17 May 2012 The Supreme Court has directed all states to demarcate and notify buffer zones around each of their tiger reserves within three months. While conservationists say the order would curb commercialisation of revenue land around tiger habitats, tribal rights activists think its implementation will result in repression of forest dwellers by forest departments. Click on date for more details

15 May 2012 A forest ranger and a forester were recently beaten up by the illegal mining mafia in the core area of the Rathambhore reserve. For more information click on date

08 May 2012 Aptly titled, 'Corbett, now on sale', a story in a weekly magazine brought an open secret out in print: The land around - and even inside - the Corbett Tiger Reserve is up for grabs, controlled by the country's Who's Who. It highlighted how tourism resorts have destroyed the Kosi river corridor, cutting off access for animals to a crucial water source. This matter had in fact first come to light in a report, 'Impact of tourism on tigers and other wildlife of Corbett', published in January 2010. Click on date for more details

Caging of Bandhavgarh tigers

From http://www.dailypioneer.com/352318/Wildlife-lovers-enraged-over-caging-of-Bandhavgarh-tigers.html

The Madhya Pradesh Forest Department's move to trap and cage the tiger siblings, reportedly involved in the killing of a chowkidar at Van Vihar in Bandhavgarh, has raised eyebrows among activists and wildlife lovers.

A forest chowkidar was killed in Bandhavgarh on Friday and forest officials have claimed that a pair of 20-month-old siblings born to a Mirchani tigress had killed and devoured the body of the chowkidar in Tala range.

The forest officials shifted the tigers to Van Vihar in Bhopal on Saturday evening. The department cited public fury, which had resulted in assault of three forest staff members, as a reason behind the move. The move has sparked off a debate between the department and wildlife volunteers who criticised the move.

Reacting sharply to the move of caging the semi-adult animals at Van Vihar, wildlife volunteer Shehla Masood said that the striped felines have been made a scapegoat by the Forest department for hiding its faulty policies. "Were the two young tigers the culprits or is it that they were in the wrong place at the wrong time?" she said.

Shifting the onus to human pressure on tigers around Bandhavgarh, she added, "I think this incident shows that the villages in this area need to be relocated as there have been conflicts in this area for some time including much cattle lifting by these tigers, who were trying to establish their range areas."

She alleged that instead of getting its act together, the forest department is busy implementing half-baked policies. Claiming that Bandhavgarh is running out of tigers, Masood said that shifting of these two young animals would aggravate the situation.

Another wildlife activist, Navnit Maheshwari, maintained that though such issues of man-animal conflict do take place at other national parks as well they get highlighted at Bandhvgarh perhaps due to the small size of the park or because of its close proximity to human habitation. Accusing the park staff of faulty management, he alleged that instead of using elephants in patrolling, the park staff engages them for ferrying the tourists.

The elephant rides hassle the animals more than the vehicles as the latter runs only on the roads but jumbos are pushed behind the tigers and force tigers out of their territories.

Claiming that the siblings had reportedly killed the chowkidar accidentally, Maheshwari said last year a tigress in Kanha had killed a grass cutter as he had gone too close to her cubs and the park management had closed down the area for around four months and re-opened it after the tigress was normalized. "If the Kanha park administration could practice such management why not Bandhavgarh?" he said, by outlining the importance of having a good rapport with the villagers living in the vicinity of the park.

"Caging tigers from the wild is not a solution. They should be killed instead of putting them in captivity and destroying their lives," added an agitated Maheshwari.

Chief Wild Life Warden HS Pabla, when quizzed on the matter, said that these siblings had turned man-eaters, which was proved from the fact that one of the tigers had vomited human organs and these animals were also reportedly involved in the killing of two persons in May. "For reducing man-animal conflict, we are enhancing monitoring in conflict areas and are also issuing chain links in problem areas," Pabla said.

On the need of relocations of villages from Bandhavgarh, the CWLW said that one village has been relocated and three are still to be moved with the estimated population of roughly 1,000. However the CWLW affirmed, "The tigers shifted to Van Vihar would remain in captivation for rest of their lives."