Experts probe into Satkosia tiger’s death
An expert team comprising members of the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Wildlife Institute of India on Friday began a probe into a three-year-old tiger’s death at Satkosia reserve in Odisha’s Angul district, a Forest Department official said. The NTCA and the WII will carry out a “thorough investigation” to ascertain the cause behind the death of Royal Bengal Tiger ‘Mahavir’ at Satkosia, he said. “Both the organisations have taken Mahavir’s death very seriously. They will find out if the animal died of natural causes or there were other reasons,” the official said.Mahavir, translocated from Kanha National Park in M.P., was found dead in the core area of the Satkosia Tiger Reserve on Wednesday. Two of the six tigers — ‘Mahavir’ and ‘Sundari’ — were translocated to the sanctuary earlier this year. Earlier this month, ‘Sundari’ was tranquillised and shifted to an enclosure, after people alleged that it had mauled two persons to death.
Generally, trees are cut down for building roads. But in Arunachal Pradesh, a village is hoping that a flourishing tree will help spur the construction of a road. Residents of Kallek village in Siang district have developed a track to the State’s largest tree, standing almost 65 metres tall.The trekking track, the brainchild of 14 households in Kallek, was fuelled by the hope that the tree, called Atang Ane, and the variety of birds it attracts would popularise trekking enough for the local authorities to act on their 20-year-old promise to pave the road from the highway to the village. Kallek, inhabited by the Adi community, is 48 km from Pasighat, the Siang district headquarters. The last 10 km from the highway to the village, marked by a tough and hilly terrain, has been in the making for two decades now. “Atang Ane, which has grown into a huge tree today was once a fragile sapling, brought here from Myanmar. It was planted by a village elder,” said Tamang Tamuk, the head ‘gaonburah’ (village elder) of Kallek. Atang Ane (Ficus elastica) means ‘mother rubber tree’ in the Adi dialect. A three hour trek from Kallek, it stands as the largest multi-trunk tree in Arunachal Pradesh, spreading over an area of 59.8 m. “The trek from Kallek to Atang Ane is not just about gawking at a huge tree. It is also a birdwatchers’ paradise,” said Gandhi Darang, who runs Ane Siang Tours & Expeditions in Itanagar.Birds in the area include the great hornbill (the State bird), sunbird, white-tailed robin, barwing, collared treepie, parrotbill, and shrike babbler. In fact, 252 species were recorded in the Siang region during a six-year study that ended in 2016. Of these, 66, including six endangered ones, were reported for the first time.
Robredo: True leaders perform well despite having ‘uninspiring’ boss PLAY LIST 02:49Robredo: True leaders perform well despite having ‘uninspiring’ boss02:42PH underwater hockey team aims to make waves in SEA Games01:44Philippines marks anniversary of massacre with calls for justice01:19Fire erupts in Barangay Tatalon in Quezon City01:07Trump talks impeachment while meeting NCAA athletes02:49World-class track facilities installed at NCC for SEA Games “I’m always happy to get an American record, but I was hoping to go a little faster,” King said after posting a time of 29.66 seconds. “I’ve think I’ve still got a little left in the tank for Budapest.”She’ll have almost three weeks to prepare after breaking the record Jessica Hardy held for nearly eight years by 0.14. King also could be heading to Hungary with the No. 1 time in the event this year after passing her Russian rival Yulia Efimova, who started the day in the No. 1 spot with a time of 29.88.FEATURED STORIESSPORTSSEA Games: Biñan football stadium stands out in preparedness, completionSPORTSPrivate companies step in to help SEA Games hostingSPORTSWin or don’t eat: the Philippines’ poverty-driven, world-beating pool starsKatie Meili, an Olympic gold medalist like King, finished in 30.11.King has qualified in two individual events and the Indiana University star will chase her third win in three nights when she competes in her specialty, the 100 back Friday. Pagasa: Kammuri now a typhoon, may enter PAR by weekend Dressel has qualified in three individual events for the worlds — the 100 free and the 50 and 100 fly, where he’s like to square off with rival Joseph Schooling of Singapore.Kevin Cordes set a championship record by beating Andrew Wilson with a time of 26.88 in the men’s 50 breast, No. 3 in the world, and 19-year-old Justin Ress closed it out with another world-best performance in the 50 backstroke. He beat two Olympic gold medalists, Ryan Murphy and Matt Grevers, with a time of 24.41 — and surpassed China’s Xu Jiayu for the No. 1 spot.Leah Smith, who finished second to Katie Ledecky in races each of the first two nights, finally won the women’s 400 IM in 4:33.86. It was third on the international list. Elizabeth Beisel wound up taking second in 4:38.55 after Ella Eastin was disqualified for a bad turn coming out of the backstroke.Sports Related Videospowered by AdSparcRead Next Messi’s bride Antonella, ‘first lady of football’ Lacson: SEA Games fund put in foundation like ‘Napoles case’ Another vape smoker nabbed in Lucena Don’t miss out on the latest news and information. View comments She was only part of the speedy equation in Indianapolis, though.The U.S. men produced world-best times in three of the night’s four events and set a championship record in the other one.Chase Kalisz started the impressive run in the men’s 400 individual medley, finishing in 4:06.99 — the first sub 4:07 in the world in 2017. Second-place finisher Jay Litherland, Kalisz’s teammate at Georgia, wound up second in 4:09.31, No. 4 in the world.Event winners automatically qualify for the U.S. team. The runner-ups must wait for the selection process to end before finding out if they make the team.Caeleb Dressel took the men’s 100 butterfly, winning in 50.87 to become the first swimmer to crack the 51-second mark this year. Twenty-six-year old Tim Phillips was second in 51.30, the third-fastest time in the world.ADVERTISEMENT
Pagasa: Kammuri now a typhoon, may enter PAR by weekend Lilly King celebrates winning women’s 200m breaststroke at the U.S. swimming national championships in Indianapolis, Wednesday, June 28, 2017. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana — Lilly King set an American record in the women’s 50-meter breaststroke, three other swimmers had the fastest times in the world this season and two more broke national championship records at the U.S. titles on Thursday.Each has even bigger plans for next month’s world championships in Hungary.ADVERTISEMENT LOOK: Jane De Leon meets fellow ‘Darna’ Marian Rivera LATEST STORIES What ‘missteps’? China furious as Trump signs bills in support of Hong Kong MOST READ Cayetano to unmask people behind ‘smear campaign’ vs him, SEA Games