Latest news with #Chellam
The Star
30-07-2025
- General
- The Star
Experts flag issues after jumbos airlifted to Japan
Conservationists and animal experts have raised the alarm after a wildlife park in the south airlifted four endangered Asian elephants to Japan, saying the long-haul journey and relocation could impact the animals' health. The elephants – three female and one male – were put into specially designed crates and loaded onto a cargo plane last week bound for Osaka, a nearly 12-hour journey. They were transported from the Bannerughatta Biological Park in Bengaluru to Himeji Central Park, where they will spend the rest of their lives. The Bengaluru park would receive four cheetahs, four jaguars, four pumas, three chimpanzees and eight black-capped capuchins in exchange, the New Indian Express daily said. Wildlife biologist and conservationist Ravi Chellam condemned the move, saying wildlife parks should only keep animals that are native to the region. 'Elephants are not native to Japan nor are jaguars and cheetahs, which will reportedly be brought to Bengaluru, native to Karnataka,' Chellam said. 'So, it is important to find out what the purpose of this international animal exchange is.' There are fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund, the majority in India. In 2022, eight cheetahs were transported 8,000km from Namibia to India, followed by another 12 from South Africa, as part of a project backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The project was aimed at reintroducing the big cat species to India's grasslands seven decades after they were hunted into oblivion. However, several cheetahs died soon after, raising questions about the high-profile project. Chellam said animals are not meant merely to be 'shown off' at wildlife parks. 'Modern zoos should have very clear objectives and these are education, conservation, research and recreation,' he said. The Bengaluru elephants were trained over six months for the trip, local media reported. 'Every day, they were made to enter, stay, and relax inside crates for three to four hours, making them acclimatised to the conditions,' the Times of India newspaper quoted top BBP official AV Surya Sen as saying. But People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) said the elephants would have found 'flying in the cargo hold of planes frightening and stressful'. 'Instead of funds used to fly animals to different countries just to be put on display, the focus can be redirected to helping protect jungles and keeping animals in their natural homes,' Sachin Bangera of Peta India said. — AFP
DW
29-07-2025
- Politics
- DW
India: Tiger numbers rise, but risks remain – DW – 07/29/2025
July 29 is International Tiger Day. India has made progress in growing and stabilizing its tiger population, but the big cats still face serious threats that jeopardize their future. India has the world's largest tiger population, home to over 3,600 wild tigers, which represent about 75% of the global wild tiger population, inhabiting an area of 138,200 square kilometers (53,360 square miles), according to the 2023 All-India Tiger Estimation Report, which contains figures from the country's most recent tiger census. Indian Prime Minister Narandra Modi at the time emphasized the "responsibility of doing even more to protect the tiger as well as other animals." But despite the healthy numbers, stabilizing and securing the future of tigers requires continued and complex efforts. Deforestation, expansion of agriculture, urbanization, and infrastructure projects have increasingly fragmented tiger habitats. As a result, continuous tiger habitats have been divided into smaller patches — affecting their movement, breeding, and the availability of prey. "Charismatic mammals are part of varied natural ecosystems and this unhealthy focus on the population size of large mammals has blinded us from the overall deterioration of functional natural ecosystems," wildlife conservationist Ravi Chellam told DW. Chellam pointed out that it is not merely the size of habitats, but their quality that constrains tiger survival and recovery. Therefore, ensuring prey-rich, well-managed and protected habitats is key. "Most ecosystems have been degraded by the phenomenal increase in the presence of invasive species, fragmented and even destroyed by numerous 'development' projects and with impacts of climate change being felt across the country," said Chellam. India has 58 tiger reserves spread across 18 states. Of late, the fragmentation of tiger habitats has become severe in areas where forests overlap with expanding human settlements, agriculture, and infrastructure corridors. For instance, the central Indian region is home to several major tiger reserves — including Kanha, Pench, Tadoba, Satpura and Bandhavgarh. However, roads, railways, mines, and agricultural expansion have fragmented the forests and isolated tiger populations. Prominent corridors — such as those connecting the tiger reserves in Kanha and Pench, as well as Tadoba and Indravati — are under significant pressure. Sariska Tiger Reserve in the western Rajasthan corridor faces grave ecological risks from the government's move to address concerns about mining operations near Sariska. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video This change is intended to facilitate the reopening of more than 50 marble, dolomite, limestone, and masonry stone mines that were previously shut down by a Supreme Court order due to their proximity to core tiger habitats. The proposed plan to redraw the boundaries of the Sariska Tiger Reserve shall remove over 4,800 hectares from the critical tiger habitat, according to a digital campaigning organization. "This reduction threatens vital wildlife corridors that are crucial for tiger movement, seasonal refuge, and territorial establishment," said the group. Similarly, the Sundarbans mangrove forest spreading across parts of Bangladesh and the eastern state of West Bengal is one of the largest reserves for the Bengal tiger. But rising sea levels and coastal erosion are destroying the tigers' natural habitat. Yadvendradev Jhala, a prominent wildlife scientist and former dean at the Wildlife Institute of India, said that India has monitored the distribution and profusion of tigers every four years since 2006. India has now adopted modern techniques such as camera trapping, genetic analysis, and the Monitoring System for Tigers: Intensive Protection and Ecological Status (M-STrIPES) to assist effective patrolling, assess ecological status and mitigate human-wildlife conflict in and around tiger reserves. "We found that tigers would persist in protected habitats with ample prey, while becoming extinct in areas of increased human and social disturbances," Jhala told DW. Tiger habitats in the states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and eastern Maharashtra have been affected by ongoing armed insurgencies. These conflict zones coincide with areas where tiger occupancy is low and the probability of local extinction is high, according to a study published in . "These are areas where with greater political stability, we might expect tiger recovery," he added. While surveying tiger habitats, Jhala and his team found that tigers shared space with people at high densities in some areas such as Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, and Karnataka. However, they became extinct or were absent from areas with a legacy of extensive bushmeat consumption or commercial poaching, even when human density was relatively low such as in the states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. "Thus, it is not simply the density of humans but rather their attitudes and lifestyles that determine stewardship for tiger recovery," said Jhala, emphasizing that adopting an inclusive and sustainable rural prosperity in place of an intensive land-use, change–driven economy can be conducive for tiger recovery. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Subbiah Nallamuthu, a leading wildlife filmmaker, who has made significant contributions to conservation efforts, particularly through his work documenting the lives of tigers, told DW that there is a hidden danger behind the rising tiger numbers. In a healthy tiger landscape, wildlife scientists say the ideal sex ratio should be one adult male for every two to three adult females (1:2 or 1:3). This is based on natural tiger behavior and territory needs. "In many tiger reserves, especially Ranthambhore, the male-to-female ratio is now close to 1:1 with equal numbers of adult males and females. In some areas, male numbers are even higher," said Nallamuthu. From his experience documenting tigers, Nallamuthu points out that this imbalance happens because of limited space, fragmented corridors, and tourism pressure. "Conservation is no longer just about saving a species. It is about saving its way of life. If we ignore sex ratios and territorial needs, we may have tigers in numbers, but not in balance," Nallamuthu said. "A forest full of conflict is not a healthy forest. On this International Tiger Day, we must shift focus from just celebrating numbers to understanding what tigers truly need to thrive."
The Star
29-07-2025
- Politics
- The Star
Experts condemn India park after elephants airlifted to Japan
BENGALURU, (India): Conservationists and animal experts have raised the alarm after a wildlife park in southern India airlifted four endangered Asian elephants to Japan, saying the long-haul journey and relocation could impact the animals' health. The elephants -- three female, Gauri (9), Shruti (7), and Tulsi (5), and one male, Suresh (8) -- were put into specially designed crates and loaded onto a cargo plane last week bound for Osaka, a nearly 12-hour journey. They were transported from the Bannerughatta Biological Park (BBP) in Bengaluru to Himeji Central Park, where they will spend the rest of their lives. The Bengaluru park would receive four cheetahs, four jaguars, four pumas, three chimpanzees and eight black-capped capuchins in exchange, the New Indian Express daily said. Wildlife biologist and conservationist Ravi Chellam condemned the move, saying wildlife parks should only keep animals that are native to the region. "Elephants are not native to Japan nor are jaguars and cheetahs, which will reportedly be brought to Bengaluru, native to Karnataka," Chellam told AFP. "So, it is important to find out what the purpose of this international animal exchange is." There are fewer than 50,000 Asian elephants in the wild, according to the World Wildlife Fund, the majority in India. In 2022, eight cheetahs were transported 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles) from Namibia to India, followed by another 12 from South Africa, as part of a project backed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The project was aimed at reintroducing the big cat species to India's grasslands seven decades after they were hunted into oblivion. - 'Frightening and stressful' - However, several cheetahs died soon after, raising questions about the high-profile project. Chellam said animals are not meant merely to be "shown off" at wildlife parks. "Modern zoos should have very clear objectives and these are education, conservation, research and recreation," he said. "Zoos should plan their animal collections in a manner that will enable them to meet these objectives." The Bengaluru elephants were trained over six months for the extraordinary trip, local media reported. "Every day, they were made to enter, stay, and relax inside crates for three to four hours, making them acclimatised to the conditions," the Times of India newspaper quoted top BBP official AV Surya Sen as saying. But People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) said the elephants would have nevertheless found "flying in the cargo hold of planes frightening and stressful". "Instead of funds used to fly animals to different countries just to be put on display, the focus can be redirected to helping protect jungles and keeping animals in their natural homes," Sachin Bangera of PETA India told AFP. International animal exchange programmes involving Indian zoos are not common, but do happen occasionally, Bangera added. - AFP
