Wildlife – NEWS

RENDEZVOUS WITH NATURE – By Anubhav Sarkar

news — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 11:08:06 +0000

RENDEZVOUS WITH NATURE – By Anubhav Sarkar

13 - Sept - 2022

My first week as an intern and an opportunity to visit one of India’s major ecosystems – I feel privileged to begin my wildlife career on such a strong note. Being amidst nature is in itself a rejuvenating experience and the mangrove forests of Sundarbans have left me with that feeling. The unique adaptations of the mangroves and the existence of an exotic fauna keep the magic alive at all times. And not to forget, enjoying a cup of evening tea whilst the bright orange rays of the sun slowly sets atop an islet is a sighting one will always cherish. I’m grateful to our project director Ms. Ajanta Dey for introducing me to these immense tidal mangrove forests which in reality is a mosaic of islands of different shapes and sizes, surrounded by the endless mind-boggling labyrinths of water channels.
Despite being a place of paradise as one would describe it, the Sundarbans is under great pressure. Woodcutting and exhaustive fishing as methods of livelihood for the local villagers is slowly eradicating the natural habitat and leading to a biodiversity loss. Due to the excessive demand for the prawn products, locals have dropped traditional fishing practices and adopted the prawn seed culture. Prawn enthusiasts – question yourselves; is it worth buying prawns from areas under stress just to develop your taste buds? Perhaps we collectively have a responsibility to protect our world heritage site. Let us join hands together in this effort to conserve our forests and rendezvous with nature occasionally. After all you need to look deep into nature and then you will understand everything better.

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A Huge Monocled cobra rescued

news — Wed, 01 Jul 2020 10:57:35 +0000

A Huge Monocled cobra rescued

13 - Sept - 2022

The local communities, in forest-fringe areas of Valmiki Tiger Reserve, have been witnessing a slow increase in crop raids by elephants and other animals over the last few years. The forest-fringe villages which are affected the most are Bhatujhila and Chakarsen near the Shikaribas river corridor which connects the protected forest areas of India and Nepal. Wild Elephants migrate in search of food from Nepal to India and enter these crop fields during the harvesting period from October to December year after year, as it is much easier for them than foraging food in the forest. Other animals, like Nilgai, Wild Boar, Hog Deer, and Monkeys, also raid the standing crops throughout the year.

The villagers mainly depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Paddy, sugarcane, and wheat are some of the cash crops sown towards the end of May or early June and harvested during the post-monsoon season. During the post-monsoon season, in the forest-fringe villages under the Manguraha forest range, crop damage by wild Asian elephants pushes villagers towards using spontaneous methods to drive them away from their crop fields with the help of the frontline forest personnel. The tools used by farmers are tractors, pipe guns, firecrackers, and flashlights for driving the elephants away from the crop fields. According to them, tractors and burning crackers are the most effective measures used in elephant drives. Until now, the farmers manage to sell the remaining crops at a profitable margin. Thus, no significant number of compensation reports were filed against the crop damages. Hence, there is a need to educate the local communities about the behavior of elephants and provide training to local people on the code of conduct during elephant raids. Improvement of the livelihood and introduction of alternative livelihood options can also develop a positive attitude of the local communities towards elephant conservation. NGOs and Forest Department should act together with the local communities on this rising conflict situation for a sustainable solution.

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Mangrove Mania

news — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 11:05:40 +0000

Mangrove Mania

13 - Sept - 2022

Working on landscape ecology, this I find is an amazing gift of nature. They live in communities, called Mangals; they enjoy space in accretion lands – again they stand so closely, if threatened, that not a single sun’s ray can pass them and reach the ground, that’s in the erosion belts. The adaptation from roots to stem, leaves, diversity keeps you awed. It’s hue in March can beat the fall colours of Vermont. The magic continues- chitinous crabs, flocking fishes, beaming birds, delicate deer and tempered tigers – all in one ecological landscape. I am fortunate to work in Sundarbans, could experience through my work assignments the mangroves in Kutch of Gujrat, Bhittarkanika of Orissa, the most diverse mangrove stretches of Indonesia and even the Everglades in Florida. I was fortunate to be introduced to mangroves by a great teacher Late Dr L K Banerjee and to have interacted with Late Dr Kumud Ranjan Naskar – the stalwarts in the field.

However mangroves are under huge stress; the prawn lovers mind your taste buds and check its origin. Ask your seller, is it by destroying mangroves? The latter is the sentinel of the coast- the only natural warrior against sea level rise and changing climate, generating economic resources worth billions. We are destroying them – fishery encroachments (yielding prawns) are major threat. Dams in upper reaches of the river restrict the critical minimal inflow of fresh water that supports the unique ecosystem in these brackish zones where sweet water readily makes friendship with saline waters of the sea and oceans. Besides grazing, fuelwood collection, agricultural land conversion, pesticide usage, easy garbage disposal… and no end to it. Few Homo sapiens who believe in mangrove mania, let’s sing loud with Pete Seegdr – “When will you ever learn, when will you ever learn?”

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