In April 2010, the rangers of Cat Tien National park could not save the female Rhino that fell prey to poachers. After this killing, there were no sighting of any Rhino in the park, nor any footmarks, dung. The analysis of all the dung samples collected during 2009-2010 revealed that it was of the same Rhino that was killed in April, 2010.

The rarest Rhino in the world got rarer, according to the annual report by International Rhino Foundation (IRF).  The report declares Javan Rhino (Rhinoceros sondaicus) to be extinct in Vietnam and officially Indonesia is only country where it now exists in wild.

The Javan Rhino, also known as lesser One-horned Rhino, is ‘Critically endangered’ in IUCN Red list and not more than 44 individuals are surviving in wild as per the IRF 2010 report. All 44 individuals are found only in the Ujang Kulon National Park of Indonesia. The report says, “Sadly this year, we believe that the last Javan Rhino was poached in Vietnam’s Cat Loc Reserve. In Ujung Kulon, best survey estimates, backed up with camera-trap data, suggest that no more than 44 animals remain in the park. Of these, we suspect that there are only four or five females with breeding potential. ”

Indonesia is the last hope for the Javan Rhino, the rarest large mammal in the world. The utmost priority should be given to the protection of the existing population in Ujung Kulon and also expanding the current population to a second habitat for giving more chances of survival to the species.

Javan Rhino Poached to Extinction in Vietnam - Photo Reuters

Poaching is the greatest threat for the Javan Rhino. The Rhino horn brings extraordinary value in the black market which appeals the poachers easily. In China the horn believed to be cure of many ailments including heart disease, cancer, etc. This baseless believe has been killing Rhinos all over the world. The last  Javan Rhinoceros of Vietnam was killed by poachers only in April 2010.  It was shot at leg and horn hacked off in the Cat Tien National Park.

This One-Horn Rhino species was widely found in the south-east Asia region just a century back. During Vietnam war, due to easy availability of powerful weapons, Rhinos were killed in large number for their horns in Vietnam. In post war time, the species was believed to be extinct from Vietnam. But 1988, a hunter killed a Javan Rhino in the Cat Tien region of Vietnam. This gave a ray of hope and proved that the species was not extinct in the region.  This leads to a survey of the Cat Tien National Park in 1989 that found at least 15 Java Rhino specimens along the  Dong Nai River. Despite this discovery, the protection measures in the Cat Tien region was not proper and the population kept on declining majorly due to poaching. In 2000, experts pointed out that the Javan Rhino population in Vietnam might not ever recover. The population stood at just around 3-8, mostly consisting of female without any adult male capable of breeding.

In April 2010, the rangers of Cat Tien National park could not save the female Rhino that fell prey to poachers. After this killing, there were no sighting of any Rhino in the park, nor any footmarks, dung. The analysis of all the dung samples collected during 2009-2010 revealed that it was of the same Rhino that was killed in April, 2010. This is how the story of Javan Rhino ends in Vietnam. The Rhinos in Cat Tien region was a subspecies of Javan Rhino, Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus , now extinct. Despite of various protection efforts by various organization this rare species also became the victim of human activities. Very unfortunately the Vietnamese Rhino joined the long list of similar animals that vanished from the beautiful nature.

One of the very scary fact about the Javan Rhino is that captive breeding has not been successful for the animal in zoos till now. There is no captive population in existence to support the wild population. So, now all eyes will be concentrated on the Indonesian Javan Rhino.

If a list of the most endangered mammals of Indian Subcontinent is made today, one species that should get a higher position is the Himalayan Wolf. Unfortunately this beautiful animal is getting much less attention than its required.

Himalayan Wolf was believed to be a subspecies of gray wolf called the Tibetan wolf (Canis lupus chanco). But recent studies on Himalayan Wolf by Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has revealed some very interesting biological aspect of the animal. The extensive research suggested that the Himalayan Wolf should be considered as a distinct species and it is given the name Canis himalayensis. This scientific name was proposed as nomenclature and taxonomic change for Himalayan Wolf by the Nomenclature Specialist on the CITES Animals Committee in April 2009.

Unfortunately the status of the new species claim of the Himalayan wolf is still uncertain, but it is now widely considered as a distinct species. In today’s explored world, it is indeed a rare event to discover a new species of mammal, especially that of a large carnivore. The wolf is considered to be the most studied of Carnivores in the world and this the discovery is as thrilling as it is surprising. Another interesting face of the Himalayan Wolf is that unlike Gray Wolves, they are completely distinct from domestic dogs. It might be the the most ancient representative of the animals anywhere in the world. The Analysis done on genetic material from one of the wolves showed that its lineage stems back around 800,000 years.

The Himalayan Wolf - Some Conservation Thoughts

Despite all these very important aspects of the Himalayan Wolf, the animal yet to get the status and attention it deserves. There is only ~350 Himalayan Wolves surviving in the trans-Himalayan region of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir in northern India.  The conservation of this animal is becoming urgent now.

Global Acceptance

The first hurdle in the conservation of the Himalayan Wolf is the older concept about the species. Till a decade back it was considered as a subspecies of Tibetian Wolf found in the high mountain regions of the Himalayan range. The Tibetain Wolf is a subspecies of Gray Wolf (Canis Lupus), one of the widely distributed mammal in the planet. The gray wolf is given “Least Concern” status by the IUCN Red List and so the Tibetian Wolf. Still being considered a variety of Tibetian Wolf by many, the Himalayan Wolf getting the least concern signal from many conservationists. The stand from IUCN Red List to declare this as a separate species and put in the critically endangered status is uncertain.

Local Education, Reduce Conflict and Compensation for the Loss

The major threat to the Himalayan Wolf is it’s conflict with the local villagers in the region of its habitat. The wolf locally known as Shanku, is considered as the key threat to the livestock of the villagers. There is a strained relationship existed between the villagers and the wildlife of the region, specially the carnivores like Himalayan Wolf. The Himalayan Wolf is a big menace to the local people as every year it is accountable for at least 100 livestock killings in the region. The amount of damage caused by this animal force the villagers to take drastic steps as killing them or poison them. Adding more to their agony, the government or any organization have come up to support these people.

With shrinking habitat for the wolves, the conflict and preying on livestock is increasing resulting in more killings of this rare wolf. Now it requires a full fledged campaign to educate the local people about the importance of Himalayan Wolf for eco balance. There are organization like “Snow Leopard Conservancy” and project like “Muse” that focuses on the Sustainable development, education among the local by linking their economical growth to the wildlife. The organizations are doing good job by bringing revenues to the villages via eco-tourism. The new generation is becoming aware of the wildlife due to these efforts. But this is not enough to save the species like Himalayan Wolf whose territory is wide covering more than 70000 sq km. More involvement from the government is expected to bring a huge change. There should be proper compensation for the loss of livestock which brings down anger of the people against the wolves. Also the process to get the compensation should be made easier for the villagers. A tedious process will not be fruitful.

Special Protection Zone

Another major problem with the conservation of the Himalayan Wolf is protected area. There is no protected area declared by Indian Government till now for this rare mammal species. The increasing agriculture and population in the villages slowly shrinking the habitat of the Himalayan Wolves. This is a grave concern for the species. When the breeding ground of a species is affected, the survival of the species comes under a question! There should be initiative from the government to make sure that outsiders don’t disturb or pollute the habitat of the Himalayan Wolves. The probable places will be Spiti valley in Himachal Pradesh where groups of Himalayan wolves are sighted frequently.

Global Climate Change

One major threat that is affecting the whole wildlife in the Himalayan region is the climate change. The global warming or the increasing temperature is causing glacier melt in the region. The Himalayan wolf who survives in this low temperature region are facing habitat issue due to the glacier melts. This is one global issue and if special care not taken to the Himalayan Wolf, they can be one of the initial victims of the global warming.

Effective Captive Breeding Programs

Capative Breeding programs are started for the Himalayan Wolves in four Zoos in India. These are Padmaja Naidu Himalayan, Zoological Park, Darjeeling; Himalayan Zoological Park, Gangtok; Himalayan Nature Park, Kufri; and Pt. Gobind Vallabh Pant High Altitude Zoo, Nainital. These are programs for Tibetian wolves and there is no special program for the Himalayan wolves. The captive breeding population is around 20. More funds and area to be put under these captive breeding programs to make it successful. A major challenge faced by animals bred in captivity is their struggle to adjust in the wild where they need to feed and protect themselves. Only Darjeeling Zoo is trying to solve this problem of the Himalayan endangered species by planning to set up an off display breeding centre. The primary objective of such an initiative is to release the zoo bred animals to the wild with the near wild environment of the proposed centre facilitating both breeding and honing of hunting skills of these animals. These kind of special facilities need to be started in all the Zoos for the Himalayan Wolves.

Please provide more thoughts and suggestion to Save the Himalayan Wolf!

The Kashmir Stag (Cervus elaphus hanglu) popularly known as Hangul, is the only surviving subspecies of Red deer in the whole of Asia.

In early 20th century, the Hangul population was believed to be around 5000 spreading across the highland region of Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal pradesh of India.  In 1940, a survey revealed the population to be around 3000. The cultivation and hunting was believed to be reason for the population decline for this magnificant deer species at that time. But in the post independence (1947) era of India, the population declined steeply.

A survey published by E. P. Gee in 1957 revealed that only 400 specimens of the Kashmir Stag is surviving in the region. This survey placed the rare deer species as one of the most endangered species of the Indian subcontinent along with Indian Rhino and Asiatic Lion.

Kashmir Stag aka Hangul - Struggling in the Survival Battle for half a century

In 1967, George B. Schaller , in his study of Kasmir Stag, estimated the population as 180 only. It was based on 88 deer observed in the region. So, despite identified as a rare animal a decade back, the population of this beautiful deer continued to decline.

In 1970, as per Wildlife Journal December issue authored by another naturalist Dr Holloway the population of Kashmiri Stag estimated as mere 140. Holloway also wrote that Hangul’s territory shrunk to an area of 65 kms wide. He said the area seemed to be overgrazed, with erosion becoming apparent due to grazing by thousands of cattle of Gujjars. This created red alarm among the wildlife organizations across the globe. The same year Government of India and Jammu and Kashmir along with IUCN and WWF launched a major conservation project named “Project Hangul”. Both the wildlife organizations along with the government, the project slowly showed results in later years.

The major inputs to the Project Hangul in the earlier stages were research and monitoring. Kahmir Stag’s habitat, terrotoriality, population dynamics and predotors, etc studied very closely. In 1977, there was a report of increase in Hanglu population. But a disease killed over 50 Hanguls in 1978. Dr Fred Kurt, who studied Hangul in Dachigam until 1979 gave some tips to J-K government over protection of Hangul and its habitat. Some intense conservation steps were taken in the Dachigam Sanctuary following these tips. Strict patrolling was started, the poaching of the stag reduced sgnificantly. Deforestation was banned and most of the Gujjars and Bakerwals living near the sanctuary were shifted by the government. The Dachigam was upgraded to National Park status in 1981. Also the project took special care for diseases amonng the haguls, wild fire, etc. All these hard work byt the project team started giving result when in 1980 the population for the Hanguls were reported as around 550. In 1987 it increased to around 800. In September-October 1988, the census conducted by department in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of Dehradun and Centre for Wildlife and Ornithology, Aligarh had put the population of Hangul in the area as high as 918 animals with 48:52 as male-female ratio. This was a real positive sign for the survival of the species.

But 1988 marks as the end of positive trend for Kasmir stag population. The same year, the political imbalance broke out in the sate Jammu and Kashmir. It was a big blow to the project Hangul and conservation of the Kashmir Stag. The cross border terrorism in the state affected the wildlife too along with many human lives. Militants killed Hanguls for meat and also poaching increased in the park due to loosen security measures. And the Hnguls suffered the most due to all these. There were disturbances in breeding grounds and final verdict was out when a 1996 survey revealed the hungul population to be just 110, the lowest ever recorded in the history!

The cross border terrorism is still an issue int the region, so the kashmir Stags are also continuing the struggle of survival. The census of 2004 estimated the population of Hangul at 197 while in 2008 it reduced to 127. The current a population of Kashmir Stag is estimated just around 220 (survey 2011). This means a slight rise from the last survey done in 2009 when the estimated population was near 170. The 2009 census indicated that for every 100 females, there are 27 males and 28 fawns as compared to 23 and 9 respectively in 2008.

Four decades past now, conservationists finding it difficult to grow the Kashmir Stag’s population from  150 in 1970 till date. It is now identified as critically endangered species in the red list of IUCN.

The Ministry of Environments and Forestry, India has already approved Rs 22 crores Species Recovery Plan for Hangul for a period of five years under the Species Recovery Programme of the “Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats”. This is a good hope for the rare species. But until the political stability is achieved the Hangul’s are in the mouth of great danger.

It was a tragedy to the Tiger Lovers when the Kachida Tigress, T-5, was dead in February this in Ranthambore, India. We published here an article in the memory of the beautiful tigress after the death due to maggot-infested wounds.

At the time of death, the tigress left two just three months old cubs. These cubs created some real worries to the wildlife lovers as the tiger cubs are dependent upon their mother till at least 24 months.

The authorities have been trying hard to keep these cubs alive by providing food at hand. The authorities were not very clear about the activities of the cubs. But a recent discovery about the cubs has really brought excitement and surprise to the wildlife lovers across the globe.

Few days back, the Forest authorities discovered pugmarks of a male tiger along with the cubs. This was matter of real worry to the authority. Because male tigers are known to be the greatest danger for any cubs. The mother single handedly raise cubs and protect its cubs from any full grown male. The male normally kill the cubs to mate with the mother or for territorial threat. Son from the pug marks of the Kachida cubs along with a male tiger made forest officials to believe that the male must be following the cubs for preying upon.

Camera trapping of the Tiger Cubs with the male Tiger

To get a clear picture of the situation, authorities put camera trapping in the area. When the camera results came, it took everyone by surprise. Instead of preying, the male tiger is roaming with the cubs. The male tiger is identified as T-25. And much to the surprise, the tiger has even reduced its territory. Its now believed the tiger is in fact protecting the cubs. Its raising the cubs like a mother. Its in fact allowing to share its killings to the cubs. In fact the food provided by the forest department to the cubs is not taken by the male.

According the forest officials, the male tiger T-25 was seen mating with Kachida tigress, T-5. So there are definite reasons to believe that T-25 is the father of the cubs. T25 is a large male with dollar marks in its stomach. Thats why it is widely known as “Dollar male” too. It is a dominant male in the Kachida region.

T25 - The Parenting Father also known as Dollar Male

This reveals a really exciting and unknown chapter of tiger’s social behaviour. Sometimes male tigers have been spotted spending time with mother & cubs and even sharing a meal but this is for the first time that cubs have been spotted alone with male tiger. Its amazing to see this time a male tiger alone raising its cub like mother. The Ranthambore is now becoming a new learning for the tiger experts. It will be interesting to see how successful will be a male tiger in raising cubs. Whether it will add another success story to Ranthambore.

In May 1992, Vietnamese and Foreign Biologists were taken by surprise by the discovery of three pairs of horns.  These were horns of trophies killed by the local people of central Vietnam’s Vu Quang Nature reserve. These biologists were on field survey in the area. The size of the horns suggested about the existence of a large animal completely unknown to the outside world.

Saola - courtesy WWF

This discovery took the science community by shock. It was believed that after centuries of exploration by explorers across deserts, rainforests of the planet with even high technology left no place or large species unkown to the science.

After this discovery, scientists did extensive research in the area. In next few years this research led to the discovery of 20 partial specimen of this species, including three complete skin and several photos. Researchers were also able to trap the species in remotely set camera in the rain forests. With all these evidences, scientists came to the conclusion that this is a completely new species and it was named as Saola (Pseudoryx nghetinhensis).

Saola was name already local people have been referring to this animal .  Sao means Spindle and La means post. The generic name Pseudoryx , of the species refers to slightly curved, backward-sweeping horns, resembling to those Oryxes found in Africa and Arabia. Saola is very distantly related to these arid-adapted antelopes though. The specific name of the scientific name   refers to efers to the two Vietnamese provinces Nghe An and Ha Tinh close to where it was found.

The saola stands about 85 cm at the shoulder and weighs approximately 90-100 kg.   The coat is a dark brown with a black stripe along the back. Its legs are darkish and there are white patches on the feet, and white stripes vertically across the cheeks, on the eyebrows and splotches on the nose and chin. All saolas have slightly backward-curved horns, which grow to half a meter in length. The genetic analysis reveals that it is a primitive member of the cattle family.

All known locations for the species are mountainous with steep river valleys, covered by evergreen or semideciduous forests between 300 – 1800 m (1000 – 6000′), with low human disturbance.  It is only found in the foothill of the Tuong Son range. Its distribution within this known ranges is uneven and fragmented in small patches. This range occurs in the border between Laos and Vietnam. It stays in the higher elevations during the wetter summer season, when streams at these altitudes have plenty of water, and moves down to the lowlands during the winter, when the mountain streams dry up.

Even after two decades of discovery, very little known about this large mammal. In the discovery article of Saola, the team proposed  a three months survey to observe the living animal. But Even after intense efforts, scientists have not been able to see a Saola in wild in its natural setting yet! Most of the information on the Saola is gathered from photos and local people’ knowledge.

Local people have reported having seen saola traveling in groups of two or three, rarely more.  Villagers say that the ox eats the leaves of fig trees and other bushes along riverbanks. Saola mark their territories by opening up a fleshy flap on their snout to reveal scent glands. They subsequently rub the underside against objects leaving a musky, pungent paste. The saolas’ colossal scent glands are thought to be the largest of any living mammal.

Though very little known about Saola, one thing is certain that its in a very critically threatened state. In 1994 IUCN listed the species as “Endangered”. But in 2006 its given “Critically Endangered” status due to reducing population.  The animal can’t survive in captivity. All efforts to keep in captivity have failed, the latest being late August 2010.  A Saola was captured by villagers in Laos but died in captivity before government conservationists could arrange for it to be released back in to the wild.

The actual size of the remaining population is unknown and its rarity, distinctiveness and vulnerability make it one of the greatest priorities for conservation in the region. The current population is thought to be a few hundred at maximum and possibly only a few dozen at a minimum.

In April 2011, a reserve was declared to help protect saolas. The Quang Nam’s People Committee inaugurated the Quang Nam Saola Nature Reserve in the Annamite mountains along the border of Vietnam and Laos.  This recent development has created hope for this extremely rare mammal in the world.

Another example of human cruelty on innocent wild animal is observed on Saturday night in Assam, North-East India. The Great One-horned Rhinoceros, which is considered as one of the rarest mammal on Earth also a pride of the state, is also not spare from human brutality.

According to a report, a full grown Rhino was killed on Saturday night by poachers near the Kaziranga National Park in the Gopaljaroni area of Sonitpur east forest division.

Sometimes the Rhinos stray outside the national park in the adjacent region. The poachers took advantage of such a situation yesterday and killed it. After killing the Rhino they not only cut out the horn but also ate the huge animal. The local villagers informed police, but by the time they reached, only few bones of dung of the Rhino was left. IT is still not clear whether the poachers took away the flesh and bones, or it is done by some local culprits just for meat.

An One-Horned RHino Poached in Kaziranga

Though Kairanaga National Park has done well in recent past in increasing the Rhino population, yet it is failing to secure the animal in the border region regions of the park. The poaching is still a regular event in the region killing Rhinos and various animals every year.

It is to be noted that Kaziranga, a world heritage site, is home to around 2000 Rhino specimens, which accounts close to 70% of the total One-Horned Rhino population in the world in wild. Rhino Poaching is mainly done for the use of the horn in Traditional Chinese Medicine. This is the fouth rhino poaching incident in the year in Kaziranga.