January 22, 2015

India’s Wild Tiger Population Has Increased 30% Since 2010



                                                                      



                                                                          
Terrific news and a great achievement which will hopefully encourage other countries to conserve their rare species.

India is home to 70 percent of the world’s wild tiger population, and they’ve just reported an increase of 30 percent since 2010, thanks to concerted efforts by the local government and conservationist groups to fight poachers.
India’s tiger population has risen from 1,706 individuals to 2,226 over the past four years, officials reported yesterday. With estimates last year that the global wild population is teetering just over 3,000 individuals, an increase like this crucial for the survival of this beleaguered species.

This four-year increase is part of an even longer-term upwards trend - the population was at 1,411 individuals in 2007, which represents an increase of 60 percent over the past seven years.

"While the tiger population is falling in the world, it is rising in India,” Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar told journalists in New Delhi yesterday. “This is great news.”

The growth of the poaching industry over the past hundred years has seen the world's wild tiger population drop from around 100,000 individuals spread over 30 nations during the early 20th century to a mere 3,000, confined to 11 countries, only eight of which contain breeding pairs. Wild tigers now appear in just 7 percent of their former global range, and over the past 80 years, three subspecies - the Javan, Caspian, and Bali tigers - have gone extinct.

There’s a whole lot to be concerned about when it comes to wild tigers, but the good news coming out of India is that conservation efforts can actually work, but to do so, they need the whole-hearted support (and finances) of local governments. 

While the details of India’s conversation program are yet to be published - likely next month in the upcoming government report entitled Status of Tigers in India, 2014 - Brian Clark Howard at National Geographic says the biggest gains for the country’s wild population have been large, protected parks. Severe penalties for poaching - some regions around the country have declared it legal for poachers to be shot and killed on sight - and more sophisticated tracking methods have also contributed to India’s conservation success. They’ve reportedly installed a network of 9,700 cameras throughout known tiger habitats, and they’re now using a more scientific method of identifying each individual they find.

"India has had trouble reporting on its tigers in the past because game managers relied on outdated methods of tracking, such as looking at footprints,” says Howard. "But over the past few years, those managers have upgraded to using camera traps to record tigers and to identify them individually based on their unique stripe patterns, which are akin to human fingerprints.”

                                                                 


Another major threat to the wild tiger population is a loss of habitat due to the continued expansion of the local human populations, which is something that the Indian government has had to deal with very sensitively.

Becky Ferreira reports at Motherboard:
“[it] raises the thorny political issue of whether villagers or tigers should be given priority over reserved land. Indian officials have confronted this problem by investing millions of rupees into compensating settlers who agree to clear out of key tiger habitats. 'It is a long-drawn process because the villagers have to agree to move out,' said forest conservation chief PS Somasekhar in a 2012 BBC article. 'We can't force them to leave. We can only persuade.’”

Ferreira says that the success of this relocation program has seen entire villages abandoned to make way for wild tiger reserves. It’s a big cost to the locals who had made their homes there, but the real growth seen in India's wild tiger population today has undeniably justifed the move.

India’s tiger population has risen from 1,706 individuals to 2,226 over the past four years, officials reported yesterday. With estimates last year that the global wild population is teetering just over 3,000 individuals, an increase like this crucial for the survival of this beleaguered species.

This four-year increase is part of an even longer-term upwards trend - the population was at 1,411 individuals in 2007, which represents an increase of 60 percent over the past seven years.

"While the tiger population is falling in the world, it is rising in India,” Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar told journalists in New Delhi yesterday. “This is great news.”

The growth of the poaching industry over the past hundred years has seen the world's wild tiger population drop from around 100,000 individuals spread over 30 nations during the early 20th century to a mere 3,000, confined to 11 countries, only eight of which contain breeding pairs. Wild tigers now appear in just 7 percent of their former global range, and over the past 80 years, three subspecies - the Javan, Caspian, and Bali tigers - have gone extinct.

                                                                 

There’s a whole lot to be concerned about when it comes to wild tigers, but the good news coming out of India is that conservation efforts can actually work, but to do so, they need the whole-hearted support (and finances) of local governments. 

While the details of India’s conversation program are yet to be published - likely next month in the upcoming government report entitled Status of Tigers in India, 2014 - Brian Clark Howard at National Geographic says the biggest gains for the country’s wild population have been large, protected parks. Severe penalties for poaching - some regions around the country have declared it legal for poachers to be shot and killed on sight - and more sophisticated tracking methods have also contributed to India’s conservation success. They’ve reportedly installed a network of 9,700 cameras throughout known tiger habitats, and they’re now using a more scientific method of identifying each individual they find.

"India has had trouble reporting on its tigers in the past because game managers relied on outdated methods of tracking, such as looking at footprints,” says Howard. "But over the past few years, those managers have upgraded to using camera traps to record tigers and to identify them individually based on their unique stripe patterns, which are akin to human fingerprints.”

Another major threat to the wild tiger population is a loss of habitat due to the continued expansion of the local human populations, which is something that the Indian government has had to deal with very sensitively.



                                                                                                                                 Sources: National Geographic, Motherboard
By Bec Crew

With thanks to Science Alert

                                                                



Some related posts: 



Buddhist Monks and The "Tiger Temple" of Kanchanaburi

Lion Cub Triplets Raise Hope for The Endangered Asiatic Lion

The Siberian Tiger

Bornean Marbled Cat: An Ultra-rare Cat Species Captured On Camera

Iranian Cheetah Sighting Gives Hope To Conservation Efforts

Cincinnati Zoo Cheetah Sets New World Speed Record!


Snow Leopard and Cubs at Magdeburg Zoo

Swimming Tigers at Australia Zoo

Another Chance for Three Orphaned Tiger Cubs

Golden Tabby Tigers

Lion Protector, Shivani Bhalla Helps Big Cats and People Coexist 


Asher Jay: Art Of The Matter

Clouded Leopard Born at Florida Zoo

World Lion Day: Some Stunning Images Of The King Of The Jungle



White Lions - A Royal Family 
 
Lions Gain New Endangered Species Protections

Surprising Facts About Our Favorite Big Cats

Leopard Hunting Banned in South Africa For Remainder of 2016

A Hidden Population Of Up To 200 Lions Has Been Found In Ethiopia


Africa’s Big Five Animals

Tigers Are Coming Back!

Russia's 'Extinct' Persian Leopards Reintroduced To Black Sea Mountains

Why Big Cat Rescue Doesn’t Have Cheetah or Jaguars 

The Best Big Cat Videos Come From The Wild

Pallas's Cats To Get Their Own 'Palace' In Siberian Mountains

Amur Tiger Release
 
Last Wild Ocelots In Texas Get New Paths To Safety


 


January 20, 2015

Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti Remaster Coming February


                                                                      


                                                                          
Like Chuck Berry, The Rolling Stones and George Harrison Led Zeppelin are releasing some of their work in a new package and it is fully remastered.



                                                                      

Led Zeppelin ‘Physical Graffiti’ will be the next chapter of the Led Zeppelin remasters.


The deluxe edition of the group’s sixth studio album will arrive 40 years after the original debuted on February 24, 1975.

The reissues of the first five Led Zeppelin albums in 2014 found both commercial successes, with multiple titles reaching Top 10 chart status in countries around the world, as well as widespread critical acclaim, including the recent Classic Rock ‘Reissue Of The Year’ Award.

As with the previous deluxe editions, Physical Graffiti has been newly remastered by guitarist and producer Jimmy Page and is accompanied by a disc of companion audio comprising previously unreleased music related to the original release.

Certified 16X’s platinum in the U.S., the commercial success of Physical Graffiti was equaled by its critical reception. Generally regarded as one of the greatest double albums of all time, the original 15 tracks represent a creative tour de force that explores the band’s dynamic musical range, from the driving rock of Custard Pie and acoustic arrangement of Bron-Y-Aur Stomp to the Eastern raga of Kashmir and funky groove of Trampled Under Foot.

The companion audio disc that accompanies the deluxe edition of Physical Graffiti has seven unreleased tracks, including rough mixes of In My Time Of Dying and Houses Of The Holy, as well as an early mix of Trampled Under Foot called Brandy & Coke. All the unreleased companion tracks offer fans a chance to hear well-known songs from a different perspective, including the Sunset Sound mix of Boogie With Stu and Driving Through Kashmir, a rough orchestra mix of the band’s eight minute opus Kashmir. 

Also featured is Everybody Makes It Through, a strikingly different early version of In The Light with alternate lyrics.

                                                                 

Led Zeppelin Physical Graffiti track list

Disc One
Custard Pie
The Rover
In My Time Of Dying
Houses Of The Holy
Trampled Under Foot
Kashmir

Disc Two
In The Light
Bron-Yr-Aur
Down By The Seaside
Ten Years Gone
Night Flight
The Wanton Song
Boogie With Stu
Black Country Woman
Sick Again

Disc 3 (Deluxe Only)
Brandy & Coke (Trampled Under Foot – Initial Rough Mix)
Sick Again (Early Version)
In My Time Of Dying (Initial Rough Mix)
Houses Of The Holy (Rough Mix With Overdubs)
Everybody Makes It Through (In The Light Early Version/In Transit)
Boogie With Stu (Sunset Sound Mix)
Driving Through Kashmir (Kashmir Rough Orchestra Mix)


                                                            

With thanks to Noise 11
Picture credits:Dawn,Amazon.
                                                                      


                                                               


                                                                
Pictures above via Twitter


 Related:
Did Led Zeppelin Steal The ‘Stairway to Heaven’ Riff?
Cellist Maya Beiser Channels Janis Joplin, Nirvana And Other Rockers
Glyn Johns: Defining That Classic-Rock Sound
Led Zeppelin's Master Guitarist Jimmy Page Is Writing New Songs
Is Led Zeppelin's 'Whole Lotta Love' Really The Best Guitar Riff Ever?
Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant And Jimmy Page Face 'Stairway To Heaven' Trial
The Weirdest Musical Instruments
Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page Denies Stealing Stairway To Heaven Riff 
Led Zeppelin To Pay Copyright Legal Costs









The Most Popular Artworks of All Time


                                                                 
                                                                         


Not all in this list quite match the clip above but they are all nevertheless, very famous and complement each other.
  
                                                                    


In order to try and measure and gauge popularity of different artists we decided to consult a variety of sources (including Artcyclopedia and Artnet.com). 

We also consulted a list almanac called "The Book of Lists". 

                                    
                                                                    
                                                                

                                                 



(According to Artcyclopedia Poster Sales.)







  • Gustav Klimt - The Kiss - 1907-1908
  • Vincent van Gogh - The Starry Night - 1889
  • Marc Chagall - La MariĂ©e - 1950
  • Georges Seurat - Sunday Afternoon on the Island of la Grande Jatte - 1886
  • E.R. Hughes - Midsummer Eve - 1908
  • Hieronymus Bosch - The Garden of Earthly Delights (Ecclesia's Paradise) - 1504
  • W.H. Beard - Dancing Bears
  • Jan Vermeer - Girl with a Pearl Earring - 1665
  • Hokusai - The Great Wave by at Kanagawa - c.1930
  • Pablo Picasso - The Old Guitarist - 1903 
  • Paul Delaroche - The Young Martyr - 1855
  • Andrew Wyeth - Master Bedroom - 1965
  • Vincent van Gogh - Cafe Terrace at Night - 1888
  • William Holbrook Beard - Dancing Bears
  • Edward Hopper - Nighthawks - 1942
  • Pablo Picasso - Blue Nude - 1902
  • El Greco - View of Toledo - c.1597
  • Vincent van Gogh - Starry Night over the Rhone - 1888
  • Jasper Johns - Three Flags - 1958
  • Waterhouse - The Lady of Shalott - 1888 
  • Pablo Picasso - Don Quixote - 1955
  • Pablo Picasso - Three Musicians - 1921
  • Vincent van Gogh - Sunflowers - 1888
  • Salvador Dali - The Persistence of Memory - 1931
  • Salvador Dali - Soft Watch at the Moment of Explosion - 1954
  • Leonardo da Vinci - Human Proportions (Vitruvian Man) - 1492
  • John Everett Millais - Ophelia - 1851-52
  • John Singer Sargent - Carnation, Lily, by Lily, Rose - 1885-86
  • Vincent van Gogh - Bedroom at Arles - 1888-89
  • Walter Crane - Neptune's Horses - 1892
  • Wassily Kandinsky - Squares with Concentric Circles - 1913
  • Pablo Picasso - Femme
  • Rosa Bonheur - The Horse Fair - 1853-55
  • Edward Hicks - The Peaceable Kingdom - 1834
  • Vincent van Gogh - Irises - 1889
  • Michelangelo - The Creation of Adam - 1511-12 
  • Andrew Wyeth - Christina's World - 1948
  • Raphael - The School of Athens - 1509-10
  • Mark Rothko - Orange and Yellow - 1956
  • Emanuel Leutze - Washington Crossing the Delaware - 1851
  • Jean-Francois Millet - The Angelus (The Evening Prayer) - 1857-59
  • Marcel Duchamp - Nude Descending a Staircase - 1912
  • Theophile-Alexa Steinlen - Tournee du Chat Noir - 1896 
  • Salvador Dali - Meditative Rose - 1958
  • Pablo Picasso - Guernica - 1937
  • Charles Demuth - Figure Five in Gold - 1928
  • George Bellows - George Dempsey and Firpo - 1924
  • Joseph Stella - The Brooklyn Bridge - 1941
  • Maud Lewis - Three Black Cats
  • Jackson Pollock - Number 8 - 1949 


  • Picture credits cited previously in other posts.
    See link below.                                  

                                                                          

                                  

    With thanks to Art History Archive 

    Van Gogh On Dark Water Animation

    London Exhibition Explores Truth Of Leonardo da Vinci’s Genius

    How JMW Turner Set Painting Free  

    Joni Mitchell: Why She Blocked Taylor Swift For Biopic Role

    Michelangelo Bronzes Discovered

    More articles on Art can be found here.

    ‘Trophy’ Buyers Push Art And Jewellery Sales To New Heights At Christie’s And Sotheby’s

    World's Most Expensive Painting By Paul Gauguin Sells for $385 Million

    Chinese Cloisonné

    The Isleworth Mona Lisa: A Second Leonardo Masterpiece? 

    First Faberge Egg Created For 99 Years Goes To Doha

    Visual Art of the Human Body by Cecelia Webber
      

    Woman in Gold: Another Biopic For Dame Helen Mirren 

    The Plains Indians Exhibition

    Looted Treasures Open Door To The Dark Nazi Past

    MC Escher: An Enigma Behind an Illusion

    Frederic Remington: The Man Who Helped Bring The West To Life


    Fore-edge Painting: Artists Hide Paintings Along The Edges Of Old Books 

    This Fake Rembrandt Was Created By An Algorithm

    Loving Vincent: The World's First Fully Painted Film

    Georgia O’Keeffe: The Artist Who Captured America

    Optical Illusions In Art



    MC Escher: An Enigma Behind an Illusion        
                                                      
    Hidden Degas Portrait Revealed

    David Bowie's Personal Art Collection Auctioned Off For $30 Million