Technology is developing and so the human carelessness, over 27,000 Cattle killed On Railway Tracks in just 1 year
From March 2020 to April 2021, despite trains not running at their full capacity, 27,000 cattle deaths happened on the track between April 2020 and March 2021. The data also showed that between April 2019 and March 2020, over 38,000 cattle were run over by trains. Now that the trains are back at their full capacity, the number of cattle deaths are approaching 3,000 in a month.
The cattle deaths, aside from being a huge loss of animal life and a shock to their owners’ livelihoods, also cause train delays. According to data, cattle deaths have caused delays in 24,000 train trips. Most of the cattle accidents happen in Uttar Pradesh, where it has become a headache for the zonal railways.
In a move to tackle this huge problem, authorities are identifying areas with accidents most commonly seen. After the identification of these areas, the railway protection forces have urged the locals to stop their cattle from coming close to the railway tracks.
Accused in killing of pregnant elephant by crackers in Kerala surrenders after 1.5 years
Over a year after a pregnant elephant was killed after eating a firecracker stuffed in a pineapple, the second accused, who allegedly planted the trap meant for a wild boar, surrendered before the Munsiff Magistrate Court in Palakkad’s Mannarkad on October 16.
Riyazudeen, 38, had been absconding since June 2020, and surrendered almost one-and-half years later. His father Abdul Kareem, the first accused in the case, is still absconding. The Forest Department said that they would seek Riyazudeen’s custody on Monday, October 18.
The 15-year-old pregnant elephant ate a pineapple stuffed with firecrackers in mid May 2020. The elephant died a few days after that incident and was cremated on May 27, 2020. Her autopsy revealed that she was one month pregnant.
The animal belonged to the Silent Valley National Park in Palakkad and ate the fruit in the forest area near Palakkad- Malappuram border. When she bit into the fruit stuffed with firecrackers, she was grievously injured. Her upper and lower jaws as well as tongue were mangled. The elephant died standing in a river.
👉TNM
Development projects threaten Bengal florican habitat in Assam
The Bustard Specialist Group (BSG) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature wrote to the Assam government recently on the urgent need to prevent land-use changes at Kokilabari Seed Farm in the state to protect Bengal floricans and other species.
Land-use changes at the site, which houses 25 Bengal floricans, is posing a threat to the critically endangered bird. The group is also worried about the plan to convert the farm into a university campus. “We support moves to improve higher education but to destroy a natural jewel like Kokilabari would be a terrible sacrifice of nature with which you cannot wish to be associated.” There are other sites that can be developed without committing irreversible environmental damage at Kokilabari, they added.
The species is found in very small numbers only in India and Cambodia. About a hundred of them are present in Nepal and the species is extinct in Bangladesh. Out of the around 150 individuals in Assam, Kokilabari Seed Farm, which is adjacent to Manas, has 25 of them.
New developments at Kokilabari Seed Farm which lies close to Manas National Park are deeply disturbing, said Nigel Collar and Mimi Kessler, co-chairs of BSG, in a letter to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. For conservation of any species, habitat is the prime importance and Kokilabari is one such important habitat for not only Bengal florican but many more species
👉DTE
Wildlife Bhakshak: NBWL nod to Tipeshwar ESZ barrage in Telangana
The standing committee of National Board for Wildlife has cleared the Rs400 crore interstate Channaka-Korata barrage on Penganga river in Adilabad district of Telangana.
The project was cleared in the 65th meeting of the NBWL, held virtually on September 24. Maharashtra PCCF (wildlife) Sunil Limaye told that the project requires environment clearance (EC) and falls within the notified eco-sensitive zone of Tipeshwar Wildlife Sanctuary in Pandharkawda division.
The proposal is for the use of 213.48 hectare non-forest land within the notified ESZ and involves about 5,000 hectare non-forest land for construction of the barrage and submergence area in both Maharashtra and Telangana.
👉TOI
Tracking rivers, the highways of plastic waste
The Ganges and its tributaries are major rivers that carry huge loads of plastics into the ocean. In an effort to identify plastic accumulation and leakage hotspots along the Ganga river, a recent project in three north Indian cities found that roughly 10–25% of all the plastic waste generated was littered and was not routed into recycling or appropriate waste disposal channels.
Besides the Ganga, many researchers investigating the presence of plastics, in other freshwater lakes and rivers in India are finding microplastics (plastic particles less than 5 mm in size) in every sample tested.
Plastic litter and plastic equipment used in the fishing industry are major sources of the plastic waste generated as per multiple studies.
Leopardess missing, 2 cubs shifted to Gorewada: Maharashtra
The two newborn leopard cubs that were found abandoned in a paper mill in Ashti, under Allapalli forest division of Gadchiroli, were shifted to Gorewada Rescue Centre here on Sunday night.
The cubs are said to be around 15 days old. It is suspected that their mother may have been poached as a leopardess never moves away from her cubs. Locals who first noticed the cubs had handled them and clicked videos and photos.
👉TOI
Environment India 