-The Telegraph Study reveals higher genetic diversity in the estimated 100 to 140 bustards in the state Wildlife scientists have discovered unique versions of genes in the last surviving great Indian bustards outside Rajasthan and recommended their introduction into the bustard breeding programme aimed at pulling back the iconic bird from imminent extinction. The unique gene sequences would enrich the gene pool available for India’s conservation breeding efforts underway in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, and...

-Newsclick.in Slope destabilisation, soil erosion and sequestered carbon loss have increased, according to Ravi Chopra. Noted Dehradun-based environmentalist Ravi Chopra recently resigned as the chairman of the Supreme Court (SC)-appointed High Powered Committee (HPC) overseeing the environmental impact of the Narendra Modi government’s Rs 12,000 crore 889-km Char Dham highway widening project in Uttarakhand.  The Char Dham project, one of the largest road-widening projects in the Himalayan region, intends to connect the four...

Forest fires are not just confined to countries like the United States of America (California, 2020), Brazil (Amazon forest, 2019-2020) or Australia (2019-20); they happen every year across many states in India too. Media reports suggest that forest fires have taken place in the recent months in Odisha's Simlipal National Park, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, among other states. Forest fires have also been reported this year in Nagaland-Manipur border (Dzukou...

-The Times of India DEHRADUN: An internal study of the Wildlife Institute of India reveals climate change will adversely affect around 150 native fish species of the Himalayan states, including Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh. Common snow trout, found in the Himalayas and much sought after as food, alone is likely to lose around 21% of its existing space of 16,251 square km. Scientists say “continuous stalking of...

-Livemint.com According to the environment ministry data, 391 people and 39 elephants died in 2014-15 across India, as a result of the man-elephant conflict New Delhi: As many as 391 people died in 2014-15 due to human-elephant conflicts, triggered mainly by factors like habitat loss and shrinkage and degradation of their range. But the good news is that compared with the last two years, the number of deaths of both elephants and...