Four elephants died a brutal death when they were hit by a speeding train in Kurumbanpalayam near Madukkarai, in the Coimbatore Forest division. Two tuskers, one pregnant female and a calf were hit and killed on the spot. The impact was so powerful that four bogies of the train were instantly derailed! One of the tuskers was then dragged for another 250 meters, the remains of which were hardly recognizable. The mishap took place in the early hours of the morning at 1.30 AM on 4 February 2008. The train was traveling at speeds in excess of 135 Kmph, which is way above the norm in India.....

It only take a few minutes to sign the petition... each name count..., the goal is to achieve 1001 signature... and now they have around 650+ signature... please help *bow*

Click here to sign the petition....


Billions of thank you from me, the wild life and everyone that trying to make this petition to success... :D

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Source: Wild Life Extra
In the last few days, we have received reports that poachers have killed 17 elephants in the Virunga National Park in the Congo, at least 6 tigers in Nepal's Chitwan National Park and 6 rhinos in northern India and Nepal. Additionally a Greenpeace ship has confronted an Italian trawler illegally fishing with 10 kilometres of driftnets and an investigation in a market in Thailand discovered highly endangered species of tortoises and turtles openly being sold.
Continue Here....

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sigh each sentences i read.... make my heartache.... especially the pictures attach...

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Source: AFP

KOTA KINABALU, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia is promoting its controversial palm oil industry as a model of eco-friendliness, but activists warn forests are still being destroyed to make way for vast plantations.

As palm oil prices boom, Malaysia has mounted a campaign to counter allegations that the crop is responsible for habitat destruction, air pollution from slash-and-burn farming, and pushing orangutans towards extinction.

It insists palm oil is only grown on legal agricultural land and that criticisms are an attempt by competitors in Europe and the United States to undermine growing demand for the commodity.

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sigh, now it make me feel so bad :(, if i know that it involve Orang Utan... i will never consider it.... sigh....

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Few weeks back, i happened to come across online msn video showing how the latest *intelligent group* uses elephant to be the spy of the jungle...

never seen before close up of tigers and the cubs gave more inside to us. :D

click here to watch part of the video... guaranteed eyes catching.

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Source:The Times of India
Nitin Sethi
29 Sep 2007

NEW DELHI: A blueprint to create inviolate critical wildlife habitats (CWHs) across the country has been finalised by the environment and forests ministry. Unlike the existing protected areas — national parks and sanctuaries — the ministry has suggested a set of guidelines based on scientific criteria to establish the habitats.

This is an important step to provide an exclusive space to wildlife when the Forest Rights Act gets operationalised. Under the Act, which is meant to formally recognise rights of forest dwellers, only areas declared as CWHs can be granted inviolate status — sans human presence. Even existing protected areas will have to be re-evaluated under these norms to declare them inviolate if they fall within the set criteria.

Priority has been given to tiger-bearing forests. Within 30 days of the notification of guidelines and formation of state level committees, all regions with a breeding tiger density would be demarcated. The ministry, in consultation with chief wildlife wardens and experts at Wildlife Institute of India, has suggested that for every 20 breeding tigresses, an area of 800-1,000 sq km be maintained as inviolate.

This, the ministry believes, would help maintain an overall population of 70-100 tigers maintainable in the patch along with surrounding buffer areas (where multiple land use is allowed with some regulation on industrial and other activities). Where such large areas cannot be declared inviolate, the attempt shall be to connect small CWHs with bigger ones by blocking connecting land corridors and declaring them inviolate as well. This will ensure the genetic viability and robustness of smaller tiger populations. Only in exceptional cases — where there is not sufficient land to declare as inviolate — shall such inviolate areas be maintained in isolation.

At present, there are 28 tiger reserves (with another eight proposed) and 604 national parks and sanctuaries covering about 24% of the forest area and 4.74% of the total geographic area of the country.

For non-tiger bearing parks and sanctuaries, the ecological space required by other key species — top meat eaters, large-sized herbivores, economically important species, endangered species or migratory animals — will be used to measure how much space should be declared as inviolate.

The CWHs for tigers will be identified by a central committee comprising chief wildlife wardens of states concerned, the director and two scientists of the wildlife institute, field directors of existing tiger reserves, representative of the tribal affairs ministry, a wildlife scientist familiar with the area and the member secretary of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

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Source: Los Angeles Times

Unless drastic action is taken now, the lord of the jungle will go extinct this century.

By Vinod Thomas
September 27, 2007

The magnificent tiger could, in the early part of this century, be extinct in the wild. That is the unthinkable yet undeniable situation facing the lord of the jungle. The only way to stave off such a disaster is for the two largest developing economies, China and India, to take urgent action to control the trade in tiger parts and to protect habitats.

Several subspecies of the tiger (Bali, Javan and Caspian) have become extinct in the last few decades, while others (South China, Indochinese) are critically endangered. The latest census confirms that the number of Bengal tigers in India -- the single largest population -- has dwindled by more than 50% in the last five years to fewer than 1,500 in the wild, which experts say could be the tipping point for extinction.

How has the tiger's fate come to this? The foremost reason is poaching to meet demand for tiger products used in traditional medicines in China and other parts of East Asia. The other crucial factor is the continuous loss of tiger habitat, which is down by about 40% across India in the last decade, along with which has disappeared much of its prey.

To make matters worse, there now is relentless pressure from tiger farmers in East Asia to legalize the trade in the bones, fur, paws, penis and teeth of their animals. On the surface, the case made for legalizing the sale of tiger parts is beguiling. By flooding the market with parts from farm-raised tigers, it's argued, prices will plummet, reducing the profitability of poaching. A cited analogy: People don't hunt wild turkeys for Thanksgiving when supermarkets overflow with farmed supplies.

But to reduce poaching, those who raise tigers in captivity would need to undercut the cost of supplying the parts from wild tigers. That's improbable. Poaching in India, by poisoning or with simple steel traps, costs less than $100 a tiger (plus transport and other costs). Raising one in captivity -- even three or more to a cage -- costs about $3,000.

Conservationists warn that legalizing the tiger trade would be the death knell for tigers in the wild. That's because it will always be cheaper to hunt tigers, and poaching will be less risky if poached parts can be easily laundered -- that is, passed off as coming from captive-bred animals.

Without DNA analysis, even lion bones are indistinguishable from tiger's, and they too are sold on East Asia's black market. So India's poachers also now are hunting the last lions in Asia -- about 350 in the Gir forest in the western state of Gujarat. In just two weeks in May, poachers killed a dozen lions.

India still offers the best hope for the tigers' future because it has the most tigers and a conservation infrastructure. In 1973, the Indian government initiated Project Tiger, designating protected areas and wildlife corridors. This led to a dramatic recovery -- their numbers nearly tripled by the 1990s. But that commitment faltered, and the population collapsed again.

What now? It is essential to deal with poaching and the demand for tiger parts in traditional medicine immediately. The World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies states that tiger parts are not necessary for traditional medicines, and alternatives are available and effective. So there are solid reasons to strongly enforce the international ban on the tiger trade, and for China to keep its 1993 domestic ban securely in place.

Vital too are investments in India to protect habitats. Tiger reserves and forests need an adequate number of field protection staff equipped with modern technology. Forest rangers, who confront dangers from poachers, also merit better pay and protection; today many of those jobs go unfilled.

Most important, the communities abutting tiger habitat, some of which are among the poorest in India, must have a stake in protecting tigers. The residents need to gain from conservation efforts and eco-tourism: There are very few places in the world where tourists can see wild tigers. Poachers could be given rewards for tracking and photographing the animals for monitoring. They might be given new avenues for livelihood: In the forest reserves of Periyar in India's southern state of Kerala, for example, former poachers now work as tourist guides.

The critical status of the tiger, a creature at the top of the animal kingdom, says a great deal about how little we value biodiversity in a global economy. China's and India's impressive 9% growth rates would be tarnished if, in the process, the planet should lose tigers and other wildlife for good.

As the symbol of countries, teams and corporations, the tiger has helped sell beer, sports goods and breakfast cereal. Now it could use some high-profile reciprocity. Support from private corporations -- such as Exxon Mobil's Save the Tiger Fund -- as well as the Asian business diaspora and international agencies could prove decisive. But the moment for action is now. Without immediate financial and political commitments, it will be too late to save this mesmerizing animal.

Vinod Thomas is the director general of the Independent Evaluation Group at the World Bank.

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