16-Nov-2015: Tagged Amur Falcons return to Nagaland
As two of the three Amur falcons tagged with satellite tracking chips last year returned to the north-eastern Indian state of Nagaland, Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Shri Prakash Javadekar has become the first Union Minister to have a bountiful view of Amur Falcons that arrived in Doyang Lake area in Nagaland.
Enthused by the sight of millions of Amur falcons in just half an hour, the Environment Minister announced that the Centre will soon develop the Doyang Lake area as an eco-tourism spot for bird-watchers across the world to have a wonderful and rare sight of Amur Falcons, which come to roost every year at Doyang lake during their flight from Mongolia to South Africa.
Today, the world has recognized Pangti village in Nagaland as the world’s Amur Falcon capital, as more than one million birds can be seen in just 30 minutes. Four or five other birds from other roosting in Nagaland will also be tagged, giving the name of the area to which the roosting relates.
The conservation of Amur falcon is a great success story for India, as it has happened with peoples’ participation. People who were earlier killing the bird (Amur falcons) earlier, are now working for its conservation, thanks to proper motivation, training and mindset changes effected by various wildlife conservation bodies, activists and the Church. With proper conservation methods, the birds will be attracted in larger numbers. Centre and State Government would jointly take measures to promote infrastructure and eco-tourism in the entire Amur Falcon area.
The two falcons - named Naga and Pangti – tagged in 2013 have already done two rounds from Mongolia to South Africa via Nagaland and have again returned to Nagaland this year. Amur falcons, weigh just 150 grams, cover 5, 600 kms, flying non-stop in five days from Mongolia, to arrive in Nagaland.
Amur falcons are the longest travelling raptors in the world and come to Doyang every year in millions. Until recently, Naga tribesmen used to hunt thousands of Amur falcons for meat. But last year, after a vigorous campaign by wildlife activists, they pledged to protect the bird and since then, not a single bird has been hunted in the area.
22-May-2017: After 84 years, cobra lily blooms again
The incredibly rare Arisaema translucens, more commonly remembered as the cobra lily, was recently rediscovered in the western Nilgiris after 84 years. It was last collected in 1932.
Barely a few hundred cobra lily plants are left in the wild and they can be found only in a small area measuring less than 10 square kilometres in the Nilgiris. This is probably the only member of the Arisaema family to have a translucent spathe. The Toda tribes of the Nilgiris have an embroidery motif known as the ‘podwarshk’, which resembles it.
Once a quite common species, cobra lilies have vanished in the past decades along with the disappearance of the shola tree patches in which they were found. Prized for their beauty around the world, cobra lilies are at even greater risk of extinction from the commercial trade in exotic plants.
5-Apr-2017: Mexico to put endangered vaquita porpoises in refuge
In a bid to save the world's smallest species of porpoise from extinction, the Mexican government announced plans to place some of them in a temporary refuge.
The environment ministry said the "ambitious emergency plan" to save the vaquita marina porpoise would be carried out with help from international conservation groups.
However, the plan is controversial with conservationists, some of whom say the vaquita is not an animal that can thrive in captivity.
Scientists warned in February that there are only 30 vaquita remaining, saying the species faced extinction by 2022.
The porpoise is native to the Gulf of California, where illegal fishing nets are threatening to wipe it out.
Under the Mexican plan, some animals will be transferred to a refuge, where they will be able to reproduce without the risk of being caught in gillnets.
However, experts recognize that there is uncertainty about how the porpoises will behave during the search, capture and temporary relocation to the refuge.
The government has allocated $3 million for the plan, to be matched by funds from international conservation groups.
The most common cause of death for the vaquita is getting caught in illegal gillnets meant to catch another endangered species, a large fish called the totoaba.