>>  A New Spider has been discovered in Melghat  >> Celebrating Ganesh festival with a 'warm' message.  >> Ray of hope shown by Satpuda Foundation  >> School Children Appeal To Nagpur Collector To Save Tigers >> Nagpur Tiger Fest 2007 draws record response >> SF team reported White  Backed Vultures   >>  IT professionals take lessons in wildlife protection  >>  'Kids for Tiger' Program to be held in more than 25 schools of Nagpur in 2006-07    >>    “Save the Tiger” Appeal the Kids of Nagpur at the KFT Annual Tiger Fest  
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A New  Spider has been discovered in Melghat
Celebrating Ganesh festival with a 'warm' message
Ray of hope shown by Satpuda Foundation
10 years old out to save tiger
Open letter to Mr. R. R. Patil
Tigress gives birth to three cubs!
School Children Appeal To Nagpur Collector To Save Tigers
 Nagpur Tiger Fest 2007 draws record response
 

A New Spider has been discovered in Melghat.

17th November 2007

An interesting news hit the world of natural history today. The news came from India, one of the famous bio-diversity hotspots in the world. New specie of Spider from all together new family has been reported from the Melghat Tiger Reserve, situated in central India.

Melghat is famous for the presence of once extinct bird Forest Owlet (Athene blewitti). Now this spider has added one more diamond in the crown. The specie resembles like from araneidae or tetragnathidae family. But the species from these families are faster and this one belongs to new family, said spider expert Dr.U.A.Gajabe. Dr.Gajabe, who confirmed this discovery, is known as one of the very few experts in India who have done pioneering work on spiders, authored many books on his work and retired from Zoological Survey of India.
 

This discovery came to the light through an extensive study recently conducted by the group of 30 research students from SGB Amravati University and Nature Conservation Society Amravati. The group was
guided by spider expert Dr. U. A. Gajabe (Retired from Zoological Survey of India), entomologist Dr. R.H. Kambale (Retired from ZSI Pune), Dr. V.A. Sawant (Kolhapur University), Dr. G. N. Vankhede
(Amravati University), wildlife conservationist Kishor Rithe and Dy.CF of Melghat Tiger Reserve Mr.Ravindra Wankhade.

The workshop on spiders was organized by PG Department of Zoology, SGB Amravati University in association with Nature Conservation Society, Amravati and Melghat Tiger Reserve directorate in October 2007. The researchers were sent to explore the Melghat to record the spiders. More than 115 species from 19 families have been recorded by the researchers. The listing, identification and documentation are still going on regarding other spiders.


The said spider which looks like a miniature fish was seen in the Sipna wildlife division of Melghat Tiger Reserve. The spider's posterior end terminates into bilobed structure like the caudal fin of fish. Its abdomen is in heart shape and silvery in appearance . (See the picture) Such a spider was not reported before by anybody in the
world said Dr. G. N. Vankhede, Head of the Department (Zoology).It took us one and half month to reach to this conclusion, he added. As it is confirmed by spider expert Dr. U. A. Gajabe now, we can complete the formalities to give it a name.


Conservationists have expressed their satisfaction as it indicates the richness of dry deciduous forests of Melghat Tiger Reserve. Wildlife conservationist Kishor Rithe said that "there aren't lots many people who look for spiders. Arachnids and insects rarely get first class treatment from naturalists, forget about the common public. However their contribution in the ecosystem goes un-noticed. They keep the soil healthy and keep balance of insect population, he added.

Field Director of Melghat Tiger Reserve Mr.Bhupendra Singh Hooda lauded the efforts of Dr.Gajabe and Dr.G.N.Vankhede for their painstaking efforts of nearly two months before they bring out this discovery.
 

 

Celebrating Ganesh festival with a 'warm' message.
25th Sep 2007


 Satpuda Foundation Akola unit is running a Kids for Tigers programme in Akola city .The unit has recently used the Ganesh festival to spread the message of environment protection. SF Akola assisted "Astavinayak
Ganesh Mandal" to decorate the stall and spread the message of impact of Global warming and the measures to combat it.
The Ganesh idol was made up of clay and not of Plaster of Paris (POP). The team had not used thermocole or POP at all in the complete decoration. The messages about propagating global warming were in the local language, Marathi and touching. The Gateway of India was depicted as being under water.

The pictures and posters were self explanatory. Akola KFT schools visited this pandal to learn about Global Warming and Climate Change; two of the most pressing issues the world is facing today. The Akola City Collector also appreciated this effort of Kids for Tigers to bring an awareness of the effects of climate change locally.

Ray of hope shown by Satpuda Foundation

Kishor Rithe, June 13, 2007

People talk much about the decline in tiger population and need for serious efforts for tiger conservation. But very

few steps can actually be seen. But here is a story with some positive

 steps.

 

WII report has disclosed the fact that the tiger population has declined

sharply in central India. But Satpuda Foundation had already predicted

this situation and started taking measures. One of the reasons behind

this decline is unemployment in tribal villages. Tribal youths don't get

enough opportunities of employment and get easily dragged into the trap

of poachers and traders for a few bucks.

 

 

Satpuda Foundation had decided to address this problem and set up an

 employment cell for five Tiger Reserves in central India. The employment cell started its work in January 2007 and now has completed the first phase of data collection in some of the tiger reserves on unemployment in villages situated in and around these Reserves. This wonderful initiative has received the financial support from Lifeforce Charitable Trust.  

Under this programme, the first training workshop was organized in Pench Tiger Reserve on 12 and 13th June for interested tribal youths. 

The workshop was held at Sillari in Maharashtra Pench. Around 34 tribal youths from the villages around Pench Tiger Reserve Madhya Pradesh and Pench Maharashtra who registered themselves in "Self Help Group" (SHG) were short listed for the workshop in "Hotel and Tourism Management".  

The training workshop was inaugurated by Dr. Nandkishore, Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) Nagpur. Mr. Kishor Rithe, President of Satpuda Foundation, Mr. Kishor Mishrikotkar, and Range Forest Officer (Wildlife) Nagpur were also present on this occasion. Dr. Nandkishore lauded the efforts of Satpuda Foundation and also appreciated its right analysis of the ground situation .Mr. Kishor Rithe said that the "Employment Cell" set up for five Tiger Reserves in central India would actually show a difference in coming years.

 

The training about hotel management was given to participants by the Community Polytechnic of the Government Institute of Hotel Management and catering technology, Nagpur. Mr. Narendra Jamthe and Mr. Rajratan Mendhe conducted 6 sessions in the two-day period. Employment officer of Satpuda Foundation Ms. Sunita Shukla said that these trained youths would get opportunities in the private resorts and hotels established around Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh and even in Nagpur.

 

Mr. Giri Venkatesan, Executive Director of Satpuda Foundation who is heading this Employment Cell has expressed happiness as more institutes from Vidarbha are now coming forward voluntarily with market-oriented training packages for these tribal youths. He said that the Employment Cell would facilitate these institutes to conduct 9 such training workshops for each of these Tiger Reserves where we have completed the data collection work.

Anoop Awasthi, Conservation officer of Satpuda Foundation, welcomed the Guests and gave brief introduction about Satpuda Foundation's initiatives. Bandu Uike and Manoj Tekam, Community officers of SF, Sachin Ingole, and Vivek Dhole of SF took painstaking efforts with a team of volunteers to make this programme successful. RFO Mr. Naik and RFO Mr. Londhe also were present for the function.

 (Attached picture: Dr. Nandkishore, CCF (Wildlife) Nagpur addressing the participants whereas Kishor Rithe, Kishor Mishrikotkar can be seen on dais)

 
 

10 years old out to save tiger

Ashwin Aghor

Wednesday, June 06, 2007  08:22 IST

Donates self-earned amount of Rs15,000 to Satpuda Foundation

Madhav Subrahmaniam is a 10-year-old unlike other children of his age who are ready to go to any extent for their entertainment. An 8th standard student of Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Madhav has a passion for wildlife with a special attachment to tigers.

This youngster has donated a self-earned amount of Rs. 15,000 to Satpuda Foundation, an NGO working for forest and tiger conservation in the Tiger Reserves of central India.

"The importance of tigers for the survival of all other species including human beings struck my mind when I joined 'Kids for Tigers'. Since then the feeling that the magnificent animal was in dire crisis made me restless and the urge to do something for the big cat kept on growing," said Madhav.

In order to earn this amount, Madhav did not mind polishing the shoes of guests visiting his house and dusting houses in his building. "I used to polish shoes for Rs. 5 and even dust houses. Though I charged Rs 5 for polishing shoes, I earned the maximum amount from this when I had a guest from USA. He gave me $5 for polishing his shoes," added Madhav.

Madhav also started designing quilts to help tiger conservation activities. "My mother is a designer who encouraged me to design something that can help earn  money for tiger conservation activities," he said. The quilts are now being sold at Good Earth and 25 per cent of the proceedings are donated to the Satpuda Foundation. Madhav has earned Rs 79,000 over the last two years and the money would soon be donated to the Satpuda Foundation.

Open letter to Mr. R. R. Patil

 

Date:25th  May 2007.

 

To,

Mr. R.R. Patil

Hon. Home Minister & Dy. Chief Minister

Government of Maharashtra,

Mantralaya, Mumbai    

 

Subject: About rampant poaching and illegal wildlife trade in Maharashtra.

 

Dear Sir,

 

Our Country is going through a tough situation and we are fastly loosing Tigers, wildlife in general and thereby forest cover which is actually helping us in contributing water for the development of our country.

 

Latest report presented by Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has given us the clear message to act urgently and arrest the situation. Satpuda Foundation has been working in the field of wildlife conservation and forest protection since last seven years. As per our experience, we feel it urgent to share some important information with you and help you to arrest this alarming situation.

 

We have 41 sanctuary and National Parks in Maharashtra state which has become the focus for poachers and wildlife traders. It has been regularly seen that the poaching gangs come from the Madhya Pradesh and operate in and around these wildlife potential areas of Maharashtra specially Vidarbha region in central India. Government of Maharashtra have already set up the state level and district level "Tiger Cells". But this could not stop the poaching activities and illegal wildlife trade completely.

 

We share following information which can be given to the Collectors, Conservators, SPs and other officers involved with "Tiger Cells" and direct the cells to act upon urgently.

 

The places in Chandrapur, Gondia and Gadchiroli district have been regularly noted the presence of Bahelia camps. Some of the people from Bahelia community of Madhya Pradesh are involved in poaching of Tiger, Leopard, sloth bear and other animals since long. Bahelia community basically belongs to Katni and some other districts of Madhya Pradesh and these people prepare special kind of steel traps to kill the tiger, leopard and sloth Boars. These steel traps are even provided to local poachers in Maharashtra and Bahelia traders help them in transporting the derivatives like skin, bones etc.

 

Following places in Chandrapur and Gadchiroli district have noted the presence of Bahelia camps recently. These camps have been found shifting from one place to other at a regular interval. The names of places are as follows-

 

Warora, Chimur, Navargaon, Nagbhid, Sindewahi, Mul, Lohara, Chandrapur, Ballarshah, Kothari, Gondpimpri, Rajura, Virur,Bhadrawati, Gadchandur,Talodi (Balapur),  Bramhapuri and all the tahsils in Gadchiroli district.

 

Steel Traps were recovered from the following places in Chandrapur and Gadchiroli district, in the recent past-

 

On 17th May 2007, five steel traps have been recovered from comp. no. 146, 147 of Umarzari beat of FDCM Gondia in Gondia district.

 

On 12th January 2006, one sloth bear was found dead in compartment no 291 of Tadoba range. This was also affected by steel trap. After conducting search, staff could locate three more old pits prepared in compartment no.293 for laying steel traps.

 

Pethgaon in Mul range of Chandrapur division, Doni, Fulzari, Ashegaon Kilbili, Lohara, Karwa beat, Tadoba ,Udarmatka road, Alizanza road, Bamangaon, Ramdegi, Bhera road near Tadoba.

 

Chimur range and Joga Moga, Keni Chuha, Kumbai Zaran, Kawadsi beat.

 

Leopard was poached in 2006 in Shioni range by laying steel trap, another steel trap was recovered from Mamala (FDCM Range) close to Andhari sanctuary border and Chorgaon

 

Bhadrawati, Awandha (Sikhalkar community is also operating here in wildlife trade) of Chandrapur district.

 

Forest Department  had caught a gang of eight women in the forest of Bodra in Chandrapur and Porla in Gadchiroli district.

 

Forest Department had caught two women suspecting their involvement in poaching activities in Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) and nearby areas.T he team later caught six other women, all residents of Donamudrai in Madhya Pradesh. However, ten men who were also accompanying them were successful in escaping.

 

On May,3,2004 ,the Forest Department Bramhapuri team caught a gang of eight women involved in poaching and seized the wildlife derivatives like tiger nails, tiger teeth, a tiger trap, 03 tiger nails with paw, 20-25 nails of other members of cat family, 03 spears, 02 axes, 03 plates, 02 tiger teeth, 10-12 teeth of wild boar, hair of wild boar, bear and other animals and parts of several other wildlife etc were seized from the women caught by Dy.CF Bramhapuri.

 

A tiger skin and weapons were seized in the forest of Umarzari in Bhandara district.

 

Melghat Tiger Reserve: The entire northern part of the tiger reserve from Jarida range, Hataru range, Chaurakund range and Harisal range has recorded the presence of Bahilias

 

If you could instruct the concern Police, RTO, Forest and Revenue departments about following points, we can actually protect the wildlife of our state.

 

1)Collector of all the tiger range districts of Maharashtra should immediately ask the Police Patels and Talathis to take serious note of any presence of Bahelia camp near their village and report to Collectors without any delay.

 

2)SP of all the districts should order Police stations to physically check all such Bahelia camps and recover wildlife derivatives/ forest products from them and register an offence in co-ordination with forest officers.

 

3)RTOs should instruct the check posts at the state entry and exit places to monitor and physically inspect the vehicles of Bahelia traders and stop their entry in the Maharashtra state.

 

4)All Dy CF (Wildlife and regular), DM (FDCM), CF (wildlife and regular) and CCF(Wildlife and Regular) should work together with Revenue, Police and Transport departments on this issue.

 

We request you to issue the appropriate instructions to concern departments and arrest this problem immediately.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Kishor Rithe

President, S.F.

 

CC- Principal Sec (Forest), Mantralaya, Mumbai

Principal Sec (Revenue), Mantralaya, Mumbai

Principal Sec (Home), Mantralaya, Mumbai

Principal Sec (Transport and Excise), Mantralaya, Mumbai.

DGP (Law and order), Police Head Quarter, Mumbai

SP, All districts for information.

Collector, All districts for information.

RTO Amravati, Nagpur, Buldhana, Yawatmal, Gadchiroli, Gondiya, Bhandara for information.

 

 

Tigress gives birth to three cubs!

By Kishor Rithe

 

I along with Mr.Giri Venkatesan, Executive Director of Satpuda Foundation was on three day visit to Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve from 15th  to 17th May 2007. We went there to take a stock of the resettlement work of Botezari and Kolsa village and our community conservation initiatives in around 11 villages around TATR.

 

We also grab this opportunity to visit TATR on 16th May and see the Tadoba Range in the morning and evening. During our evening/afternoon round which actually started at 3 pm, we came across with a Sambar near Vasant Bandhara who gave alarm call while looking at us. We laughed at the Sambar as there was no sign of the predator. We continued further and Kunal, our Conservation officer located a Tigress sitting in Bamboo clump.

 

She was so Camouflaged that it was difficult for us to locate her easily. So Sambar was not a stupid like us. It had already located the camouflaged Tigress and warned us as she was sitting very close to the water under Jamun tree shed. She had targeted a Sambar family where three individuals came for water and were moving away slowly. They knew that the tigress is sitting somewhere but still thirst did not allow them to go without drinking water.

 

However we took picture of the Tigress and went away to keep her alone targeting at her pray. I heard that the tigress has produced three cubs and they are just four months old so hidden somewhere in the shelter!

 
School children of Sandipani High School on Friday, 9th March 2007 presented a signature scroll to Shri Sanjay Mukherji, Collector of Nagpur with an appeal to save the tiger.
The scroll is part of a campaign run by the Kids For Tigers programme, which aims to involve school children in the campaign to save our national animal, which is on the verge of extinction.
Shri Mukherji appreciated the efforts of the children and wished them the best of luck in their efforts. "Keep it up," he said.
The Kids For Tigers programme, which is conceived by Sanctuary Asia and sponsored by Complan India, is run in 25 schools in Nagpur and is administered by Satpuda Foundation in the Orange City. The signature campaign has gathered close to 10,000 signatures from school children in the city.
Nationally, the Kids For Tigers programme is run in 550 schools in 17 cities and aims to collect around one million signatures this year from school children. The scrolls will be collected by the programme's co-ordinators in Mumbai and sent to the Prime Minister with an appeal to save the big cat. The tiger is threatened with extinction due to loss of habitat and poaching. Some conservationists estimate that only around 1,200 tigers are roaming in the wild today against around 40,000 just six decades ago.

Nagpur Tiger Fest 2007 draws record response 

Tiger Fest 2007, a festival organized for school children in Nagpur on February 10, drew record entries and enthusiastic response from schools in the Orange City. More than 300 students participated in a range of events including stall decoration, face-painting, fancy dress and dance/skit at the event held at the Railway Mens High School, Ajni. The event under the "Kids For Tigers", Complan-sponsored The Sanctuary Tiger Programme, was held in a friendly, non-competitive manner and attracted around 1,500 viewers and lasted from 2:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Chief guest Dr Nandakishore, Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), inaugurated the fest which was attended by Shri Vijayrao Thackre, Secretary of the Railway Mens Marathi Education Society, Mr.Shyam Dhond, noted free lance journalist and Kishor Rithe, Secretary of Satpuda Foundation. Shri B Majumdar, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife), Maharashtra and prominent media people also visited the fest and appreciated the efforts put in by kids at the fest. Visitors to the stalls and event included young and old, including retired people. The common bond was a love for nature and wildlife.
"The kind of response that we see here from children is an encouragement for forest department staff to do better in the field," said Dr Nandakishore. Nine schools decorated stalls according to themes selected by them. School children manned the stalls and explained the themes to visitors. Some of them sang little poems, others had prepared scrap books while some had children made up to represent different types of fauna or flora.
"A lot of effort has gone into this and the key is to sustain and harness their (children's) interest and effort for the common cause of conservation," said Shri Majumdar. Themes for stalls included wildlife conservation, the effect of global warming and the impact of pollution on nature.
Participants ranged from little children of Standard 1 to students of Standard 9. The atmosphere resembled a mela, with children running helter-skelter and grown-ups taking in the sights in a leisurely manner. The Green School Award was won by Sandipani High School. This award is given to the school which participates most consistently in the Kids for Tigers (KFT) programme during the academic year. The KFT programme is envisioned by Sanctuary Asia and sponsored by Complan. It is implemented by Satpuda Foundation in Nagpur.

Face painting
The first prize for face painting for primary school children was won by Tuli Public School. In the middle school section, the first prize went to Delhi Public Convent. The award in the High School section went to Railway Mens High School, Ajni Nature Quiz. The first prize went to Sandipani High school. The event was held for students of Standard 8-10.

Stall Decoration
The first prize in this event was won by Ramesh Chandak English School.

Dance/Drama
The winner of this event was Bhawan's B.P. Vidya Mandir, Watoda.

Fancy dress
The winner in this event was Bhawan's B.P. Vidya Mandir, Watoda

Slogan
In the primary section, the winner was Railway Mens High School, Ajni. The first prize for the secondary section was won by Kendriya Vidyalaya, Ajni. In the high school segment, the winner was B.R.A's Mundle English School.

KFT
The KFT programme was envisioned by Sanctuary Asia and is sponsored by Complan. The programme is run in schools in 18 major cities across India and aims to inculcate a love for nature and wildlife among school children of all ages. The programme uses slide shows, nature games, nature and bird-watching trails and lectures. In Nagpur, 25 schools are registered with the programme. Around 16,000 students watched KFT slide shows in the current academic year 2006/07. The current year is the sixth year of KFT's operations in Nagpur.

This Tiger Fest would not have been possible without the efforts of Kunal Potode, Vishal Bansod, Saurabh Sutrave, Vishal Wankhade, Manish Sawankar, Milind Jagtap, Mandar Gokhale Upendra Kanitkar, Sachin Ingole, Kaustubh Bhagat, Bandu Uike, Manoj and Shri S. S. Chaudhari Point teacher Railway Mens' High School.