NEWSLINK: 11-month-old tiger cub rescued, sibling dead

An eleven-month-old tiger cub was tranquilised and rescued by forest officials while its sibling was found dead on Saturday near Velugodu in Kurnool district. The whereabouts of the tigress were not known, according to Atmakur divisional forest officer C. Selvam. Mr Selvam told this newspaper the dead cub was found in an agricultural field at about 6 am on Saturday. The other cub was tranquilised and rescued at 3 pm. The tigeress with her two cubs had strayed into an agriculture field near Jamminagar tanda in Velgode mandal of Kurnool district on Wednesday. A wood cutter who sighted the big cats informed forest officials.

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NEWSLINK: Ranthambhore tiger strays into Bundi, officials on trail

A tiger of Rajasthan’s Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve (RTR) in Sawai Madhopur has strayed into Ramgarh Vishdhari Sanctuary in Bundi.


About 25 employees of RTR, Vishdhari sanctuary and Bundi wildlife department have been tracking the tiger, T-91, for the past one week, officials said.


“There is overcrowding of tigers at RTR due to which big cats often stray into other forest areas of neighbouring districts,” said VK Salwan, a former Indian Forest Services officer. “Like T-91, many tigers and tigresses have strayed into Vishdhari sanctuary in the past, and later returned to RTR.”

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NEWSLINK: Mastermind of Ghunghuti tigress, cub killing arrested in UP

The alleged mastermind behind killing of Ghunghuti tigress and its cub was arrested from Hapur district of Uttar Pradesh. The accused Suraj Raghuvanshi, a resident of Umaria district, was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh special task force (STF) in coordination with their Madhya Pradesh counterparts, said sources."During interrogation, he confessed to the crime and told the STF that he was hiding in Hapur to evade arrest," according to a release issued by the UPSTF. He has been handed over to the MP forest department for further interrogation , As Reported By TOI.

According to the Newspaper, Raghuvanshi is a contractual teacher at a government school in Umaria district where the big cats were killed.Initial probe had led investigators to a new poaching cartel which was targeting big cats for its canine teeth and whiskers. Nine suspects were arrested and interrogated after canine teeth and whiskers were recovered from their possession. They are residents of different villages surrounding Ghunghuti region, the corridor which has apparently turned into a death trap of tigers in recent years.They have reportedly confessed to their role in killing a tigress and its cub in one of the most recent cases.

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NEWSLINK: Less Than 50 Asiatic Cheetahs Left in Iran

Iran has already suffered from the loss of the Asiatic lion and the Caspian tiger. Now we are about to see the Asiatic cheetah go extinct as well.”

Asiatic cheetahs are facing the threat of being extinct, following the United Nations decision to discontinue funding its protectorship.

Conservationists believe that fewer than 50 of these 'big cats' remain in existence – all in Iran. The problem is compounded by the Iranian government cutting the budget of its department of the environment, which has responsibility for protecting the country’s threatened animals.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) swept in to absorb the Asiatic cheetah conservation project. But, Anne Marie Carlsen, UNDP deputy resident representative recently announced that Iran will be required to reassume conservatorship, since the organization would not be extending its support beyond Dec.

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NEWSLINK: Outrage as fat lions and tigers perform at circus

A row has erupted in Russia over fat performing circus lions and tigers who have been fed on a diet of "junk food".


Videos of the overweight predators show them standing on their hind legs in a stunt for paying audiences.
The footage of the captive animals at Vladivostok Circus stoked complaints that one of Russia's top animal trainer's has abused the beasts.


Vitaly Smolyanets, 44, seen as a skilled lion whisperer, has angrily denied the charges, saying his animals are not obese and insisting they "feel excellent".

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NEWSLINK: Forest dept study to find out leopard count, movement pattern in Aravalis

The forest department has proposed to conduct a study to find out numbers of leopard, hyena and other animals living in Gurgaon part of the Aravalis, the move coming in the wake of the recent rise in leopard sightings and incidents of man-animal conflict.As per the proposal, which was sent to the department's state headquarters in Chandigarh earlier this month, wildlife officials are planning to assess leopard distribution, prey density, and thereby establish a relationship between the prey density and the movement pattern of big cats in the region.These apart, the department also proposes to study variation in types of preys available across the landscape and most importantly, delineate the leopard corridor from Mangar Bani to Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary

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NEWSLINK: Profiling the tigers, genetically

In the ongoing tiger census, the Tamil Nadu Forest Department will be using DNA profiling to study the striped big cats roaming not just its four tiger reserves but anywhere in the State’s forest landscape.


The forest staff will be looking to collect the tiger scat in the tiger reserves and 15 forest divisions that will be later analysed with the help of wildlife forensics division. “Unlike other methods, DNA profiling will help to create accurate and reliable data of an individual tiger,” said Shekhar Kumar Niraj, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Project Tiger, Tamil Nadu.

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