Revision as of 19:28, 3 January 2017

Extinct in India

Cheetah sprinting towards extinction, AGENCIES, Dec 28 2016 : The Times of India

India was home to many cheetahs back in the day, but the last is believed to have been killed in 1947.The cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952 -the only large mammal to have been declared extinct in the country, according to the Union environment ministry.

Zoological Society of London said in a statement, “The cheetah is sprinting towards the edge of extinction and could soon be lost forever un less urgent, landscape-wide conservation action is taken.“

There were an estimated 100,000 cheetahs (in the world) at the beginning of the 20th century, according to previous estimates.

“Given the secretive nature of this elusive cat, it has been difficult to gather hard information on the species, leading to its plight being overlooked,“ said Sarah Du rant, the report's lead author and project leader for the Rangewide Conservation Programme for Cheetah and African Wild Dog. “Our findings show that the large space requirements for cheetah, coupled with the complex range of threats faced by the species in the wild, meant that it is likely to be much more vulnerable to extinction than was previously thought,“ she said. Cheetahs travel widely in search of prey with some home ranges estimated at up to 3,000 square kilometres.

The study found that 77% of the animal's remaining habitat falls outside protected areas, leaving it especially vulnerable to human interference. The main risks are humans hunting their prey , habitat loss, illegal trafficking of cheetah parts, and the exotic pet trade, according to the study . Durant hailed recent commitments taken by the international community , including on stemming the flow of live cats from the Horn of Africa region. “We've just hit the reset button in our understanding of how close cheetahs are to extinction,“ said Kim Young-Overton, from the wild cat conservation organisation Panthera.

[http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/Article.aspx?eid=31808&articlexml=17th-century-Indian-carpet-found-in-Dutch-shipwreck-28122016025007 Dec 28 2016 : The Times of India (Delhi) 17th-century Indian carpet found in Dutch shipwreck London PTI

Fragments of a carpet -likely made in the 17th century India -along with a silk gown and other royal artefacts have been discovered from a 400-year-old shipwreck near the Netherlands. The carpet, made from silk and wool, is decorated with flowers and animals, including lions. Based on the patterns, colors and weaving techniques, art historians concluded that the fabric was likely manufactured in Lahore, in present-day Pakistan, during the second quarter of the 17th century , researchers said.

Local divers found the Lahore carpet among other textiles in a shipwreck around Texel Island in the Wadden Sea, which was a heavily trafficked area during the Dutch Golden Age. The shipwreck was covered in sand, resulting in unusually good preservation, researchers said.

“It's almost like having the fragments of an original Rembrandt in front of you,“ researchers were quoted as saying by the `Live Science'.

See also

Zoology: India

Fauna: India

A search for ‘cheetah’ through the Search box (top right) will yield links to Cheetahs in the Indian tradition.