Wildlife photography in India

Until recently, wildlife photography had few takers in India. Hardly anyone wanted to shoot in the wilds and there were no endorsements or platforms for such photographs. But in the past few years, as the issues related to wildlife conservation have been raised off and on thanks to ‘Sariska’ and ‘Ranthambhor’ (also Salman Khan and Nawab Pataudi), awareness about them has increased. More people are now interested in wildlife and its conservation when compared to the last decade. Celebrities’ participation and endorsement is also the reason for this new attention. Unfortunately, all this hoopla has hardly done anything to protect the poor creatures from selfish poachers and negligent caretakers, be at the sanctuary or at the zoo. Authorities are as indifferent as ever and organizations like PETA are almost unimpressive in India. But, this new interest in wildlife has brought about good opportunities for those who love to shoot in woods, but with the camera. Also, with a considerable drop in prices of digital cameras, more and more people are becoming interested in nature photography. A number of websites have come up, showcasing India’s wildlife treasures. Some of these are indeed a treat for the eyes:

http://www.photosafariindia.com/
http://www.indianwildlifephotos.com/default.asp
http://www.indianwildlifeimages.com/product.php
http://www.indianaturewatch.net/
http://www.babinets.com/authors/india.html

If you too are interested in wildlife photography, this website can prove to be of help. It provides some useful information on photogenic destinations in India: http://www.wildphototoursindia.com/default.htm .

What's common among them?

This month, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) released the Red List of Threatened Species for 2007. The western lowland gorilla, the freshwater dolphin and the Egyptian vulture are some of the latest additions to the list of endangered animals. Since 2006, the annual assessment of the planet's imperiled wildlife has grown by more than a thousand species and now totals 41,415. Many great apes end up on the list, as their habitat is continually under threat from human activities. The Western lowland gorilla populations in central Africa have collapsed due to the commercial bushmeat trade and the Ebola virus; and in Indonesia, orangutans are critically endangered because of forest logging and clearing land for palm oil plantations.

The 'baiji', or Chinese river dolphin— deemed "functionally extinct" by a team of scientists in December 2006—has been downgraded from "endangered" to "critically endangered (possibly extinct)" on the IUCN's 2007 Red List. Populations of the light blue-gray animal, which lives in China's polluted Yangtze River, have plummeted over the last 30 years. A possible sighting in August 2007 is currently being investigated by Chinese scientists, but even if one or two dolphins are found, the baiji is almost certainly doomed. “Freshwater dolphins are very vulnerable, because rivers tend to be heavily used by humans and there is nowhere else for the dolphins to go,” says Caroline Pollock, a Red List program officer.

The Egyptian vulture, a new addition to IUCN's 2007 Red List, has declined along with many other vulture species. Five species of vulture, including the Egyptian, have been reclassified to a higher threat level since 2006. Asian vultures have declined rapidly over the last eight years due to the use of a livestock drug called diclofenac. African vultures are struggling due to habitat loss, a lack of food, and collisions with power lines. The scavengers are also being killed by insecticide-laden carcasses, which have been deliberately baited to poison livestock predators such as hyenas.

Mexico's Santa Catalina Island rattlesnake has been classified as critically endangered on the 2007 IUCN Red List. The snake, found on just one island, sports highly desirable patterned skin that has made it a collector's item for hunters. New reptile surveys are revealing the fragile nature of many reptile populations. For instance, a major survey of North American reptiles has bumped up the region's Red List reptile species to a total of 738. The main culprit behind their decline is habitat loss due to expanding cities.“Unlike birds and mammals, we haven't assessed all the reptiles on the planet,” Pollock added.

The Banggai cardinal fish's popularity as a pet for the home aquarium has landed it on the 2007 IUCN Red List. In the wild, the striped fish is only found in the Banggai Archipelago off Indonesia. Human pressures such as the aquarium trade are the main reason for the fish's decline, with habitat loss and climate change also posing major threats. Fish stocks are in free-fall all over the world, both from overfishing and the aquarium trade. Scientists estimate current extinction rates are at least a hundred to a thousand times higher than natural rates.

Reptiles such as the gharial are becoming more prominent on the IUCN's Red List each year. Despite its fearsome appearance and lengths of up to 19 feet (6 meters), the Indian gharial is not a man-eater and prefers to eat fish. Its long, thin snout, which makes it easily distinguishable from a crocodile, also allows it to quickly capture fish. Habitat loss and poaching is driving this animal toward extinction.

For the first time, corals are added to the Red List. A recent scientific survey on the Galápagos Archipelago has added ten corals to the list, including the Floreana coral. In the 1980s, frequent El Niño weather patterns—which made ocean temperatures fluctuate—likely led to the poor state of the Galápagos corals. Some scientists worry that global warming may make El Niño events more regular and prevent corals from recovering. Until recently, scientists had not properly assessed the health of the world's tropical corals. Coral reefs in the Indian and Pacific Ocean, for example, are vanishing faster than rain forests and scientists estimate that human activities such as pollution, global warming and sedimentation could kill 30 percent of reefs in the next three decades.


Source: The National Geographic

Sad Tigger!!

The tiger in India and all around the world is becoming extinct, especially due to the selfish and self-centered policies of some so called top world governments, like China & the US, UK etc. Chinese medicines, mostly based upon animal bones, are in fact no medications, but a misleading mixture of herbal Ayurvedic mixtures,

stolen from age old Indian Ayurvedic scriptures, and animal flesh pieces & bones.Its the herbal part of the mix that makes the patient feel well after consuming them, as the other biological part of the mix is neutral.

Did you know?

Black mambas use their incredible speed to escape threats, not to hunt prey. They get their name not from their skin color, which tends to be olive to gray, but rather from the blue-black color of the inside of their mouth, which they display when threatened.

BLACK MAMBA

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Elapidae
Genus: Dendroaspis
Species: Polylepis

Black mambas are fast, nervous, lethally venomous, and when threatened, highly aggressive. They have been blamed for numerous human deaths, and African myths exaggerate their capabilities to legendary proportions. For these reasons, the black mamba is widely considered the world’s deadliest snake.
Black mambas live in the savannas and rocky hills of southern and eastern Africa. They are Africa’s longest venomous snake, reaching up to 14 feet (4.5 meters) in length, although 8.2 feet (2.5 meters) is more the average. They are also among the fastest snakes in the world, slithering at speeds of up to 12.5 miles per hour (20 kilometers per hour).
Black mambas are shy and will almost always seek to escape when confronted. However, when cornered, these snakes will raise their heads, sometimes with a third of their body off the ground, spread their cobra-like neck-flap, open their black mouths and hiss. If an attacker persists, the mamba will strike not once, but repeatedly, injecting large amounts of potent neuro- and cardiotoxin with each strike. Before the advent of black mamba antivenin, a bite from this fearsome serpent was 100 percent fatal, usually within about 20 minutes. Unfortunately, antivenin is still not widely available in the rural parts of the mamba’s range, and mamba-related deaths remain frequent.
The black mamba has no special conservation status. However, encroachment on its territory is not only putting pressure on the species but contributes to more potentially dangerous human contact with these snakes.

I am safe :)

Shading her eye with an ear, an elephant rests lying down, a sign that she feels safe. Once called the Valley of Elephants, Luangwa suffered a poaching onslaught during the 1970s and '80s, when nearly 100,000 animals were killed. Today they number perhaps 10,000 and are generally holding their own. In a few game management areas outside the parks, trophy hunting resumed in 2005, raising fears that the last few mature bulls in the valley could be shot.

Source: The National Geographic (Photograph by Frans Lanting).