Cobra Man Snake Raj Kumar dies of Mosquito bite cerebral malaria

By U Sudhakar Reddy

Friend of snakes K Raj Kumar who escaped venomous sanke bites 29 times had fallen to mosquito bite. Raj Kumar passed away

due to cerebral malaria at a city hospital on Monday morning. Ophiologist Raj Kumar who was featured by Paul Merton and was running

Friends of Snakes Society in Defence Colony in the city and known nationally. At the age of seven he started catching snakes and lost two of his fingers of both hands due to the snake bites. Deputy Conservator of Forests Mr A Shankaran who lost his personal friend

says ,"As a school boy he used to rescue snakes and hand over them to zoo.

He used to tell that officials that he was handing over them as the people are killing it. He had a great art of capturing the snakes and handle them gently as we handle the new-born. He survived the snake including cobra and viper bites several times and two times it was very serious as his fingers were amputated. Once he was admitted to Intensive Care Unit where 23 doses of

anti venom was given to save his life. He escaped all these but the cerebral malaria killed him,"

Raj Kumar used to attend at least 20 to 30 calls a month to rescue snakes in the twin cities. He had conducted hundreds of shows in the schools and institutions across the country.

K Prakash an engineer and brother of Raj Kumar says, "This is a great loss to the family. He is a such a loveable man. He was diagnosed for cerebral malaria and treatment began two days ago. He died on Monday morning,"

Raj Kumar had at least 200 disciples who adore him, Raj used to tell in interviews that he was rescuing snakes as they are

misunderstood species and friends of farmers. He used to tell that snakes eat rats that spoil the crop particularly paddy and if the snakes are endangered the food production will come down due to increased mice menace.

Raj Kumar is survived by a wife and son and parents. His son Dharam Teja was also featured by Paul Merton carrying python on his neck.

Rajkumar was trained in Pune snake par and Bronx Zoo in US. Shankaran recalls ,"He dedicated all his life for snakes. He never took

money for his shows. Government of India has donated him a jeep which he used for the rescue of snakes. Raj knows snake feeding habits,"

Raju and his team members used to lay traps at the railway tracks and catch the rats and bandicoots and bring them back to feed the snakes. A follower of world renowned Romulus Whitaker Raj Kumar says the snakes are soft natured warm and friendly.

In his first encounter with snake when group of people killed it he asked his mother Ms K Joan who told him that they are beautiful creations of god and were misunderstood. His father Mr K V Rao was a defence employee.

One of the disciples of Raj Kumar Mr M Shiva says ,"we are two hundred members and 30 of us are active. He used to train us with non poisonous snakes initially and then until he gets satisfied that we can safely handle he never used to expose us to poisonous snakes. He used to be always caution us about our safety,"

Raju another aspiring young ophiologist of Raj Kumar says ,"there are no words to describe him. We couldn't digest the death of our guru," Retired PCCF Mr R K Rao and several other prominent people helped him

to grow. Chief Wild Life Warden Mr Hitesh Malhotra and Additional PCCF Mr A V Joseph were members of executive committee of the society. Maneka Gandhi and Amala Akkineni were the chief patron of the society

His society was involved in spreading awareness apart from rescue and rehabilitation in the State. He had done around 3000 rescues and 4000 educational snake demonstration.

Raj Kumar was writing a book on snakes and his desire to establish a snake park couldn't be fulfilled.

 Mr. Raj Kumar, spent almost three decades handling snakes, has come out with a blue print and spent several months in the United Studies Though land was given for snake park at Mahendra Hills he couldn't construct as permission as denied as the land is in the flight path. National zoo authority had given clearance and Union government approved a grant of Rs 25 crore but it didn't take off as Begumpet airport authorities refused permission. Later he tried for land at Necklace Road which didn't

materialise.

Oldest Indian wild ass dies in captivitiy at Nehru Zoo

The Oldest wild ass Rathi died on Saturday in Nehru Zoological Park. Rathis was 33 year old and it was the longest surviving Indian wild ass species as per the records.
According Zoo education officer Mr Vara Prasad the life span of wild ass in captivity is around 20 years.
“Rathi was boren in Shakkarabagh zoo in Junagadh in Gujarath in 1977. A pair of male and femal ass Rathi was brough to Hyderabad zoo in 1980. The male wild ass died in 1987.
Rathi was single since then till it died on Saturday for 23 years. It is a rare species as it is now found only in Rann of Kutch in Gujarat,” said Mr Vara Prasad.
He added ,”earlier it was found in Aghanistan and Baluchistan and now endangered. The proposal to translocate them in Thar desert in Rajasthan didn’t take off,”Zoo officials mourned the death of Rathi and paid tributes to it. “It died a natural death,” said the officials.

Sand Boa racket In Hyderabad

By U Sudhakar Reddy

The wildlife offi cials busted an inter-state sand boa snake selling racket and fined eight persons for possessing three snakes.
The racketeers were using a website, www.ricepuller.com, to sell the snakes. The state wild life anti-poaching squad forest range officer, Mr M. Raja Ramana Reddy, said, "The racket has its roots in AP, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Kar- nataka and Maharashtra. We have recovered three snakes - from Bibinagar in Nalgonda and in Dilsukhnagar in the city."
The snakes were caught - from the nearby forests. The eight members were fined Rs 25,000. One of them had t impersonated a mandal rev enue officer, he said. According to the officials those fined included P.Srinivas, son of Sudarshan, an MBA graduate who was using the website.
The others are P. Bhaskar of Bibinagar, P. Hari of Banjara Hills, B. Ravi of Karmanghat, V. Yadagiri of Karmanghat, J. Mallesh of LB Nagar, S. Lakshmi Narasimha alias Ashok of Saidabad and B. Rajasekhar of Nalgonda. The wildlife officials seized a car, mobile phones and a motorcycle.
Though the sand boa has no actual market or buyers, the racketeers create a false impression that these twinheaded snakes have valuable curative properties and can be sold for crores of rupees each.
Believing this, gullible persons buy the snake, called "double engine" in their parlance, from th snake catchers in villages.
The middlemen, wh promise them the money collect thousands of rupee fees for "expenses" an examine the sand boa, bu the promised buyer neve arrives.
Even if the "buyer" arrive he "rejects" the snake stat ing that it is underweight o shows some other discrep ancy.

Panthers and Hyenas visit 'ancestral home' at Madhapur Hitech City

By U Sudhakar Reddy
Pushed out of the jungles on the outskirts of the city decades ago, wild animals like panthers and hyenas are now reclaiming their “ancestral” homes in search of breathing space and foodTuesday’s sighting of two felines, believed to be panthers, at Puppalaguda near Gatchibowli here is said to be part of the process of revisiting areas where their ancestors roamed freelyAccording to forest officials, areas on the outskirts of the city like Madhapur, Nagole and Vanasthalipuram were once shrubs and bushes. With the spurt in realty business in neighbouring Ranga Reddy districts, wild animals lost their natural habit and the source of foo. This pushed them to residential localities in search of newer habitatsResidents of Puppalaguda have been spending sleepless night for the past three days after they spotted leopard and hyenas in their locality. Forest officials said these areas were once the habitats of the wild animalsThe forest department’s anti-poaching squad incharge, Mr M. Raja Ramana Reddy, said, “we have taken the pug marks from these areas. We have to confirm whether those are the pugmarks of panther or striped hyena. Some people also saw a panther recently in Nagole. Madhapur is the best example of the destruction of wildlife ecosystem.” For the past three days, labourers who stay near stone crushing quarries in Puppalaguda, have been spotting the panther“The panthers or hyenas may have come to this locality to prey upon street dogs,” said Mr Reddy“We are under constant fear that they may attack us,” said a labourer.

Wild Life Crime: Deer hunters nabbed in Nallamalais

U Sudhakar Reddy

After a daring chase, forest officials caught six persons who shot two Sambar deer in the Tiger sanctuary in Nallamala on Thursday night.
They were identified as Mr G.Ravi Kumar, a resident of Hydernagar , Mr V. Srinivas of SR Nagar, Mr K. Ravindranath of Shaikpet, all working with Janani Infrastructure, Mr G. Rahul, a third-year engineering student and Mr Ashok Kumar, an MCA professional. A driver, Mr Ghulam Fayazuddin of Moghalpura, was also arrested.
A police constable, Mr Nagaraju, who shot the deer and Mr Krishna Reddy, a contractor of Janani Infrastructure, escaped in a jeep.
Forest officials seized two vehicles and around 100 kg of deer meat from the arrested persons.
The Telugu Desam has previously alleged that Janani Infrastructure is the subsidiary company floated by Mr Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, son of the Chief Minister, Dr Y. S.Rajasekhar Reddy.
The Atchampet divisional forest officer, Mr Shankaran, said the incident took place 20 km from Atchampet near Rushula Cheruvu.
“They started from Hyderabad on Thursday evening and entered the forest at midnight,” he said. “We heard four gunshots but they tried to escape after seeing our vehicle.”

Bear attacks in Andhra Forests

By U Sudhakar Reddy

Wild animal attacks, particularly by the sloth bear, on humans are on the rise in the state.
Tribals, who venture into the deep forest to collect minor produce, are the victims in most cases. As many as 18 persons have died in the state. According to assistant conservator of forests (wildlife) Mr B. Vara Prasad, last year 15 deaths were reported in the state which included 11 elephant-related and four in sloth bear attack related cases.
In 2008, there have been three cases of fatal sloth bear attacks. Most of the attacks are reported from Nallamala forest. The state government has been sitting on the proposal to increase the compensation package to the victims.
The government had decided on a compensation package of Rs 1 lakh for the family of the deceased and Rs 20,000 for permanently disabled.
In case of minor injuries the hospital expenses are paid as per the GO that was issued 10 years ago. In 2007, the forest department proposed the state government to increase the compensation to the victims family from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh and for permanent disabled from Rs 20,000 to Rs 70,000. Karnataka is paying Rs 1.5 lakh and Maharashtra is paying Rs 2 lakh for it

Andhra CM YSR a nature lover!!! Peafowl to Edupalapaya

Who cares about Great Indian Bustard and Jerdon's Cursor?

By U Sudhakar Reddy
When the clouds gather over Idupulapaya, local people can now get to see peacocks dancing. After gifting a botanical garden, a deer park and an IIIT for Idupulapaya in his native district Kadapa, the Chief Minister, Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, has ordered the release of 67 peacocks and peahens there.
Wags say that there is no end for the patronage which the Chief Minister extends to Idupulapaya. His family has estates near the Edupulupaya Reserve Forest and the Chief Minister had given away hundreds of acres of land to the poor braving criticism from the opposition.
Dr Reddy now wants to relocate the peacocks and peahens grown using special breeding techniques at the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad to Edupalapaya. Wildlife experts had wondered why the peafowl species was being bred carefully in the Nehru Zoo though their population is exploding in the natural habitat and other species required more attention. The answer is that forest officials had undertaken the task on the instruction of the Chief Minister who wanted to gift them to his native district.
Funds were sanctioned on war footing and zoo officials smiled as the peafowl population increased. They will be taken to Idupulupaya by June end or in the first week of July, in time for the rains. Forest officials say that the activities at Idupulupaya are evidence of Dr Reddy’s love for nature. According to them, the development of Idupulapaya could be the first step towards the formation of a connecting corridor between Nallamala and Seshachalam forests which will help in the free movement of animals.
However, the fact remains this "love of nature" is not extended to crucial projects related to endangered species. The vulture breeding project and the Jerdon Cursor and Great Indian Bustard projects could not take off so far. There are only 10 Great Indian Bustards in Rollapadu bird sanctuary and the species is facing extinction.
The Telugu Ganga canal project has also had a negative impact on the Jerdon Cursor bird. But forest officials would rather clap on as peacocks dance in Edupulupaya and peahens watch them in admiration.

Leopards caught and killed in Urban jungles

By U Sudhakar Reddy

With humans in vading and capturing their habitats to erect their highrises, big cats are entering towns and cities as if to demand their due.
Panthers once roamed in the Hitec city area of Madhapur, but they lost their habitat after the scrub jungle was levelled for erecting a cyber city.
Similarly, scrub jungles in the fringes of Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry and other urban areas were also destroyed for construction.
These scrub jungles were the connecting links (marginal habitats) between the thick forest and human habitations. For long years, the borders were inviolate.
But that is no longer the case. The destruction of its habitat, lack of prey and water scarcity has forced many panthers to stray into cities and towns in recent times.
In 2008, there were 22 incidents of panthers straying into cities, towns and villages. There were only 13 such incidents in 2006.
Panthers have been spotted everywhere — near temples, railway stations, prisons, dumping yards, residential colonies and industrial units.
Big cats were spotted many times in the the ONGC base complex spread over around 200 acres in Rajahmundry. Some of them were caught and released in Maredumilli forests of Rampachodavaram agency.
On March 25, another panther was spotted at the Central Prison in Rajahmundry and it was trapped in a bathroom by a resident of Lalitanagar Colony, a few kilometres away from the prison.
In Visakapatnam, panthers were sighted at Kapulauppada and Marikavalasa on the Vizag-Bhimili Road close to the beach between November 2007 and January 2008.
Another panther which strayed into fields near Samalkota was killed by panic-stricken villagers armed with sticks and sharp weapons before forest officials arrived.
“They were all young panthers in search of a new territory after losing their habitat,” said a forest official.
The situation has become so alarming that top officials of the wildlife department have asked all divisional forest officers to keep traps ready to deal with emergencies.
Officials in Visakhapatnam, Nizamabad and East Godavari districts were asked to be ready with three to four traps at all times.
Lower rung employees are also being trained on how to trap and tranqulise a panther. “We have given training to beat officers and section officers on how to catch the cats,” said the deputy conservator of forest (Wild Life), Mr B. Varaprasad.
“We are spending Rs 50 lakh on contingency measures.” Forest officials could rescue only eight of the pan thers which entered human habitations.
There have been rare instances of panthers attack ing humans. In Vishakapatnam, a panther attacked a female worker and dragged her to distance before she was rescued by other labourers near the IT Park at Kapulaupada on January 24. Another labourer was also attacked by a panther two weeks earlier in the same spot.

(With Patnaik and Sampath)