Category Environment

What are locusts and how do they pose a threat to food security?

The word “locust’ has been in the environment sections of all newspapers for some time. On some days, news about them appeared on the front page. Here are samples.

[1] ‘The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said earlier this week that Somalia and Ethiopia were facing a Locust infestation that is destroying crops and threatening food security in the region. On Saturday, Somali farmers urged their government and the international community to help protect crops from the invasion.”

[2] ‘The FAO has reported farmers are facing “devastating threat” to their crops.” “A single locust plague can lead to a loss of 170,000 tonnes of grain, enough to feed one million people for a year,” the organisation said. The insects have already destroyed at least 175,000 acres of farmland in Somalia and Ethiopia, according to the FAO.

[3] A swarm of what appeared to be locusts forced a passenger plane off its course in Ethiopia. Pilots were preparing to land the Ethiopian Airlines flight from Djibouti to Dire Dawa when clouds of insects slammed into the plane’s engines, wind-shield and nose. They tried in vain to clean the windscreen with the plane’s wipers. Thirty minutes later the plane landed safely in the capital Addis Ababa.”

[4] “Somalis fight invading Locusts by eating them. Somalis are battling the worst invasion of Locusts in 25 years. They have resorted, to eating the insects to stop them from destroying crops. Local media reports have shown, residents central Somalia frying Locusts and serving them with rice, with one man staging the desert insects are tastier than fish.. Another man told Universal Somali TV he believes eating the insects could, help reduce his back pain and blood pressure, while some residents have apparently urged local restaurants to introduce locust dishes.”

[5] “Mauritania is planning to use drones to monitor the Locust swarms in the locust swarms in their country.” ‘The drones will track and monitor desert Locusts and instigate early-warning operations before the swarms arrive so that appropriate action can be taken,” said a report. The Latest round of tests, announced, in September 2019, will represent a “critical stage” in the fight against the locust plague, Secretary-General of the Mauritanian Rural, Development Ministry Ahmedou , Ould Bouh said.

This year’s tests are expected to confirm whether improvements made to drones wilt demonstrate their usability in the harsh desert conditions, and pave the way for their wider use in the region.

[6] “Pakistan declared an emergency earlier in February, 2020, saying locust numbers were the worst in, more than two decades. The Chinese government announced, recently it was sending a team of experts to Pakistan to develop “targeted programmes” against the Locusts.” They would send ducks to control the numbers of Locusts. “An agricultural expert behind the scheme says a single duck can eat more than 200 locusts a day and can be more effective than pesticides. Lu Lizki, a senior researcher with the Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences said that the ducks are “biological weapons”. He said that while chickens could eat about 70 Locusts in one day a duck could devour more than three times that number. After a trial, the ducks would be sent to Pakistan’s worst-affected areas of Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab provinces. “China could, deploy 100,000 ducks to neighbouring Pakistan to help tackle swarms of crop-eating locusts.”

However, a professor from the China Agriculture University, who is part of the delegation to Pakistan, questioned, whether the ducks would be suited to the mainly arid conditions where the Locusts are a problem. “Ducks rely on water, but in Pakistan’s desert areas, the temperature is very high,” Zhang Long told reporters in Pakistan.”

 

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Should the cheetah make a comeback?

India was once home to tens of thousands of Asiatic cheetahs. But overhunting and habitat destruction pushed the animal to the brink. In 1947, Maharaja Ramanuj Pratap Singh Deo of Koriya (now in Chhattisgarh) reportedly killed the last known Asiatic cheetah in India. In 1952, the cheetah was officially declared extinct in India.

But with the Supreme Court having cleared a proposal to introduce African cheetahs on an experimental basis, India may soon welcome a bunch of the spotted big cats from Namibia. But before that the authorities will have to identify a suitable habitat for the programme, assessing factors such as prey availability and the risks of human-cheetah conflict.

Among the sites that have been suggested for the relocation are the Kuno-Palpur Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh, the Velavadar National Park in Gujarat and the Tal Chapar Sanctuary in Rajasthan.

This is not the first time that the Indian government has tried to bring back the Cheetah. In the 1970s, officials tried to secure Asiatic cheetahs from Iran. But negotiations hit a roadblock after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran. (Today, Iran is home to the world’s last stand of Asiatic cheetahs-fewer than 50 individuals.) In 2001, scientists came up with a proposal to clone Asiatic cheetahs, but the plan fell through for various reasons.

The focus then shifted to importing African cheetahs, a distinct subspecies from the Asiatic cheetah, found in decent numbers throughout Africa. But this approach has received mixed reaction from conservationists and scientists. While some welcome it, others question the feasibility of the project.

ABOUT CHEETAHS

  • Cheetahs inhabit wide, open grasslands and arid habitats such as scrub forests.
  • They have a pale yellow coat with black dots on the upper part, while the underbelly is white. A cheetah can be identified by its spots and the black tear-like streaks on its face.
  • These cats have long tails, which enable them to balance while running fast.
  • The cheetah is the world’s fastest land mammals. It can reach a speed of 112km/h in just three seconds.
  • Cheetahs are carnivores and live off animals such as antelopes, rabbits, warthogs, springboks and birds.
  • They are usually found in groups, consisting of either a mother and her cubs, siblings or a group of males that live and hunt together.
  • The vast majority of cheetahs now live in Africa, while the Asiatic cheetah subspecies comprises a population numbering less than 50 in Iran and is considered critically endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.
  • The population of cheetah is declining due to human-wildlife conflict, decline of prey, loss of habitat and illegal wildlife trade.

HOW CHEETAHS BECAME EXTINCT IN INDIA

Cheetahs are fast but docile by nature. These two traits sealed the fate of the animals in India. The spotted big cats had been hunted and captured indiscriminately since the 1500s. Kings across the country captured thousands of them from the wild to be tamed as trained to race and hunt animals such as antelope. The Mughal emperor Akbar is said to have kept 1,000 in his royal menagerie. But the inability of cheetahs to breed in captivity meant that wild cheetahs had to be constantly captured from their natural habitat. This led to a steady drop in their population. When the British colonists arrived in India, cheetahs were already scarce. For their part, the British degraded grasslands across India, leading to the cheetah’s eventual extinction in 1952.

THE DEBATE OVER THE CHEETAH INTRODUCTION PROGRAMME

Against

  • Conservationists believe that introducing African subspecies to India could affect their genetic make-up. Substituting one subspecies for other risks erasing valuable genetic adaptations, they say. African cheetahs may not be able to adapt to the grasslands of India.
  • India does not have the kind of grassland habitats it once had. They have been replaced by agricultural land or encroached upon by people over the past few decades.
  • The proposed habitats in India are not large enough to accommodate cheetahs and the areas do not have enough prey to sustain the big cats.
  • Some conservationists say that the plan to introduce cheetahs is a case of misplaced priorities. India should rather focus on conserving endangered species already living in the country instead of reviving an extinct species.

For

  • Proponents of the cheetah introduction programme are positive that African cheetahs can adapt to Indian condition.
  • They believe that the cheetah conservation programme could return the grasslands back to their past glory. While conserving the cheetahs, efforts will be made to save the grasslands ecosystem and biodiversity will be restored.
  • If cheetahs are introduced successively, India will be home to all of the big cat species in the Old World: tigers, lions, leopards, snow leopards and cheetahs.

 

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Why is wildlife trade a matter of concern?

Species loss

Wildlife trafficking threatens the survival of some of the Earth’s most iconic species. For instance, between 2014 and 2017, more than 1,00,000 African elephants were killed for ivory. In 2011, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) declared the Western black rhinoceros extinct and cited poaching as the primary reason. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), wildlife crime is second only to habitat destruction in overall threats against species survival.

Biodiversity loss

Wildlife trade affects food chain and threatens the local ecosystem. For instance, the loss of a predator species can results in the overpopulation of the prey species, leading to disruption in the ecological balance.

Poor conditions of animals kept for trade

Animals captured for pet trade are transported in poor conditions. They are stuffed into boxes, suitcases, or sacks. Even if they survive the transport, they often suffer in their new, unnatural surroundings. Many animals are kept in markets for months, waiting to be sold, with even their basic needs unattended to.

Impact on humans

As we saw earlier, poached animals can spread diseases, such as Ebola and SARS. Poaching also puts local people and officials at risk. In Africa, nearly 600 rangers in charge of protecting wildlife were gunned down by poachers between 2009 and 2016 while in the line of duty.

Different countries employ different methods to curb poaching. Though some efforts have borne fruit, illegal wildlife trade continues unabated.

 

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What is wildlife trade?

  • Wildlife trade is a big business, run by international networks. Animals and birds are trafficked across the globe for meat, skin, bone, fur and other body parts. In addition, many species are sold as pets. Experts at TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, estimate that the illegal wildlife commerce runs into billions of dollars.
  • Not all wildlife trade is illegal. The sale or exchange of wild animals and plant resources are done legally for various purposes. Regulated by the United Nations’ Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), it is done in a sustainable manner. Wild plants and animals from tens of thousands of species are caught from the wild and then sold legitimately as food, pets, ornamental plants, leather, ornaments and medicine.
  • A trade becomes illegal when wildlife listed as protected under domestic or international law is hunted. Fishing and hunting without a licence and capturing wildlife from protected areas and during certain seasons also amount to wildlife crimes.

Did you know?

  • Elephants are poached for their tusk, skin and meat. Ivory is used to make billiards balls, piano keys, art objects and jewellery.
  • Rhinoceros are killed for their horn, which is predominately used in traditional Chinese medicine.
  • While freshwater turtles and pangolins are hunted for their meat, their body parts namely, carapace and scales, respectively, are used in Chinese medicine.
  • Tigers and leopards are killed for their skin.
  • Snakes, ape and monitor lizards are consumed as meat.
  • Song birds, finches, macaws, weavers, cockatoos, geckos, aquarium fish, turtles are captured alive so that they can be kept or sold as exotic pets.

 

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What is wildlife crime?

In the wake of the corona virus epidemic, China has temporarily banned the sale of wildlife in markets, restaurants and over e-commerce as part of efforts to contain the outbreak. While welcoming the move, conservationists are calling for a permanent ban as it will contribute to the recovery of wildlife populations worldwide, besides saving human lives.

The corona virus, which results in a zoonotic disease, is thought to have originated in a “seafood” market in Wuhan that sold much more than fish. Chinese authorities found everything from hedgehogs and wild boars to crocodiles for sale there, providing ideal conditions for viruses to jump to new hosts and ultimately, to people. (Zoonotic diseases spread from animals to humans.) Consumption of several vulnerable species – for example, pangolins, rhinos, elephants – is common in China. There is another theory that believes that pangolin may have passed the virus from bats to humans. Pangolin is imported in huge numbers to Chinese markets for food and medicine.

A host of other animals too are important to China for meat, medicine etc. through illegal wildlife trade. China may be the world’s largest market for wildlife products, but wildlife trade is rampant throughout the world. Wildlife trafficking puts many animals and birds at risk of extinction. A study published last year estimated that one in every four bird or mammal species on earth is caught in the wildlife trade.

 

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What is AQI?

The air quality is measured by the Air Quality Index. Air quality indices have been created in different countries for the measurement of air quality. These indices measure the air quality in the country and indicate whether the amount of nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide in the air exceeds the criteria set by the World Health Organization or not.

The Air Quality Index measures the quality of air. It shows the amount and types of gases dissolved in the air. There are 6 categories of the air have been created in this air quality index. 

These categories are based on air quality. These categories are; good, satisfactory, moderate, poor, very poor and severe. 

 

Picture Credit : Google