Download easy capsule 1. wild life management and conservation

Wild life and Biodiversity conservation
Project Tiger
India’s Project Tiger is acclaimed as one of the most ambitious programmes of wildlife conservation and
management in the world. Started in 1978, with 9 tiger reserves, covering an area of 16,339 sq.km.,
with a population of 268 tigers, at present there are 27 tiger reserves covering an area of 37761 sq.km.,
with a population of 1498 tigers (in 2008). The main objective of Project Tiger is to ensure a viable
population of tiger in India for scientific, economic, aesthetic, cultural and ecological values and to
preserve for all time, areas of biological importance as a natural heritage for the benefit, education and
enjoyment of the people. Other objectives include wildlife management, protection measures and site
specific eco development to reduce the dependency of local communities on tiger reserve resources.
Tiger Reserves are constituted on a 'core-buffer' strategy, with the core area kept free of biotic
disturbances and forestry operations, where collection of minor forest produce, grazing, human
disturbances are disallowed. However, the buffer zone is managed as a ‘multiple use area’ with twin
objectives of providing habitat supplement to the spill over population of wild animals from the core
conservation unit, and to provide site specific eco developmental inputs to surrounding villages for
relieving their impact on the core.
National parks and Animal sanctuaries.
An animal sanctuary is a facility where animals are brought to live and be protected for the rest of their
lives. Unlike animal shelters, sanctuaries do not seek to place animals with individuals or groups, instead
maintaining each animal until his or her natural death. The resident species are given preference and
every action is scrutinized for any trace of human benefit at the expense of non-human residents.
Sanctuaries act on behalf of the animals, and the caregivers work under the idea that all animals in the
sanctuary, human and non-human, are of equal importance. A sanctuary is not open to the public like in
a zoo; ie they are escorted access to restricted parts of the facility but do not to allow any activity that
would place the animals in a stressful situation. However, one of the most important missions of
sanctuaries, beyond caring for the animals, is educating the public. The ultimate goal of a sanctuary is to
change the way that humans think of, and treat, non-human animals. India has over 441 animal
sanctuaries, referred to as Wildlife Sanctuaries (IUCN Category IV Protected Area).
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or
owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently, the International
Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and its World Commission on Protected Areas, has defined
National Parks as its category II type of protected areas.
A national park is deemed to be a place 1. with one or several ecosystems not materially altered by
human exploitation and occupation, where plant and animal species, geo-morphological sites and
habitats are of special scientific, educative and recreational interest or which contain a natural
landscape of great beauty; 2. The highest competent authority of the country has taken steps to prevent
or eliminate exploitation or occupation in the whole area and to effectively enforce the respect of
ecological, geo-morphological, or aesthetic features which have led to its establishment; and 3. Visitors
are allowed to enter, under special conditions, for inspirational, educative, cultural, and recreational
purposes. For a national park to be declared so, it should have
1. A minimum size of 1,000 hectares within zones in which protection of nature takes precedence;
2. Statutory legal protection;
3. a budget and staff sufficient to provide sufficient effective protection
prohibition of exploitation of natural resources (including the development of dams) qualified by such
activities as sport, fishing, the need for management, facilities, etc.
Virgin forests
Virgin forests are ecosystems that have stabilised and well buffered to incorporate changes without
drastic changes in the habitat conditions. So once a stable species has established itself there is little
need for further variation. The stability continues unless external interference or calamities cause
sudden changes.
Tranquilisers and wild life management
Tranquilisers are chemicals that are injected or ingested into the body to sedate, control, anaesthetise,
immobilise or pacify ferocious behaviour. Their actions are temporary and are reversible either by
injecting an antidote or naturally over time. They are used for capturing the animals without killing
them for study, medical examination and treatment, marking and tagging, transferring them to new
locations etc. They are applied by darting using air guns, direct injections if the animals are small and
can be handled or administered orally by doping food material.
Alpha diversity Beta diversity and Gamma diversity
Alpha diversity denotes the diversity of organisms within the community sharing and being influenced
by the same habitat conditions.
Beta diversity denotes the rate of replacement of species along any gradient of the community; it
represents a comparison between similar communities.
Gamma diversity refers to the diversity of the communities over the total landscape or large
heterogenous areas under consideration.
Causes of depletion and extinction of species
Depletion may be caused by diseases, poaching or killing by humans, increase in predation, decrease in
food sources, dwindling and changing habitat, diseases, reduced fertility, migration to new locations,
natural and man-made calamities, etc.
Extinction may be caused by sudden change in biotic conditions, natural calamities, uncontrolled
hunting and predation, extinction of a food source, mass deaths due to sudden onset of diseases from
which recovery is impossible, failure to produce variants, poor genetic diversity, genetic load, adverse
mutations, failure to adapt to changing conditions, etc.
Anthrax
Anthrax is an infectious disease caused by the aerobic bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Most forms of the
disease are lethal, and it affects both humans and other animals. It produces dormant endospores
which are able to survive in harsh conditions for decades or even centuries. It infects wild and
domesticated herbivorous mammals that ingest or inhale the spores while grazing. Carnivores living in
the same environment may become infected by consuming infected animals. Diseased animals can
spread anthrax to humans, either by direct contact (e.g., inoculation of infected blood to broken skin)
or by consumption of a diseased animal's flesh. Domesticated cattle moving into forest areas are
sources of infection in wild life.
Incursion of domesticated animals and conservation
Domesticated animals like cattle compete for grass lands, forage and grazing areas. They also carry in
pathogenic and infectious diseases.
Ecosystem diversity
Ecosystem diversity denotes the number of niches, trophic levels and various ecological processes that
sustain energy flow, food webs and the recycling of nutrients. The different levels of ecosystem
diversity are: 1. Alpha diversity denotes the diversity of organisms within the community sharing and
being influenced by the same habitat conditions, 2. Beta diversity denotes the rate of replacement of
species along any gradient of the community and 3. Gamma diversity refers to the diversity of the
communities over the total landscape under consideration.
Buffer zone
It is the fringe area between a protected forest area or natural land uninhabited by humans into which
no permanent human habitation is permitted, but local people are allowed limited usage in terms of
grazing, and collection of sustainable forest produce. Wild animals too are allowed to infiltrate into such
locations but may be controlled.
Radio collars
These are miniature battery powered electronic gadgets fitted in a collar used to tag wild animals to
keep track of their movements, foraging behaviour, migration etc. The device has a radiofrequency
identifier with a transmitter that sends digitised radio pulses which are picked up by a local transceiver,
amplified and transmitted to yet another receiving station either directly or via satellites. The data from
each receiving point is plotted and archived for analysis and interpretation.
Genetic diversity and adaptation
If a species has a high genetic diversity, it can adapt to a wider variety of ecological conditions by
switching on or off genes that it already carries and which maybe particularly helpful in adapting to
the changed condition.
Pesticides and wild life
Pesticides, especially organochlorides have a tendency to bioaccumulate and biomagnify as we go
up the food web. This has a negative effect on the fauna. In addition to this, pesticides also get
carried in by the wind and water which directly affects beneficial insect pollinators and small
animals.
Namibian rhino
Rhinos are poached simply for the horns on the erroneous belief that it has medicinal properties
and aphrodisiacal qualities. A rhino without a horn has no value for poachers. Thus this simple
procedure by the authorities has helped in better survival rates.
Objectives of national parks
Objective: preservation of flora and fauna, protecting endangered species, providing suitable
habitats for endemic as well as protected sps.
Biodiversity hot spots
They are locations where a significant number of endemic species are present and which are not
seen elsewhere in the world. The Western Ghats and the North East Himalayan region.
Manmade injuries to forests
Pollution, poaching, uncontrolled exploitation of produce, clearance of forest areas,
encroachment, shooting for pleasure, laying down roads, building dams, resorts, causing fire, using
forest areas for plantation, introduction of exotic competitors, grazing by domesticated animals
World forestry day
March 21st.
Wild-life management
It is defined as the art and science of manipulating populations and habitats for the animals
ultimately for human benefit.
BNHS - Bombay natural history society.
CITES - Convention on international trade on endangered species.
IUCN - International union for the conservation of nature
WWF - World wild life fund.
Indicator species
A unique species that is specific to a particular habitat whose number and health statistics can be used
as a gauge or measure of the general well being of the ecosystem.
First tiger reserve in India
Corbett national park.
Wildlife corridors
They are specific narrow locations or band of land which are used as a common pathway by foraging or
migrating animals to move from one feeding or resting location to another.
Predator
An animal that depends on prey/food which is killed instantaneously before being eaten.
Carrying capacity
It is the population of a particular species in an ecosystem that can live and survive without competition
among themselves for food and habitat. It is a balance between birth and death.
Gir forest
It is one of the largest intact and continuous tracts of forest land in the world reserved primarily for the
conservation of its diversified native fauna, with a focus on Asiatic lions. It covers an area of 1412 sq
kms with a core sanctum sanctorum of 140 sq kms. The object set is to establish a stable ecosystem
under which lion and other animals could move freely, assured of their natural food and protected from
poaching poisoning, and spread of infections diseases, together with the socio-economic up liftment of
the local people.
Taking into consideration of the fact that the local population (maldharis) depends on forest produce
and as pastures for cattle, and its potential as a tourist and recreational area, the project has been
planned as a comprehensive one as follows: To conserve the Gir habitat in to encourage wildlife of every
kind and specifically lions; to exclude all forms of exotic life, to establish a sustainable population of the
endemic herbivores which form the prey for the lions or otherwise, to minimise, reverse and halt human
interference, to provide an educational and recreation area for tourists, to provide a centre for training
and education, to protect it from overgrazing and lopping, to improve the lot of the local people, wean
them away from their dependence on the forest area and phase their settlement outside the sanctuary
allotting land for cultivation as well as grazing, to make it a model for other such sanctuaries
Merits and Demerits of captive breeding
Merits: production in larger numbers; ensuring survival of sps, preventing the extinction of a particular
sps, preventing the loss of gene pools, sustenance of are natural food web and prey-predator
relationships,
Demerits: problems due to inbreeding, domestication and induction of undesirable habits that attract
them to populated areas, inability to return back to natural hostile environment, lack of expertise in
hunting and foraging, lack of fear of humans and hence becoming easy prey to poaching,
Wild life protection act of India
Was promulgated in 1972, deals with conservation of wild life, their protection, regulation and control
of trade in wild animals and their products in India. According to the act, ‘states shall endeavour to
protect and improve the environment and to safe guard the forests and wildlife of the country’. It
further states that ‘it shall be the duty of every citizen of India to protect and improve the natural
environments including forests lakes rivers and wildlife and to have compassion for all living creatures”.
The main objectives are 1. To provide uniform legislation for protection of wildlife throughout the
country, 2. To prevent hunting of and trading in wildlife or any product thereof, and 3. To set
parameters for the establishment and maintenance of protected areas such as parks and sanctuaries.
Red data book
The Red Data Book is a document published by each country and forms a statement that
documents rare and endangered species of animals, plants and fungi as well as some local subspecies that exist within the territory of the state or country. It provides information for studies
and monitoring programmes on rare and endangered species their habitats and their habits. It
categorises wild animals included in it on the basis of their status at the time of publication, which
is updated by frequent revised editions. They are categorised as Extinct, Extinct in the wild,
Critically endangered, Endangered, Vulnerable, Near threatened, Least concerned, Data deficient
and Not evaluated.
Species diversity
Species denotes a group of similar individuals that can asexually or sexually breed among
themselves and produce fertile offspring. They are distinct units of diversity each playing a specific
role in an ecosystem. The number of sps per unit area is taken as the measure of species diversity.
They would have evolved by speciation resulting from adaptation to particular conditions existing
in a particular ecosystem. Loss of sps may have consequences that affect the ecosystem as a
whole. The number and diversity of the species increases with area.
Predator-Prey relationship
Predation is part of the energy flow pattern in a food web. Predators do not increase out of
proportion to their food supply. They keep the population of the prey in control, while the
numbers of the prey decide the sustainable levels of the predator, so that a natural balance is
maintained. Populations of primary consumers are dependent upon the amount of producers on
which they feed, and hence it can be suggested that the predator population of an ecosystem is
indirectly dependent on the primary producers.
Nilgiri tahr.
It is endemic to the Nilgiri Hills and the southern portion of the Western Ghats in the states
of Tamil Nadu and Kerala in southern India. They inhabit the open montane grassland habitat of
the South Western Ghats rain forests ecoregion, at elevations from 1,200 to 2,600 metres (3,900
to 8,500 ft), where the forests open into grasslands interspersed with pockets of stunted forests,
known as sholas. These grassland habitats are surrounded by dense forests at the lower elevations.
Their range extends over 400 kilometres from north to south, and Eravikulam National Park is
home to the largest population. The other significant concentration is in the Nilgiri Hills, with
smaller populations in the Anamalai Hills, Periyar National Park, Palni Hills and other pockets in the
Western Ghats south of Eravikulam, almost to India's southern tip. Their ability and habit of
browsing at the praecipes of rocks give them a unique character.
Safari parks
Safari parks enable the animals to be exhibited in their natural environment, in a wider area,
where humans can travel into and observe them in their natural behaviour in their natural habitat
without disturbing them. In zoos animals are confined and constrained in tiny enclosures wherein
their natural habits and behaviour are curtailed making them listless and unfit for study. The
constrained environments make observations inaccurate and undependable.
Uses of Satellites and Telemetry in conservation
Tracking the movement (incursion migration and localised movements) of animals through actual
visual photography, radio-telemetric tracking, they help in taking census, tracking marked animals
(which occur naturally or those which are introduced) to study the success of conservation
strategies, analysing the health of the ecosystem, understanding water resources and coverage by
plants, understanding problems created by natural and manmade calamities, effect of pollution,
spread of the ecosystem (deserts, forests, grass land etc)
Buffer zone.
It is the fringe area between a protected forest area or natural land uninhabited by humans into
which no permanent human habitation is permitted, but local people are allowed limited usage in
terms of grazing, and collection of sustainable forest produce. Wild animals too are allowed to
infiltrate into such locations but may be controlled.