2-Dec-2019: Operation ‘Clean Art’ to crackdown on illegal trade in mongoose hair
Policemen raided in Uttar Pradesh’s Bijnor district to check on organised factories that were making paint brushes with mongoose hair. Ten manufacturing units in Sherkot were raided and approximately 26,000 brushes and over 100 kg of raw mongoose hair was seized. About 26 people were arrested in connection with illegal trade in mongoose hair.
Raids were carried out not only in Uttar Pradesh, but also at Jaipur in Rajasthan, Mumbai and Pune in Maharashtra, and in Kerala, on the same day.
Operation Clean Art was the first pan India operation to crackdown on the smuggling of mongoose hair in the country. There are six species of mongoose found in India and officials have mostly recovered grey mongoose hair.
An adult mongoose yields over 30-40 gm of long hair, from which only 20-25 gm of “brush-making hair” is recovered. Operation Clean Art was conceived by WCCB with the singular aim of ensuring that the mongoose hair brush trade should be closed down across the country.
Most of these animals were poached by “hunting communities” across the country. The entire operation across the country yielded 54,352 brushes and 113 kg of raw hair.
About 49 arrests were made and 27 cases were registered under the Wildlife Protection Act (1972).
The mongoose is listed in Schedule II Part 2 of the Wildlife Protection Act and any smuggling or possession of its body part is a non-bailable offence. Persons using brushes made of mongoose hair should be aware of it.
For about 150 kg of mongoose hair, at least 6,000 animals would have been killed.
There have been instances in which mongoose hair has been transported using courier companies. Postal Department authorities are also trying to involve the Postal Department to spread awareness and identify illegal trade in wildlife.
10-Oct-2019: Change status of emperor penguins to ‘vulnerable’: Study
The status of the emperor penguin, one of Antarctica’s most iconic species, in the Red List of International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), should be changed to ‘vulnerable’ from ‘near threatened’, a new study has said.
The greater degree of protection accorded to the birds would provide a better chance to them of surviving the coming decades even as the Antarctic sea ice on which they depend, melts rapidly.
The scientists reviewed more than 150 studies on the emperor penguin, its environment, behaviour and character in relation to its breeding biology to arrive at the conclusion.
According to the IUCN, a ‘vulnerable’ species is one that is likely to become endangered unless the circumstances that are threatening its survival and reproduction improve. Vulnerability is often caused by decreases in population resulting from habitat loss or destruction of the species home.
The emperor penguin is a species that needs a special environment to breed and enhance its numbers. The birds need sea ice during the time that they incubate their eggs and while they raise their chicks. They also need stable sea ice after they complete breeding during the time when they undertake their annual moult, a period during which they cannot enter the water as their feathers are no longer water-proof.
They are not agile and climbing ashore across steep coastal land forms will be difficult. For breeding, they depend upon sea ice, and in a warming world there is a high probability that this will decrease. Without it, they will have little or no breeding habitat.
Besides the IUCN Red List status change, the experts also advocated that the emperor penguin should be listed by the Antarctic Treaty as a Specially Protected Species. The 1959 treaty sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, establishes freedom of scientific investigation, and bans military activity on the continent.
29-Jul-2019: Deep sea mining pushes 'Scaly-Foot' snail towards extinction
The newly endangered 'scaly-foot' snail is found in just three locations around the world, all of which are deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Due to the extremely low levels of oxygen found at these vents, the scaly-foot snail has a massive heart for enhanced blood flow and oxygen exchange. In fact, the scaly-foot’s heart is the largest, proportional to body size, of the entire animal kingdom.
The snail is also armored with an iron-clad shell literally. Scientists believe the snail cooperates with microbes to convert the toxic iron sulfide released from the vents into material for shell construction.
Unfortunately, this iron-plated, big-hearted creature recently became the first deep-sea animal to be listed as 'endangered' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as a result of mining activity.
Deep-sea mining is the process by which companies collect minerals, such as copper, nickel, and aluminum, from over 200 meters (656 ft) deep by essentially vacuuming the minerals off the sea floor. With deep-sea mineral collection expected to be quite destructive for sea-floor habitats, studies are currently underway to monitor the associated environmental impacts.
The findings will be used to inform the development of the international 'Mining Code', which will establish rules, regulations, and procedures for the deep-sea extraction of minerals. The Code is being developed by the International Seabed Authority (ISA) - a 168-member body formed by the United Nations in 1982 - which has until 2020 to finalize the regulations.
Interest in deep-sea mining comes as demand for rare elements is climbing. Global depletion of land-based mineral reserves coupled with rising demand for metals to support modern technology, including the production of cell phones, solar panels, and batteries, together make deep-sea mining a lucrative endeavor.
The ISA has already entered into 15-year contracts with twenty-nine contractors for the exploration of deep-sea minerals, some of which will expire in 2021. Once the Mining Code is finalized, the ISA plans to issue 30-year exploitation licenses according to the most recent draft of their regulations from November 2018. This is notably an increase from the 20-year license limit described in the ISA's July 2016 draft.