Delhi: Wildlife (Fauna)
m (Jyoti moved page Delhi: Fauna to Delhi: Wildlife (Fauna) without leaving a redirect) |
Revision as of 11:02, 27 October 2016
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Hyena
The Times of India, Jul 12 2015
Asola-Bhatti can be NCR's hyena habitat
Delhi's depleting scrub forests and the Aravalis around it may be home to the threatened striped hyena.While the forest department believes there may be a fairly healthy population, they will confirm it by camera trapping in a couple of months. Hyenas may not be as charismatic as the tiger or leopard but, if nurtured, Delhi's Asola Bhatti Sanctuary can be made to stand out as a habitat for the animal. The department had conducted a camera trapping exercise way back in 2000 and officials claim a pack was seen often in those days.
There is no dearth of prey or food for hyenas in the sanctuary . Experts say they can thrive on dead cattle, dead dogs or monkeys or even hunt for food. There is a dumping ground for dead animals near the Haryana border, too, which hyenas may be foraging on.
A book, “An Introduction to Delhi Ridge”, edited by G N Sinha, former additional principal chief conservator of forests, mentions “a pack of striped hyenas is also spotted occasionally in the Bhatti area“.
Asola Bhatti sanctuary is a small area of 4,707 acres in Maidan Garhi, notified in 1986, and about 2,167 acres in Bhatti, notified in 1991. But it shares a border with the Faridabad frontier of the Aravalis, making it an important wildlife corridor. The department is in talks with the Haryana government to secure an eco-sensitive zone shared between the two states.
