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Rogue
Elephants Wreak Havoc in Chhattisgarh
CHHATTISGARH: A herd of elephants running amock in Chhattisgarh has killed 22 people and destroyed dozens of houses in the past few months. The worst-hit villages are on the fringe of forests in Jashpur, Raigarh and Korba districts. Eleven people were killed in Raigarh, six in Jashpur and three in Korba. The pachyderms have also destroyed acres of standing crop in the fields. The villagers complained that the Government has not taken any steps to stop the rampaging elephants. The forest officials said they lacked skilled manpower and trained elephants to wean away the rogue animals. Anil Kumar Sahu, Forest Officer of Raigarh district, said these elephants have migrated from neighbouring Jharkhand district in search of food and shelter. "These are not resident elephants. They have migrated from Palamu or Chaibasa in Jharkhand. The excess population of elephants there may have forced them to migrate to our region in search of food and shelter," Sahu said. The Government has announced an ex gratia of Rs 20,000 each to the families of those killed. Officials said they have also disbursed nearly Rs 12.5 lakh to compensate for the destroyed crops and houses in the three districts. The Government ban on hunting elephants and plans to increase their population over the years have borne fruit and now there seems to be the problem of plenty. Ever-increasing population and decreasing forest area is also forcing the animals to stray into the villages. A few years ago some invading rogue elephants in West Bengal were captured through trained pachyderms and rehabilitated in protected animal reserves. Wildlife Rahabilitation Centre at Kaziranga KAZIRANGA (Assam): A state-of-the-art wildlife rehabilitation centre, the first of its kind in India, has been set up in the Kaziranga National Park in Assam. The centre, which was inaugurated recently, will provide medical treatment to wounded animals in the 430 sq km. park, which was set up to provide a safe haven for the one-horned rhinos. However, over the years, the protection was extended to other animals like elephants, tigers and wild buffaloes. The centre, which is enclosed by a fence, has three ambulances. It is the result of a collaborative effort of the Central government's animal welfare division, International Fund for Animal Welfare and some non-government organisations. "We have given the land. We have given all support to the Wildlife Institute of India," said Vivek Menon, executive director of the Wildlife Trust of India. "This is basically a collaboration, a collaboration between the Government of Assam, forest department and the NGOs. As of now, the centre will be run by the NGO, the Wildlife Institute of India, and there will be a very close association of the forest department," he added. At present two baby elephants, a rhino calf, two fawns and a buffalo calf are being treated at the centre. After the animals fully recover, they will be released into the park. The officials said they were also trying to import radio caller devices to monitor the health of the animals even after they were set free. Floods in the Brahmaputra river, which flows through the park, had killed at least 20 animals earlier this year. Kaziranga was first declared a reserve forest in 1903 when only a dozen rhinos were left in an area where they were once present in large numbers. In 1950 it was renamed as Kaziranga National Park. The number of rhinos rose to 1164 in 1993. Two Male Tiger Cubs Born in Ludhiana Zoo LUDHIANA: Visitors are thronging Tiger Safari, popularly known as Ludhiana zoo in Punjab, to see the two male cubs born in the park a couple of months ago. The tiger cubs are reportedly healthy and fine. Named Paras and Money, they have taken the total number of tigers to 11 in this zoo. The authorities are now thrilled as there had been an alarming decline in the number of tigers. "In 1993 when we brought the tiger safari species in the zoo their number was seven. But now their number has increased to eleven when tigress Rita gave birth to two male cubs last month. The cubs are healthy and are enjoying with their mother. They are being fed on their mother's milk," said Raj Kumar Joshi, incharge of safari. The visitors are clearly excited. "We read in newspapers that a tigress has given birth to two cubs so we have come to see them," said Bhupinder Singh. Interestingly, their mother was also born at the Ludhiana Zoo. The park authorities are determined to increase the number of tigers to at least 20. Regular and intensive monitoring and testing is conducted on the cubs to ensure that they are growing up properly. Moreover, Rita is also being given post-natal care. A daily diet of over 10 kg of broiler meat and 400 grams of milk is given to her. Tiger protection is a hot issue in India. Project Tiger was launched in India to protect this animal. In 1973, as part of Project Tiger, Jim Corbett National Park in Uttaranchal was declared India's first Tiger Reserve. Spread over an area of 1,134 sq. km on the foothills of the Himalayas, the Corbett Park is the country's first national park. -ANI |
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