BHUBANESWAR: With bird flu scare gripping several parts of the State, the Nandankanan Zoo on Tuesday went into a precautionary mode sanitising the sprawling facility and effecting preventive measures. The zoo authorities rid the entire premises of stray dogs. All poultry birds, including chicken, on the zoo premises were eliminated too.

Noise levels in Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam are touching alarming levels with the Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board ignoring the problem. While reports prepared by the Board itself say that residents of Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam are being exposed to high levels of sound, little has been done to tackle this. Authorities, while expressing helplessness, refused to comment on the issue.

Alipurduar, Jan. 6: The Central Zoo Authority has agreed to release Rs 28 lakh for a tiger rescue centre here and the amount is expected to arrive this month, forest minister Hiten Barman has said. The CZA had stopped the grant for the South Khayerbari centre last year to cut costs and had suggested that six tigers be shifted to Bhopal. The Bengal government had refused to accept the proposal but agreed to another CZA suggestion: to stop the display of tigers for public viewing. The display was stopped in October.

SHILLONG: Admitting that the establishment of State Zoo proposed in Umtrew, Ri Bhoi district has encountered road blocks, the State Government has assured that the project would be hopefully completed by 2013.

Claiming that the work is on track, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) VK Nautiyal said, “So far the state forest department has already received an amount of Rs 12 crore from the 12th finance commission. However, we are expecting to get the remaining amount from the 13th finance commission.”

Stray Dog Menace Not New At Zoo; 15 On Guard Till Barrier Is Built
New Delhi: The massacre of four chinkara by two stray dogs at the zoo on Tuesday night has not gone down well with animal rights activists. Even though the outraged activists are against zoological parks in general, they state that if such places have to exist, they should at least ensure the safety of the animals lodged in them.

Ahmedabad: The dead flamingos found in Venasar village were not the work of some desperately poor man’s attempt to feed his family. Given the fact that such a large number of birds were killed just before December 31, government officials fear that the massacre was ordered for a party to ring in the New Year. Someone apparently wanted to impress his guests by serving flamingo meat as a delicacy.

New Delhi: Stray dogs entered the Delhi zoo on Tuesday night, got into the enclosure for the chinkara and killed four of the fleet-footed antelopes. The dogs, two in number, were captured on Wednesday morning. Zoo sources said the chinkara, a relatively small animal also known as the Indian gazelle, were bitten in the head, neck and shoulder. All four died of shock. The carcasses were discovered in the morning.

New Delhi: Concerned over the plight of wild animals in the city zoo, the Delhi High Court is all set to revive its supervision of civic agencies involved in its maintenance. Keen to review the measures taken to ascertain the safety and well-being of the animals in the zoo, the HC on Wednesday is likely to seek answers from the Delhi Jal Board and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, agencies that were earlier tasked with the job by the court.

Jaipur: The fact that the twoand-half-year-old panther rescued by forest officials after entering the woods near a slum area at Jalana due to shrinking habitat, has upset wildlife activists. They cautioned civic authorities and the forest departments to be prepared for similar incidents.

Rohir Gangwal of an NGO – Raksha – working for wildlife and environment, said the Jalana forest area is a natural habitat for wild animals like leopards, panthers, jackals etc. “Over time the encroachments and increasing human interference have shrunk the forest area,” he added.