Latest news with #Trumpet
The Hindu
12-08-2025
- Science
- The Hindu
MoEF&CC in efforts to implement AI-based animal warning system for railway lines running through jungles: Kirti Vardhan Singh
An Artificial intelligence (AI) based early warning system for the safety of wildlife will be implemented at all railway lines passing through forests, said Kirti Vardhan Singh, Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, on Tuesday. 'We are trying to do that across all the railway lines that run through jungles and run near jungles. This is going to be implemented not only for elephants, but for other wildlife also. We have a lot of tiger deaths happening, also [due to train hits] and other wild animals. It will be implemented in all such areas. From the Centre, we are taking it to implement it as fast as possible', he said. The Minister, when asked whether his Ministry would replicate a successful AI-based warning system, which Tamil Nadu implemented on railway tracks to prevent elephant deaths at Madukkarai near Coimbatore. Mr. Singh, who attended World Elephant Day celebrations in Coimbatore on Tuesday, said human - animal conflict was one of the top priorities of the Ministry. 'We are taking all precautions and employing the latest methods to lessen and mitigate the situation. We are using radio collars, satellites and artificial intelligence. But the sad fact is that since human communities live so closely with nature. So if you ask me can we make 100 % proof, no we can't. Because we live with them... But we are taking all possible policies and plans to reduce it as much as possible,' he said on the sidelines of the celebrations. Supriya Sahu, Secretary of Environment, Climate Change and Forests Department, stressed the need for sharing best practices from each State for the management of human – wildlife conflict and habitat protection. The Minister released 'Healthy Feet, Healthy Elephants: A guide to foot care in captive Asian elephants'; a special edition of Trumpet, the quarterly newsletter of the Project Elephant; Hostile Activity Watch Kernel (HAWK) app of Tamil Nadu Forest Department; 'An Ancient Bond: The elephant Whisperers of Mudumalai', a coffee table book by Tarsh Thekaekara; 'The Lost Elephant and the Soul Tree' by The Hindu journalist Akila Kannadasan. He also presented the Gaj Gaurav Awards to Ganesh Tamang and Sumit Gogoi, mahout and attendant of Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department; Kesu Singh Walke and Sahadan Ram Lakda, assistant mahouts from Madhya Pradesh Forest Department; S. Karthikeyan and M. Murali, forest guard and anti-poaching watcher from Dharmapuri circle in Tamil Nadu; and Irshad Ali, mahout from Uttar Pradesh Forest Department. Sushil Kumar Awasthi, Director General of Forest and Special Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Srinivas R. Reddy, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) and Head of the Forest Force, Tamil Nadu; and Rakesh Kumar Dogra, PCCF and Chief Wildlife Warden, Tamil Nadu, also spoke.
The Hindu
29-06-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Transboundary elephant raids: Farmers in Bhutan leave croplands fallow
GUWAHATI: Farmers in Bhutan and India tend to leave their croplands fallow, fearing raids by elephants driven out of their natural habitats owing to anthropogenic or human-caused activities. Data on farmers on the Indian side of the boundary between the two countries abandoning their fields is not available. A report in Trumpet, a quarterly journal of the Wildlife Institute of India, said 30% of their counterparts in Bhutan leave their land fallow, fearing crop damage. The report cites a 2024 study revealing the scale of the challenge in Bhutan's Sarpang Forest Division, where more than 40% of the households reported experiencing human-elephant conflicts (HEC). 'Alarmingly, 30% of farmers leave their land fallow, fearing crop damage. Elephants primarily raid maize and paddy, which are the most widely cultivated crops, but cash crops like areca nut, oranges, ginger, and cardamom have also been targeted. The cultivated area for maize and paddy was large as compared to other crops, resulting in the maximum incidence of crop raiding by elephants,' the report said. The authors of the report are Ugyen Tshering, an officer at Bhutan's Jomotsangkha Wildlife Sanctuary; Sonali Ghosh, the Director of Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve; and Rupali Thakur and Anukul Nath of the Assam Forest Department. According to its national elephant survey in 2016, Bhutan has an estimated 678 elephants primarily inhabiting the southern foothills bordering Assam and West Bengal. While these animals are integral to the region's biodiversity, their presence increasingly comes at a cost to local communities, with HEC causing economic strain and social stress, particularly for farmers in southern Bhutan. Joint Assam-Meghalaya hydropower project opposed 'Farmers in Sarpang have observed a steady rise in elephant incursions, a trend likely driven by forest degradation and fragmentation, which push elephants into human-dominated areas. Yet, a significant number of conflict incidents remain unreported,' the report says. One of the factors behind under-reporting is said to be religious beliefs rooted in Bhutanese culture, which encourage compassion toward wildlife. 'Local communities in Sarpang have predominantly relied on traditional mitigation measures, including keeping night vigils, making fire, and beating drums. However, many farmers view electric fencing as the most effective solution,' the report says, pointing out that only 0.65% of the affected farmers in Sarpang could afford electric fences. Compared to their counterparts in Bhutan, more farmers in India – specifically Assam's Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) – are opting for electric or solar-powered fences and bio-fences, which involve growing 'elephant-repellent' cash crops such as lemon and chilli around rice and vegetable fields. The study attributes this to support from local governments and NGOs. Regional soft diplomacy HEC results in about 300 human and 200 elephant deaths in India every year, apart from damage to about 15,000 houses and 8-10 million hectares of crops. One of the major critical stretches is along the BTR-Bhutan border, more than 250 km long. During the late 1980s, present-day BTR experienced a severe socio-political crisis arising out of the Bodoland statehood movement, devastating the infrastructure of the region and causing large-scale destruction of the wildlife and its habitat, specifically the Chirang-Ripu Elephant Reserve and the adjoining Manas Tiger Reserve. Asiatic wild dog returns to Assam's Kaziranga landscape The extent of the damage was evident from the eastern part of this landscape in 2009, when 14 people and 10 elephants died in conflicts. The study calls for promoting 'regional soft diplomacy by promoting multi-stakeholder groups such as the Trans-boundary Manas Conservation Area, a Bhutan-India collaborative initiative established in 2011 to address protected areas and biological corridors along the border between the two countries. The study advocates exploring and implementing a variety of community and household-based protection measures, including cooperative crop guarding and fencing. 'Creating awareness and educating communities on the importance of elephant conservation should be initiated by officials from protected areas and other environmental and educational agencies,' it says. It also underlines capacity building and law enforcement. 'The officials and local teams on both sides of the border can be jointly trained to enforce the law and also maintain relevant databases. Illegal activities that result in elephant mortality can be prevented by such joint enforcement,' the study says.
The Hindu
28-06-2025
- General
- The Hindu
Coal mining in Odisha may turn out catastrophic for elephants, WII study says
Odisha would lose about 390 sq km of area used by migrating elephants as foraging ground and corridor in one district on account of massive coal mining alone in Angul district, says a study of Wildlife Institute of India. Beside, human-elephant conflict, which is already in a critical State, is likely to become acute following disturbance in elephant habitats. A study 'Status and Management of Elephants in Coal Mine Landscape of Odisha' conducted by Karthy S and Gopi G. V, scholars of WII, says, 'using geospatial analysis, habitat suitability modelling, and conflict data from forest department it is predicted that the Angul division would lose about 390 sq km of forest if the proposed coal blocks come into operation.' 'This loss of forest habitat, combined with the growing number of human deaths due to elephants in the Angul forest division would result in increase in conflict situation and devastating for the elephant population in Odisha,' they predicted. The study appeared WII's quarterly magazine 'Trumpet' says Odisha holds the highest number of Asian elephants (1,976 individuals) in the east-central region of India. This is 63% of the entire east-central population (3,128) and 6.5% of the total elephant population in India as per 2017 estimation. The State has elephant presence in 43 out of 50 forest divisions with a growth rate of 1.2% between 2015 and 2017. Some of the districts have recorded disproportionately high conflict. The study was conducted on the background that Angul forest division is important to elephants while it is also recognized for its coal wealth which accounts for 20% of India's coal reserve. 'As per Site Specific Elephant Management Plan for Angul Forest Division, 2022, this has led to rapid developmental activities like thermal power plant, steel plant, road and railway networks, transmission lines and pipelines in Angul division. Most part of the division is expected to be leased to coalmine industries in the near future, which may turn out catastrophic for the elephants as well as the existing conflict scenario in the entire state of Odisha,' the study finds. The WII scholars had adopted the MaxEnt approach, a geospatial data analysis, to determine the suitable habitat for the elephants in the Angul division. 'The MaxEnt output shows that most of the habitat utilised by the elephants fall over the proposed coal block region. There are already operational coal mines in the Angul division which again hinder the movement of the elephant,' the study points out. The WII scholars recommended reconsidering declaring the entire coal belt of Angul district for mining use. They also came up with a suggestion of establishing habitat connectivity between Satkosia Tiger Reserve and Sambalpur, Deogarh divisions by forest restoration along the west border of Angul division. (EOM)
India Today
06-06-2025
- Business
- India Today
Trump-Musk breakup saga wrecks the MAGA soap opera
The only thing left for Donald Trump and Elon Musk to do after Thursday's bust-up is to pull each other's hair. Short of that, they have ticked every box for a street fight that would make even a toddler the petty, messy, and public breakup, Trump has completed the task of turning the White House into a big, beautiful spectacle. Serves Americans right for electing a reality show host to run the Oval Office. And a deserved karmic punch for Musk for bankrolling a President with a history of biting the hand that feeds departure from the Trump administration a week ago signalled the end of their bromance. But nobody expected them to bicker in public like two bitter exes ready to spill bedroom secrets. Unfortunately, like in all relationships, size matters, and the ego of the two was too big. One loved to blow his own Trumpet, the other considered himself a Musketeer. A medieval-era duel was loading.A bromance turns ugly The feud, like a melodramatic script about a public breakup, is a voyeur's dream. On May 30, 2025, Musk abruptly resigned from the Trump administration, where he was heading the Department of Government Efficiency (DoGE), tasked with streamlining federal operations.A day later, Musk appeared at the Oval Office with a black eye for a mushy farewell. With slobbering tributes to each other, the two appeared to have made up, pending a kiss. On June 3, Musk fired a fresh salvo, calling Trump's big beautiful bill a pork-filled disaster. 'I'm sorry, but I just can't stand it anymore,' he posted, calling the bill a disgusting abomination. The next day, he asked his 220 million followers on X to kill the bill, and unfollowed key Trump aides. But the jilted exes were just warming June 5, the fight escalated during Trump's meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. Trump, stung by Musk's criticism, said, 'I'm very disappointed in Elon. I've helped him a lot.'In characteristic Trump fashion, he mocked Musk's black eye: 'I said, 'You want a little makeup?' He said, 'No.'' Trump claimed Musk knew the bill's details and is mad about losing EV subsidies. Musk fired back on X in real-time: 'False, this bill was never shown to me even once and was passed in the dead of night!'After this, it was time to recount favours and spill secrets, a hallmark of all bust-ups between besties. Musk: 'Without me, Trump would have lost the election.' Trump (on Truth Social): 'Elon was 'wearing thin,' I asked him to leave, I took away his EV Mandate and he just went CRAZY!' He threatens to cut Musk's contracts: 'Billions and Billions of Dollars.' Musk: 'Such an obvious lie. So sad.' Drops a bomb: '@realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public. Have a nice day, DJT!' Later, he agrees with an X post calling for Trump's impeachment and replacement by JD Vance: 'Yes.' He also floats a new political party: 'Is it time to create a new political party in America that actually represents the 80% in the middle?'Jokers in a circusadvertisementWhile the world noted that the 'girls are fighting' and seized on the drama with a meme fest, shares of Tesla sank 14.3%, wiping off $150-billion of investor wealth. Trump's empire tanked 8%, losing $100 million in comedic circus has several shades of irony. The self-proclaimed best deal-maker in the world couldn't save his alliance with Musk. And the world's smartest entrepreneur invested in a president who is now threatening to take down the Musk is a convicted felon who falsified business records and paid hush money to a porn star. Musk, according to The New York Times, is addicted to drugs; he is also obsessed with the idea of fathering a legion by donating his sperm. In the past, both the divas got out of holes they had dug for themselves by using power and hush money. But this time, the fight is between the world's most powerful man and the world's chaotic and unpredictable, both Trump and Musk embody hubris. This confluence of evil traits promises an Armageddon that threatens to rattle America. Though Musk has shown signs of backing out of a fight, hell hath no fury like Trump followers have already demanded a probe into Musk's business and past. They want Musk's immigration record checked, insinuating that he entered America illegally. A blowback a week ago, Trump and Musk were thick as thieves, pulling off the MAGA heist on gullible Yankees. But by duking it out in public, they have spurned even the thieves' honour code. Expect the unexpected secrets, imagine the worst threats. It is open season in the of them are likely to wash so much dirty linen in public that the world would see them for what they are: emperors without even a fig leaf of InMust Watch
Boston Globe
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
New England Aquarium celebrates Atlantic harbor seals' 40th birthdays
'At any time of day or night, you can see visitors walking by the exhibit to see what the harbor seals are up to,' she said in the statement. A small crowd gathered at the open-air exhibit outside the Aquarium entrance as trainers led games and demonstrations with the birthday pair. The seals' birthday cake didn't have frosting or candles—instead, it was made of ice jello and fish, according to the Aquarium. New England Aquarium Advertisement Although both seals marked the occasion together, the celebration officially honored Amelia's birthday; she was born at the Aquarium on May 28, 1985. Amelia, who lost one eye to chronic corneal inflammation, enjoys 'bottling' — floating upright with her nose above water — and in sleeping in odd positions, according to the statement. Born just over a week after her half-sister, on June 7, Trumpet is now a mother of two and likes to Both seals are offspring of Hoover, the Aquarium's famed 'talking harbor seal' that could mimic phrases such as 'Hello there' and 'How are you?' Though Hoover has died, one of Trumpet's pups, Chacoda, is beginning to learn a few words, according to the Aquarium's Advertisement The Aquarium also thanked its staff for their support for Amelia and Trumpet. 'Their longevity is a true testament to the New England Aquarium's commitment to prioritizing the highest level of animal wellbeing and veterinary care, along with our staff's dedication to the animals,' said Kristen McMahon, the Aquarium's curator of Pinnipeds and Penguins, in the statement. Staff created birthday cards for the seals, and guests were also invited to sign a large poster, the Aquarium said. New England Aquarium Rita Chandler can be reached at
