Tata Power Delhi Distribution (Tata Power-DDL) and the Norwegian power technology company—PIXII, have joined hands to explore the use of distributed pole-mounted storage for a resilient and sustainable distribution grid. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the collaboration was signed between the CEO of Tata Power-DDL, Sanjay Banga and the chief innovative officer of PIXII, Ole Jakob Sørdalen, on the occasion of the state visit of the Prime Minister of Norway Erna Solberg, during the India-Norway Business Summit 2019 in New Delhi.

India is witnessing a major revamp of its electricity generation system and distribution network. The country is leveraging on renewable energy generation and emerging smart grid technologies to make its energy supply system smart and green. As a natural progression from distributed solar PV/grid level battery storage, distributed pole-mounted storage is yet another emerging technology that has the potential to facilitate smart optimisation of distribution ecosystems by ensuring various aspects of grid reliability.

As a major distribution company, Tata Power-DDL is in the process of integrating Indian’s first 10MW of grid storage to address grid stress situations and to compensate variability with renewable generation. As an extension to this effort, the company is evaluating pole-mounted storage solutions to address the challenge of space constraints to bring a reliable and a robust grid for customers and communities. With this distributed storage, Tata Power-DDL aims to reduce the strain on distribution transformers by smoothening the daily electricity peaking cycle. The integrated system will also help reduce technical losses and improve the asset health of feeders and distribution transformers, thus significantly reducing  the network augmentation investment needed to support a fast-growing urban landscape.

Speaking on the collaboration, Tata Power DDL’s CEO, Sanjay Banga said, “At Tata Power DDL, we are constantly looking for innovative technologies to promote smart sustainable solutions that can be integrated with our grid and eventually with the grids across the country. We are excited to partner with PIXII to explore pole-mounted storage cost effective solutions.” The chief innovative officer of PIXII, Ole Jakob Sørdalen, added, “As a future oriented technology provider, we are very excited about the collaboration with an innovation oriented organisation like Tata Power-DDL. We are looking forward to contributing to a greener, more cost-effective, and reliable grid together with the company.”

Writer & Source: The Pioneer

If you thought that rabies concerned only dogs, then one must look back to the records at the King Edward Memorial Pasteur Institute and Medical Research Institute, Shillong. It had published a scientific article in 1950 recording two instances of a positive microscopic finding in the brain — evidence of rabies — of the Bengal tiger in Assam, the first in 1943 and the second in 1950. In the first case, the tiger severely mauled 18 people in just over 24 hours before it was killed but made no attempt to eat any of the victims. In the second case, the tiger terrorised the inhabitants of five or six villages and attacked 14 people, at least five heads of cattle and a dog, of whom one person and the dog were killed on the spot and two others died in hospital the following day. Subsequently, the animal was killed.

The rabies virus was found in both cases. And though these two cases were examined following complaints of unseemly behaviour, several others were ignored. A few cases of leopards dying ostensibly due to rabies were also reported in south India during the British period. The rabies-inflicted stray dogs, living on the boundaries of Kruger National Park in South Africa and other reserves, are threats to predators such as lions, leopards, hyena and wild dogs. Perhaps deaths of predators by rabies do not get the exposure they deserve. The veterinary advisor for the Siberian Tiger recommended the vaccination protocol for use in all wild tigers to save them from viral disease.

Four years ago, a similar behaviour was observed in two lions — first was a male lion in Girnar on May 31, 2011, and the second was a young lioness in the Khamba range of the Gir forest on December 15, 2015. In both cases, the frenzied felines chased people and attacked a few of them, including the forest staff. The injured people were vaccinated and saved but both lions died within a few days. Symptoms like biting of tyres and frequent roaring in the daytime indicated the presence of rabies but cases were never examined to know the truth. The extent of damage by the fatal Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) attack, ostensibly a mutation or aggravation caused by the rabies virus, was taken seriously only when 23 lions died in September 2018 in the Gir forests.

In the past, deaths of the lion by virus attacks were detected but ignored because the number was not high. Unlike the lion, tigers or leopards  do not live in groups. Thus, death of one or two of them at a site by the fatal disease was ignored. It was recorded as a natural disease but facts prove otherwise. Almost every other day, news reports cite the recovery of dead leopards, tigers, lions and several other carnivores from their habitats but the cases have never been examined by virologists to confirm the cause of deaths.

In a study, four concomitant incidents of rabies related deaths were recorded in Gujarat during 2012-2014. Brain samples were collected from two buffaloes, nilgai and mongoose and rabies virus was found in all of them. Further, the genetic relationship of these isolated specimens was determined and the rabies virus transmission among the wild and domestic mammals was established. In Deva village in Allahabad district, two cows and a young buffalo cub were bitten by a rabies-infected dog. All died within two weeks. Finally, the dog was killed and the carcass was disposed off in a remote area of the village. What had happened to carnivores such as jackals and foxes, which consumed the carcass, is not known but the villagers confirmed that the carnivores had not been spotted. Why is it that the jackals are fast disappearing from the villages? Why are the hyenas becoming rare in the countryside? Why is it that the population of the wild dog (dhole) declined drastically in its habitats such as the Satpura Tiger Reserve and then recovered in a few years and again declined drastically? Is it due to the spread of rabies or any other virus? Has rabies’ presence in the domestic dog caused the loss of wildlife in an unbelievable scale? Perhaps yes. Casualties of the major wild carnivores in India due to transmission of rabies,  CDV, FIV or other viruses are high but it is impossible to provide facts about the scale of the crisis. After the lion deaths due to a CDV attack in the Gir forests, investigations indicated that like the African lions, the CDV and other viruses are present in some wild lions in the Gir forest. All of these become fatal when other diseases such as Babesia protozoa are transmitted from an unhealthy prey.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported that rabies is a vaccine-preventable viral disease which occurs in more than 150 countries. Dogs are the source of a vast majority of human rabies deaths, contributing up to 99 per cent of all rabies transmissions to humans. Human deaths due to rabies are known and have been well-documented but it is also primarily a disease of terrestrial mammals, including dogs, wolves, foxes, jackals, big cats (lions, leopards and tigers), mongooses, badgers, bats  and monkeys. Rabies is endemic to India and accounts for 36 per cent of the world’s human deaths due to this disease. The true burden of rabies in our country is not fully known; although as per a WHO report, it causes 18,000-20,000 deaths every year. Nobody knows how many wild carnivores die due to this disease. India had over 19.1 million domestic dogs in 2007 and a majority of them belonged to the category of feral or stray dogs. A substantial number of this forms the prey base for carnivores, especially for leopards, tigers, lions, hyenas, wolves and jackals.

In India, dogs play an important role in rabies transmission to wildlife.  However, little is known about the role of wild animals in rabies transmission. As per a study in the US, the rabies disease unexpectedly re-emerged in wildlife. Rabies is a viral zoonosis associated with many species of carnivores, including cats, jackal, hyena and bats, which are the primary hosts of the Rabies virus. Although sporadic cases of rabies in wildlife have been documented across the African continent, convincing evidence for the circulation of rabies in populations of wild carnivores has been found only in south Africa, where wild canids, such as jackals and bat-eared foxes, are assumed to be primary hosts of the virus. Although wolves, wild dogs, jackals and foxes are susceptible and readily succumb to the disease, they can disseminate the disease in other wildlife.

The carnivores — lion, tiger, leopard, hyena, wolf, and  jackal — are susceptible to diseases as they largely prey upon domestic animals, including dogs and pigs which are a carrier of pathogens. Domestic livestock, including dogs, constitute major food for these wild animals. Cases of tiger and leopard deaths are reported from time-to-time, but the institute engaged in the field of wildlife research does  not give priority to such an important problem. In the absence of adequate studies, it is difficult to assess deaths of wild carnivores due to rabies but it seems a major hurdle, although not accepted till date of wildlife conservation in India.

To eliminate rabies in wildlife, ‘progressive control pathways’ and procedures for international certification of rabies-free status should be established. To achieve this, wildlife managers should know the extent of the problem. The sample of every dead animal should be examined scientifically in institutes that deal with wildlife or virology. Institutes, too, need to focus on the scale of natural deaths rather than just concern themselves with environment impact assessment (EIA). It has taken us long to maintain a healthy population of the big cat. Let us not lose them to another threat.

(The writer is Member, National Board for Wild life)

Writer: Hari Shanker Singh

Source: The Pioneer

A feel-good image of a lioness nursing and feeding a two-month-old leopard cub, who got separated from its mother, along with her two new-borns in Gir made for a touching act of compassion, showcasing the maternal and protective instincts of the animal world and restoring our faith in the laws of the natural world to take care of itself.

The lioness has been protecting the cub for six days now, feeding it with milk and taking care of it as that of her own cubs who are three-month-olds. While friendly interactions between species are relatively common, the uniqueness of this alliance lies in the fact that the adoption happened between two felines who are believed to be enemies. Lions and

leopards are not exactly friends and stay away from each other. In fact, the pride of the lion, as it is known, lies in it being a predator — killing any animal, including the leopards — to eliminate any future competition for food or to ensure that their own progeny survives to adulthood. Social as they are by nature, the pride of their grouping, that can range from a collation of two or more than 20 male or female related species, lies in protecting their territory and offspring. Their relationship is such that they can recognise any of their kind by sight or roar. So resilient they are that they can distinguish their cubs from others, which once in the king’s sight, is most likely to be killed. Females, on the other hand, remain close to each other to do the most gruelling task: To give birth and nurse their cubs communally. It is this psychology primed in their minds, to take care of baby cats, that helped the baby leopard find a shelter among the lioness’ own cubs. Physically, the cubs can hardly be distinguished. The lioness has also been taking care to ensure that the big alpha males do not prey on the cub as is their given behaviour. Though cats are not offensive when their prey base is not an issue, constricted and broken forest corridors and human depredations have resulted in changes in their behaviour. Which is why the lioness’ act stands out in a hostile wildlife climate.

A similar pairing was also witnessed in Tanzania two years back when a five-year-old lioness, who had lost her own cubs, was seen nursing a week-old leopard cub. Further, the King of the Jungle may not be the only ones to form odd alliances. Similar has been the story between a dog nursing a squirrel and that of a deformed dolphin being welcomed into the whale family. The lion-leopard story also offers lessons in humanity, especially in times when we are increasingly witnessing human-wildlife conflict that has resulted in the disappearance of these rare species. We, being humans, must also be empathetic towards protecting wild creatures. There can be no better a legacy as remarkable as that of inter-species coordination in protecting creation.

Writer: The Pioneer

Source: The Pioneer

Residents of Delhi and its surrounding areas have become used to the arrival of cold weather because the air quality index goes for an utter toss. And for several years different strawmen have been found to bear the brunt, first the burning of stubble by farmers, then it was vehicular pollution and of late firecrackers on Diwali. However, this year’s extended period of poor air quality must highlight the main cause of the problem: The constantly increasing human population in the capital and its surroundings and the resultant activity. And the solution to the air quality problem will require some brave political decisions that none of Delhi’s politicians or those from surrounding States are willing to take, that is to tackle population growth, immigration and the fallout from illegal colonies.

Some small measures can be taken though and those must be taken soon, because the problem is only getting worse every passing day and it affects the young and old particularly hard. Those from the economically weaker backgrounds, who can’t afford protection, have little choice. More and more evidence is emerging that poor air quality is cutting years off the life expectancy of Delhi residents and cases of lung cancer even among non-smokers is on the rise. If our politicians, many of who live in homes with air purifiers, want to do something about this, they have to crack the whip and invest in the future. And those investments include rapidly ramping up public transportation options and even vehicle rationing, but no half-hearted measures to keep parts of the electorate happy.

At the rate that the air quality is deteriorating, it is only a matter of time that poor air will become a year-round problem in Delhi and surrounding cities. If urgent and strict measures are not taken today, the national capital will become unlivable sooner rather than later. This is a national crisis and all our politicians should rise to the challenge. But as of today, they are all, no matter what their political persuasion, failing us.

Writer and Courtesy: The Pioneer

The Gir lion is living on the edge with a widely fragmented habitat and human encroachment, the latest news of a pride of three being mowed down by a goods train in Gujarat’s Amroli district prompting a debate on whether infrastructural development factors in the welfare of the wild enough. The accident happened in the midnight hour with neither the train driver nor the lions, three in all, able to figure out how dangerously close they were to each other. Although investigations are on to determine if the goods train driver was complying with speed limits set for transiting wildlife corridors or if the forest trackers were doing their job of monitoring animal movement, fact is we need to strongly pursue an accident prevention scheme for wildlife along our rail tracks. The existing infrastructure has been in long use, and though it bifurcates forest corridors which animals use to disperse into new territories, any future accident prevention module has to work around this reality. Cases of elephants, tigers, leopards and other species being run over by trains are not new, our elephant deaths along tracks being the highest in the world. And we have been attempting to control them through several measures like the installation of warning signs for train drivers in sensitive stretches, night patrols along tracks and introducing staff to assist with elephant crossings since 2002.

This was also replicated in Assam in 2008 with some success. But with the railway networks spreading and high speed corridors soon to become a reality, a unified railway policy needs to be worked out on a predictive model. Even the West is besieged by similar issues of track accidents and has tried out or proposed several remedial measures. Some have mooted the idea of reflectors to warn incoming animals of a possible impact zone, others have talked about some fencing in stretches or erecting olfactory barriers that involves spraying a foam of predator scents, including that of man, on vegetation and structures nearer the track. Poland, in fact, introduced a “key stimuli proxy”, a device emitting acoustic signals of natural sounds which aggravate the fear factor in animals, deterring them from approaching the tracks or straying off their habitat. But the problem with artificial control is that animals, and particularly an intelligent one like the lion, can evolve and mutate once they sense a mechanised pattern. A far cheaper option then, as many wildlife experts have suggested, would be to build overpasses or underpasses where tracks cut through wildlife habitats, allowing the animals the right of way safely.

We have somewhat reconciled ourselves into believing that humans cannot have territorial curbs but animals must be squeezed in their shrinking ranges and be forced to adapt. This lopsided policy has resulted in Gir lions spilling out of their ranges and almost cohabiting with villagers, letting go of their feline aggression for a tamer behavioural adjustment. More lions will stray in the absence of a transit to an alternative home. With the latest incident, the number of lions, including cubs, having died in and around the Gir forest since September has reached 35. While some of them have died of natural causes, many others fell prey to Canine Distemper Virus (CDV), protozoa infections and territorial fights necessitating isolation. Our national pride is indeed struggling to roar.

Writer and  Courtesy: The Pioneer

Full access to the highest standards of education through better penetration would be a game-changer in India.

The least common denominator for any developed country is  easy access to education at all levels. It is not serendipitous that the United Nations (UN) recognises the need for quality education as an essential element of growth for all. It has also enshrined this in its SDG 4, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education.

As one of the fastest growing economies, India has taken the world by storm. In order to maintain its stature, we need to provide the citizens with easy access to the highest standards of education at all levels. While this may seem like a distant reality, it surely is achievable by meticulously directing investments to the education sector, and ensuring development and use of innovative and robust technology.

For the Indian education system, the primary game-changer would be connectivity and penetration through innovative devices. As netizens, we are already living in a ‘connected world’ and understand the opportunities that internet and technology have thrown open for us. In the same way, technology can bridge the gaps in delivering high quality, uninterrupted education across India.   

According to Census 2011, almost 70 percent of Indians still live in rural areas, spread across 600,000-plus villages. There are more than 125 million individuals in the age group of 14 to 18 years, of whom more than two-thirds, roughly 85 million, live in rural India, as per a latest study. The challenge with penetration of internet in the rural India is lack of electricity to charge devices, poor network quality and low affordability of internet service packs while on a global scale, people are now able to learn in ways that would not have been possible without digital technology.

But for India, there have to be solutions  that allow learning by harvesting the benefits of multimedia education tools, without banking on internet connectivity alone. The current government has envisaged programmes like Digital India  and Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan, which together focus on education and transforming the country into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

One of the stated missions of Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan is to promote enhanced use of digital technology in education through smart classrooms, digital boards and DTH channels.

The delivery of digital education in the rural areas would become a mammoth task in the wake of the fact that we still struggle with providing uninterrupted internet speeds in the urban geographies. Hence, delivering quality educational content without total dependence on the availability of internet has become crucial.

In such a scenario, innovative technological solutions that harvest the benefits of multimedia education tools without banking on internet connectivity are important. Companies like Chhota Internet provide free Wi-Fi to scholars to access relevant content in their campuses and residential hostels through e-books, audio and video lecture formats. The most remarkable feature of this technology is that it achieves this without the need of internet connection, at no recurring cost. The solution solves the issues related to shortage of good teachers as well.

Writer: Sandeep Arya

Courtesy: The Pioneer

The decision of the HRD Ministry to make school bags and grades less burdensome for students based on their age is aimed at well-rounded physical and mental development of the students.

Education is a wholesome process which students should participate freely in and engage happily with. It should not end up looking like an exploitative practice or inducing performance pressure. Unfortunately, in our country, our kids are caught in an androidish drill of bookish knowledge and making the cut in competitive exams rather than savouring knowledge discoveries in the absence of application-based teaching modules.

Perhaps this norm on heavy-lifting will encourage alternative thinking in existing educational policies and prioritise student welfare. To begin with all schools — and some private schools have done it — should immediately formalise a book locker system as it is done in many countries abroad to ease the to-and-fro logic.

The effects of school bag load on the physical and mental well-being of students have been well documented. An ASSOCHAM survey conducted in 2016 found that because of a load of books in the bags of children, 68 per cent children in the age group of 7 to 13 years face the risk of backaches, hunchbacks, spinal and postural problems, some of which were irreversible and impede mobility patterns in their adult life.

The survey had also noted that over 88 per cent of students in the same age group carry more than 45 per cent of their own weight on their backs. The heavy bags, according to the survey, included textbooks, activity books, swim kit, lunch box and other things. To this extent, the directive is welcome. However, the regimentation of books, content and subjects that can be taught at primary levels, as recommended by the Ministry, defeats the very purpose of education being a free space and only perpetuates the “brick in the wall” approach.

While banning tests are welcome for classes I and II, limiting the number of subjects to only languages and mathematics — clearly sharpening skills of communication and logical reasoning, maybe even scientific temper — severely hampers the child’s overall development. True you free them up for exploratory outdoors and sports but why deny them the narrative of our history and culture, something that our kids are increasingly veering away from? Besides, a curtain-down approach does not work in digitally informed times and in the absence of a regime, could expose them to more sources of misinformation than information.

Even in higher classes up to class V, concession has been made for environmental science with total disregard for an approach that balances both left and right brain development. This becomes even more punishing with the clause that only NCERT books can be accessed with no provision for other sources of study material. The early years are crucial for shoring up self-sufficiency in our younger generation, so there cannot be an agenda-driven outlook for education policies that impact the wonder years between five and 12.

Reducing load is one thing — there can be several alternatives explored with school lockers and cheap e-books in a graded manner — but restricting subjects and codifying approaches, especially as part of public policy, will only make a generation literate but not knowledgeable enough. Agreed, we don’t need to push kids over the edge but the government should not have the sole agency to decide what they need and do not.

Writer:  Pioneer

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Protection of wildlife can see real results only after we give respect to nature and acknowledge its values.

Gandhiji was always concerned about how we humans treated animals, because he felt that the life of an animal was no less valuable than that of a human being. He said this in so many words when he offered his view that, “To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being.” Against the reality of rapid depletion of wildlife across the world we are also reminded of Gandhiji’s witty response to a question on what he thought of wildlife: “Wildlife is decreasing in the jungles, but it is increasing in the towns.”

There are societies which are large consumers of meat, but quite paradoxically a few of them show interest in preserving wildlife. Factory farming, which characterises the global meat industry today, distances the consumer from the birth and life of the animal which is consumed. Sir Paul McCartney, a strict vegetarian himself, said, “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.” This paradox was in evidence in the mid-1970s when beef prices went up and some people in the US started consuming horse meat in certain locations. This led to widespread protests and expression of revulsion, with bumper stickers appearing in some places saying, “horses should be in the stable, not on the table”.

The motivation for protection of wildlife in such societies arises out of an appreciation of the cosmetic appeal of some endangered species like tiger, cheetah, polar bear and panda. Parents often say that they would not want their grandchildren to see these animals only in pictures; hence, any efforts at conservation of the species is driven by aesthetic appeal and the entertainment value of wildlife.

For much too long even in India killing a tiger or leopard was seen almost like the red badge of courage. How many portraits have we seen of visitors of importance from Britain being treated to a tiger shikar with the ultimate picture of the dead animal, and the ‘brave’ shooter standing with a gun in his hand and his foot on the head of the slain tiger?

Today, despite strong legislation and global agreements, the threat to wildlife, whose numbers have reached precarious levels, comes from poaching and the general encroachment of human activities on the habitat of species in the wild. In such a situation when a hungry carnivore cannot find adequate food, it ventures to seek easy game in human habitation. In so many cases the affected community attacks the predator to protect its livestock.

Today, the threat to animals and species in the wild has reached an unprecedented level. The World Wide Fund (WWF) has done remarkable work in assessing the frightening expansion of humanity’s footprint on the earth’s increasingly fragile ecosystems. ‘The Living Planet Report’ (LPR), a comprehensive and rigorous compilation of the state of the earth’s natural resources and ecosystems, is produced every two years, and the WWF has just brought out its 2018 edition, which provides chilling details of the damaging effects on the irreplaceable bounty of nature as a consequence of what we call economic development.

The LPR 2018 estimates and concludes that “on average, we’ve seen an astonishing 60 per cent decline in the size of populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians in just over 40 years”. What is particularly alarming is the trend that we are seeing in the direction of over-exploitation of species across the globe. The President and CEO of WWF Carter S Roberts states, “Natural systems essential to our survival — forests, oceans, and rivers —remain in decline. Wildlife around the world continue to dwindle. It reminds us that we need to change the course. It’s time to balance our consumption with the needs of nature, and to protect the only planet that is our home.”

The fundamental flaw in our pattern of growth and development lies in the fact that nature provides us with a wealth of ecosystem services, but the market values these as zero, and there is no system by which price of these services can be included in the costs of goods and services produced by the human society.

As a visionary economist said several decades ago: “Nature has no checkout counters.” Hence, we treat the global commons as a free good, leading to their precarious condition today. Yet, as the LPR 2018 estimates, on a global basis, nature provides services worth around $125 trillion a year, and more than that, nature ensures the supply of fresh air, clean water, food, energy, medicines, and much more, all of which we devalued heavily.

Overall, populations of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians have, on average, declined by 60 per cent between 1970 and 2014, the most recent year with available data. The Earth is estimated to have lost about half of its shallow water corals in the past 30 years; and a fifth of the Amazon has disappeared in just 50 years.

There is a very small window of opportunity for us to act and prevent irreversible disaster. In the case of climate change, we are the first generation to understand the science and risks of climate change  but we may be the last generation to be able to solve the problem. Similarly, as the LPR 2018 states: “We are the first generation that has a clear picture of the value of nature and our impact on it. We may be the last that can take action to reverse this trend. From now until 2020 will be a decisive moment in history.”

The so-called “great acceleration” has brought the human society unprecedented benefits in the areas of overall rise in our health, wealth, food and security, but the benefits are very unequal across society. And  these benefits have come at a huge cost in terms of the disappearance of the wealth of biodiversity and nature. And, yet as the LPR states, nature underpinned by biodiversity provides a wealth of services which are the building blocks of modern society. But biodiversity is being destroyed rapidly. Hence, the protection of wildlife may have a certain romanticism behind the meagre efforts that we see around us, but unless we develop a reverence and value for nature and biodiversity, these efforts would remain futile and ineffective.

Writer: RK Pachauri

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Even though the density of tigers has seen a marked increase in the country, what’s worrying is that their territory is getting smaller.

While the premeditated killing of the “man-eating” tigress Avni in Maharashtra has conservationists and the state forest department grid-locked in arguments over whether it was ethical or not, the real issue that needs urgent attention is the transmuted nature of man-animal conflict in future wildlife management. Nothing brought this home more chillingly than infiltrators in the Dudhwa buffer zone brutally running a tractor over another tigress who had mauled a man crossing her path on Monday. Like her, the six-year-old Avni didn’t become a man-eater because she was running out of prey base, nor did she drag people stealthily out of the village nearest the Yavatmal forest. In fact, she was seen crossing a farm the day she was shot. Her kills were essentially to protect her young cubs and a battle won for survival on the fringes.

As tiger density has increased in the country, there has been a considerable shrinkage in the territory that each big cat loves to lord over, forcing them to often tussle between themselves through violent pride fights. Avni was one such young mother pushed to the fringes, ferociously protective of her cubs who became easy targets for aggressive males. And with human depredations eroding corridors to other forest tracts and even buffer zones, there was no possibility of her safe passage to a newer territory. Trapped in a wedge between human encroachment and her shrinking range, she developed a guerrilla-style hideout strategy to live rather than to hunt, imparting it to her cubs too. Which is why for all the technologically-aided snooping of drones, camera traps and sensors, she has been evading the eagle eye for almost two years, killing 13 people who crossed her line of restraint. And her traumatised cubs have bled into the recesses of the forest, knowing their mother won’t be back and humans wouldn’t be any less punishing.

Till this territorial battle and angst is neutralised through safe havens, there will forever be controversy about which life is more important, human or animal, and evolutionary aberrations of changed species behaviour. No tiger had attacked a villager in Dudhwa over the last decade but the dead tigress like Avni did.

This doesn’t mean that we can in any which way justify the violations of the state forest department. Why did it hire a banned sharpshooter to kill Avni and not seek help of professional dart-shooting teams? Why did it not follow the tranquiliser shot protocol and kill the tiger directly, that too at night when such tracking isn’t allowed? If the shooter took out the gun in self-defence after a tranquiliser shot failed to work, as argued by the forest department, how come the tranquiliser dose was not adequate? Why was the Supreme Court-mandated protocol for eliminating Avni under duress not complied with? And most importantly, why were no attempts made to find and rehabilitate her cubs before the kill, knowing full well that they could die with poor hunting skills in their mother’s absence? In the process, we have lost three young, strong tigers.

The short-sighted solution to getting rid of man-eaters won’t work till we address why they become so and take preventive measures. Agreed relocation may not be entirely successful — some tigers finding it difficult to flourish in another ecosystem and claim it as their own — but it is a start. The tiger has returned to Sariska through such sustained and graded efforts. Similarly, transit corridors to other reserves, allowing the tigers natural right of way, should be prioritised and it’s a well-known fact that the State Government has allowed a corporate to set up a cement plant near Yavatmal forest, threatening breeding habitat. And though foresters have traditionally been conservators too, they need to be apprised of newer vigil systems given the changing animal behaviour. Both man and animal are equal captives of a changed eco-system and are, therefore, posing a fresh challenge.

Writer: Pioneer

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Data from the Central Pollution Control Board shows improved air quality in the capital. It has something to do with the rains, but we need to keep the momentum.

It is heartening that for the third time this year the Capital registered a ‘good’ in terms of the Air Quality Index (AQI) on Tuesday with some monitoring station showing an AQI of around 30, which is very good indeed. In fact, data released by the Central Pollution Control Board showed that residents of New Delhi breathed “good” quality air this past week as the city recorded AQI between below-50 to 150, which is considered to be in the good to satisfactory range. Equally, it is a sign of just how bad the air quality has become in these parts that we celebrate a week of clean air like manna from the heavens.

The past week’s air quality marks a departure from previous years and a significant improvement on 2016 when during the same period air pollution levels declined to “poor” and subsequently “severe” levels. The Capital, as a consequence, earned the tag of being one of the most polluted cities in the world. The magnitude of the problem is such that it has provoked a barrage of criticism from residents gasping for breath. Recurring rains as the monsoon makes an extended withdrawal has, of course, helped wash away dangerous pollutants from the air. The Government too has been compelled to look for practical solutions to minimise air pollution in light of public anger.

Apart from the munificence of the rain gods, the present improvement in air quality goes to the credit in some measure at least to the Supreme Court-mandated Graded Response Action Plan that called for a comprehensive approach towards finding specific solutions for each pollution category based upon atmospheric particulate matter and insisted all stakeholders work together.

The coming months of October, November and December are the most crucial and will pose a stern test for the Government’s efforts to curb air pollution. It is during the onset of winters that farmers in and around neighbouring States start burning of residual crops as they prepare their fields for the next season. Already, 61 cases of crop-stubble burning have been reported from Haryana and Punjab. In pursuit of solutions, the administration has already installed pollution mitigating devices at two of the most pollution-prone areas of Delhi — ITO and Mukarba Chowk. More such devices are on the anvil. But the problem of air pollution will need more than these ad-hoc moves and emergency solutions such as the odd-even scheme for vehicles, extended holidays for educational institutions, temporary closure of polluting industries and a ban on construction and the like as all of these measures take a devastating toll on economic activity.

Air pollution is not something that happened overnight. It was allowed to happen over decades thanks to apathy and neglect. It follows, there will be no overnight solution either. While there is no magic cure, a sustainable solution will require time and most importantly close coordination between the municipal, State and Central authorities, not to mention civil society and the ordinary or garden variety of citizens.

Writer: Pioneer

Courtesy: The Pioneer

Outbreak of diseases poses major threats to big cats including the lions in Gir. A scientific wildlife health management system is the need of the hour.

The big cats — lion, tiger and leopard — are susceptible to diseases as they largely prey upon domestic animals, including dogs and pigs, which are a carrier of pathogens. Domestic livestock constitute over 40 per cent of the food for lions and about 60 per cent for the leopards. Dependency of the tiger on domestic livestock is also high but lesser than the other two big cats. Dogs are the main source of rabies deaths, contributing to about 99 per cent of all rabies transmissions to humans. Cases of leopard deaths due to rabies were reported during the British period. In absence of adequate report, it is difficult to assess deaths of tigers, lions and leopards due to rabies but higher possibilities exist.

The carcass of every rabies infected dog or livestock is eaten by the carnivores, primarily big and small cats, hyena, jackal, wolf, foxes, and honey badger. A few deaths of lions and tigers too were suspected due to rabies attack in the past. Vaccinating dogs is the most cost-effective strategy to prevent rabies in humans and carnivores.

The first fatal attack of Canine Distemper Virus (CDV) and Babesia Protozoa was confirmed in the Gir lions when 23 out of the 26 known infected lions died in a short period in September this year. Tigers and leopards are solitary animals and their social life is different from the lions. Except females with cubs, none of these two big cats live in groups. Thus, the death of each one of them due to such disease is usually not detected, and are reported as natural deaths. In the case of death of a nomad lion or a small group of lions, by virus or protozoans, incidence would have been ignored even with thorough high-level investigation of the disease. But it cannot be ignored when the number of deaths exceed half a dozen in a short period of just two weeks. The presence of virus or protozoans among the big cat is not rare but has never been reported because the science of virology has not been integrated with wildlife management.

In a majority of places, they do not die due to their immunity system. When immunity is lowered against the attack of any virus, the attack of CDV and Babesia turns fatal to the animal. Perhaps this was the case for large-scale deaths of Gir lions.

Two scientific institutes for the first time reported in 2011 about the lion death in Gir due to highly infectious Pestedes petits ruminants virus (PPRV). Active viral surveillance in neighbouring Gir villages for PPRV, similar to CDV, was also recommended by an institute. Subsequently, it appeared in newspapers that the four Gir lions sent to Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, died of CDV during 2014-16. This called for vaccination of dogs and other such animals against CDV. However, action could not be put in place due to some reasons.

Asiatic lions face serious threats to their future as about half of them live outside the core habitat of the Gir forests and hunt domestic livestocks,  along with livestock and blue bull. Lions in the peripheral zone also hunt domestic livestock in the villages or maldhari nesses. A large number of leopards hunt dogs along with other preys and sometimes their kills are appropriated by the lions. Probability of transmission of virus, bacteria and other such disease is very high in the Asiatic lions. Epidemic disease risks for lions in fragmented small populations become significantly higher as contact with domestic animal populations, including dogs, become more frequent as a result of alterations in microclimate and landscape ecology.

The tools to predict, prevent, and respond to these risks are not well established in conservation management. But deaths of Gir lions due to the fatal disease is expected to open a new chapter in wildlife management. Crucially, rescue operation and wildlife health management are the best in lion conservation landscape in our country but not enough to address the challenges effectively.

In Serengeti, the lions are prone to simultaneous outbreaks of CDV and Babesia Protozoa. Canine distemper is a virus that affects dog’s gastrointestinal, respiratory and central nervous systems as well as the conjunctival membranes of the eyes. CDV, a disease that results in encephalitis and pneumonia, is transmitted by domestic dogs; Babesiosis is carried by a tick-borne blood parasite called Babesia. Symptoms of the CDV attack include fever, eye infection, discharge from eyes and nose. CDV or Babesiosis alone aren’t the threats to lions in Serengeti. It is a combination of CDV with a high-level of exposure to Babesia that killed the lions in Africa in 1994 and 2001.

Co-infection by more than one pathogen can accelerate expected transmission rates and virulence of a disease. Environmental perturbations can also change the host parasite’s relationship. In a majority of the cases, lion populations are infected with at least one, and most with multiple pathogens, often with multiple strains of pathogens.

Scientists suspected that the disease — identified from blood and tissue samples as CDV — came from domestic dogs in the villages around the Serengeti perimeter. Blood samples from the dogs showed the presence of CDV. In the villages where lions hunt livestock, domestic dogs are very common. Canine distemper spreads mostly via sneezing. It was likely that the virus travelled directly to the Gir lions from the domestic dogs or it was more plausible that the lions caught the virus from other carnivores — hyenas, jackals, or leopards.

Hyenas and jackals are scavengers that frequent villages, and leopards hunt domestic dogs or eat carcasses. Lions would come into contact with these infected species at kills. In and around Gir forests, over 625 leopards hunt domestic animals, primarily dogs. The possibility of appropriating these kills by the lion is not ruled out. A mad leopard, infected by rabies, can challenge lion and what a lion can do to such leopard is well known. Lions are scavengers and they feed on dead animals. These animals, including naturally dead dogs, can be a source of transmission to the lion.

Although two dozen lions died of fatal diseases, similar incidences may be occurring in other carnivores too. Why is it that the wild dog population suddenly dropped in protected areas in central and south India, and then recovered in two-three years before the next drop? Why is it that the number of jackals is registering a downfall? Perhaps, a solution to their problem lies in scientific wildlife health management. Also, the fatal attack of CDV and deaths of lions in a large number can be a lesson to use the science of wildlife diseases in wildlife management.

Alternative home for Asiatic Lions: The Species Survival Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature published guidelines on strategic planning for species conservation, which have single population in one geographic region. The Asiatic lion is one of them which has the only wild population in the world in the Gir forests. A group of leading conservationists declared that an extinction crisis is facing the world’s largest carnivores, including the big cats. The super cats — lions and tigers — need very large area as they need huge tracts of natural habitat to survive. Due to their large size and threats, they are less resilient than many smaller species and less able to handle the threat.

Big carnivore population, restricted to a single site, face a variety of extinction threats from poaching, intentional killing and environmental factors. Catastrophes, such as an epidemic or fatal disease, remain the main factors for loss of species. Reintroduction of the last free-ranging population of Asiatic lions to an alternative site to ensure their long-term viability became a major conservation agenda. Considering this, the first trial to introduce Asiatic lion in Chandra Prabha Sanctuary in Varanasi was done in 1959 by translocating few lions but the experiment failed after initial success.

Subsequently, the Gujarat State Government ordered the Barda Wildlife Sanctuary in 1979 to establish an alternative for the Asiatic lion, but the decision remains on paper due to lack of a bold decision by the authority.  Subsequently, after a long exercise, Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary (Kuno WLS) in Madhya Pradesh has been identified as an alternative site. After a long legal battle in the Supreme Court, decision went in favour of Kuno Wildlife Sanctuary, but even five years after the decision, it has not been implemented.

The climate of the alternative site is a major issue which needs examination before the translocation of the animals there. The lion evolved and flourished in temperate and sub-tropical environment, and the climate changes, especially temperature variations, impacted its migration, dispersion and distribution in Europe, Asia and Africa since it evolution.

Review of climatic parameters of past and present lion areas across the three continents indicate that the lion perhaps never flourished in hot tropical environment, and lion habitats  may have a high risk of extreme temperature in the hot summer. At present, major populations continue to survive in sub-tropical environment in over two dozen countries, and in small populations in temperate and moderate tropical climate in Africa.

In India, temperature of the Asiatic lion distribution range in tropical climate is around the Gir forest. The shelter of evergreen riverine vegetation along the seven perennial or semi-perennial rivers and Prosopis cover along Shatrunji river or along the coast provide cool environment for the lions. Alternative site for lion in very hot environment of the Kuno WS in the Vindhyayan region is debatable. The logic of the survival of the lion in the north-west India 150 ago in Mini Ice Age (1300 AD to 1850 AD) does not hold ground.

Disappearance of the lion outside Gujarat coincide with the end of the Mini-Ice Age when average temperature in north India was lower than the present temperature. In fact, climate then in the north India was near subtropical. The distribution of the Asiatic lion since its entry in India to the present need examination with respect to the climate.

In background of these facts, the Government has few options which should be undertaken to minimise threat factors which can cause the extinction of the sub-species. First, the science of genetics, forensic and virology should be used intensively for long-term conservation of the lion. Second,  satellite areas should be managed in line of Gir protected area by enhancing administrative staff and restoring habitats. Third, an alternative site for the lions should be developed without delay. Barda Sanctuary is one of the good option. Success in this case is high because similar type of administration, with all facilities and know-how, can be transplanted there. If it is not done shortly or not possible due to some reason, the Government should not hesitate to develop an alternative site far away from the Gir forest.

Writer: HS Singh

Courtesy: The Pioneer