Environment Conservation Group

5-day wildlife census in Mudumalai from May 4 Shantha Thiagarajan, TNN , Apr 26, 2011, 12.58am IST UDHAGAMANDALAM: For the first time, a wildlife census in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) and its buffer zones in the Nilgiris will be launched on May 4. Volunteers from NGOs and colleges and forest officials will participate in the five-day census that will cover more than 700sqkm of forest areas in the Mudumalai reserve and the buffer zones, which comprise the north eastern slope reserve forests in the Nilgiris. "The census is conducted periodically in the MTR reserve for different animals but this is the first time, a total wildlife census is being launched," said A Ameer Haja, deputy director, Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and Mukurthi National Park. The census will cover the MTR which extends over an area of about 321 square kilometres at the junction of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, apart from buffer zones comprising an area of about over 380 sqkm. The buffer z...

The wild side of the city  The Hindu April 20th 2011   I t was in the 1970s. Kanuvai Hills was just wilderness when it witnessed a fascinating phenomenon. “Thousands of painted grasshoppers thronged the hills,” says photo-naturalist and world-renowned macro photographer K. Jayaram. “Calotropis ( erukkan chedi ), the common wild plant on either sides of the mountain range, served as food for grasshoppers. Now, we don't see the plants or the grasshoppers,” he says. A beautiful waterfall near Mangarai, and forests with little streams and water bodies provided a haven for birds and butterflies. “Particularly in Anaikatty, we spotted butterflies such as blue bottles, peacock butterflies and lycanide butterflies commonly called as copper and blue butterflies, endemic to the region,” he recalls. Thousands of colourful butterflies migrated in October and September and “it was a sight to behold.” At Kovai Kutralam, from atop machans, he has photographed elephants while the tribals hel...