Over 120 flap shell turtles found dead in Mumbai, locals suspected for poisoning
Over 100 flap shell turtles were allegedly poisoned to death at a lake near India’s western city of Mumbai, in a bid to stop them from feeding on illegally-bred fishes.
Conservation workers were reportedly alerted about the incident on Saturday after a local leader asked them to investigate a foul smell around the Gauripada lake in Kalyan area, located 50 kms from the country’s financial capital Mumbai.
Since Saturday at least 135 bodies were recovered, while 11 were found alive and rescued by a team of the forest department and volunteers of Wild Animal Reptile Rescue (WARR), according to local media.
Suhas Pawar of WARR alleged that the local residents have likely killed the reptiles to stop them from eating fishes that are bred illegally in the lake. The rescue teams are still continuing with their search operation.
Awareness on Pygmy Hog on Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav: Assam State Zoo
Assam State Zoo cum Botanical Garden conducted a week long programme (17th January 2022 to 23rd January 2022) on the species Pygmy Hog, to celebrate Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav commemorating 75 years of India’s Independence, under the banner of Central Zoo Authority, New Delhi. The Central Zoo Authority has been conducting various programmes to commemorate Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav covering 75 Weeks-75 Species-75 Zoos and with the theme “Conservation to co-existence: The people’s connect”.
Assam State Zoo was allotted the 45th week with the species Pygmy Hog (Porcula salvania). The week long programme in the Zoo was an outreach programme to reach out to the masses and educate them about the need of conservation of a grassland based species like Pygmy Hog. The target audience of the programme were mostly Students of schools and Colleges, besides the general visitors of the Zoo and experts from various parts of the Country. Owing to the ongoing pandemic conditions in the State, the mode of conduct was mostly kept online via Zoom Cloud link. Later, the sessions were featured in the YouTube and all other social media handles of the Zoo division.
The pygmy hog (Porcula salvania) is the smallest and the rarest wild Hog in the world, with the IUCN status being ‘Endangered’, as estimates of 200 to 300 individuals are surviving in the wild and limited to a highly restricted range. Assam occupies a major part of its habitat due to the extensive grasslands in the State. Hence, it is one of the most important indigenous species of Assam popularly known as “Nol Gahori“.
Currently, only the State of Assam holds the populations of the species and hence it is of utmost important for the State to create awareness for the species besides protecting or conserving it. The Pygmy Hog is one of the most threatened mammals in the world because of the dwindling grassland ecosystem. It is also attributed as an Indicator Species as its presence reflects the health of its primary habitat, that is the wet and tall grasslands of mostly the Dooars. As a result, this species is also offered the highest legal protection under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act and under Appendix I of CITES.
The main speakers of the programme were experts from the Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP), namely Dr. Parag Deka, Project Coordinator, PHCP at Basistha, Guwahati, and Dr. Dhritiman Das, Field Scientist, PHCP, Govt. of Assam.
Dr. Parag Deka, Project Coordinator, took the online participants to a virtual tour of the Pygmy Hog Conservation breeding facility, PHCP, at Indira Nagar, Basishta, Guwahati, besides taking part in the official talk conducted by Central Zoo Authority named ‘Know your Species, Know your Zoo’. The most appreciated events of the programme are- Signature Campaign on Pygmy Hog Conservation for the Zoo visitors and the Street Play on Conservation of Pygmy Hog by Forest frontliners and Animal Keepers of the Zoo.
The wayfaring musician of West Bengal, who protects the environment
Folk singer Naren Hansda is a musician from West Bengal, with a passion for the environment, who has helped regenerate forest land in Purulia district over a decade.
Over a decade ago, it was the passion for music that prompted Hansda of the Santhal community, to leave his home in Jahajpur village in Purulia district of West Bengal. During the course of his musical journey, he discovered the uninhabited Bhalidungri village in the foothills of Ajodhya hills and was mesmerised by the serenity the place offered.
Untouched by human presence, the place offered him the perfect inspiration for his songs. The wayfarer musician has composed over 120 songs mostly about ecology in Santhal and Bengali languages.
Indian classical music has a long-established connection with nature, which is well-recorded in the pages of history. Several ragas (melody), like malhar (associated with rain) and basant bahar (associated with spring), which form the base of Indian classical music, are said to be inspired by natural occurrences. While the indigenous communities have their own language and dialects, ecological knowledge is often passed down the generation through music.
This year, his team plans to plant fifty to sixty thousand trees in the Purulia district. “As a part of my cultural identity, I have been taught that it is a sin to harm nature. If someone like me can understand and implement this, why are educated people who study science continuing to destroy our ecology?”
Less snow, high temperatures have upturned lives in Himalayan cold desert
Surrounded by desert-like rugged terrain on all sides, Kaza is the gateway to the Himalayan cold desert that spans Lahaul-Spiti and Kinnaur districts of Himachal Pradesh in the south to Ladakh in the north.
Sonam Targi, president of Spiti Civil Society, says the warm winters and unexpected snowfall are symptomatic of a bigger problem: The changing precipitation in the entire cold desert region. Even 15 years ago, November would bring with it the season’s first snowfall in the Valley and by March, there would be a healthy snow cover of 1.5 metres.
Last winter season (November 2020-April 2021), the snowfall started as late as March and by April, the snow cover was only 0.5 metres, which melted almost as soon as it fell, says 49-year-old Tepka, a resident of Komik, the world’s highest motorable village, situated just 18 km from Kaza.
He says the changing precipitation is impacting farming, which is already difficult in the harsh climatic conditions of Spiti. The 110 families in Komik grow jowar, vegetables and black peas for personal consumption, and green peas for the market.
The snow cover area also shrank from 23,542 square km in 2019-20 to 19,183 sq km in 2020-21, a decline of 18.52 per cent, as per a report by the Centre on Climate Change of the Himachal Pradesh Council for Science Technology and Environment and the Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad.
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Commando Force to be deployed at Kaziranga National Park to intensify anti-poaching operations: Assam
Special Director General of Police (DGP) cum Chairman Assam Rhino Protection Task Force and Chief Wildlife Warden (CWLW) on Sunday informed that Commando Force will be deployed at Kaziranga National Park to intensify anti-poaching operations there.
The Special DGP had reviewed the ongoing anti-poaching operation on Saturday and had visited the recent rhino poaching site yesterday. Recently, a carcass of an adult female rhino was detected inside the national park. It is being suspected to have been killed by poachers as its horn was missing.
Environment India 
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