
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