Lioness Spotted In Central Africa National Park For First Time In 6 Years: Report
The camera trap evidence of the lioness is a "critical milestone in the recovery of lions" in the region, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) said.
"Until now, all camera trap images had captured only males, with no evidence of breeding females or cubs," it said in a statement on Thursday.
The image, recorded in Bamingui-Bangoran National Park, suggested that the lioness was lactating, indicating the presence of cubs, which the NGO called "a promising sign of reproduction and population resilience".
The US-based NGO said that the lion population in northeastern CAR was estimated at a few dozen at best.
"Yet, the habitat remains largely intact, with low human densities, offering an extraordinary chance for recovery," Luke Hunter, executive director of WCS's Big Cats Programme, said in the statement.
The WCS said that northeastern CAR faced acute conservation threats, including from ivory poaching, commercial bushmeat hunting and illegal extraction of resources.
"These threats are often compounded by armed groups and regional insecurity," it added.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
NGT plea over unchecked encroachments at Upper Lake: BMC seeks time to reply
Bhopal: In a petition alleging rampant encroachments in the periphery of the Upper Lake and the Lower Lake in Bhopal (both part of Ramsar site), where any kind of permanent construction is legally banned, the counsel for BMC sought some more time to file a response before a National Green Tribunal bench. Following hearing of the case recently, the Bhopal-based central bench of NGT comprising judicial member Sheo Kumar Singh and expert member Dr Afroz Ahmad in a brief order said "Counsel for the BMC has sought a short time to file response. Affidavit on behalf of MoEF&CC, reply by MPPCB and CPCB are on record. Rest of the respondents are directed to submit a reply within 3 weeks", while listing the case for next hearing on Oct 7, 2025. Environmental activist Rashid Noor Khan in his petition said that the Bhoj Wetland, designated as a Ramsar site in 2002, consists of the Upper Lake and the Lower Lake, both man-made reservoirs of immense ecological and historical significance. The Upper Lake is also a vital source of drinking water as well and plays an essential role in flood control, climate regulation, and carbon sequestration. However, despite its protected status, the Bhoj Wetland is under constant threat due to illegal activities carried out by private entities and govt authorities, the petition alleged in the case. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like TV providers are furious: this gadget gives you access to all channels Techno Mag Learn More Undo These activities include the construction of permanent structures, resorts, industrial and concrete mixture plants, fly ash block plants; illegal cutting of plots in agriculture land and developing housing societies, the indiscriminate dumping of waste; the direct discharge of untreated sewage into the wetland; unauthorised landfilling; and road construction within the Full Tank Level (FTL) and its Zone of Influence. These activities obstruct natural water flow, alter hydrology, and severely disrupt the ecosystem. Additionally, trees planted as part of conservation efforts to protect the wetland are being illegally cut down, further jeopardizing its ecological balance. Counsel for the petitioner, Harshwardhan Tiwari, emphasised the urgent need for judicial intervention to safeguard the Bhoj Wetland, a national and international heritage, from further degradation and to uphold India's commitment to environmental conservation under both domestic and international frameworks. In its order on the petition on May 2, 2025, the tribunal had directed the petitioner to provide specific details of violators and instances of encroachments. In a reply filed subsequent to order, counsel for the petitioner Harshwardhan Tiwari, while giving several specific instances of encroachments in Bhoj Wetland's zone of influence, however, said that it was not possible for a private individual to get all the information regarding illegal constructions and encroachments in the periphery of Bhoj Wetland, and the state and the central authorities responsible to protect the wetland must be enlisted for the job, including: the collector, Bhopal, BMC, MP Wetland Authority, Town & Country Planning, MPPCB, CPCB and MOEF & CC. The tribunal is yet to decide on the issue in the case. Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
News18
7 hours ago
- News18
Ahmedabad plane crash: US attorney, kin of victims join candlelight vigil
Ahmedabad, Aug 12 (PTI) Family members of Air India plane crash victims on Tuesday participated in a candlelight vigil at the site of the tragedy in Meghaninagar area of Ahmedabad to mark two months since the deadly aviation disaster. United States-based aviation attorney Mike Andrews, who is in Gujarat to meet the kin of the deceased, also participated, said his media coordinator, Kuldip Israni. 'Andrews and 20 to 25 family members of the air crash victims, including passengers and those killed on the ground, participated in the candlelight vigil in memory of the victims," said Israni. Andrews, on August 8, announced that at least 65 families from India and the United Kingdom, who lost their kin in the horrific tragedy on June 12, have hired US-based law firm Beasley Allen, with which he is associated as an aviation attorney. Andrews had told reporters in Vadodara that the families have an option of filing a product liability claim in a US court, depending on the findings of the ongoing investigation. On June 12, Air India's Boeing 787-8 aircraft en route to London Gatwick crashed into a medical hostel complex shortly after taking off from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport and burst into flames, killing 241 out of 242 people onboard and 19 individuals on the ground, including four medical students. During the last week, Andrews met family members of several victims in Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Surat and neighbouring Diu. PTI PJT PD NSK view comments First Published: August 12, 2025, 23:45 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Time of India
8 hours ago
- Time of India
From raising orphaned elephants calves to rescuing tigers, Dudhwa mahout wins Gaj Gaurav award for 3 decades of service
1 2 Pilibhit: The first sound in the elephant camp is not the elephants. It's the scrape of Irshad Ali's old, mud-soaked shoes on packed earth as he moves from one tethered giant to another, checking ropes and brushing dust from thick hides. The air smells faintly of cut grass and boiled rice, and somewhere behind him, a calf trumpets — short, high, impatient. This is his every morning at the South Sonaripur elephant camp in the Dudhwa tiger reserve. On Tuesday, Irshad, 50, walked on a very different turf in cleaner footwear — a polished stage in Coimbatore, hundreds of kilometres from the forests that have been his home and workplace for more than three decades — as union environment, forest and climate change minister Bhupendra Yadav handed him the Gaj Gaurav award on World Elephant Day, something no one from DTR had received before. The only recipient from UP, Irshad is among seven individuals from Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to be conferred this honour. The citation named his thirty years of service: rescuing and rearing two orphaned elephant calves, training elephants for tiger rescues, and leading rhino headcounts. "I have worked with elephants all my life," Ali said afterwards, "but I never imagined standing before the country to be honoured for it." by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like NRIs Living In Ukraine Are Eligible For INR 2 Lakh Monthly Pension. Invest 18K/Month Get Offer Undo His voice carried no ceremony; he spoke as if describing another day's work. Ali was 11 when he first began caring for elephants. In 1986, his father, Mukhtyar Ali, also a mahout at DTR, died of respiratory illness. That same year, two infant female calves arrived after being accidentally separated from their mothers. "I saw the same emptiness in their eyes that I felt in mine," he said. He began to feed them with whatever was at hand, sitting by their enclosure until they slept. Irshad's formal schooling ended after class V, and he learnt the craft under his father's elder brother, Abid Ali, a retired mahout from Nainital forest division. Abid taught him the slow language of elephant handling — the pressure of a knee behind an ear, the slight lean of the body that signals a turn, the importance of never rushing an animal's decision. By the time Abid died in 2002, Irshad had been a forest watcher and was already posted as a mahout in the Palia-based elephant camp, starting on Feb 9, 1994. The calves that defined his recent years arrived more than three decades after those first two. On Oct 9, 2018, DTR received a three-month-old from Bijnor forest division. In 2023, another arrived from Najibabad at just 20 days old. He named them Durga and Gauri, feeding them cow's milk from bottles and sleeping close enough to hear their restless shifts at night. During his visit to Salukapur elephant camp at Dudhwa tiger reserve on April 27 this year, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath renamed Gauri as Bhawani. She was not accepted by the adult females; Ali began placing her near Durga during feeding, letting familiarity grow gradually. In time, Durga adopted her. "They are inseparable now," he said, watching them move in step through the camp. His work has never been limited to raising calves. The tiger rescue in 2012 took him far from the quiet of Dudhwa to a mango farm on the outskirts of Lucknow, where a stray big cat had been hiding for hours, unsettling villagers and drawing a tense crowd. Riding a trained camp elephant, Ali threaded through narrow orchard lanes, keeping the animal steady despite the tiger's growls from deep in the undergrowth. "You have to watch both — the tiger in front and the elephant under you — because one sudden move from either can turn the situation dangerous," he said. It took hours of careful positioning before the tranquiliser team got a clear shot, allowing the tiger to be moved without injury. This year, his skills were called on for a quieter but equally demanding task — identifying rhinos for release into free-ranging conditions in DTR. Over several days, he accompanied monitoring teams into tall grasslands, tracking individuals and noting their behaviour, age, and health. His knowledge of the terrain and the animals' habits helped narrow the selection to four, whose release is now part of the reserve's long-term conservation plan. "You cannot get this close to a rhino unless you have patience — and a good elephant," he said. Ali's own formal education ended early, but he has ensured his two sons had opportunities he did not. "My elder son, Arbaz Ali, 24, is a software engineer with a Canadian company in Bangalore. My younger son, Sabir Ali, is preparing for civil services exams in Delhi after completing his BCom honours," he said. Arbaz, who joined him in Coimbatore, added: "My father took loans and spent his savings for our education. Seeing him receive this award is the happiest moment of my life. " DTR deputy director Jagdish R credited Ali's "family-like care for animals" with setting a benchmark in the reserve. Field director H Rajamohan called the award "a source of pride that will push others to pursue excellence in their work." The ceremony is over in Coimbatore, and the framed certificate will travel back with Irshad Ali to hang on a wall in his quarters at the camp. In Dudhwa, his work will be unchanged. At first light, the lines of elephants will wait for the familiar sound of his steps and his low, steady voice. Calves Durga and Bhawani will stand close, nudging each other with their trunks, until the man who raised them returns to scratch the spot behind Durga's ear that makes her close her eyes. "This," he said, "is where I belong." Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.
