The cow slaughter bill passed by the Karnataka legislative assembly will not hurt the sentiments of the minorities and the poor, but is also expected to increase the expenditure of the Karnataka Zoo Authority (KZA)by a whopping Rs 8 crore each year.
If the Governor gives his consent to the controversial bill, the KZA would have bear the extra expenditure borne out of purchase of mutton and chicken to feed over 400 tigers, leopards and other carnivores kept in captivity.
According to sources, the KZA needs 1700 kg of meat to feed the carnivores in eight zoos in the state. “We used to buy beef at Rs 60 (in Mysore) and Rs 80 (Bangalore). If the bill is passed, then we would have to buy either mutton (Rs 200-250per kg) or chicken (Rs 70 to 100 per kg) to feed the animals. We will incur extra expenditure of Rs 120 to 130 per kg,” said the source.
If the KZA was spending Rs 1.2 lakh on purchase of beef each day, it would have pay Rs 3.7 lakh for buying the same quantity of mutton.
Apart from extra expenditure, health of the animals is another concern for the zoo authorities.
“The fat content in beef is as low as two per cent, but mutton has a fat content of 10 to 11 per cent. If you have to give the same quantity of mutton instead of beef, the fat content could cause health problems among the animals. Subsequently, the health maintenance bills of the zoos will also go up.”
The rescue centres, which house confiscated circus animals, also face a similar predicament.
Saving the cow and buffalo from the guillotine is fine, but why should the poor carnivores animals suffer for no mistake of theirs. Tigers and leopards have no religion, no caste, no boundaries, no language, no political affiliations.
The Karnataka government would have to invest in deer, sambar and gaur breeding centres near zoos to feed the hungry carnivores. But then, killing deer and sambar could raise the hackles of conservation-oriented and cash-hungry NGOs.
Hopefully, there will be a solution for the carnivores’ sake.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Karnataka mining mafia set to exploit Khanapur forest, Western Ghats
Even as the ruling BJP and opposition parties in Karnataka are involved in a heated debate in the legislative assembly over rampant exploitation and thievery of natural and forest wealth, there is indication that mining activity could soon move base from Bellary to ore-rich Khanapur in Belgaum district.
According to sources in the revenue department, some politicians and miners have been buying up huge tracts of land in Khanapur, which abuts the Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve (DATR). “All I can is that people from the powerful mining industry have been buying land here,” said the source, requesting anonymity.
While chief minister B S Yeddyurrappa envisages to impress upon on the government of India to stop export of ore, the mining community, according to the source, is confident that it would be granted permission to exploit the verdant, undulating forest tracts in the Khanapur region, which is home to the endangered tiger, among several other flora and fauna that are typically endemic to the Western Ghats.
The region is home to the Wroughtens free tail bat, which isn’t found anywhere else in the world. Considering the special status of the species, the forest department is in the final stages of declaring its small habitat as a protected area.
To ensure that the protection of this endangered species of bats wouldn’t put a spoke in the wheel of mining activity, the mining lobby planted a story in a newspaper, highlighting that the bat species was found in large numbers in the Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve (DATR).
However, a survey conducted by the forest department has shown that the Wroughtens free tail bat does not co-habit with ten other species of bats found in the sprawling tiger reserve.
Wildlife conservationists and NGOs could use this survey as a tool to deter the state government from granting mining licenses in the region.
Conservationists are hopeful that former India captain Anil Kumble, who is vice-chairman of the Karnataka state wildlife advisory board would include this subject in the list of agenda for the next wildlife board meeting.
According to researchers Jones, Purvis and Gittleman (2003), “Approximately 25% of all species within Chiroptera (nearly 240 species) are considered threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). At least twelve species have gone extinct in recent times.
Megachiropterans tend to be more at risk than microchiropterans (34% and 22% of species, respectively), but both groups are facing substantial threats from habitat loss and fragmentation. Destruction of, or disturbances to, roost sites is particularly problematic for bats. Species with relatively small geographic ranges and/or that are ecologically specialized tend to be at greatest risk.”
The western ghats which is one among the eight global bio-diversity hot spots has already been ravaged by the mining mafia. Mining dumps within the DATR make for an ugly sight in the otherwise pristine environment.
Like parthenium eating into huge tracts of forest land in Nagarhole and Bandipur tiger reserves, curry leaf plants (Karri Bevu), which are unpalatable to the already depleted herbivore population, dominate the plant species around these dumps which the forest department hopes to rejuvenate and green through acacia plantations.
Conservationists and NGOs fear that Khanapur would go the Kudremukh way (it was devastated before the Supreme Court stepped in) if the Karnataka government gives the go ahead for mining activity.
However, the state government has to obtain clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), before it can entertain the exploitation plans of the ruthless mining mafia.
Hopefully, the MoEF doesn’t get swayed by the cash-rich miners.
According to sources in the revenue department, some politicians and miners have been buying up huge tracts of land in Khanapur, which abuts the Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve (DATR). “All I can is that people from the powerful mining industry have been buying land here,” said the source, requesting anonymity.
While chief minister B S Yeddyurrappa envisages to impress upon on the government of India to stop export of ore, the mining community, according to the source, is confident that it would be granted permission to exploit the verdant, undulating forest tracts in the Khanapur region, which is home to the endangered tiger, among several other flora and fauna that are typically endemic to the Western Ghats.
The region is home to the Wroughtens free tail bat, which isn’t found anywhere else in the world. Considering the special status of the species, the forest department is in the final stages of declaring its small habitat as a protected area.
To ensure that the protection of this endangered species of bats wouldn’t put a spoke in the wheel of mining activity, the mining lobby planted a story in a newspaper, highlighting that the bat species was found in large numbers in the Dandeli-Anshi Tiger Reserve (DATR).
However, a survey conducted by the forest department has shown that the Wroughtens free tail bat does not co-habit with ten other species of bats found in the sprawling tiger reserve.
Wildlife conservationists and NGOs could use this survey as a tool to deter the state government from granting mining licenses in the region.
Conservationists are hopeful that former India captain Anil Kumble, who is vice-chairman of the Karnataka state wildlife advisory board would include this subject in the list of agenda for the next wildlife board meeting.
According to researchers Jones, Purvis and Gittleman (2003), “Approximately 25% of all species within Chiroptera (nearly 240 species) are considered threatened by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). At least twelve species have gone extinct in recent times.
Megachiropterans tend to be more at risk than microchiropterans (34% and 22% of species, respectively), but both groups are facing substantial threats from habitat loss and fragmentation. Destruction of, or disturbances to, roost sites is particularly problematic for bats. Species with relatively small geographic ranges and/or that are ecologically specialized tend to be at greatest risk.”
The western ghats which is one among the eight global bio-diversity hot spots has already been ravaged by the mining mafia. Mining dumps within the DATR make for an ugly sight in the otherwise pristine environment.
Like parthenium eating into huge tracts of forest land in Nagarhole and Bandipur tiger reserves, curry leaf plants (Karri Bevu), which are unpalatable to the already depleted herbivore population, dominate the plant species around these dumps which the forest department hopes to rejuvenate and green through acacia plantations.
Conservationists and NGOs fear that Khanapur would go the Kudremukh way (it was devastated before the Supreme Court stepped in) if the Karnataka government gives the go ahead for mining activity.
However, the state government has to obtain clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), before it can entertain the exploitation plans of the ruthless mining mafia.
Hopefully, the MoEF doesn’t get swayed by the cash-rich miners.
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