Save tiger ecosystem, says conservationist Dr Ullas Karanth
Mangaluru (PTI): Well known tiger researcher and conservationist Dr Ullas Karanth on Thursday said that India, having such vast land resources, must ideally move towards enlarging the tiger ecosystem to reach a population of 15,000 of the big cats as against 3,000 presently.
He was delivering a special lecture for Indian National Trust for Cultural Heritage (INTACH) here today.
Presently the rate of growth of the tiger population is just 1 per cent in the country "which is nothing spectacular" for a country with so many resources and a fine range of forest and wildlife promotional machinery, headed by the MoEF (Ministry of Environment and Forests) and the state forest departments, Karanth said.
The vision for 15,000 tigers must be fortified with the protection of tiger habitats, and many degenerated tiger habitats around the country must be revived with policy initiatives such as sustainable landscapes, steps towards responsible wildlife tourism, and conservation methods — protection of biomass and eradication of the market for wildlife artefacts, he observed Due to the pressure of human population and the demand for forest products, the global market has entered forests, which is retrograde development, he said. The increased expansion of agriculture and livestock grazing areas in up to 40 per cent of actual forest cover in the country had a telling effect on wildlife conservation, Karanth stated.
However, Karanth quipped with a certain degree of wit and hope saying, “Wildlife tourism has enhanced the interest of people in wildlife particularly the tiger, which goes to show that people are interested in tigers in their natural habitats which can be transformed in due course -- a theatre for conservation of tigers” Speaking of how tigers historical have been a part of Indian culture, Dr Karanth said, "The Hulivesha of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts, the Huliappa deity in tribal areas of Karnataka and Gonda Tiger worship in North India are proof of the tiger being an integral part of Indian culture
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Snowfall blocks two key roads providing alternative connectivity to Kashmir
Rajouri/Jammu (PTI): Traffic on the Mughal and Sinthan Top roads, which provide alternate connectivity to Kashmir, was temporarily suspended on Sunday due to light to moderate snowfall in the high-altitude areas of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
However, traffic on the 270-kilometre Jammu-Srinagar national highway -- the only all weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country -- was plying as usual despite intermittent rains that ended the over one-and-a-half months long dry spell, they said.
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The Mughal road, which connects the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri with south Kashmir's Shopian, was closed for traffic as a precautionary measure after more than three inches of snow was recorded at Peer Ki Gali on Sunday afternoon.
A group of three tea vendors are left stranded on the road and efforts are on to evacuate them to safety, officials said.
After they were trapped in the snow, the vendors made passionate appeals through video messages urging the authorities to rescue them. The Border Roads Organisation has taken up snow clearance work and is trying to reach the stranded persons, officials said.
The Sinthan Top road, which connects Kishtwar and Doda districts in Jammu with south Kashmir's Anantnag, was also closed after moderate snowfall in the higher reaches.
Both the mountainous roads usually remain closed for several months due to heavy snowfall during winter.
