Consumption of Wildlife in source countries threatens to protected terrestrial animals: UN Report
Consumption of wild meat has threatened the existence of several species protected under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), according to a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) on 105 species showed.
Around 70 per cent of the CMS terrestrial mammals are hunted for wild meat consumption. As much as 64% of the wild species were recorded as hunted. The share increased to 98% excluding species like bats of the Chiroptera order. As many as 34 of 99 species with an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Assessment were reported as used at the subsistence level, 27 were traded nationally and 22 were traded internationally.
Taking of wild animals for domestic use had a greater impact on most species than taking for international trade, the study found
Cheetah, wild yak, Asian elephant, African wild ass, chinkara, mountain gorilla, Eastern red bat, African elephant, lion, Tibetan antelope, jaguar, Egyptian fruit bat and snow leopard were some of the terrestrial mammals included in the study.
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Proposal to divert forest land for concrete road to Kodachadri hilltop draws conflict: Karnataka
A proposal to divert forest land to lay a concrete road to the Kodachadri hilltop has become a reason for concern among environmentalists. Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd. (KRDCL), Shivamogga, has sought permission to divert 5.5 hectares of forest land and 0.0676 hectare of non-forest land for the “improvement of mud road to CC road from Kattinahole to Kodachadri hilltop.”
But wildlife activists have objected to the proposal and sent a representation to the MoEF&CC, appealing for a rejection terming the existing road illegal as right of way is not mentioned in the reserve forest notification.
“The road from Kattinahole to Kodachadri hilltop passes through Kodachadri Reserve Forest, Chakra State Forest and Madibare Reserve Forest. However, in the notifications of Kodachadri Reserve Forest, Chakra State Forest and Madibare Reserve Forest, there is no mention of right of way for this road and instead it is mentioned as footpath only. Hence, the existing road itself is illegal and therefore the present proposal amounts to formation of a new road,” the representation said.
It added that any attempt to recommend this proposal would be in clear violation of recommendations of the sub-committee on guidelines for roads in protected areas, which state new roads shall not he proposed in national parks and sanctuaries.
Assam’s wild water buffalo is treading troubled waters
Assam’s wild water buffalo population, that was once abundant, saw a dramatic decline, primarily because of colonial hunting for over 150 years.
Describing the abundance of the wild water buffalo (Bubalus arnee) in Assam in his memoir Travels and Adventures in the Province of Assam (1855), Major John Butler, a British colonial military officer and sportsman, noted that during his stay in the province in mid-nineteenth century he would frequently meet with large herds of hundreds of wild water buffaloes in lower and central Assam and it was not uncommon for three or four European sportsmen to shoot thirty buffaloes in a one-day’s sport. About one and a half-century later, hunted to the brink of near-extinction, the species is listed as ‘endangered’ in the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List since 1986.
The wild water buffalo population in Assam faces threats such as habitat loss, fragmentation and degradation due to natural and anthropogenic factors.
What is worrisome for the future and long-term survival of the wild buffalo in Assam is that recent research indicates an alarmingly rapid decline of wetlands and short grasslands, the species’ preferred habitats. Likewise, erosion of riparian tracts also contributes to the loss of wild water buffalo habitats.
Conservationists and herders say that it is habitat loss, and not the cultural practice of interbreeding with the domestic buffaloes, that has affected the population of wild buffaloes.
Researchers develop super-hydrophobic cotton for oil-spill cleanup: IIT Guwahati
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati, have developed a new class of super-hydrophobic cotton composite with Metal-Organic Framework (MOF) that promise marine oil-spill clean-up in near future.
This is a novel, highly porous and water-repellent super-hydrophobic cotton composite material containing MOF, which can absorb oil selectively from an oil-water mixture, researchers said, in a statement released by IIT, Guwahati, September 20, 2021.
The MOF composite has great capability for selective separation of the oils from oil / water mixtures and the separation efficiency lies between 95 per cent and 98 per cent, irrespective of the chemical composition and density of the oils. Besides, the MOF composite is also able to absorb large volumes of oils and can be reused for a minimum of 10 times so that the sorbents can provide more recovery of the spilled oil. Both heavy and light oils can be effectively absorbed by the material, which is easy to prepare, cost-effective and recyclable, IIT, Guwahati said.
The research team was led by Shyam P Biswas, associate professor, Department of Chemistry, IIT Guwahati. The results of this study have recently been published in the journal ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, belonging to American Chemical Society.
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Environment India 