At least 300 Himalayan yaks starve to death in India

CAN – AFP, 12 May 2019

In this file photo taken on Dec 13, 2014, an Indian local walks with his yak on a
snow-covered road during the season’s first snowfall at Kufri, some 17km from the
northern hill town of Shimla. (Photo: AFP/STR) 

NEW DELHI: Indian officials Sunday said (May 12) that at least 300 yaks starved to death in a remote Himalayan valley after a bout of unusually harsh winter weather.

Officials in the northeastern state of Sikkim said they received the first distress call from around 50 people cut off in the remote Mukuthang Valley in December.

Following very heavy snowfall the residents asked for help providing feed for their herd of around 1,500 yaks, a source of local milk, milk products, transportation and wool.

"We made several attempts to reach them but couldn't. No roads or air transport could reach there because of the weather conditions. We reached there now and have already confirmed at least 300 yak deaths," local official Raj Kumar Yadav told AFP.

"The local families say that 500 yaks have died because of starvation. We are trying to confirm that. Around 50 yaks are also receiving urgent medical attention," Yadav added.

Yaks are one of the mainstays of the region's tourism-dependent economy.

A few yaks die because of extreme conditions in the region each year, but the authorities say that this year's toll is unprecedented.

"The weather was too harsh. One heavy spell of snowfall in December was followed by even more snowfall and even the grass didn't grow. They died because of both cold and starvation," Yadav added.

The authorities are making arrangements to bury the dead yaks and assist local families in the valley, around 70 kilometres (45 miles) from state capital Gangtok.

India's 'granny' elephant dies aged 88

Yahoo – AFP, 7 February 2019

Awarded the title of "Gaja Muthassi" (elephant granny), Dakshayani took part in
temple rituals and processions for decades

An Asian elephant believed to be the oldest ever in captivity has died aged 88 in the southern Indian state of Kerala, officials said Thursday.

Awarded the title of "Gaja Muthassi" (elephant granny), Dakshayani took part in temple rituals and processions for decades, but breathed her last on Tuesday after becoming reluctant to eat, her veterinary surgeon said.

"At 3 pm, a sudden shiver passed through her large frame beginning from the head region. After a few minutes she bent her forelimbs and lay down. And that was it," T. Rajeev told AFP.

The Travancore Devaswom Board, which owned Dakshayani, gave her age as 88.

The oldest elephant in captivity recognised by Guinness World Records was aged 86 -- Lin Wang, another Asian elephant which died in 2003 in a Taiwan zoo. Captive elephants have a life expectancy of 40-plus years.

Pineapples and carrots had been introduced to Dakshayani's diet in recent years to improve her metabolism after she began to have difficulty moving around, probably due to reduced eyesight.

"For the past three years she did not take part in any temple programme or public function," Rajeev said.

India has 2,454 elephants in captivity, a survey released last month said

"And a couple of months back, we had even moved her to a better tethering place at an elephant farm in Thiruvananthapuram."

Wildlife conservationists such as P.S. Easa have criticised the practice of keeping elephants in captivity, regardless of their conditions.

He said Thursday all such animals should be released to their natural habitat, adding that bestowing titles on elephants did nothing for their well-being.

"All they want, or for that matter, any animal would want, is to be in their natural habitat and have enough space to move around and sufficient food to eat," he said.

Wildlife experts say some 15,000 Asian elephants -- or nearly one in three -- live in captivity globally, often in dire conditions.

India has 2,454 elephants in captivity, a survey released last month said.

Former Travancore Board president Prayar Goplakrishnan, under whose tenure Dakshayani was awarded the "Gaja Muthassi" honour, defended the decision to keep her in captivity.

"Due to various practical constraints, we could not let her loose, but instead ensured that she had more than enough space to move around," he told AFP.

VIDEO: Three baby Bengal tigers, including one albino cub, born in May play at the Bengal Safari Park in India

VIDEO: Three baby Bengal tigers, including one albino cub, born in May play at the Bengal Safari Park in India 🐯 pic.twitter.com/ZrU2S4rxep

— AFP news agency (@AFP) September 5, 2018

Fans jubilant as Bollywood star Salman Khan freed on bail

Yahoo – AFP, April 7, 2018

Salman Khan is one of the world's highest-paid actors (AFP Photo)

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan left prison on Saturday after being granted bail so he can contest a five-year jail sentence for killing rare antelopes.

Hundreds of frenzied fans awaited the 52-year-old as his vehicle sped through the gates of Jodhpur Central Jail, where the action star had spent two nights after being sentenced on Thursday.

Some tried to cling to the sides of his sports utility vehicle and scores of motorbikes followed Khan as he was driven at high speed to Jodhpur airport to a waiting chartered jet.

He flew to Mumbai where more crowds -- with many men emulating Khan's distinctive hairstyle and clothes -- gathered outside his luxury apartment, dancing to songs from his films.

Khan appeared on the terrace of his apartment with his family and waved to his fans.

A judge released Khan, one of the world's highest-paid actors, in return for bail and sureties totalling 100,000 rupees ($1,500). He cannot leave India without court permission.

Hordes of fans outside the court erupted in celebration on hearing the result, beating drums and chanting Khan's name.

Khan did not attend the bail hearing but prosecutor Mahipal Bishnoi said the actor must appear in court again on May 7.

Khan's army of fans and the Bollywood elite were stunned by the court sentence in the 20-year-old case.

Khan had denied shooting dead two rare antelopes known as black bucks on a hunting trip while filming a movie in 1998.

The court found him guilty while acquitting four other actors.

The actor enjoys a cult-like status and is affectionately known by the Hindi name "bhai", or "brother".

Relief and anger

"Prayers of millions worked," said television actor Arjun Bijlani in a tweet.

But while his fans and producers of costly upcoming films may be relieved, Khan still faces a major courtroom drama.

Bollywood actor Salman Khan's advocate Hastimal Saraswat briefs the 

media outside court (AFP Photo)

Throughout the multiple cases, eyewitnesses have stated they saw Khan firing a gun in October 1998.

Animal rights group PETA said it was disappointed with Khan's bail.

"While Salman Khan gets to go back home to his movie star life for now, black bucks were made to pay the highest price, with their lives," Manilal Valliyate, chief executive of PETA India, said in a statement.

Khan has accused Rajasthan's forest department of trying to frame him. His lawyers claim the black bucks died of natural causes such as overeating, insisting there was no evidence they were shot.

Four other Bollywood stars -- Saif Ali Khan, Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam Kothari -- who were also accused in the case were acquitted due to lack of evidence.

Khan remains one of Bollywood's biggest draws despite the off-screen drama, starring in more than 100 films and television shows.

He finished second behind Shah Rukh Khan in the 2017 Bollywood earnings rankings. Both the Khans are among the world's top 10 best-paid actors.

The Bollywood heartthrob's latest blockbuster "Tiger Zinda Hai" (Tiger is Alive) collected some $85 million worldwide.

Khan has nearly $90 million riding on his projects in coming months with at least three films in the pipeline, analysts say.

A director of one of Khan's upcoming films "Race 3" expressed relief at his release.

"I am happy that he has got bail. After working with him so closely I have become a huge fan of him, not only as an actor but also as a human being," Remo D'Souza told the Press Trust of India.

"Almost 90 percent of the shoot for (the film) is over and the remaining portions will mostly be shot in India."

Global wild tiger count rises for first time in 100 years

Yahoo  - AFP, Annie Banerji, April 11, 2016

A wild tiger at the Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, western Thailand, pictured
 a camera trap photo released by the Government of Thailand and the Wildlife
Conservation Society Thailand on February 18, 2016 (AFP Photo/Wildlife
Conservation Society Thailand)

The number of wild tigers across the globe has increased for the first time in more than a century thanks to improved conservation efforts, wildlife groups said on Monday.

Deforestation, encroachment of habitat and poaching have devastated tiger populations across Asia, but countries with the big cats are working to increase their numbers.

Data compiled by the WWF and the Global Tiger Forum show that the global population of wild tigers has risen to an estimated 3,890 from an all-time low of 3,200 in 2010.

The number of wild tigers has gone up

 for the first time in a century, according to 

new figures released by the World Wildlife 

Fund.

"For the first time after decades of constant decline, tiger numbers are on the rise," Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International, said in a statement.

It is the first time the number of the endangered cats has gone up since 1900, when there were 100,000 tigers.

India is home to more than half of the world's tiger population with some 2,226 tigers roaming its reserves across 18 states, according to the last count in 2014.

Russia, Bhutan and Nepal also saw higher tiger numbers in their latest surveys.

However, experts cautioned that the numbers may be partly down to improved data gathering, with the inclusion of new sample areas and upgraded survey techniques as well as enhanced protection efforts.

Global efforts

Bangladesh registered a severe decline from 440 tigers in 2010 to 106 in 2015, though conservationists say this may have been due to an over-estimation of the population six years ago.

There has been a rapid fall in Indonesia because of heavy forest destruction to meet a growing global demand for palm oil, pulp and paper.

Cambodia is mulling the idea of reintroducing tigers after declaring them functionally extinct last week following no evidence of the animals since 2007.

Poachers often sell tiger body parts to the lucrative traditional Chinese medicine market, and the felines also face other man-made problems such as habitat loss.

In 2010 the 13 countries with tiger populations -- Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam -- launched a plan to double their numbers by 2022.

Monday's global census was released a day before a three-day meeting of ministers from these countries in New Delhi to discuss conservation efforts.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the conference which is expected to be attended by around 700 tiger experts, scientists, managers and donors from across the world.

"Due to the concerted efforts of the government and other stakeholders, more than 70 percent of the global wild tiger population is in India," Prakash Javadekar, India's Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister said in a statement.

Conference delegates are expected to discuss some of the key conservation issues including a unified anti-poaching strategy, monitoring protocols, habitat and landscape management.

Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio, whose eponymous charitable foundation was also involved in the 2010 tiger conservation plan, voiced his elation at the increased numbers.

"Proud of @World_Wildlife and #LDF's efforts that have helped increase tiger populations for the first time in 100 yrs," the Oscar-winner and environmentalist tweeted.

Indian court bans Mumbai's horse-drawn carriages

Yahoo – AFP, 9 June 2015

Mumbai's ornate horse-drawn carriages are nearing the end of the road after a

 court in the Indian city ruled them illegal, saying owners must wind up operations

within a year (AFP Photo/Punit Paranjpe)

Mumbai's ornate horse-drawn carriages are nearing the end of the road after a court in the Indian city ruled them illegal, saying owners must wind up operations within a year.

The silver-coloured Victorias -- styled on open carriages used during Queen Victoria's reign -- have been plying Mumbai's streets since British colonial times, and for years have been a tourist attraction.

But on Monday the Bombay High Court agreed with animal welfare groups, who had petitioned for a ban citing poor treatment of the horses, that the practice was cruel.

"We hold that the use of horse-driven carriages... for joy rides is completely illegal," read the court verdict.

It ordered the city government to "ensure that the use of such horse-driven carriages... shall be completely stopped on expiry of a period of one year from today".

The court also ruled that all related stables must be closed down and directed local authorities to come up with a scheme to help the estimated 700 people involved in the trade.

The jazzy carriages were once a mode of transport for former Bombay's wealthy classes, but they now carry tourists around the historic Colaba district and Marine Drive promenade in the south of the city.

A horse-drawn carriage is pictured on the city's iconic Marine Drive promenade

in Mumbai (AFP Photo/Indranil Mukherjee)

They are often seen outside the luxury Taj Mahal Palace hotel and Gateway of India monument and have also appeared in several Bollywood movies.

But concerns over unlicensed stables and poor treatment of the horses saw the Animals and Birds Charitable Trust, with the support of PETA India, lodge a case in Mumbai's top court.

PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, had claimed the horses were often malnourished, denied adequate rest or veterinary care and were forced to stand in their own waste in sub-standard stables.

Manilal Valliyate, from PETA India, applauded the decision, saying "Mumbai's Victoria industry is inherently cruel and dangerous".

Related Article:

Culture or Cruelty?

India's tiger population jumps 30 percent

Yahoo – AFP, 20 Jan 2015

The census found 2,226 tigers in India last year compared with 1,706 in 2010.
(AFP Photo)

New Delhi (AFP) - India, home to most of the world's wild tigers, on Tuesday reported a 30 percent jump in numbers over four years in a rare piece of good news for conservationists.

A census found 2,226 tigers in India last year compared with 1,706 in 2010, officials in New Delhi announced.

Environment minister Prakash Javadekar hailed the rise as a "huge success" as India battles to save the endangered animals from poachers and smugglers as well as destruction of their natural habitat.

"While the tiger population is falling in the world, it is rising in India. We have increased by 30 per cent from the last count. That is a huge success story," Javadekar said at the release of the census.

The minister cited improved management of India's more than 40 tiger reserves for the increase.

He said the government was working to reduce deadly encounters between tigers and villagers, as farmers encroach on forest land and the big cats leave reserves to search for water and food.

Some 9,700 hidden cameras were used in known tiger habitats including in the northeast state of Assam and western Rajasthan to take photographs of the animals for the count.

More than half of the world's rapidly dwindling wild tiger population lives in India, but the country's conservation programme has been working to halt their decline.

The numbers have been rising since they dropped to 1,411 in 2006 but the current population still remains a long way off 2002 when some 3,700 tigers were estimated to be alive in the country.

There were thought to be around 40,000 tigers in India at the time of independence from Britain in 1947.

Authorities across Asia are waging a major battle against poachers, who often sell tiger body parts to the lucrative traditional Chinese medicine market, and other man-made problems such as development leading to habitat loss.

Indian woman kills leopard with sickle after it attacks her

Kamla Devi, 56, says she battled with the animal for half an hour after it attacked her while she was tending her fields

theguardian.com, Agence France-Presse in Dehradun, Wednesday 27 August 2014

Kamla Devi suffered several injuries after she fought off a leopard. Photograph: Europics

A 56-year-old Indian woman is recovering in hospital after killing a leopard that attacked her, as she tended her fields armed only with a sickle.

The woman told Indian broadcaster CNN-IBN that she battled with the leopard for half an hour on Sunday morning before finally delivering a killer blow with her sickle.

"The leopard lunged at me many times and we fought for a long time," she told the channel from her hospital bed in the northern state of Uttarakhand, her arms bandaged and a big scar across her right cheek.

"I got hold of my sickle and fought with it. That's when the leopard was killed," said the woman, named as Kamla Devi.

Devi, who was widowed a few years ago, told the Hindustan Times she was terrified when the leopard attacked, but was determined not to succumb.

"I gathered my courage to fight back. I promised myself that this is not my last day here," she told the paper.

She told AFP that she grabbed the ear of the attacking leopard with her right hand and kept swinging at the animal with the sickle in her left. Hearing Devi's screams for help, villagers in the Rudraprayag district came running but the leopard was dead by the time they reached her, a witness, Jagdish Singh, said.

Dr Rakesh Rawat said Devi's injuries, which include fractured hands and deep cuts on her body, were not life threatening and she was recovering.

Leopard attacks are relatively common in rural areas of India, although it is rare for the leopard to come off worse. In 2009 a nine-year-old boy in the same state fought off a leopard that had attacked his sister.

The animals are increasingly venturing into populated areas as their habitat becomes depleted. Video footage from Mumbai last year showed a leopard creeping into an apartment block complex and snatching a small dog.

Conservation group WWF called for better management of forests and other habitats for India's leopard population, which numbered 1,150 in a 2011 census.

India stray dogs to be part of security squad

Yahoo – AFP, 9 Aug 2014

Stray dogs sleep on an empty road during a one day general strike called

 by the trade unions in Siliguri on February 28, 2012 (AFP Photo/Diptendu Dutta)

New Delhi (AFP) - Stray canines roaming the Indian capital may soon find themselves attending police training school with civic authorities planning to turn the animals into security dogs, reports said Saturday.

New Delhi residents have long informally adopted some strays as watchdogs and fed them, but this marks the first formal plan to turn them into municipal security dogs.

Delhi authorities said they would enlist police animal trainers to work with the strays and press the canines into service as guard dogs alongside a newly formed "May I Help You?" city security force which aims to assist the public and bolster safety.

Stray dogs are seen inside the gates of 

The Turf Club in Mumbai on February 1,

2012 (AFP Photo/Indranil Mukherjee)

"If these dogs are going to roam the NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Corp) area, they might as well work," the civic body's chairman Jalaj Shrivastava told The Hindu newspaper.

"Our plan is to adopt these strays and train them as guard dogs" to work with the public security force -- 40 officers have already been deployed with the city planning to engage as many as 700, he added.

While some stray dogs are friendly and docile, others are more menacing and there is a high incidence of dog bites in India.

"This initiative is meant to address two issues: take the strays off the streets, thereby tackling the dog menace, and make the city safer for residents," added Shrivastava.

There are no recent figures on the number of dogs in Delhi but a 2009 city survey put them at more than 260,000.

The reports did not say how many dogs would be used in the security scheme.

Dogs will be fed and vaccinated under the plan, welcomed by animal rights activists.

"This will engage the street dogs with society and also benefit people," Radha Unnikrishnan, an animal rights activist, told the Hindustan Times.

A 2001 law forbids killing the roaming dogs and the stray population has soared, feeding on India's infamous mountains of street garbage as well as on scraps given to them by residents. Hindus object to the killing of many types of animals.

Cities across India already run sterilisation and vaccination programmes but an estimated 20,000 people die each year from rabies infections in India, over a third of the global total.

The stray dog programme is the latest animal initiative in New Delhi.

A federal minister earlier this month announced authorities were deploying 40 professional monkey impersonators in government buildings to frighten away rhesus macaque monkeys which terrorise bureaucrats, invading offices, grabbing files and snatching food.

The men mimic sounds of langurs, which were used to chase away macaques around Delhi for decades until authorities started enforcing two years ago a four-decade-old wildlife law that bans keeping langurs in captivity.

India evacuates Bihar villages after landslide in Nepal

Authorities in India have begun evacuating villagers after efforts to clear a landslide in Nepal sparked fears of flash floods. The landslide early Saturday killed at least eight people and buried dozens of homes.

Deutsche Welle, 2 Aug 2014

The landslide created a mud dam blocking the Sunkoshi river, which flows into India's Bihar state as the Kosi. Indian officials say water levels have risen above the danger mark and authorities fear that water could inundate hundreds of Bihar's villages as Nepal attempts to clears the debris.

"We are repeatedly appealing to villagers settled along the Kosi embankments to flee to safer places as soon as possible," Vysaji, the principal secretary in Bihar's disaster management department, told reporters late Saturday. "The blasting of blockage in river could result in a 10-meter (33-foot) high wall of water sweeping down Kosi into Bihar which could bring trouble," added Vysaji, who goes only by one name.

Nepal's army announced that it had started opening the dam by setting off two controlled blasts and that water had started to drain out slowly. Indian authorities, taking no chances, have put eight districts under flood alert, and begun evacuations in the districts of Supaul, Madhubani and Saharsa. Authorities have also opened sluice gates at a barrage along the Kosi at the border, deployed rescue teams and sent more than 200 boats to evacuate villagers.

The disaster preparations come just days after a landslide killed dozens of people in India.

'We are looking'

The landslide hit early Saturday in Nepal, burying two dozen homes before dumping mud and stones into the river, northeast of the capital, Kathmandu. Officials have recovered eight bodies from the debris of dozens of collapsed houses so far, and police have warned that the death toll will likely rise.

At least 40 people were injured, four of them critically. More than 100 people remain missing, and at least 5,000 have been displaced.

"The landslide has caused huge damage," Bharat Bahadur Bohara, a police officer, told the news agency Reuters. "We cannot make any estimates of the number of deaths now. We are looking for other people who might be trapped."

Nepalese authorities have also asked residents in downstream villages to evacuate as the mud dam could collapse at any time.

mkg/hc (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)

India Landslide Rescuers Press On Despite ‘Very Slim Chances’ As Toll Hits 73

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Aug 02, 2014

Rescuers search for landslide victims in torrential rain. (AFP Photo)

Rescuers continued digging Saturday despite ‘very slim chances’ of finding any more people alive in the mud and debris from a major landslide in western India, where 73 have been killed.

Seventy–three bodies and eight survivors have now been pulled from the site where a village once stood in a remote part of western Maharashtra state, but incessant rains, marshy terrain and strong winds have hampered rescue efforts.

“Whole night the operation was on. We were able to recover 73 dead, eight alive,” Alok Awasthi, commandant of the National Disaster Response Force [NDRF], told NDTV news channel adding half the work had been completed.

“Around 80 people are still feared trapped… chances of survival are very very slim.”

The NDRF has said about 160 people were thought to have been living in the dozens of houses damaged when a hill gave way and cascaded onto their village of Malin.

The force, which mobilised 378 rescue workers to help with the search, worked into the night and entered its fourth day in a desperate hunt for any more survivors after lights powered by portable generators were set up.

The rescue operation could continue another two days due to difficult conditions, state relief and rehabilitation minister Patangrao Kadam said, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

Grieving relatives have been rushing to identify bodies and attending mass cremations at their village after losing whole families as tonnes of earth and trees came crashing down onto the homes below on July 30.

“I’m shell-shocked… our roots [at Malin] have been wiped out in an instant,” Vilas Jhanjre, a factory worker, told The Hindu newspaper after he failed to find his parents’ bodies at the wiped–out village and nearby hospital.

“Life ceases to have meaning without one’s parents.”

Dramatic footage of the landslide showed a chunk of hillside giving way with a cascade of mud, rocks and trees, sending up clouds of dust below.

Disaster experts and Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan have blamed the landslide on deforestation and construction work on the hills.

While India’s annual rains are a lifeline for the economy, flooding and building collapses are frequent during the monsoon season.

A landslide in the eastern state of Odisha on Thursday cut off about a dozen villages, while another in the northern Himalayan state of Uttarakhand killed at least five people.

Uttarakhand was hit by a landslide and flooding disaster last year that is thought to have killed nearly 6,000 pilgrims, tourists and others.

A separate landslide struck a village in northeastern Nepal Saturday killing at least seven people with dozens missing.

Agence France-Presse

Indian tigers make successful comeback

Deutsche Welle, 29 January 2014

The number of India's once endangered tigers has increased significantly in the last two years thanks to conservation efforts. The relocation of the threatened animals to new habitats is proving to be beneficial.

India has been under intense international scrutiny over its tiger conservation efforts, as the country is home to over half of the world's estimated 3,200 tigers in its 41 reserves and national parks. The illegal hunting of tigers in the first half of the last decade was a cause of worry for the Indian wildlife officials. In 2005, the Indian National Tiger Conservation Authority decided to step in and intensified its efforts to conserve the animals.

In 2004, the population of Indian tigers at Rajasthan's Sariska National Park was on the verge of extinction due to poaching. After the tiger translocation program - which commenced in 2008 - the park has now 10 big cats, including two cubs and five female tigers, which have been relocated from the nearby Ranthambhore Park.

The number of tiger deaths in 2012 due
to poaching left officials troubled

"We should have done this experiment a long time ago,” Dinesh Durrani, a member of the Sariska Tiger Foundation, told DW. In 2012, over 80 tigers died - more than half of them as a result of poaching. It was the highest figure in a decade. Most of the killings were reported in the western states of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Doubling efforts

Inspired by the efforts made by the Sariska Tiger Foundation, the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh recently translocated some tigers to the Panna Reserve, where no big cat had previously survived.

"The only two places where the tiger translocation program has been successful are the Panna Reserve and Sariska. There are around 28 tigers at Panna now," said Koustubh Sharma, a wildlife conservationist.

Sharma, who has been involved in the radio-collaring program for tigers at the Panna Reserve, told DW that big cats would breed more frequently, if they received proper protection and the right kind of prey base.

At a time when the poaching of tigers was at its peak, the Indian authorities somehow managed to reverse the trend, thus enabling the tigers to make a successful comeback. As a result, the number of tigers in the northern state of Bihar has also doubled in the last three years, say wildlife experts say, adding that other countries can take inspiration from India in this regard.

Strong demand for tiger parts

Experts, however, believe that despite the increase in the tiger population, there is no room for complacency as the poachers are also looking for innovative ways to hunt down the animals.

China has become the biggest marketplace for tiger parts in the world. Driven by strong demand from traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, the body parts fetch high prices on the black market. While tiger bones sell for about 1,000 US dollars per 100 grammes, prices for tiger skins can range from 11,000 to 21,000 US dollars.

In light on this development, Belinda Wright of the Wildlife Protection Society, calls for swift action: "India has not stood up to China on this issue. This needs to be discussed at all international forums."

Tiger reserves

In July 2012, the Indian Supreme Court banned tourists from entering the core reserves of tiger sanctuaries in a move it thought would help curb poaching. But this ban was subsequently lifted with the court asking every state to prepare detailed tiger conservation plans.

Tiger parts fetch high prices on
the black market

Core areas in India's tiger reserves hosting sufficient prey animals, shelter and water for the big cats are critical for the conservation of the tiger. On the other hand, many small villages in India are located around these tiger sanctuaries. This has led to incidents where the villagers have killed the tigers for attacking their livestock.

"The radio-collars around the tigers' necks have helped us monitor their movement. We can now tell if a tiger saunters into human territory," said Durrani. "This initiative will help put an end to the tussle between humans and tigers," the wildlife expert hopes.

'An inspiring victory for tribal people around the world'

Deutsche Welle, 14 January 2014

The Dongria Kondh tribal people of India have successfully stopped a mine from opening up on their traditional lands. DW speaks to Sophie Grig from Survival International, who supported the protests for a decade.

DW: After ten years of protests, the Indian environment ministry has now rejected a huge bauxite mining project by the multinational company Vedanta. Survival International has called this a 'sensational victory'. How likely is it that a small group like the Dongria Kondh win a case for their rights, when they are pitched against a huge multinational like Vedanta?

Sophie Grig: It's fantastic news, it's a real David and Goliath story. There's only about 8000 Dongria people. One of the main reasons why they have had this great success is their incredible tenacity and courage and the fact that they are so united and so proud of their way of life. They are so determined to protect their sacred hills that they have done everything they can to campaign against the mine. That has also been supported by Survival International and a number of other organizations both on the ground and internationally.

In this battle that the Dongria fought for such a long time, the group were confronted with many obstacles. Can you give us an idea of what they experienced?

Sophie Grig, Asia Expert
at Survival International

Their leaders have been arrested, there have been a lot of threats against them, there has been a lot of pressure and harassment for the community. There's also been a lot of pressure from the company who have tried to buy them off by claiming that they will bring development. The Dongria have rightly said 'We don't want development', 'What sort of development is it, if you destroy our hills?'

The Dongria have a wonderful agricultural system where they have huge numbers of plants that they cultivate or collect from the forest that enable them to live well and very happily in their hills, as they have done for generations. They say 'Development for us is being able to live here and make our own choices'.

Defenders of this mining project have always said that the Dongria, like other tribal people, are among the most impoverished in the country and they need economic development. Isn't that also the case?

They certainly don't see themselves as poor and in fact they told us 'We live like kings'. They feel like they live a very wealthy and happy existence in the hills. They themselves look at people in the plains and in the cities and they feel sorry for them. They say, 'You have to pay for your water', 'You have to pay for everything, we get it for free in the hills, why would we want to leave'. What they want is to be able to live their own way of life on their own land.

And, of course, this land is also sacred to them.

Yes, it is. They worship the hills they live in which would have been destroyed by the mining company. That's also played a huge part in their rejection of the mines.

Apart from the determination of the Dongria Kondh, how important was the international campaigning on their behalf? What was the tipping point that made this victory possible?

I think that the international and national campaigns were extremely important. The Dongria on their own, however determined they were, would not have been able to generate the awareness in the government of what was happening to them on the ground. That's the danger when tribal people's voices are just ignored. They needed the national and the international pressure to make the government sit up and listen.

Survival's campaign involved us making a film which allowed them to speak out themselves. We know that 600,000 people viewed that film. Thousands of letters were sent to the Indian government, protests were held, we lobbied the British government and they condemned the mining there and the Church of England disinvested from Vedanta mining. Then, the Supreme Court said that the Dongria should be allowed to make the decision. This last weekend, the news has finally come that the [Indian environment] ministry has said no. So, it's been a culmination of all that hard work.

What repercussions will this news have for other tribal people in Asia and around the world?

This win for the Dongria Kondh is having
 repercussions around the world, says Grig

We know that the news of the Dongria is being listened to. And the big meetings they had last August, and the way that they rejected the mine back then, has already had repercussions. I have spoken to Sami reindeer herders in Sweden who said that they were inspired by the Dongria's rejection of the mine and that it galvanized them in their cause.

Vedanta will have looked at the Dongria and thought, 'Here are 8000 people living in a really remote part of Odisha'. They didn't think that these people were going to be able to stop them. They didn't think people were going to be able to find out about it. This can really send a strong message to mining companies and governments that they cannot go ahead with mines like this or other development projects on the lands of tribal people without getting the consent of those tribal people. And, if they don't want it, that has to be listened to and it can't go ahead.

But, bauxite is in high demand. Even though new places are being explored, there might be no real alternatives to the place that Vedanta wanted to mine in. Do you think there will be a new attempt to gain access to the sacred hills of the Dongria Kondh?

I would love to say no, but who knows. There is an election coming up in India and it is always possible that the decision might be overturned. I think at the moment though there's so much public attention that has gone into this case, it would be extremely difficult for it to be overturned. But it's definitely something that the Dongria will be watching.

There's a refinery that has been built at the base of their hills, which was supposed to be processing the bauxite mined in the area. While that is still there, the Dongria will be nervous about further attempts to mine. But, I think as things stand, it's a huge victory and we have to hope that it will be maintained.

Sophie Grig is an Asia Expert for Survival International and is based in London.