The issues relating to the victims of endosulfan, sprayed in the plantations of Kasargod district in Kerala, have snowballed once again. “Earthworms emerged from the soil, and, subsequently, died. Then birds came to eat the earthworms and they died as well.”   “Some termites were killed in a cotton farm sprayed with endosulfan. A frog fed on the dead termites, and was immobilised a few minutes later. An owl which flew over...

Liquor baron Vijay Mallya will take up the cause of tribals living in Biligiri Ranga Hills in Karnataka who fear being displaced as there are plans to declare the forest as a tiger reserve. Mallya who is a Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka said that it is the tribals who are guarding the tigers from poaching and other dangers. "If they are displaced, there will be no protection for them (tigers)," he...

Wants States to have power to ban pesticides Forest Minister Benoy Viswom has said Kerala was of the considered opinion that the Centre should take a relook at the Pesticide Management Bill of 2008. In a letter to Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh on Saturday, he said that Kerala, upon studying the draft of the Bill, had found it not addressing the core issues of pesticide misuse,...

Discussions at an international forum in Russia on restoring the global tiger population from the brink of extinction have resulted in a United Nations-led alliance to fight Wildlife crime and put an end to the key drivers threatening the wild cats around the world. The meeting held this week in Saint Petersburg saw the governments of 13 Tiger Range Countries agree to double tiger numbers by 2022 and the heads of...

The rail track passing through forest areas in different parts of the country, including Walayar on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, have become a death trap for the Wildlife, particularly elephants. Though a hue and cry is raised every time a tragedy strikes, the deaths of a large number of wild elephants in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Assam and West Bengal remain a burning issue. The recent incidents of train hits in these...