Tigers killing and eating elephants in Corbett National Park: Government study reveals worrying phenomenon

Agencies
June 16, 2019

New Delhi, Jun 16: Tigers have been found to be killing elephants, mainly young ones, in the famed Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand and in a few cases eating them too, according to an official study.

The findings, which is a part of the study conducted by the park authority, signals a worrying trend in wildlife as tigers usually don't eat elephants, wildlife experts say.

A total of nine tigers, 21 elephants and six leopards were found dead from 2014 to May 31, 2019, due to infighting and clashes over issues related of mating, according to the study.

"Out of the total 36 cases for the three species, 21 were reported in case of wild elephants alone. However, a very surprising aspect was that around 60 per cent of wild elephant death cases (13) were due to attack by tigers mostly on young ones," it said.

Senior IFS officer and in-charge of the national park, Sanjiv Chaturvedi said the phenomenon of tigers eating elephants is unique.

"One of its reasons could be that tigers need comparatively less amount of efforts and energy in killing an elephant as against that needed in hunt of species like Sambhar and Cheetal. Killing an elephant results in large quantum of food for them too," said Chaturvedi, director of the park.

He said the national park has a unique ecosystem as there are 225 tigers and around 1,100 wild elephants, whereas other national parks like Ranthambore, Kanha and Bandhavgarh mainly have tigers.

Even in cases where elephants were killed in infighting, tigers were found eating their body parts, the study said.

This peculiar aspect of tiger-elephant conflict needs to be studied in further details, it added. "Regarding remaining cases of death of wild elephants, it was mostly because of fight due to issue of mating," the study said.

Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey said this tiger-elephant conflict is unheard of and need immediate attention.

"It is really surprising and worrying that tigers are eating elephant. Authorities must look into this aspect and take necessary steps," he said.

In case of tigers, total number of deaths during the five years period was nine and out of these, 80 per cent (seven) cases were due to infighting, the study said.

From the analysis of case reports and sample sites, these were found to be primarily due to territorial fights or mating issues, it said.

Tigers have very strong territorial instincts and this emerged as one of dominant causes of infighting deaths.

In this regard, detailed study about extent of average territorial area, moving pattern and adequacy of present tiger reserve are to be studied in further details, the study suggested.

The remaining 20 per cent death cases were found to be because of fight with wild boars and porcupines, it said.

In case of leopards, there were six deaths because of infighting. Of these, two third cases were due to attack by other carnivore species.

"Out of four cases, in two cases, there were definitive evidences of killing by tigers but in rest of two cases, exact identity of attacking species is yet to be established. This aspect of tiger-leopard conflict is to be further studied in details. In remaining one third cases, it was because of mutual infighting among themselves," the study said.

The study was conducted in wake of death of a tigress on May 27, 2019, because of infighting.

"The recent case of tigress appears prima facie due to forced mating attempts by a dominant male tiger, resulting in fatal spinal injuries," it said.

The Corbett park is the first national park of India, established in 1936. It was then named Hailey National Park. In 1957, it was rechristened as the Corbett National Park in the memory of Jim Corbett, great naturalist and eminent conservationist.

The park, which is spread in an area of around 1,200 sq km is situated at the foothills of the Himalayas. There are estimated 340 tigers in Uttarakhand, according to 2014 census of the big cats. The state has three tiger reserves -- Corbett National Park, Rajaji Tiger Reserve and Kalagarh Tiger Reserve.

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News Network
April 13,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 13: Three more people in Kerala tested positive for novel coronavirus disease on Monday, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

"With 3 new COVID-19 cases, the total number of cases in the state has reached 378," said Vijayan at a press conference.

Giving a break-up of the three confirmed COVID-19 cases, he said, "Of the 3 cases, 2 are from Kannur and 1 is from Palakkad."

He further said, "Till date, 15,683 samples tested, out of which 14,829 tested negative."

However, the total number of positive cases is decreasing, the Chief Minister added.

According to a recent update by the Ministery of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of cases in the country has reached 9352.

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News Network
April 20,2020

Mumbai, Apr 20: At least 53 media persons from Mumbai have tested positive for coronavirus, a city civic official said on Monday.

During a special camp organised at the Azad Maidan here on April 16 and 17 for COVID-19 testing of scribes, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) collected swab samples of 171 mediapersons, including electronic and print media journalists, photographers and cameramen.

“Out of the 171 mediapersons, 53 tested positive for coronavirus,” BMC spokesperson Vijay Khabale said, adding that most of those who tested positive are asymptomatic at present.

All the mediapersons found infected with coronavirus will be kept in isolation and a process was underway to find out suitable places to the purpose, he said.

Efforts were also on to trace their high and low risk contacts.

Till Sunday, Mumbai recorded 2,724 coronavirus cases and 132 deaths due to the disease.

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News Network
January 30,2020

New Delhi, Jan 30: Tension spiralled in Jamia Nagar on Thursday after a man fired a pistol at a group of anti-CAA protesters, injuring a Jamia Millia Islamia student before walking away while waving the firearm above his head and shouting "Yeh lo aazadi" amid heavy police presence in the area.

Massive protests erupted in the area after the incident with hundreds of agitated people gathering near the university, breaking barricades and clashing with police personnel.

The man, who identified himself as "Rambhakt Gopal", was subsequently overpowered by police and detained. He was taken into custody and was being interrogated, police said.

The entire drama, which triggered panic in the area, was captured by television cameras that showed the man in light coloured pants and a dark jacket, walking away on an empty road barricaded by police, turning around and shouting at the protesters in Hindi, "Here, take this freedom."

The gunman went live on Facebook before the brandishing the gun. Police said they were verifying whether it is his real name.

Before the attack, the man also put out messages on Facebook stating "Shaheen Bhag Khel Khatam" (Run Shaheen, the game is over). Another message stated, "Please wrap me in saffron in my last journey with slogans of Jai Shri Ram". His Facebook profile was deleted after screenshots of his posts were circulated widely on social media platforms.

Several students recapped how their peaceful march on Gandhi's death anniversary became violent.

"We were moving towards the Holy Family Hospital where the police had raised barricades. Suddenly, a gun-wielding man came out and opened fire. One bullet hit my friend's hand," Aamna Asif, a student of economics at the university, told PTI.

She said her friend, Shadab Farooq, a mass communication student, was trying to calm the attacker but he shot at him injuring his left hand.

Farooq, who belongs to Kashmir, was taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre.

Ragibh Naushad, an LLB student at the university, said, "The Jamia Coordination Committee organised a march to pay homage to Gandhi ji on his death anniversary. It started at 12 noon from Gate number 7, but police denied the permission and stopped the march near the Holy Family hospital.

"A man named Gopal, came there and started brandishing a weapon and later shot a round. He was also chanting pro-CAA slogans."

The incident led to panic in the area.

Khalid Hassan, a JMI alumnus, said initially many were not sure whether it was a gunshot or a tyre burst.

There was heavy police and media presence when the incident took place.

The students were heading from Jamia to Mahatma Gandhi's memorial Rajghat. The march was stopped at the Holy Family Hospital near the university.

Chinmoy Biswal, DCP (southeast), said the students wanted to take out a march from Jamia to Rajghat but were denied permission.

"They were being repeatedly told that the protest should be carried out peacefully. We had barricaded the road just before the Holy Family hospital. Meanwhile, a person was seen in the crowd who waved something which appeared to be a weapon."

"We have detained him and are interrogating him. One person has also been injured," Biswal said.

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