Latest National symbols of India Stories

MOSCOW, Sept. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, a 14 month-old tiger was successfully released to the wild. One of only an estimated 450 surviving Amur tigers in the wild, the cub spent 6 months undergoing rehabilitation supported by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW - www.ifaw.org) and other groups and government agencies. Prior to the release, the tiger was radio-collared by scientists from the Russian Academy of Sciences who will monitor the cub in the following months....

The first ever overall nation-wide estimate of the tiger population brought a positive ray of hope among conservationists. The figures announced by the Nepal Government's Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) shows the presence of 121 (100 "“ 194) breeding tigers in the wild within the four protected areas of Nepal. The 2008 tiger population estimate was jointly implemented by the DNPWC, Department of Forests (DOF), WWF, National Trust for Nature Conservation...

An environmental group said in a statement received Monday that the police in Vietnam, where only about 50 of the animals remain, have seized a frozen young tiger and several kilograms of tiger bones. The TRAFFIC wildlife trade-monitoring network said that Hanoi's environmental police found the tiger, which weighed 125 pounds, in the boot of a "suspicious" taxi that they had stopped in the capital early last Thursday. It said that they also had found 25 pounds of limb bones believed...

A conservation coalition warned Wednesday, after a series of raids which netted tiger carcasses and bones, that Malaysia is losing the battle to save its dwindling population of wild tigers. "It is clearly time to admit that we are fast losing the battle to save our tigers to an army of smugglers and poachers intent on killing every last one," said the Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers (MyCat)."They enter our protected areas with ease, and illegally trap, kill and...

Some experts say that tiger farming can help the large cat's population flourish, although other experts argue that it would only fuel demand for illegal trade of the endangered cat's pelts, bones and body. "Domestic trade in tiger parts and derivatives has been banned across the world since the late 1990s," said Juan Vasquez, a spokesman for CITES - the UN body that regulates trade in endangered species - adding that illicit trade was still flourishing."Since tigers can be...

When two tigers made their way into a southeastern Bangladesh village, forest officials knew they had to act quickly to save the tigers' lives.Similar instances have led to the endangered animals being beaten to death by villagers who feared for their lives.When officials arrived in the village, the tigers had already been killed."Tigers go in and out of villages in the night but if they go in during the day, they never survive. The villagers beat them to death," said Aboni Bhusan...

New study shows that fecal DNA sampling provides extremely accurate estimates of tiger populationsThe Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) announced today a major breakthrough in the science of saving tigers: high-tech DNA fecal sampling.According to the study, researchers will be able to accurately count and assess tiger populations by identifying individual animals from the unique DNA signature found in their dung. In the past, DNA was collected from blood or tissue samples from tigers that...

China and Russia say cross-border habitat unique to Siberian tigers and Far East leopards will be protected under a joint pact. The agreement signed Thursday in Moscow calls for creation of a nature reserve straddling Russia and China's shared border, especially around the Songhua River, where pollution needs to be reduced, Xinhua, China's state-run news agency reported Friday. An estimated 500 Siberian tigers, also called Amur tigers, remain in the wild, while fewer than 40 Far East...

The search is on for endangered Bengal tigers in the world's largest mangrove forest after a cyclone caused havoc there killing at least 180 people. Conservationists are scouring the Sundarbans mangrove forest for the tigers. The Cyclone Aila drove a tidal wave of saltwater inland.Abani Bhusan Thakur, chief Bangladesh official for the Sundarbans, said the forest had taken the brunt of the damage. The cyclone hit Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal on Monday.He said forest workers...

Workers at a Chinese safari park say a dog is serving as a wet nurse to four tiger cubs whose mother neglected their needs. The Qingdao park said the mother tiger apparently did not know to feed her cubs after giving birth to her first litter Monday so workers enlisted the help of the dog, which had recently birthed a litter of puppies, Qilu Evening News reported Monday. Park employees said the dog had previously been brought in to give milk to baby wolves.