Hero of Ranthambhore

Hero of Ranthambhore is a program initiated since May 2007, where people in service doing exceptional jobs are honored for their contribution in saving and protecting wildlife in Ranthambhore.

 
Gharial The Expedition December 2009

The Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) Gmelin 1789, or the Long-snouted Crocodile, is a fresh-water Crocodile that is one of only two surviving species of the Gavialidae family. Its Latin name, Gavialis gangeticus means, Gavial of the Ganga. The Gharial gets its name from the Hindi word ‘ghara’ meaning pot or vessel. The adult male Gharials possess this protuberance at the tip of their long snouts and it resembles an inverted pot. Only the adult males have the 'ghara'. Thus, Gharials are the only crocodiles that show sexual dimorphism.

 
Identification and Quantification of Anthropogenic Pressure in Kailadevi Wildlife Sanctuary

Kailadevi Wildlife Sanctuary is major part of Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve. The total area covered by this sanctuary is 672.82 Km2 out of 1394.48 Km2 area of Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve (Ranthambhore Management Plan, 1991-1995). Kailadevi WLS is located in Sawai Madhopur and Karauli districts of Rajasthan. Even though it is level III TCU ((Dinerstein, E. et.al 1997); it has some unique features. Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve is the only part of Aravali hill ranges, in which the tiger population has survived today. The habitat of Ranthambhore TR is also unique in having continuous forests of Dhonk tree (Anogeissus pendula).

 
Identification and Quantification of Anthropogenic Pressure in Corridor between Ranthambhore National Park and Kailadevi Wildlife Sanctuary

Wildlife movement corridors, also called dispersal corridors or landscape linkages are linear features whose primary wildlife function is to connect at least two significant habitat areas (Beier and Loe 1992). Wildlife corridors are one of the important strategies to increase the connectivity of isolated populations (Meffe and Carroll 1994, Rosenberg et.al 1997). These corridors are areas which connect such populations and lessen the effects of habitat fragmentation. Wildlife populations become disconnected due to various reasons including biological barriers and anthropogenic activities. Isolation of population decreases genetic diversity. Habitat fragmentation affects numerous ecological processes across multiple spatial and temporal scales, including changes in abiotic regimes, shifts in habitat use, altered population dynamics, and changes in species compositions (Schweiger et al. 2000 and Bond, M. 2003.)

The Gharial Expedition-III - December 2009

The Gharial Expedition is a survey done along the Chambal River to document Gharial populations in one segment along the Rajasthan side of the National Chambal Sanctuary. Following a mass death of Gharials during the winter of 2007, an ‘expedition’ was launched by Tiger Watch [an NGO working in Ranthambhore].

Madhu Bhatnagar of Sri Ram School of Delhi says, "On return from Kailashpuri, I could not forget the four, six and ten year old children living off their day on gutka. Was it to dispel the hunger or out of ignorance? It was sad to see that after 32 years of relocation from the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve in 1974-76, there was still no electricity in the village of Kailashpuri. The people mostly Gujjars ecked their living through cultivation or by rearing cattle. Kailashpuri remained etched in my mind, and on spur of the moment, I decided as a concerned citizen, I had my share of responsibilities to fulfill. Villages had to be relocated from Ranthambhore, and the one already relocated – was it an inspiration model to follow? I felt that solar lighting was the best and quickest option, and this could be handled without going through the red tapism of the government machinery. Help that poured out was unimaginable. The hand of the almighty was visibly working for this mission, as students printed a newsletter overnight, exclusively about Moghiyas for sale. For two days, they assisted in selling and generate funds in The Shri Ram Schools in Delhi and Gurgaon. "
 
Along with lights, there were a couple of other needed things that were collected:

 
The actual process of delivery was smooth and Kailashpuri got the first solar light in 15 households on Dec 7th, 2007. The mission is to bring electricity to the entire village of Kailashpuri, and the Moghiya village of Hindwar.
 

Less than 300 left in the wild, river Chambal in Rajasthan holds a substantial population of the endangered Gharial. A rapid survey conducted on foot 100kms along the river was covered in 11 days. The team camped at 10 different villages along the river.
 

 
The methodology carried out was simple. The team would survey a stretch of 10kms per day, Record GPS locations, habitat description, water pH and tempreature, weather conditions etc. They would interact with the villagers while distrubuting posters. The idea of interacting with the villagers was to gain local support, create conservation centers and also looks for possibly creating informers.
 

In consultation with Tiger Watch, an NGO working in areas surrounding Ranthambhore National Park, Serco personnel at DMRC IT Park led a project across all accounts to collect books for Moghiya children located in the environmentally sensitive habitat for the few Tigers left in the country – Ranthambhore National Park. This was a unique project, aimed at inculcating reading habits among children of Moghiya tribesmen, known for poaching tigers.
  
The book collection drive ended in the month of November after three months of pursuit to contribute towards the education of young children. Manish Balani, the communication Champ for the site did a fantastic job in keeping up the tempo for this drive.
  
A select group of five people from Serco travelled on Dec 7th to Ranthambhore (Bharti Sharma, Vikas Gulati, Meghali Chakravarty, CA Jose, and Purnima Bhatnagar). The group worked with Dr. Dharmender Khandal, of Tiger Watch to reorganize approx 1000 books into six packs, according to knowledge levels of recipient villages.
 
On the 8th and 9th, two packs of approx 300 books were donated to Fateh Public School and Moghiya School in Ranthambhore.
 
Additionally, 500 books were donated to the Moghiya hostel which houses 20 boys of ages ranging between five to fourteen years. An “On the Spot competition” for displaying creative vocal and dancing talent was organized by the visiting team. This was compeered by Vikas Gulati from the Serco Order to Cash team, who did a marvelous job in entertaining all the children. The enthusiastic crowd received prizes graciously donated by Rahul Anand from the Procure to Pay Team. Chocolates distributed amongst the children were a huge success, as were the presents consisting of Genpact Mugs, crayons and colour pencils.
The team visited three other villages – Kailashpuri, where 50 books were donated and Bodal which received around 60 books. These two villages are located in the corridor between Ranthambhore National Park and Sawai Mansingh Sanctuary, in the south. Bodal, thirty five kms away from Ranthambhore National Park was a unique experience, with a school run under a tree. The staff was trained teachers working with the Jyoti Adarsh Prathmik school, and taught the children everything from EVS to Maths.
 
The team also visited Bhir Gaon with 50 books. This village is located in the north corridor between the National Park and Kailadevi sanctuary. Every where the children were excited with the colorful and illustrative books, and read stories for the team, which helped get them oriented to books.
 

On 23rd May three cubs fell in a 20ft well situated at the periphery of the national park. Two of the three were declared dead after a medical checkup. The third cub which was injured was reunited by its mother in the wild, however this cub was found dead 26 days of being rescued.
"The dead cub was found around 10am while forest guards were on their routine tracking exercise in Khandar range of the park" said Mr. Sudarshan Sharma, a forest official.
Mr. Fateh Singh Rathore and Dr. Gowri Mallapur (a veterinary doctor by profession) claim that the cub was highly dehydrated and shouldn't have been released the same day.
According to Tiger Watch's monitoring team and the latest census say that the tiger population in Ranthambore is 31, being 18 adults and 13 cubs and these three cubs are not included in the census. This proves the fact that the forest department were completely unaware of this family of tigers.
 

On a tip off from TigerWatch, the forest department caught the poacher Guman Singh in possession of an illegal gun. He is still being interrogated. He was found near a village called Bharja, near Banas river. Tiger Watch has been keeping an eye on this poacher since he absconded during a raid in his house back in 2005. Tiger Watch had back then informed the Forest department about this poacher and while they conducted a joint raid this poacher had escaped leaving behind ample evidence of poaching wild animals. He admitted that he used to kill animals like, wild boar, owls and even wolves which are considered endangered on request of local grazers. His eldest soon was caught during the mission "Operation Co-operation" - a series of raids conducted by the forest department and Tiger Watch together.
 

Startling discovery comes in October 2006 photo-census which shows only 18 adults when 26 were counted in August 2005 You can read this news in Sunday's (April 22,2007) Indian Express
http://www.indianexpress.com/sunday/story/29029.html
 

Tiger Watch successfully raided and caught two turtle poachers. We rescued a live soft shell turtle and confiscated nets, sharp knives and meat of seven dead turtles. The poachers name are Vishnu Das and Mithalal Berwa. Vishnu Das has poached 100 turtles in the last two years and was
active in this area since 15 yrs. Turtle meat is sold at Rs. 2200 /kg, and is used for making soup in China and Bengal.
 

A poacher lost his both hands when he was preparing a bomb for killing wild animals.

Ramesh Moghiya s/o sh Jagdish Moghiya belongs to MadhyaPradesh. The bomb is used for killing animals. They use sulpher and other locally available explosives to make this bomb. The bomb is usually enfolded in meat or wheat flour to invite or attract wild animals. The bomb explodes in the animals mouth when they bite it.