The Great Barrier Reef is ‘in danger’: Australia pushes back Subject :Environment Context- A joint report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre (WHC) expressed concern about the status of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in Australia, recommending that it “be inscribed on the List of […]
Rice, integral to Madagascar, may be hastening the decline of its unique biodiversity; here is how Subject :Environment Context- Rice, the main food crop of Madagascar, could be hastening the deforestation and loss of biodiversity in the fourth-largest island of the world due to the practice of shifting agriculture, according to two exhaustive […]
Great Indian Bustard Subject: Environment Context: Recently the Supreme Court asked the Government, whether a focussed approach, something like Project Tiger, can be taken up for saving the Great Indian Bustard (GIB). Content: Threats to GIB: GIBs are slow breeders and they build their nests on the ground. The species have been subjected to hunting and egg collection in the past. Decline in prevailing habitat loss as dry grasslands have been diverted for other use. Pesticide contamination […]
Tiger Conservation Subject: Environment Context: India is home to the largest population of tigers in the world and increase in the tiger population is a testament to the success of wildlife conservation programmes implemented for nearly 50 years. Content: Tigers were reportedly increasing at a rate of about 6% per annumand the area that they occupied was roughly stable, at about 89,000 square km since 2014. The latest 2018 estimates put the tiger population at 2,967 with more than half of them in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. (Tiger Census conducted once in 4 years) The consistent implementation of Project Tigersince 1973, whereby dedicated tiger reserves […]
Cheetah Subject: Environment Context: This year marked the arrival of Namibian cheetahs to India, the first intercontinental transfer of wild cats into the country since independence. Content: Eight cheetahs were flown into the Kuno National Park (KNP), Madhya Pradesh, from Namibia on September 17 as part of an ambitious project to reintroduce the big cat into the country. They were released into the quarantine zone at the KNP. Cheetahs were once widespread in India as well as in many parts of the world until they were hunted to extinction. Only around 8,000of them survive, and overwhelmingly in Namibia and South Africa. A different species, called the Asiatic cheetah, once abundant in India, is found in Iran. African Cheetah IUCN status – Vulnerable CITES status – Appendix-I of […]
Elephant Conservation Subject: Environment Context: Recently, the matriarch and weight lifting champion – Nandini, the elephant was hit by a train and died near Coimbatore Railway Station, Tamilnadu. Content: India is home tonearly 60% Asian elephants and the last count of the species in 2017 had put the number at 29,964. While the number of elephants in India has increased in the past few years, the species is listed as ‘Endangered’ on the IUCN Red Listof threatened species and Schedule I of The Wildlife Protection Act. The South Indian Statesof Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu are home to nearly 44% of India’s elephant population. The number of elephant reserves in India is 32with the latest addition being […]
Rhino Conservation Subject: Environment Context: Alien invasive plant species become a bigger threat than poachers across rhino habitats in India and Nepal. Content: One horned rhino was about a dozen when Kaziranga became a protected area in 1905. According to the State of Rhino Report 2022, the poor sighted herbivore’s number in Kaziranga is an estimated 2,613, more than 65% of its total population of 4,014 across 11 habitats in India and Nepal. A decade ago, the rhino’s population in these domains was 2,454. However, the antipoaching mechanism in India and Nepal with more manpower, capacity building of frontline staff and equipping forest guards have helped protect the rhino. Also, the sentiments of local peopleattached to the rhino have been a factor in the sharp drop in the number of rhinos killed, from 54 in 2013 and 2014 to one each in 2021 and 2022. To know more about Rhino & […]