Muzzled

Birder/photographer Susheel Kapadia called me today with appalling news. Apparently, the heat over the missing tigers in Sariska and elsewhere is getting too much for the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. Loath to suffer even more egg on face, the ministry has invoked a draconian piece of law and has blanket-banned wildlife research in India’s forests. Down to Earth reports:

A ministry circular has asked all state forest departments to stop giving permission for any kind of research that entails ‘handling’ of animals (touching, holding or even wire-tripping them for a camera shot). The ban is a blanket one: across forests, protected and otherwise, and across species.

Read the whole thing. Shocking.