Indian State To Shoot Rhino Poachers On Sight

FLORA AND FAUNA

African one-horned rhino.

Russian hunter kills rare leopard
Vladivostok, Russia (AFP) April 23 - A Russian hunter has shot and killed a rare Amur leopard in the far-east of the country, one of only around 30 left in the wild, the World Wide Fund For Nature said on Monday. The hunter shot the female in the back in mid-April and finished it off by hitting it repeatedly over the head with a heavy object, WWF said in a statement. The incident occurred in the Barsovy national park near the Chinese border, and was the third such incident in the area in the past five years, WWF far-east coordinator Sergei Khokhriakov said. According to the latest report from Russian and US researchers, there are between 25 and 34 of these animals living in three nature reserves along the Amur river. Poachers can sell a dead Amur leopard for up to 50,000 dollars (37,000 dollars). If caught, they risk a fine of just 20,000 rubles (800 dollars), according to Russia's ecological watchdog Rosprirodnadzor.

by Staff Writers
Kaziranga (AFP) India, April 23, 2007
An Indian state has ordered the wardens of a national wildlife park to shoot poachers of endangered one-horned rhinos on sight, officials said Monday. "A massive anti-poaching operation has been launched with orders issued to shoot-on-sight any unauthorised person inside Kaziranga's premises," Rockybul Hussain, northeastern Assam state's forest minister, told AFP in the reserve.

Six rhinos have been killed by poachers in the 430-square-kilometre (166-square-mile) Kaziranga park since January, including two in the past 10 days.

Hussain said he had deployed 50 rangers and 30 soldiers for anti-poaching operations in Kaziranga, home to an estimated 1,855 rhinos.

Experts believe the rhino's horns, which are purportedly an aphrodisiac, are smuggled to China or sold in other clandestine Asian markets.

Buyers from the Middle East also use the horns to make ornamental dagger handles. Estimates suggest the horns can sell for up to 35,000 dollars per kilogramme (2.2 pounds).

Five rhinos were poached last year and seven were killed in 2005.

About 500 rhinos have been killed by poachers over the past 20 years, according to government estimates.

Kaziranga lies some 220 kilometres (158 miles) east of Assam's largest city of Guwahati.

India's western state of Gujarat is also battling poachers. It stepped up security in its Gir forest reserves last week following the mysterious deaths of around a dozen rare Asiatic lions.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

FLORA AND FAUNA

Gene Study Shows Three Distinct Groups Of Chimpanzees

Chicago IL (SPX) Apr 23, 2007
The largest study to date of genetic variation among chimpanzees has found that the traditional, geography-based sorting of chimps into three populations-western, central and eastern-is underpinned by significant genetic differences, two to three times greater than the variation between the most different human populations.

INTERNET SPACE Couch Potatoes On Track For Virtual World All Of Russia Will Have Internet And Phone Access Wildblue High-Speed Internet Via Satellite Triples Capacity With New Satellite Publish, Perish Attitudes Make Profs Balk At Online Publication	LAUNCH PAD India Puts Italian Satellite Into Orbit Indian Space Program Goes Commercial Russia Puts 16 Foreign Satellites Into Orbit Indian Space Agency Set For First Commercial Launch Of Foreign Satellite
AEROSPACE Australia Fears Jet Flight Guilt Could Hit Tourism Nondestructive Testing Keeps Bagram Aircraft Flying New FAA Oceanic Air Traffic System Designed By Lockheed Martin Fully Operational NASA Seeks New Research Proposals	MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS Raytheon To Supply Canada With Enhanced Position Location Reporting System Terminals Intelsat To Test Internet Routing In Space For The US Military Northrop Grumman And LockMart Team Up For Integrated Air And Missile Defense Battle Command Harris Donates OS/COMET For Use In FalconSAT Program
TECH SPACE Everything Starts With Recognition US Knew About Chinese Anti-Satellite Test But Chose Not To Act Chemists Identify Organic Molecules That Mimic Metals China Meeting On Space Waste Delayed	APPOINTMENTS Dodgen Joins Northrop Grumman As Vice President Of Strategy For Missile Systems Business Townsend To Lead Ball Aerospace Exploration Systems In Huntsville NASA Nobel Prize Recipient To Lead Chief Scientist Office Kathryn Kynard Plays Key Role In Ares I Upper Stage Engine Development
EARTH OBSERVATION Envisat Symposium 2007 Kicks Off In Switzerland Scientists Meet To Review Envisat Results After Five Years Of Operations US Uses Landsat Satellite Data To Fight Hunger And Poverty NOAA And NASA Restore Climate Sensor To Upcoming NPP Satellite	GPS NEWS Safer Air Traffic With EGNOS Boeing-Led Team Developing Surface Navigation Concept For DARPA Northrop Grumman Team OCX Bids On The GPS Next Generation Control Segment Contract China Launches Compass Navigation Satellite

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement