Brahma Bull is Ongole Bull, Andhra to claim royalty

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy 

AP Biodiversity board is now claiming royalty for ‘Brahma or Brahman’ 
bull an Ongole bull taken and bred widely in Brazil, United States and Australia.
The bull, scientifically known as Bos indicus, has great demand as it is known to have 
resistance to foot and mouth disease and for 'delicious beef'.  The biodiversity Board 
chairman Dr R Hampaiah who returned to city from Brazil after attending a conference on 
Biodiversity said that steps are being initiated for access benefit sharing from the 
breeders associations of countries using the Ongole or Bhrama bull.
Ironically farmers from AP associated with an NGO and other parts of India are now going 
to 'World Brahma Bull Congress' in Panama for buying the brahma bulls to be held from 
July 1 to 8. “An NGO called Ankush based in Himayatnagar has approached us for buying 
Brahma bulls from this congress and sought the permission of animal husbandry department 
for importing the cattle,”
He added,”we have to apply for geographical indicator for Ongole Bull apart from Red 
Sanders and KPVulli(krishnapuram vulli, onion, near Mydukur). The Brahma cow gives 45 
litres of milk a day. There are several restaurants with Brahma bull beef on their menu 
in Brazil and United States. The bulls are auctioned in the congress. Even they are 
admitting that it is Ongole bull originally. They may have improved the breed 
genetically. Under the act we have right to claim roayality,”
The Ongole bullers are first found in the geographical area between Gundlakamma and 
Alluru rivers in the Ongole and Kandukur mandals .
“The Brazilians are regularly approaching local Ongole bull farmers to maintain the 
originality of the breed. Its American off-breed "The Brahman Bull" has to maintain the 
pure bloodlines of the Ongole bull. Though the first bull has gone in 1900s they are 
still taking the bulls from here now. In auction they earn millions of dollars by selling 
Brahma or Bhraman bull,” said Mr Hampaiah."..Good Ongole sires from villages of the breeding area are being bought by Latin 
Americans and taken away from the breeding area, while their semen is frozen and 
unofficially shipped out to Latin America. These sires will never return to the area 
again,," said M Narendranath a farmer and secretary of Ongole cattle improvement society 
in his paper published by Food and Agricultural organisation of United Nations.

Elephant census in India from May 22

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy

Elephant census will begin in the State from May 22 and go on till May 24th. The jumbo census is taken once in five years.
Koundinya wildlife sanctuary in Chittoor district bordering Tamilandu is reported to have 
around 25 elephants and in Vizainagaram-Srikakulam forest area bordering Odisha have four 
of them.
Chief Wild Life Warden Mr S V Kumar said,”We are conducting elephant census 
simultaneously along with the neighboring states Orissa, Karnataka and Tamilnadu. The 
elephants made Koundinya sanctuary as their resident area and earlier they were only 
migrating from neighboring TN and Karnataka,” Koundinya sanctuary spread over 357.6 
square kilometers is the only elephant reserve in the State where the elephants have 
returned after 200 years.
However the Vizainagaram-Srikakulam forest cover which is the habitat of elephants is yet 
to be declared as sanctuary.
‘We have been paying compensation to the farmers at the rate of Rs 6000 per acre for 
damage by elephants. So there is no resistance from locals. Elephants keep moving and it 
should be coordinated effort where the census should be taken up at the same time,” said 
Mr S V Kumar. In 2007 elephant census revealed that over all in the country there are 
around 4,000-6,000 jumbos.

Poachers prey on peafowl explosion in Hyderabad

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy 
Peafowl population explosion in the city is making the act of poachers 
easy as they are available in abundance even in layouts, small vegetations and abandoned 
buildings. It is found that hunters are drugging them using after mixing the chemical 
mixed grains.
The latest census at KBR National Park in Banjara Hills in the city found that there are 
400 to 450 peafowl which is almost double than the previous census. The census is carried 
out by forest officials along with Bird Waters Society.
The peafowl population is similarly increased in Vanashtalipuram Park and the spillover 
is moving to the nearby vegetations.  In Vanasthalipuram at Sahebnagar morning walkers 
fond 'drug mixed grains' and noose which are used to trap the peafowl in HUDA layout area.
M Narasimha Murthy a morning walker and head master Abdullapurmet government high school 
says ,”Poachers are trying to kill them by both setting up noose or using drugs or poison 
mixed grains. We have found the poaching material and handed over to forest officials. We 
found a few dead peafowl in the area too,”
The wild life wing crime control cell is also received several calls on the movements of 
poachers in the areas like Golkonda and Rajendranagar. Wild life wing officials kept 
watch in these areas but so far didn’t arrest any one.
Anti Poaching Squad Forest Range Officer Mr. Tirumala Rao said ,”we are going send the 
drug mixed grains to forensic lab for tests. We have been received calls from locals 
regarding poaching activity in Vanasthalipuram. There are around 15 peafowl in the Huda 
layout. As there are no houses there is tree growth due to which they made it as habitat. 
Due to growth in numbers the peafowl they are easily visible outside the forest area due 
to which they are targeted,”

Tigers roar in Andhra Pradesh: Census

Udumula Sudhakar Reddy

Intermediary findings of census of big cats in the State reveal that the tigers are roaring, showing a positive growth in numbers. The reports based on camera 
traps and pug marks coming in from tiger reserves, sanctuaries and national parks to State wild life wing have some big surprises too.
 In Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger reserve so far the reports found that there could be around 78 tigers including cubs. Wild life officials Atchampet division alone had shown 17 tigers including cubs which is a record sort of number. The figures are excluding the Gundla Brahmeswaram sanctuary area.

 In another significant finding three tigers were found in Kinnerasani sanctuary of Khammam and officials have lifted pug marks. In 2010 census Centre declared that there 

are no tigers in Khammam.  In Papikonda sanctuary too presence of tiger is identified. A Gaur wild buffalo skeleton was found in Chintapally forest area of Andhra Orissa Border which indicated that there could be the present of tigers. “Tiger can only kill a Gaur 

wild buffalo in the food web so we are suspecting a presence of tiger in this are,” said a wilfe official. The tiger census exercise has began on May 1 across the State. The census work is in full swing all parts of the State except in Chintapally forest area in Vishakapatnam where Maoists are resorting to burning of vehicles recently. Chief Wild Life Warden Mr S V Kumar said ,’we are getting positive results of significant presence of tigers. The consolidation report will be out by May last week. The due date given is May 25. We have set up 90 pairs of camera traps in NSTR,” In an area of 400 square kilometers as part of intensive data collection the camera traps are set up in  NSTR in phase-4 monitoring of the area. The camera traps will be later shifted to other areas and the monitoring will continue through out the year in different forest area.

In Pocharam forest area of Medak district though there is no presence of tigers,  the wild life officials found the evidence for 12 panthers.  Forest officials are taking the help of Hyderabad Tiger Conservation Society and Wild Life Institute of India for carrying out the census.
Chief Conservator of Forests(project tiger) Mr A K Nayak said ,” NSTR has received an 
excellence award from National Tiger Conservation Authority for effective human resources 
utilization for 2010-11. NSTR was utilizing Chenchu primitive tirbals for tiger 
protection and capacity building apart from training in house staff,”
Each camera used would cost Rs 18,000 and the money for census is funded by NTCA of the 
Ministry of Forest and Environment.