The News Caravan

Tag: Wildlife

  • World’s cities go head to head in race to spot most urban wildlife

    World’s cities go head to head in race to spot most urban wildlife

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    Hundreds of cities are competing this weekend to collect the most plant and wildlife observations in an urban “bioblitz” as part of a global citizen science challenge.

    From Dundee windowsills to San Francisco parks, people are being urged to document whatever flora and fauna they can spot around them in urban areas and upload the photos to the iNaturalist app to help identify rare species.

    The City Nature Challenge, which started as a competition between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 2016, has become a global event that will see nature lovers in towns and cities on all continents race to spot plants, fungi and animals this weekend.

    Last year, nearly 1.7m observations were made around the world by 67,000 people, who identified more than 50,000 species. Last year, La Paz, Bolivia, came first with 137,345 observations, more than twice as many as Cape Town in South Africa, which came second with 66,144, and Boston in the US, which made 46,896 observations.

    In the UK, London, Manchester, Nottingham and Swansea are among the 19 participating urban areas. They will compete with cities including Mumbai, which has a population of leopards, and Foz do Iguaçu in Brazil, which boasts the Iguaçu Falls that separate Argentina and Brazil.

    Dundee, which will be the second most northerly city taking part this year after Whitehorse in Canada, has issued a rallying cry to citizens to take part over the bank holiday weekend and said it would inform the city’s biodiversity action plan.

    Heather Anderson, Dundee neighbourhood services committee convener, said: “We hope that residents get involved in this citizen science initiative and scour their own gardens as well as the city’s parks and green spaces.

    “The challenge will help to increase the overall knowledge of Dundee’s wildlife and what species can be found in the city area. Information gathering is vital to better develop our wider environmental aspirations,” she said.

    Improving access to green and blue spaces and enhancing biodiversity in urban areas was agreed as a target for Cop15 in Montreal.

    The pictures collected on iNaturalist, a joint initiative by the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society, will help towns and cities better understand the wildlife they live with.

    Several species that were thought to be extinct, such as the Dumbéa River pipefish and the small whorled pogonia, a plant last seen in 1902, have been rediscovered thanks to people using the iNaturalist app.

    The City Nature Challenge takes place from Friday 28 April to Monday 1 May. From 2-7 May, species will be identified, and the winner will be announced on 8 May.

    Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield on Twitter for all the latest news and features



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    ( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

  • Week in wildlife – in pictures

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    The best of this week’s wildlife photographs, including newborn turtles, a rescued leopard and white rhinos

    Continue reading…

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    ( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

  • Insect Week photography awards – in pictures

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    The winning images from the Insect Week photography competition have been announced by the Royal Entomological Society. The annual competition for amateur photographers attracted more than 700 entries from 34 countries across six continents, with 24 images receiving commendations this year

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    #Insect #Week #photography #awards #pictures
    ( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

  • Kashmir’s Aliya Mir Gets Wildlife Conservation Award

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    SRINAGAR: Aliya Mir, a prominent sociologist and the first woman from Jammu and Kashmir to work for Wildlife SOS, has been awarded the wildlife conservation award by the Union Territory for her exceptional efforts in conservation. She is the first woman to receive this honour in the region.

    The award was presented to her by Lt. Manoj Sinha at the World Forestry Day celebrations organized by the Jammu and Kashmir Collective Forests. Aliya was recognized for her outstanding achievements in various aspects of wildlife conservation, including the rescue and release of wild animals, injured animal care, and bear rescue in Kashmir.

    Aliya, who also serves as the Head of an Education System in the Wildlife SOS Program, has rescued numerous wild animals, including birds, Asiatic black bears, and Himalayan brown bears. She has also gained popularity for catching snakes, having rescued them from various locations like corridors, cars, lawns, gardens, and bus rooms in offices and other establishments, and releasing them back into the wild.

    One of her most notable rescues was the Levantine viper, a venomous snake, from the then chief minister’s regional residence. The incident grabbed headlines as the Viper snake weighed about 2 kg and is the largest animal biting in a group of wild animals. Similarly, a video of Aliya rescuing a snake trapped in a scooter in Jahangir Chowk has also gone viral on social media.

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    ( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

  • Wildlife Department Captures Semi-adult Leopard in Gopalpora Anantnag

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    Waris Shah

    Srinagar, Feb 14: A semi-adult leopard was captured by a Wildlife Department team in Gopalpora area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Tuesday morning.

    Reports reaching GNS said that the beast was spotted by locals in Gopalpora, near grid station, following which they informed Wildlife Department authorities at Achabal Control room.

    On the directions of Wildlife Warden South Division Bijbehera, headed by Range officer Bringi Valley & incharge Control room Achabal along with rescue team tranquilized the leopard from Gopalpora near the grid station.

    Confirming it, an official told GNS that it is semi-adult leopard. “We will release it in its natural habitat”, the official said.

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    ( With inputs from : roshankashmir.net )

  • 2022 Records Highest Arrival Of 12 Lakh Migratory Birds In Kashmir: JK Wildlife Dept

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    SRINAGAR: Amid the ongoing Integrated Management Action Plan (IMAP) for Wetland Conservation Reserves of Kashmir, authorities at J&K Wildlife Department claim that more than 40 lakh migratory birds arrived in the valley wetlands in the last four years, while 2022 recorded the highest arrival with more than 12 lakh guest birds.

    Quoting Wildlife Warden Wetlands, Ifshan Dewan news agency KNO reported that the last four years recorded the arrival of more than 40 lakh migratory birds in the valley wetlands. “2022 recorded the highest numbers with as many as 12 lakh migratory birds visiting Kashmir,” she said.

    Ifshan also said that the census of migratory birds for the year 2023 is likely to start next week.

    According to the statistical figures shared by the Wildlife Department, the year 2019 recorded the arrival of around 9 lakh migratory birds, 8 lakh in 2020, 11 lakh in 2021 and approximately 12 lakh in 2022.

    We have recorded the arrival of around 70 species of migratory birds, Dewan said.

    While the officials last month said that a rare species of migratory duck was sighted at Wullar Lake after 84 years; every year, lakhs of migratory birds from Siberia, Europe, and Central Asia arrive in the Kashmir Valley.

    As per the authorities at the Jammu and Kashmir Wildlife Department, interventions are taking place under the Integrated Management Action Plan (IMAP) in various wetlands of Kashmir in order to improve the habitat conditions to make them suitable for migratory waterfowl.

    Notably, the five-year Integrated Management Action Plan (IMAP) 2022-2027 for Kashmir Wetland Conservation Reserves has outlined a number of threats and challenges in conserving the valley’s wetlands.

    According to the document, the risks to the valley wetlands include siltation, weed infestation, pollution, habitat modification, water quality degradation, solid waste, and encroachment.

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    ( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

  • World Wetland Day: Encroachment, pollution, poaching major challenges, says Wildlife Dept

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    Jahangeer Ganaie

    Srinagar, Feb 02: Wetlands aren’t wasteland but biodiversity hotspots which provide habitat for countless plants and animals and there is a need to preserve them for future generations, Wildlife department officials said on Thursday.

    Officials told news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that the Wetlands are important because they protect and improve water quality, provide fish and wildlife habitats, store floodwaters and maintain surface water flow during dry periods.

    “Wetlands are unique, productive ecosystems where terrestrial and aquatic habitats meet. Wetlands play a critical role in maintaining many natural cycles and supporting a wide range of biodiversity. They serve as a natural sponge against flooding and drought, protect our coastlines and help fight climate change,” they said.

    Wetland performs numerous valuable functions such as recycle nutrients, purify water, attenuate floods, recharge ground water and also serves in providing drinking water, fish, fodder, fuels, wildlife habitat, control rate of runoff in urban areas, buffer shorelines against erosion and recreation to society, they said.

    They said that there is a need to reduce, reuse, and recycle your waste and trash as protecting the environment helps protect the wetlands, especially since trash can make its way into the water and the best and easiest way to protect the environment is by limiting your household waste.

    Ifshan Dewan Wildlife warden wetlands (Kashmir) while talking with KNO said that most people think that wetlands are wastelands but they must know wetlands are biodiversity hotspots.

    She said that Water bodies are the most productive ecosystem and there is a need to protect and restore them, that is why this day is being observed to create awareness among the public.

    She said that the basic challenges before them are to save these wetlands from encroachment mainly in urban areas, throwing of solid waste in them, silt and poaching.

    “Besides the sanitation and dwelling are challenges as almost every wetland in J&K is full of silt,” Ifshan said.

    She added that people must understand that poaching is a prohibited activity as poaching incidents are coming to fore and recently seven poaching guns were recovered from them.

    Ifshan said that around a lakh birds are present in Hokersar and other nearby wetlands which includes some new species like long tailed duck and few species of Reed Bunting bird as well which were seen for the first time after several years.

    She said that around 3000 kanals of wetland were freed from the public after one time amnesty to cut down trees was given to them due to which bird population has increased.

    Efforts are on to restore channels used for navigation which were blocked and so far two have been restored while work is going on to restore others as well.

    She requested people to cooperate in restoring wetlands as migratory birds are our guests and we must work together to protect them—(KNO)

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    ( With inputs from : roshankashmir.net )

  • The week in wildlife – in pictures

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    A wild Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) is spotted in a weak and exhausted semi-conscious state in the bushes of parthenium plants at Tehatta, West Bengal, India. The Asian palm civet, a nocturnal carnivore species also known as the common palm civet, toddy cat, and musang, is found in south and south-east Asia, it produces a buttery, honey-like secretion that is scraped off its perineal glands. This civet is threatened by poaching and illegal wildlife trade; buyers use it for the increased production of the world’s most expensive coffee, kopi luwak (civet coffee)

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    ( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )