Wild Kashmir

Owl Foul !

bakshijehangir@gmail.com — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 03:44:42 GMT

Just one week after the false Pallas Fish Eagle sighting, Greater Kashmir has scored another self-goal with a wildlife faux pas.

Todays edition of the newspaper claims the first ever sighting of the Barn Owl in Srinagar. The Barn Owl (Tyto alba) is classified as a non common resident bird in Kashmir.

Here is a photo of the bird in my garden in 2004:

From the Greater Kashmir report:
Experts while confirming rarity of the bird said it was for the first time that such a bird was spotted in Srinagar.
'This seems to be a rare incident in our City', Director Animal Husbandry, Dr Farooq Ahmed Kaloo told Greater Kashmir. He said the bird could have reached the City through some load carrier coming in from outside state. 'Truckers often carry animals like monkeys on the rooftop. May be they have brought it to Kashmir and set it free here,' Dr Kaloo added.

My elder son, Jamshed, has a comment to make. 'Monkeys cannot fly Sir, birds can.'

The report goes on to state that 'As per online reports, the Barn Owl is North America's only member of the family Tytonidae (all other owls are from the Strigidae family) sometimes called the monkey-faced owl family.' This part of the report is accurate and thankfully the officer did not suggest that the Barn Owl landed in Kashmir via an international flight from the USA !

This is not the first time that erroneous official statements regarding owls have been issued:
On a wild 'Owl' chase

News Link:
Rare Owl Spotted in City

Preposterous claims of wildlife sightings are an official tradition in Kashmir :
Out For a Duck

Snow Leopards and Imaginary Eagles !

bakshijehangir@gmail.com — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:39:19 GMT

Would you believe that the papers recently reported that a 'snow" leopard attacked people just because it happened in winter.

Snow leopard in Banihal

This picture is from a local newspaper in Kashmir published earlier this week.

Image Courtesy:Greater Kashmir

Because the bird is flying over a lake it has been captioned as a Pallas Fish Eagle. It actually is a Black Kite (Milvus Migrans) which is by far the most common raptor in Kashmir.

To give the news editor some credit though, he/she actually bothered to look up a bird that actually exists in Kashmir.
That in itself is commendable, because at times even the local wildlife authorities make preposterous claims about sightings of wildlife.

Black Stork Sighted

bakshijehangir@gmail.com — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 04:41:24 GMT

A Black Stork ( Ciconia nigra ) has been sighted by Wildlife Warden Shopian-Pulwama, Intesar Suhail on December, 26 near the threatened Panzpora Jheel wetland.

Image Courtesy:Greater Kashmir

According to Suhail, 'This is the first ever authentic record of this bird species being spotted in Kashmir, although it is known to visit some wetlands of Ladakh. But sighting of this rare bird in the Valley is significant'.

If it indeed represents the first record of the species in Kashmir, then congratulations are in order.

News Link:
Rare migratory bird spotted in Pulwama

Image Courtesy:Wikipedia

Leopard Trilogy

bakshijehangir@gmail.com — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 03:13:21 GMT

Its that time of the year again. If you have been following this blog, the third instalment of my wild leopard tales is out. After Shivpora and Rajbagh, leopards keep inching their way closer and closer to my front door.

This year a wild leopard has been stalking my hospital. Pixie or Pepsi, a stray dog that has adopted the hospital as it's home, has bravely avoided the leopard for the past week. Meanwhile the leopard killed a dog in an adjacent house in an incident publicised in the local press. Probably through sheer ignorance, the owners left the body of the dog in their yard, not realising that an apex predator like the leopard is not easily thwarted. Sure enough it returned for its kill in the night.

Yesterday it tried to push open my night-watchmans door, after injuring Pixie who is limping around with a broken foreleg in the dark. A team from the Wildlife Department, assisted by cops from the nearby Ram Munshi Bagh Police Station tried to track the leopard down last night. As expected there was no trace of the elusive predator in the dark. We tried to secure Pixie behind a metal grille but it was too scared to co-operate. I hope it is still alive but I am sure that the leopard will return in the night.

Shahid, my night-watchman, has been trapped in his hut for the second time this year. Earlier it was a huge black bear that wanted to feast on the ripe mulberry tree just outside, this time around it is a hungry leopard. When the leopard first appeared in the premises a few days ago, I and my elder son walked up the slope from the gate to his hut in the dark. It was quite an experience. In the flashlight beam, every small winter bush covered with chinar leaves seemed like a crouched leopard ready to pounce. When you realise that there has been no electrical supply to the hospital for the past week due to a damaged transformer, the bravery of this young lad shines through. I, for one, never wish to lock eyes with a wild leopard again.

The most secretive and elusive of the large carnivores, the leopard is also the most cunning. It is the strongest climber of the large cats and capable of killing prey larger than itself. Its success as a ruthless hunter owes is due to its opportunistic hunting behavior, its adaptability to habitats, and its non-specialised diet -it will eat any animal it can hunt down and catch.

Although examples of such animals are comparatively rare, when they do occur they depict the panther [leopard] as an engine of destruction quite equal to his far larger cousin, the tiger. Because of his smaller size he can conceal himself in places impossible to a tiger, his need for water is far less, and in veritable demoniac cunning and daring, coupled with the uncanny sense of self preservation and stealthy disappearance when danger threatens, he has no equal...

- Kenneth Anderson - Nine Man-Eaters and One Rogue, Chapter II The Spotted Devil of Gummalapur

Update: Leopard tranquilized and captured in a private house near Islamia School Dalgate.

Leopard who killed Don finally caught

Green Warrior

bakshijehangir@gmail.com — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 13:18:19 GMT

We need more people like him:
Kashmir: green warrior protects Deodar forests

Man-Animal Conflict Editorial

bakshijehangir@gmail.com — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 13:12:05 GMT

Must Read:

Man-Animal Conflict Editorial

Raja No More

bakshijehangir@gmail.com — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 00:56:56 GMT

Email recieved from Nadeem Qadri :

Dear Supporters,

Some months back Wildlife Protection Department in Dachigam rescued one Hangul Fawn (RAJA) from the wild and was kept in Dachigam and then department decided to shift RAJA to HANGUL BREEDING CENTRE, Shikargah Tral, Pulwama.

Yesterday Minister of Environment & Forest inaugurated that Hangul Breeding Centre, at Shikargah, Tral and Shifted RAJA (Hangul Fawn) to the Breeding Centre and in the same first night within 24 hours he died due to Leopard attack, Government has failed to provide protection to the Fawn, as this incident has happened inside the Breeding Centre.

Wildlife Conservation Fund, Youth Parliament of J&K has decided to file criminal complaint against the incharge of Breeding Centre and department of Wildlife Protection.

Just 218 Hangul left in the wild.....

In Sorrow,
--
Nadeem Qadri
Chief Coordinator,
Save Hangul Campaign

News Link:
Altaf inaugurates Hangul breeding centre

Migrants facing Death

bakshijehangir@gmail.com — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 04:26:37 GMT

This spring unusually large flocks of various migratory ducks could be observed on the Dal Lake, unlike previous years when only common coots would converge on the lake in sizable numbers. Apart from an occasional pair of mallards or pochards, very few ducks of other species could be observed on the lake.

This year however was different. Large flocks of mallards and shovellers could be seen even on the busiest parts of the Dal, specifically the area between Nehru Park and the Centaur hotel. The artificial pond below Karan Mahal was filled to bursting point with the migratory visitors.

A ground-breaking photo-essay by Kashmir Dispatch may provide clues as to why these birds have abandoned their usual wetland haunts in favour of the open waters of the Dal.

Poaching seems to have added to the threat faced by our winged visitors due to shrinking habitats as a result of relentless encroachment on Kashmir's famed wetlands.

Man-Animal Conflict Update : 119 Killed 1072 Injured

bakshijehangir@gmail.com — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 03:24:33 GMT

Latest official figures presented by Minister for Forests, Environment and Ecology, Mian Altaf to the J&K State Assembly:

Killed: 119
Injured : 1072

News Link:

119 killed in man-animal conflict

Learn more about the Man-Animal Conflict:
Man-Animal Conflict Timeline

A Hangul Tragedy

bakshijehangir@gmail.com — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 18:59:41 GMT

This blog has been admittedly Hangul-centric - IMHO, the magnificent Hangul represents all that is noble about Kashmir.

A rock carving from the Stone Age, the earliest known specimen in Kashmir, depicts a Hangul being hunted at Burzhama.

Ironically, thousands of years later, the killing of a hangul stag by poachers within the limits of its last refuge, the Dachigam National Park, may represent the final nail in its coffin. This incident is said to be the first of its kind. What is the guarantee that it will be the last?

News Links:

Hangul 'poached' in Dachigam Park

Police wake up to Hangul poaching

Wildlife deptt intensifies vigil around Dachigam