A tiger in Southeast Asia, alive.

BANGKOK: Two men, one Thai and Vietnamese, were arrested on Wednesday after officials discovered they were hiding the bodies of two tigers and two leopards.

The men have also been held in connection to the international illegal killing and smuggling of endangered species under international treaties signed by both Thailand and Malaysia, where the men had arrived from.

Central Investigation Bureau deputy chief Maj-Gen Sriwara Rangpramnakun said initial investigations revealed that the carcasses were destined for China, en route from Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.

Activists and international conservation experts, including an official with CITES – the treaty that regulates the trade in exotic animals – have called on the Thai government to hold the men accountable and ensure they face the full extent of the law.

“We demand Thailand make sure they are put to the full level of the law,” the official told Bikyamasr.com, although she was not authorized to speak to the media.

He said the carcasses were smuggled into Thailand from Malaysia through Sadao in Songkhla.

According to the police, the men claimed that the dead tigers could fetch up to 700,000 baht each.

Perhilitan, the Wildlife Protection and National Parks Department, said it had come across quite a number of cases of Malaysian-registered luxury cars being modified to hide illicit cargo of endangered animals.

Another tactic was to hide illegal wildlife by mixing them with products such as fish and vegetables while some traffickers try to pass off the animals as airline cargo.

Under the Wildlife Conservation Act, which went into effect recently, those caught smuggling endangered wildlife could face a fine of up to RM500,000 and mandatory jail time.

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Elephant in Manila Zoo receives government promise.

MANILA: The Philippine’s government has said it will ensure the welfare of an elephant currently held at the Manila Zoo. The Palace made the statement after UK rockstar Morissey called on President Benigno Aquino III to allow the elephant to go into retirement.

Animal rights groups have also called for the animal’s release, after documentation of poor treatment has been published.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the Palace said it has ordered the Bureau of Animal Industry to evaluate the condition of “Mali,” which Morrissey described as Manila Zoo’s long-suffering elephant.

“We share the concerns expressed by animal advocates who have brought up the condition of the resident pachyderm. Rest assured, the responsible agencies will be swiftly implementing the order to ensure the welfare of Mali,” the Palace’s statement said.

Last week, Morrissey sent a letter to President Aquino, saying that Mali deserves a reprieve from confinement.

Echoing allegations made by animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the artist said Mali had been unable to roam and socialize like other elephants in the wild.

PETA, which Morrissey supports, wants Mali shipped to a US sanctuary for old, sick or needy elephants that have been retired from zoos and circuses.

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Sea Shepherd's Paul Watson currently in German jail.

Iconic French film star and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot has asked German authorities to allow her to switch places with jailed Sea Shepherd Conservation Society chief Paul Watson, who was arrested and jailed in Germany.

“I have always supported Paul Watson, my brother in arms,” she said in a statement.

Watson, the Canadian national and founder of Sea Shepherd, which fights in international water for marine conservation, is accused by the German government of endangering the crew of a shark-fining ship in the waters of Costa Rica in 2002.

The conservation group has made headlines for its ardent attempts to curtail illegal international whaling, namely Japan’s hunt annually in Antarctic waters, and have tirelessly fought for the rights of marine animals.

He was arrested on an international warrant in Frankfurt, Germany on Sunday, and on Monday, German officials remanded him in custody.

Bardot, 77, is “appalled by the news” and insists she is willing to trade places with Watson, who has been battling hunters on the high seas for years, her statement read.

It continued to say, “being outraged by the fact that he’s been put in prison, I offer to take his place because I am his accomplice.”

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Rhinos are being killed for their horns, which are sent to Vietnam.

BANGKOK: Vietnamese are continuing to pay for poached and murder rhinoceros horns in the country, believing that the medicinal aspects of the horns will help cure cancer and lengthen one’s age.

Cancer patients are the most common buyers of the murdered animal’s horns, and despite illegal in Vietnam, it continues to be a major mover in the poaching of animals in southern Africa.

Seen as an almost “elixir of life” the substance, which shares the same protein found in human fingernails, sells for thousands of dollars an ounce in Vietnam.

Soaring demand has led to a bloodbath in South Africa as poachers kill record numbers of the creatures.

One elderly Vietnamese man in Bangkok receiving medical treatment told Bikyamasr.com that “we all really do believe it will cure us, but I tried it and nothing happened, so I am here.”

He continued to say that “I think the rich people, as they get older, will keep buying the horns.”

This year, dozens of rhinos have been slaughtered for their horns in South Africa, which has led to bolstering of wildlife protection services and better management of national parks, but poachers continue to find ways into the protected areas.

“It is worrying that we are still losing such a high number of rhinos throughout the country,” said David Mabunda, the head of SANParks, the country’s National Parks Authority, in a statement.

“The difficulty is pinning a suspected criminal to the actual crime because we are dealing with very wily and sophisticated individuals,” Mabunda said, but added that the increasing number of arrests was “encouraging.”

Last year, at least 448 rhinos were killed in South Africa, which is home to the largest population of the animals in the world. This was an increase from 2010, when 333 were killed.

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Photo: World Migratory Bird Day

Bird-watching, a popular hobby around the world, can present significant economic opportunities for countries through sustainable tourism, the United Nations environment agency said today, stressing that States should increase efforts to support this growing industry.

“Birding plays a significant and growing part in the tourism industry, and creates direct and indirect economic benefits for many countries and communities, also amongst developing countries,” said the Acting Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, in a news release ahead of World Migratory Bird Day, which is observed on May 12-13.

Initiated in 2006, the Day is an annual campaign organized by CMS and the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) – two intergovernmental wildlife treaties administered by the UN Environment Program (UNEP), which also backs the campaign – and devoted to celebrating migratory birds and promoting their conservation worldwide.

In a news release, UNEP highlighted that global spending on all areas of ecotourism is increasing by about six times the industry-wide rate of growth, and underlined the potential economic benefits of bird-watching in particular.

In the United States, for example, a survey by authorities puts the economic value generated every year by bird and other wildlife watchers at around $32 billion in that country alone. This amount corresponds to the gross domestic product of Costa Rica, which is also a popular destination for US birdwatchers.

In Scotland, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds found that last year, between $8-12 million is spent annually by tourists wishing to see White-tailed Eagles on the Isle of Mull alone, and that four per cent of jobs in Scotland are associated with wildlife tourism.

World Migratory Bird Day seeks to spotlight these benefits while also raising awareness of the importance of protecting birds, which face a series of challenges each year in their journeys.

“Conserving migratory birds is highly challenging because their annual migration often spans several countries, each governed by its own jurisdiction and national conservation strategies,” Mrema said.

Events to mark the Day are due to take place in 70 countries, including bird festivals, education programs, presentations, film screenings and bird watching trips, run by hundreds of volunteers and organizations.

The Day will be followed by an AEWA intergovernmental conference on migratory waterbirds, which will take place on May 14-18 in La Rochelle, France, and will focus on the role that wetlands play as a vital habitat for migratory birds and people and as a source of livelihoods for communities, particularly in Africa.

“It is absolutely critical that governments use the forthcoming meeting, to continue to do all they can to work together to try to safeguard, retain and where feasible restore high quality habitats – and to begin to link the conservation of migratory birds to human development and livelihoods on a flyway scale,” said the Acting Executive Secretary of AEWA, Marco Barbieri.

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Baby elephant with mother.

LAGOS: Strewn on the ground, their tusks ripped crudely from their bodies, over 200 elephants have been discovered murdered in Cameroon since the beginning of the year, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) said.

It revealed that the culprits were a group of Sudanese poachers, who slaughtered the elephants in the Bouba Ndjida National Park in the northern parts of Cameroon near the Chad boder.

Armed insurgents seeking elephants frequently cross the porous borders on poaching raids in Cameroon and Chad.

Although only around 100 carcasses have been found thus far, the belief is that elephants are disappearing in large numbers in certain areas of the park, highlighting a major crisis facing the country.

The ongoing shooting is making it impossible to conduct further detailed assessment of the situation, the IFAW said.

Many orphaned elephant calves have been spotted abandoned following the shootings and concerns are high they may soon die of hunger and thirst without their parents.

Elephants are known to have tight family relationships and without the mother present, babies are unlikely to know how to find food and survive.

Their deaths will only compound the impact of the poaching spree on the Cameroon’s threatened elephant populations, it said in a statement Thursday.

IFAW’s Celine Sissler-Bienvenu said it was common for armed gangs of poachers to cross from Sudan during the dry season to kill elephants for their ivory. But this latest massacre is massive and has no comparison to those of the preceding years.

“The ivory is smuggled out of West and Central Africa for markets in Asia and Europe, and the money it raises funds arms purchases for use in regional conflicts, particularly ongoing unrest in Sudan and in the Central African Republic,” said Sissler-Bienvenu.

According to the Elephant Status Report of 2007 of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), possibly between 1,000 and 5,000 individuals remain.

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John E. Scanlon (right), CITES Secretary-General, presents Certificate of Commendation to Yin Hong, Vice Administrator of State Forestry Administration in China. Photo: CITES

The head of the United Nations-backed convention on endangered species today hailed the efforts of a Chinese organization that carried out two nationwide operations this year to successfully combat wildlife crime.

The National Inter-Agency CITES Enforcement Collaboration Group (NICECG) of China was awarded a Certificate of Commendation by the Secretary-General of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), John E. Scanlon.

Over 100,000 enforcement officers were mobilized in the offensive against wildlife crime carried out by the group, which was set up in December 2011 to facilitate the collection and exchange of intelligence, enhance capacity building, and coordinate joint enforcement activities, according to a news release issued by CITES.

During the Forest Police Operation, more than 700 cases of illegal wildlife trade were uncovered; 7,155 illegal wildlife stalls and shops as well as 628 illegal online wildlife shops were shut down; 520 websites believed to sell illegal wildlife were closely monitored; and 13 wildlife-related criminal networks were dismantled, among other achievements.

Meanwhile, the Customs Authorities Operation led to the arrest of 13 suspects and the seizure of large quantities of ivory, red sandal wood, yew timber and antelope horns.

“The sheer scale, extent of coordination, and level of success of these intelligence-driven operations exemplify the coordinated enforcement effort that is required at the national and sub-national levels to combat wildlife crime successfully,” said Scanlon, who presented the Certificate of Commendation at a CITES meeting in the Chinese city of Guangzhou.

CITES, which is administered by the UN Environment Program (UNEP), noted that the Chinese organization serves as “a model at the provincial level,” with five CITES enforcement inter-agency groups being set up.

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German man attempted to smuggle lizards into country from Oman.

LONDON: A German man has been arrested at the Munich International Airport after customs officials discovered 49 live lizards in his bag, which he said were to be cooked and eaten.

Striking anger in animal rights groups in the country, the man, identified as a 28-year-old returning from Oman, offered to bit the head off one of the lizards to prove his story.

Transporting exotic animals is illegal, and Germany has signed the CITES agreement to combat the illegal smuggling of exotic animals.

The man could face a stiff fine and jail time for the stunt.

According to customs reports, the man had in his bag 31 spiny-tailed lizards and 18 other reptiles, including geckos.

The man had gone through the green channel at customs, believing his cargo to be “foodstuffs” rather than live animals.

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Britain's Morrissey lashes out at Indonesia over Java zoo.

JAKARTA: Britain’s Morrissey has, in a letter, called on the Indonesian government to immediately close a zoo in Eastern Java known for its animal abuses.

The zoo has seen hundreds of animals die and others disappear in mysterious circumstances in recent years, which has left the global animal rights community in a fury.

The former frontman of seminal indie band The Smiths, whose 1985 album was entitled “Meat is Murder”, made the request in a letter to Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan before a solo performance in Jakarta on Thursday.

“Your ministry called for a change at the Surabaya Zoo, but no improvements have been made,” the vegetarian and animal rights activist wrote in the letter by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

“There can be no justification for seemingly endless debates and delays while animals continue to suffer and die. Please take immediate action to close the Surabaya Zoo and transfer its animals to more suitable environments,” the letter stated.

The official Antara news agency said last year that the zoo – Indonesia’s largest – had turned into a “place of horror” and “death camp” for animals, while a zoo spokesman said in March some 500 animals died there in 2010 and 2011.

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Ritual slaughter bans have many Muslims, Jews fighting back together.

It’s not about religion, or at least it shouldn’t be. As British Muslims and Jews deride recent calls for an end to halal slaughter – the slitting of the throat of an animal before being slaughtered – let us look at why ending this practice would be good for the animals, and the globe.

It is easy to attack animal rights activists over their continued use of charged language, but looking closer at the issue of halal slaughter, we can see our world as the progression of compassion that has a root in both Islam and Judaism.

Religious groups are quick to cry foul, saying the new law is an infringement on their religious rights, but animal rights advocates have come out in support of the bill, which they say will reduce unnecessary cruelty in today’s modern world. Those activists are right.

But Muslims and Jews, who make up a substantial minority in the UK, have strongly denied that their methods of ritual slaughter cause the animals any harm or unnecessary pain. They have joined forces in condemning the new legislation, which they claim is politically motivated. A rare coming together of Muslims and Jews.

In Holland, we have seen legislation to end halal slaughter create widespread anger among Islamic groups, and while we should abhor anti-Islamic and anti-Jewish sentiments, the calls for an end to this “kosher” method of killing really isn’t about religion, despite some critics.

Massoud Shadjareh, the chairman of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, said that “the Islamophobic atmosphere in the Dutch parliament has provided the sort of environment where ludicrous legislation like this, which has been proposed by a party holding only 2 of the 150 parliamentary seats, has a chance of being passed. People are being persuaded to lend their support to this legislation not out of a genuine commitment to animal welfare, but rather out of their hatred of the Muslim community.”

Michel Courat, farm animal policy officer at Eurogroup for Animals, supported the effort to end halal slaughter in Europe.

“This is a major step forward for animal welfare and we urge all of the 26 other European Union member states to follow the example of the Dutch government,” he said in a statement commenting on the Dutch effort.

“It will be possible for religious groups to get an exemption, but only when they provide indisputable proof that their alternative method will not cause more harm to animal welfare than pre-slaughter stunning.”

Scientists have long debated “halal” and “kosher” slaughter and recent evidence suggests that the “draining of blood from an animal from its neck causes unnecessary suffering and prolongs the death process,” as a European Union study reported in 2008.

The Islamic body for non-stun slaughter in the United Kingdom has lashed out at the Dutch government’s new bill, also claiming the decision was based on political considerations and emotions.

The Association of Non-Stun Abattoirs (ANSA) has expressed dismay at the ban, pointing to scientific evidence suggesting that shechita and halal have been proved to be among the most humane methods of slaughter.

It called into question the belief that stunning animals prior to slaughter decreases suffering and urged all concerned to consider the evidence before jumping to “premature conclusions.”

ANSA spokesperson Mohammed Saleem said: “This is a retrograde step that contravenes Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which provides all citizens a right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.“It is against all concepts of democracy, tolerance and freedom of rights.“It absolutely sends the wrong message about Europe to the rest of the world, and especially the Muslim world. In a time of worldwide upheaval and troubled relations between the West and Muslims, this is a dangerous move that could provoke a backlash.”

At the end of the day, this is about the cruelty inflicted upon animals by people irregardless of their faith. Groups that attempt to hijack what is a bill that will largely end a practice that has no place in modern societies anywhere in the world are attempting to bring religion into a matter that is not about religion. The people who proposed the bill and supported it are right. Think of your neck. Think of any animal you pass on the street and ask yourself: is that an appropriate way to die? Let’s hope the answer is no. Animals have rights and it is time to support them.

Religions should not promote unnecessary cruelty. Religion is about compassion and tolerance. This is why supporting an end to halal slaughter is Islamic and Jewish.

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India’s Environment and Forest Ministry had mooted the proposal and earmarked $ 2.4 millon for the project, which involved trans-location of the spotted cat from Namibia to a sanctuary in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

Justices KS Radhakrishnan and CK Prasad of the Supreme Court granted the injunction when amicus curiae PS Narasimha and P Parameshwar sought the stay. The two senior lawyers alleged that the Environment and Forest Ministry’s project had not been approved by the autonomous National Wildlife Board and was contrary to the guidelines of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) for such relocation of wild species.

Interestingly, the two lawyers voiced before the apex court the apprehensions cited about the project by a member of the National Wildlife Board, Prerna Bindra, of the mismatch between the quantum of funds the ministry has earmarked for the Cheetah project and one for Tigers, which are also endangered in India.

Bindra is believed to have told the two lawyers that the total funds earmarked for the Tiger project was a meager $ 16 million and it involves as many as 600 sanctuaries and national parks. In contrast, the Cheetah re-introduction program will take place only in one sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh and it has been allocated a whopping $ 2.4 million.

The Supreme Court immediately granted the stay on the Cheetah project when this was brought to its notice and has asked the Environment and Forest Ministry to respond to the allegation. The court has also asked the ministry to produce all the records relating to the project for Cheetah trans-location at the next date of hearing.

Halal slaughter under threat in the UK amid controversy.

British Muslims are battling over animal rights and calls for an end to halal slaughter in the country. It comes on the heels of a push to end the Jewish and Muslim traditional means of slitting an animals throat in order to allow the blood to flow completely out of the animals body.

Professor Bill Reilly, former president of the British Veterinary Association, called for curbing the practice of slaughtering animals without stunning.

“Non-stun slaughter … appears to be increasing. From an animal welfare perspective this cannot be acceptable,” Reilly said.

“However, we are fortunate to live in a tolerant society and respect the religious beliefs of different faiths and must reconcile animal welfare with religious freedom.

“In my view, the current situation is not acceptable and, if we cannot eliminate non-stunning we need to keep it to the minimum,” he added.

“This means restricting the use of Halal and Kosher meat to those communities that require it for their religious beliefs and, where possible, convincing them of the acceptability of the stunned alternatives.”

Reilly’s opinion was published recently in the journal Veterinary Record, On Islam website reported on Saturday.

But Muslims in the country are split over the calls, with the majority claiming it is an attack against Islam. London-based Islamic leader Sheikh Usman Pranjet told Bikyamasr.com in an email that he believes the push to end Islamic halal slaughter is an attempt to force Muslims out.

“It is a blatant excuse to attack Muslims in the name of animal rights, because we know that this is the most humane way of slaughter,” he argued. “And this is what Islam tells Muslims to do.”

However, others, including Muslim animal welfare activist Sanjeev Mohamed, argued that in today’s modern world, there is no need to maintain “archaic methods” that do unwanted harm and cause suffering.

“We live in a time when technology and advancements has made animal welfare an important issue, and we Muslims need to reexamine the way we treat animals,” Mohamed said.

He argued that during the Prophet’s time, “meat was not consumed in multiple meals daily, not even everyday, so this is getting away from Islam anyway, so we need to get back to the basics of animals and Islam and the way of killing is simply wrong.”

British ministers have sought to change a law to ensure that meat slaughtered using Islamic (halal) methods cannot be sold without proper labeling.

The Daily Mail reported in April that “unwitting members of the public” in Britain are being served halal meat “secretly” in schools, hospitals, pubs and famous sporting venues, claiming that many in Britain, including animal rights campaigners, deem the traditional Islamic way of preparing meat as “cruel.”

Halal meat now accounts for 25 percent of the entire UK meat market, according to Reilly. But his figures have been challenged by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) which put the number of slaughtered halal animals at much smaller percentage.

“The results indicate that the number of animals not stunned prior to slaughter is relatively low, accounting for 3 percent of cattle, 10 percent of sheep and goats, and 4 percent of poultry,” an FSA spokesman told BBC.

Meanwhile, the UK government is now drawing up plans to prevent the supply of halal meat to people who are not aware about the method their meat has been slaughtered in, the Daily Mail reported.

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Elephants in Nepal's Chitwan national park.

Fires along the southern Nepal border with India have devastated local forest ecosystems in both Nepal and India which has seen massive wildlife losses, officials in Kathmandu said.

According to government officials, some 70 percent of Nepal’s Bardiya National Park has been consumed by fire in the past few days.

“We are working around the clock to make this situation better and to ensure no more animals are killed,” said the government.

The park had been a great success story for Nepal and for elephant conservation, as well as being a refuge for endangered species such as tigers and rhinos.

Officials said a lack of resources allowed the fires to spread rapidly.

“We have not been able to assess the loss immediately because the fire is still raging at some places,” the park’s chief conservation officer Tika Ram Adhikari told BBC News.

“But given our past experiences, our estimate is that around 40 percent of small mammals, 60 percent of insects and significant number of birds have been lost in the fire.”

Adhikari said big animals such as elephants and tigers might have been able to escape.

“But we fear, at places, their babies might have died after getting trapped in the fire.”

The national parks and conservation government officials are optimistic that the animals may have taken shelter and survived the devastation.

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Thirsty lions lap up water from a rivulet at the Gir forest in Gujarat, India.

NEW DELHI: The close to extinction Asiatic lion may be struggling to survive, but provincial governments of the two Indian States of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh have launched a no-holds-barred battle for their custody in the country’s highest court.

The Madhya Pradesh government which is seeking custody of at least one pride of the Asiatic Lion from the forests of neighboring Gujarat, told India’s Supreme Court that the latter’s accusation about its incapability to handle the lions was misplaced.

The atmosphere in the Apex Court got a shade charged with the solicitor representing Madhya Pradesh countering the allegations of Gujarat’s officials, including that it had no prey base, rampant poaching and of its forest officials’ incapability to conserve the lions.

Lion conservationists are unanimous that isolating some Asiatic lions is crucial to achieve the wider the goal of preserving diversity of their gene. To achieve this, the provincial government in Madhya Pradesh set aside the Palpur Kuno sanctuary for the purpose and a pride of Asiatic lions was to be relocated there. But Gujarat refused to part with them when it came to physically implementing the process of the lion relocation.

The matter reached the Supreme Court of India and has been dragging there for some years after an environmentalist petitioned it to settle the matter for the sake of conserving the breed of lions. But recently the Supreme Court decided to hear the case every Monday and the final judgment is expected by August this year.

Interestingly, the provincial governments of these two states at war for custody of the Asiatic lions are of the same political hue – the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party.

Gold adorned elephants line up during the Thrissur Pooram festival in Kerala, India.

NEW DELHI: A tame elephant ran amok at a Hindu religious festival, injuring over two dozen people in the South Indian state of Kerala. At least one of those injured is fighting death, according to a top police official.

The elephant named Kalidasan, which was participating in a local festival known as Thrissur Pooram suddenly became hostile and was uncontrollable. It took the mahouts (elephant rider) at least 15 minutes to control it.

Hundreds of devotees gathered at the popular festival panicked on seeing the elephant running in every which direction to avoid the mahouts. The devotees fled in panic and some fell down and were injured, the police official said.

He said it took two mahouts 15 minutes to control the elephant.

The more than two-century old tradition of Thrissur Pooram was held on Tuesday and is the biggest of all festivals in southern India. It is held in the Medam (mid-April to mid-May) month when the town hosts one of the largest assortment of people and elephants.

Richly decorated elephants, at least 50 of them, pass through Thrissur town and are the main attraction of this festival which is now globally recognized. The elephants walk with their nettipattam (golden headdress), decorative bells and ornaments to the rhythmic beating of drums.

The festival is also well known for the fireworks display with two rival groups representing the two divisions of Thrissur — Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi –

competing with each other for a better display. The dazzling fire works start in the week hours of the morning and lasts for three-four hours.

A tigress roams with its cub in the Pilibhit tiger reserve in northern India.

NEW DELHI: India’s federal government cracked the whip on States faltering on the country’s tiger conservation goals and asked them yesterday to step up efforts in deploying special forces for the protection of the endangered striped cat.

India’s environment and forest minister Jayanthi Natarajan yesterday confabulated with field directors of all Indian tiger reserves, where she sent out the instructions to expedite raising these Special Tiger Protection Forces (STPFs) and to arm and deploy them in tiger habitats.

More than half the world’s tiger population is in India, but the numbers until a few years ago, were alarmingly declining when the federal government hit the panic button and launched a national tiger conservation mission.

The effort has paid partial dividends and the last tiger census has recorded a marginal increase. The current tiger population in India in the wild is estimated at 1,706.

Man-tiger conflicts in addition to degradation of natural tiger habitats due to mining and industrialization were the chief contributors to the majestic striped cat being endangered.

In its tiger conservation efforts, the Federal government provides provincial states governments with 100 per-cent funding. Yet some states, notably Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan and Orissa, which have large tiger habitats have failed to set up any special tiger protection forces.

Natarajan said conservation of the striped cat is the collective responsibility of civil society, the federal government and the provincial state governments, urging all involved to take it up as a mission.

Baby elephant with mother.

Spain’s King Juan Carlos faces overwhelming public scorn following an extravagant elephant hunting trip to Botswana earlier this month. Juan Carlos, an honorary president of World Wildlife Spain, had his private trip publicized when he was flown back to Madrid for medical attention after reportedly slipping and fracturing his hip.

Hundreds of thousands voiced their condemnation of Juan Carlos’ hunting extravaganza through social media and online petitions demanding his resignation as honorary president of World Wildlife Fund Spain, a position he has held since 1968. Animal activists protested outside the hospital treating the king on Tuesday, toting signs featuring pictures of elephants and slogans such as “ban hunting” and “victims of the royal hunt.”

The King’s passion for hunting has long been known and his list of kills includes an endangered bison on a trip to Poland in 2004 as well as water buffalo. Pictures previously posted on Botswana based big game hunting company Rann Safari’s webpage showed the king posing beside a dead elephant and water buffalo from a previous trip.

In response to the public outcry, World Wildlife Fund Spain has announced it will be taking necessary steps to remove King Juan Carlos as a patron of their charity, despite his taste for hunting having no conflict with their ideals.

“It’s a problem of the image it sends nationally and internationally rather than the issue of elephant conservation in Botswana,” states Juan Carlos del Olmo, secretary general of World Wildlife Fund Spain.

World Wildlife Funds’ dedication to the conservation of species differs greatly from animal welfare groups commitment to the protection of animals against suffering, as is evident in WWF Canada’s approval of harp seal hunting.

“Conservation groups are concerned with conserving animals for specific purposes and mainly for human use,” Jane Dollinger, PETA Spokesman, tells Bikya Masr. “Conservation groups are supported by hunters; they promote hunt culls to artificially reduce an animal population, which frees up available resources and causes animals’ breeding to increase, thereby increasing the population over time and ensuring that the species will always be there for humans to hunt.”

“Left alone, animal populations regulate their own numbers based on the availability of food and a secure habitat.”

Following his surgery King Juan Carlos issued a televised apology for his actions, an unprecedented event in the history of the Spanish crown.

“I am very sorry,” he said, “I made a mistake and it won’t happen again.”

The King’s recovery is reportedly going well and he is expected to be able to resume office duties in approximately 10 days.

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Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC).

NEW DELHI: Computer simulations have taken over live specimens at for University experiments, after the Union Government of India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) disallowed the use of live animals for educational experiments in the favor of computer simulation, bringing much relief to animal lovers.

They have however exempted scientists conducting new molecular research from such a ban.

Live animals such a frogs, rats, cockroaches and earthworms were used in Colleges and Universities for dissection experiments as part of the science and medical curriculum.

“The animal experiments should be stopped in all institutes except for the purpose of new molecular research. Sometimes, in laboratories, a lot of work is repeated and animals become unnecessary victims. Only scientists researching on a new molecular theory can experiment on animals,” Mangal Jain, a nominee of the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC) said.

The ban is part of guidelines conceived under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1960), and has been sent to University Grants Commission, Ministry of health and family welfare, Pharmacy Council of India and the Medical Council of India, all of which are educational regulatory authorities and approve curricula for universities, colleges, research institutes, hospitals and laboratories

The MoEF has instead recommended that and instead use alternatives like computer simulation and mannequin models to help educate the students.

“They are not only effective as absolute replacements for animals in teaching anatomy or physiology but are also superior learning tools in teaching of pharmacy or life sciences,” the guidelines state.

The guidelines offer a penalty of imprisonment up to five years and/or monetary penalty on the offending institutions.

The move has been welcomes by animal rights’ groups who have been campaigning for the ban on use of live animals.

The guidelines however do not specify the use of animals for the purpose of testing cosmetics by pharmaceutical companies.

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Cows are sacred to the Hindu religion

NEW DELHI: Five students were injured, one serious with knife wounds, over a controversial beef festival organized by students of the Osmania University, located in the central Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.

The organizers of the beef festival, mainly left wing students unions, were demanding beef as a part of their canteen menu, which has been opposed by Hindu right wing oriented students unions, who claimed that the cow is sacred to Hindu religion and culture.

The violence in Osmania University later spread to the city, where a bus belonging to a state run government corporation was torched by the agitating students.

It should be noted that these clashes erupted on Sunday night, after more than 200 students and teachers attended the festival and ate beef delicacies, to underline their demand for including beef, a cheaper meat in India as compared to chicken, mutton, etc, in the university hostel canteen menu as an affordable source of nutrition.

“Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) activists (right wing students’ party) were protesting at the festival venue but later clashed with the organizers and both parties started attacking each other with sticks and pelting stones,” a police official said, adding that tear gas shells had to be fired to disperse the crowd and bring order.

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Asiatic Cheetah.

NEW DELHI: In order to bring back to life the virtually extinct predator the great Asiatic Cheetah, the Indian government has shelled out $ 400,000 to create a natural habitat for the world’s swiftest carnivore.

The $ 400,000 for the Cheetah Introduction Program of the Indian government will be spent on creating a natural habitat for the animal at the Palpur—Kuna wildlife sanctuary in Sheopur district of Madhya Pradesh.

“The money is part of $ 2.4 million payout in four years for the program. The first installment will certainly help setting up the infrastructure for the great predator at our sanctuary,” Dharmendra Shukla, a chief conservator of forests in Madhya Pradesh said.

Officials also said that the Palpur-Kunarange had been selected as an ideal habitat for the cheetah, nearly twenty of which would be airlifted and relocated at the 344 sq kms sanctuary soon.

Cheetah’s were once hunted as a sporting pastime of the Indian royals. The cheetah, which is the fastest predator, were also trained by the British and used for hunting deer on the Indian plains.

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