<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" >

	<channel>
		<title>Mongabay India</title>
		<atom:link href="https://india.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=environmental-crime&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://india.mongabay.com/list/environmental-crime/</link>
		<description>India&#039;s environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Tue, 13 Oct 2026 12:05:59 +0000</lastBuildDate>
		<language>en-US</language>
		<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
		<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
		<generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.3</generator>
				<item>
					<title>NGOs call for permanent moratorium on animal imports to Vantara</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/ngos-call-for-permanent-moratorium-on-animal-imports-to-vantara/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/ngos-call-for-permanent-moratorium-on-animal-imports-to-vantara/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Sep 2026 17:14:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/25151638/13353495075_e4b2bdfa0d_4k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=41206</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered species, Environmental Crime, Environmental Law, Law Enforcement, Wildlife, Wildlife Protection Act, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A group of 27 global conservation organisations have written to Vantara calling for a permanent halt on wild animal imports to the facility. The letter was written in response to Vantara’s own statement announcing a temporary moratorium on animal imports till June 2027.  Vantara is a private zoo and animal rescue centre owned by India&#8217;s Ambani [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A group of 27 global conservation organisations have written to Vantara calling for a permanent halt on wild animal imports to the facility. The letter was written in response to Vantara’s own statement announcing a temporary moratorium on animal imports till June 2027.  Vantara is a private zoo and animal rescue centre owned by India&#8217;s Ambani family. If Vantara seeks to establish itself as a leading institution, it should “adopt the most rigorous and precautionary criteria for wildlife transfers,” the conservation groups say. A one year moratorium “may signal to exporters that imports will resume thereafter. It risks creating further demand, leading to the stockpiling of animals by wildlife traders and traffickers in anticipation of its expiration.” On August 19, Vantara announced it would pause all animal imports till its own internal due diligence systems were in place. A 2025 report by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) Secretariat had raised serious concerns about the origin and scale of wild animal imports approved by India, for transfer to Vantara. Many of these animals did not have a history of being captively bred, the CITES report found. Vantara has said in a statement that it would shift its focus to in-situ conservation within range states, and set up a three-tiered mechanism to vet future animal acquisitions. Each import proposal will be passed through an internal Due Diligence Committee, an Advisory Board, and a Governing Council, chaired by former secretary general of the CITES, John&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/ngos-call-for-permanent-moratorium-on-animal-imports-to-vantara/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/ngos-call-for-permanent-moratorium-on-animal-imports-to-vantara/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Five orangutans found in Odisha forest face long road back home to Indonesia</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/five-orangutans-found-in-odisha-forest-face-long-road-back-home-to-indonesia/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/five-orangutans-found-in-odisha-forest-face-long-road-back-home-to-indonesia/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>24 Sep 2026 10:11:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Junaidi Hanafiah]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[exotic species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pets]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/23144141/Orangutan-Sumatera-di-SRA-7-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=41150</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[From the Wild, For Trade]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Mizoram and Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered species, Environmental Crime, Environmental Law, Human Wildlife Conflict, Law Enforcement, Monkeys, Pet Trade, Primates, Wildlife, Wildlife Protection Act, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The five infant orangutans found roaming a woodland in Odisha earlier this month may have been trafficked across several international borders — and now face a long journey home through the different legal and bureaucratic systems of India and Indonesia, conservationists say. “This starts with hunting in the wild, separating babies from their mothers, and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The five infant orangutans found roaming a woodland in Odisha earlier this month may have been trafficked across several international borders — and now face a long journey home through the different legal and bureaucratic systems of India and Indonesia, conservationists say. “This starts with hunting in the wild, separating babies from their mothers, and transporting them across various regions, then selling them or keeping them as exotic pets,” said M. Indra Kurnia, director of conservation at the Sumatran Orangutan Lestari Foundation-Orangutan Information Center (YOSL-OIC). The five infants were found on September 8 by locals near the Bichitrapur forest area in Balasore district, Odisha. Authorities are investigating how the animals came to be there, and the possible involvement of an international wildlife trafficking network. Only Indonesia and Malaysia have native orangutan populations, with the Indonesian island of Sumatra around 2,000 kilometres across the Indian Ocean from Odisha. The Bornean species lives in Indonesia and Malaysia, while the Sumatran and Tapanuli species are found only in Indonesia. “We mustn’t just see this as a local case in the country where the animals were found,” Indra said. This infant Sumatran orangutan in Indonesia was separated from its mother when it was forcibly taken from the wild by hunters. Image by Junaidi Hanafiah/Mongabay Indonesia. Questions over wildlife smuggling route This isn’t the first time stolen orangutans have been discovered in India, thousands of kilometres from their mothers. In 2022, authorities in India recovered two stolen juvenile Sumatran orangutans in the north of Mizoram.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/five-orangutans-found-in-odisha-forest-face-long-road-back-home-to-indonesia/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/five-orangutans-found-in-odisha-forest-face-long-road-back-home-to-indonesia/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>As exotic primates reach India, welfare concerns grow</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-exotic-primates-reach-india-welfare-concerns-grow/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-exotic-primates-reach-india-welfare-concerns-grow/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Sep 2026 15:55:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[captive animals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[exotic species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gibbon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[monkeys]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pets]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/18130613/PHOTO-2026-09-11-16-19-00-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=41030</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[From the Wild, For Trade]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Endangered species, Environmental Crime, Health impacts, Monkeys, Primates, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, Wildlife Trafficking, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is Part 2 of a series on exotic pet trade. The series looks at the health impacts, legal challenges and the ecological consequences of keeping exotic wild animals as pets. Part 1 elaborates on how the trade enables zoonoses or zoonotic disease spillovers. Recently, pictures and videos of five orangutan babies in a forest [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is Part 2 of a series on exotic pet trade. The series looks at the health impacts, legal challenges and the ecological consequences of keeping exotic wild animals as pets. Part 1 elaborates on how the trade enables zoonoses or zoonotic disease spillovers. Recently, pictures and videos of five orangutan babies in a forest in Odisha, thousands of miles from their real home, were plastered across many screens. As authorities investigate the antecedents of the critically endangered animals and discuss their future, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: international wildlife trafficking is widening its reach, and India is emerging as a destination. Keeping exotic animals and birds as pets, is not new in India. Non-native parrots have long dominated the scene. But keeping them legally involves navigating a complex set of legal procedures. The repertoire of species illegally reaching Indian shores, however, has expanded significantly in recent years. Primates are the new parrots. Gibbons, lemurs, marmosets and macaques, once difficult to find outside their native ranges, are increasingly turning up in seizures linked to the illegal pet trade. Primates are a group of mammals that includes humans, apes, monkeys, lemurs and lorises, generally characterised by grasping hands and feet, forward-facing eyes and relatively large brains. The seizure of an orangutan from an apartment bathroom in Mumbai in 2024, a Tamil actor’s pet Lar gibbon, and the controversy over two lemurs at Vantara highlight the emerging trade. An orangutan rescued by authorities at Yayasan Orangutan Sumatera Lestari – Orangutan Information Centre&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-exotic-primates-reach-india-welfare-concerns-grow/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/as-exotic-primates-reach-india-welfare-concerns-grow/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Your exotic pet could be putting your health at risk</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/your-exotic-pet-could-be-putting-your-health-at-risk/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/your-exotic-pet-could-be-putting-your-health-at-risk/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Sep 2026 12:56:39 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Arathi Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disease]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[exotic species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[zoonoses]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Zoonotic disease]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/09/10105159/AP18210287107497-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40817</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[From the Wild, For Trade]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environmental Crime, Health impacts, Law Enforcement, Pandemics, Pet Trade, Wildlife, Wildlife Protection Act, Wildlife Trade, Wildlife Trafficking, and Zoos]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[This is Part 1 of a series on exotic pet trade. The series looks at the health impacts, legal challenges and the ecological consequences of keeping exotic wild animals as pets. Mumbai-based veterinarian Dr. Rina Dev was hospitalised for four days recently with a lung infection. “I hope it’s not something from the parrots I [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[This is Part 1 of a series on exotic pet trade. The series looks at the health impacts, legal challenges and the ecological consequences of keeping exotic wild animals as pets. Mumbai-based veterinarian Dr. Rina Dev was hospitalised for four days recently with a lung infection. “I hope it’s not something from the parrots I was treating,” she told Mongabay-India after being discharged from the hospital. Dr. Dev is an avian and exotic animal veterinarian who works closely with the forest department to treat imported and seized exotic animals involved in the wildlife trade. Her concerns are valid. Avian chlamydiosis, or psittacosis, is caused by the bacterium Chlamydia psittaci and is a common infection among people who handle birds, earning it the nickname “bird handler’s disease”. A 2024 case from India describes a man contracting the infection after exposure to his pet parrot. In 1994, customs officers in Belgium contracted chlamydiosis after being exposed to infected parakeets. Multiple such documented cases link wildlife trade to human infection. A comprehensive review of psittacosis by the ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute in 2021 describes avian chlamydiosis as a “neglected disease” with “critical zoonotic potential”. Pet trade link to zoonosis Zoonoses, or zoonotic diseases, entered the ordinary Indian’s wellness lexicon when the COVID-19 pandemic exposed how pathogens can jump from animals to humans, causing serious medical consequences and, in some cases, a pandemic that can literally bring the world to a standstill. The wildlife pet trade, especially the trade in exotic animals imported or&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/your-exotic-pet-could-be-putting-your-health-at-risk/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/09/your-exotic-pet-could-be-putting-your-health-at-risk/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Crime content on social media threatens wildlife safety</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/crime-content-on-social-media-threatens-wildlife-safety/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/crime-content-on-social-media-threatens-wildlife-safety/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Aug 2026 17:58:48 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vandana K.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pets]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife crime]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/27174553/crime-reels-collage-Edited-1-scaled-e1787832976456-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40507</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Archives, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered species, Environmental Crime, Poaching, Wildlife, Wildlife Protection Act, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2025, P.M. Muthanna came across an Instagram reel that showed someone demonstrating how to capture wild animals. This was an activity that could not only harm wildlife but also violate wildlife protection laws. Muthanna, who heads field conservation at Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS), a wildlife organisation based in Karnataka, couldn’t ignore the reel [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2025, P.M. Muthanna came across an Instagram reel that showed someone demonstrating how to capture wild animals. This was an activity that could not only harm wildlife but also violate wildlife protection laws. Muthanna, who heads field conservation at Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS), a wildlife organisation based in Karnataka, couldn’t ignore the reel that seemed to normalise illegal handling of animals. “My co-workers and I started checking and compiling such videos being circulated on social media, particularly Instagram,” he says. Among the reels he stumbled upon were those showing a civet cat stuck in a jaw trap, which had over 25,000 likes; people hunting monitor lizards; a jaw trap manufacturing workshop, and more. In February 2026, he sent a letter to the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), a government body that combats organised wildlife crime, urging it to take action against eight Instagram accounts that show and sell jaw traps, devices that injure or harm animals, and demonstrate the illegal hunting of monitor lizards, which are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. These kinds of reels are playing on phone screens across India. Showcased as ordinary moments from the creators’ lives, the content ranges from what an illegally-kept pet Indian star tortoise eats to going on a hunting trip. Cyber-enabled wildlife crime in India is a rapidly emerging threat which is subtle, sophisticated, and sometimes hard to identify, says Pradipty Bhardwaj, a Ph.D. scholar researching the adequacy of Indian law to combat such crimes.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/crime-content-on-social-media-threatens-wildlife-safety/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/crime-content-on-social-media-threatens-wildlife-safety/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Supreme court upholds centre&#8217;s power to notify post-facto clearance</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/supreme-court-upholds-centres-power-to-notify-post-facto-clearance/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/supreme-court-upholds-centres-power-to-notify-post-facto-clearance/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Aug 2026 16:28:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[construction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environment clearance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Environmental Clearance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[forest clearance]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/07135307/AP22207426732440-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=39949</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Environomy]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Conservation, Deforestation, Environment, Environmental Crime, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Forests, Industry, Land Rights, Law Enforcement, National Parks, Natural Resources, Protected Areas, Sustainability, and Wildlife Protection Act]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Supreme Court has struck down the centre&#8217;s 2021 Office Memorandum (OM) that created a mechanism for granting post facto environmental clearances to projects that violated prior environmental clearance norms. At the same time, it stated that the central government has the power to frame statutory amnesty schemes for specified categories of such violations under [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Supreme Court has struck down the centre&#8217;s 2021 Office Memorandum (OM) that created a mechanism for granting post facto environmental clearances to projects that violated prior environmental clearance norms. At the same time, it stated that the central government has the power to frame statutory amnesty schemes for specified categories of such violations under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. On July 29, the Supreme Court decided three connected writ petitions questioning the centre&#8217;s two amnesty schemes introduced in 2017 and 2021 to regularise projects that had started construction or operations without obtaining prior environmental clearance. The first scheme came through a notification issued in 2017, which gave projects that had violated prior environmental clearance requirements a one-time six-month window to seek clearance. In 2021, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change issued an OM prescribing a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for granting post facto environmental clearances to such projects. Delivering the judgment, the three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi said, “…the OM does not satisfy the test of proportionality and reasonableness and is violative of Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution”. The Court quashed the OM, although the ruling will operate only prospectively, the judgement said. However, the bench also stated that the central government could exercise its powers under Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, to issue statutory notifications framing amnesty schemes for specified categories of non-compliant projects. Environmental experts said this leaves open&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/supreme-court-upholds-centres-power-to-notify-post-facto-clearance/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/supreme-court-upholds-centres-power-to-notify-post-facto-clearance/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Burning waste is a waste of money</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/burning-waste-is-a-waste-of-money/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/burning-waste-is-a-waste-of-money/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jul 2026 16:16:50 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ravleen Kaur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/07/02130433/AP22119833098845-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38896</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Climate Finance and Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Delhi and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Environmental Crime, Human Rights, Pollution, and Waste management]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Rajpal Saini retired from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, he didn’t really plan to spend his golden years battling his former employer. But a waste incineration plant commissioned near his village, by the corporation, has made his life arduous. “We have the entire waste processing mall of Delhi here — a khatta (dumping ground), [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Rajpal Saini retired from the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, he didn’t really plan to spend his golden years battling his former employer. But a waste incineration plant commissioned near his village, by the corporation, has made his life arduous. “We have the entire waste processing mall of Delhi here — a khatta (dumping ground), a hazardous waste disposal site, a composting plant, and a 28 megawatt (MW) waste-to-energy (WTE) plant. And as if all this were not enough, now they have imposed another one (WTE plant) on us,” said Saini, a resident of Sannoth, a village near Bawana at the northwestern edge of Delhi. “The world recognises the value of yoga and breathing in fresh air. But forget about the outdoors; we even have to seal the holes in our doors to avoid the stench. My uncle, who regularly did pranayam (breathing exercises), has been paralysed and bedridden for six years now,” Saini said, whose car is full of posters advocating for the &#8220;right to breathe&#8221;. The construction of the new 3,000 tonnes-per-day (TPD), 30-megawatt WTE plant began in May despite a case before the National Green Tribunal and residents’ protests since December 2024. Situated right next to Munak canal, a significant source of drinking water for Delhi, this new plant will be the capital’s fifth WTE, a city that produces close to 12,000 TPD of waste. The protest site against a new waste incineration plant commissioned in Sannoth, a village at the northwestern edge of Delhi. Construction began&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/burning-waste-is-a-waste-of-money/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/07/burning-waste-is-a-waste-of-money/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>A bauxite mining project, contested consent and growing tensions</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-bauxite-mining-project-contested-consent-and-growing-tensions/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-bauxite-mining-project-contested-consent-and-growing-tensions/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Jun 2026 17:40:12 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Ashwini Kumar Shukla]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bauxite]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Forest Right Act]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gram sabha]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[PESA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tribal communities]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/01131630/IMG_1202-scaled-e1780300022815-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38444</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Odisha]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Environmental Crime, Environmental Politics, Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Industry, Mining, and Tribes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It was past 2:30 in the morning on April 7, 2026, when the banging on the doors began, locals of Kantamal village narrate. Kantamal is one of over 44 villages nestled in the foothills of Sijimali range in Odisha&#8217;s Rayagada and Kalahandi districts. More than 200 police personnel had encircled the village, say the residents. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It was past 2:30 in the morning on April 7, 2026, when the banging on the doors began, locals of Kantamal village narrate. Kantamal is one of over 44 villages nestled in the foothills of Sijimali range in Odisha&#8217;s Rayagada and Kalahandi districts. More than 200 police personnel had encircled the village, say the residents. The power was out. “We had no idea what was happening,” says Subash Singh Majhi, a 32-year-old who heads Maa Mati Mali Suraksha Manch, a collective of affected villagers opposing a proposed bauxite mine in the area. “Before we could understand anything, they (police) had dragged people out of their homes in the dark and begun beating them,” he alleges. Eighty-six-year-old Gaseb Dei Majhi remembers the night in fragments. “They fired tear gas. They beat us,” she says, holding up an empty shell, police fired that night. As per the locals, the immediate trigger was a protest against a 3-kilometre access road near Sagabari village, a road that, if completed, would connect state highway 44 to the Sijimali hilltop, and, which residents feared, would open the final path to the contested bauxite mine. Kantamal is one of over 44 villages nestled in the foothills of the Sijimali range in Odisha’s Rayagada and Kalahandi districts. In the early hours of April 7, 2026, residents narrate how police personnel raided their homes and attacked them. Image by Ashwini Kumar Shukla. Ram Chandra Naik, a resident of Kantamal, alleged that police stripped him naked and dragged him during the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-bauxite-mining-project-contested-consent-and-growing-tensions/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/a-bauxite-mining-project-contested-consent-and-growing-tensions/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rising illegal wildlife trade across Himalayan countries threatens the mountain ecosystem</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/rising-illegal-wildlife-trade-across-the-himalayan-countries-threatens-the-mountain-ecosystem/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/rising-illegal-wildlife-trade-across-the-himalayan-countries-threatens-the-mountain-ecosystem/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 Apr 2026 15:26:33 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vandana K.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hindu Kush Himalaya]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[poaching]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife crime]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/04/28120331/Jiten_170719_MG_6031-scaled-e1777358299720-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37911</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Himachal Pradesh and Himalayas]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Endangered species, Environmental Crime, Himalayas, Pet Trade, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In February this year, 45 people headed towards jewellery shops in Rohru, a town in Himachal Pradesh. But shopping was not their agenda. The group was a squad of forest rangers, guards and van mitras, on a mission, Operation Clawing Back, to raid shops to seize jewellery allegedly made from claws and teeth of leopards [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In February this year, 45 people headed towards jewellery shops in Rohru, a town in Himachal Pradesh. But shopping was not their agenda. The group was a squad of forest rangers, guards and van mitras, on a mission, Operation Clawing Back, to raid shops to seize jewellery allegedly made from claws and teeth of leopards and feathers of protected birds. This raid illustrates a wider phenomenon in the Himalayas. Illegal wildlife trade is happening across eight countries in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region and has doubled from 2019 onwards compared to 2018 and previous years, found a study published in January 2026. The research was conducted by Babar Khan and Kesang Wangchuk at the International Center for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in Kathmandu, Nepal. India and China recorded thousands of seizure incidents, with carnivores, elephants, pangolins, and various endangered animals trafficked for live trade, body parts, and traditional medicine, according to the research. Illegal wildlife trade is the fourth largest illicit transnational activity in the world. It remains an attractive business for poachers and smugglers, with Southeast Asia at the epicentre of much of this crime. Over 12,000 species of animals and plants have been traded internationally in recent years. A threat to biodiversity and the mountain ecosystem The HKH stretches over 3,500 kilometres from west to east, spanning either all or part of these eight countries — Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. The region hosts four global biodiversity hotspots — Himalaya, Indo-Burma, and the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/rising-illegal-wildlife-trade-across-the-himalayan-countries-threatens-the-mountain-ecosystem/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/04/rising-illegal-wildlife-trade-across-the-himalayan-countries-threatens-the-mountain-ecosystem/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>The last Indian town before Bhutan is reeling under waste dumped on its river banks</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-last-indian-town-before-bhutan-is-reeling-under-waste-dumped-on-its-river-banks/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-last-indian-town-before-bhutan-is-reeling-under-waste-dumped-on-its-river-banks/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Mar 2026 18:10:22 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Chandrani Sinha]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[industrial waste]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plastic pollution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[waste]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/03/25135914/822191f9-5c93-451f-9d73-c3f88dc8bc05-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37461</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[West Bengal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Environment, Environmental Crime, Health impacts, Plastic, Pollution, Rivers, Waste management, Water Pollution, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Dark grey smoke curls above the Torsa riverbank in Jaigaon, a crowded border town of West Bengal, India, separating India and Bhutan. Plastic waste, medical refuse, construction debris and household waste lie scattered across the river bed and cows and dogs forage through the garbage. In January, an Instagram reel of this area drew a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Dark grey smoke curls above the Torsa riverbank in Jaigaon, a crowded border town of West Bengal, India, separating India and Bhutan. Plastic waste, medical refuse, construction debris and household waste lie scattered across the river bed and cows and dogs forage through the garbage. In January, an Instagram reel of this area drew a long-ignored environmental crisis into public notice. In it, a young content creator who goes by the name Rock Lama on Instagram, stood before the smouldering waste, appealing to the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for immediate intervention to stop what he describes as the routine illegal dumping of the town’s waste along the river. The video by the 24-year-old Jaigaon resident, spread widely across social media platforms, sparking discussions about rural waste management, governance, environmental negligence, and the growing waste crisis in smaller towns and Panchayat areas where populations have increased with time and waste has increased proportionately, without infrastructure to manage it. A border town struggles under its own waste Jaigaon is a densely populated commercial town with approximately 100,000 residents and serves as a crucial gateway between India and Bhutan. Its markets bustle with cross-border trade, tourism, and transport activity. Yet, beneath this economic vibrancy lies an escalating environmental problem of riverside pollution amplified by rapid urban growth without corresponding civic infrastructure to manage it. According to estimates by the Central Pollution Control Board, small and medium-sized towns like Jaigaon generate about 30-40 tonnes of solid waste daily. The Himalayan Torsa River&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-last-indian-town-before-bhutan-is-reeling-under-waste-dumped-on-its-river-banks/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/the-last-indian-town-before-bhutan-is-reeling-under-waste-dumped-on-its-river-banks/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Oleum leak puts spotlight on safety and pollution in a chemical hub</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/oleum-leak-puts-spotlight-on-safety-and-pollution-in-a-chemical-hub/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/oleum-leak-puts-spotlight-on-safety-and-pollution-in-a-chemical-hub/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Mar 2026 11:28:19 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Meena Menon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Disaster management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fuel leak]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hazards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[human health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[petroleum]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[public health]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/03/16102523/A-view-of-the-Tarapur-MIDC-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=37271</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Environment And Health]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Maharashtra]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Carbon emissions, Environment, Environmental Crime, Fossil Fuels, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Industry, and Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In the Tarapur unit of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) at Boisar, in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, gas leaks are not uncommon. Yet no one was quite prepared for over a ton of liquid oleum leaking into the atmosphere and creating a dense fog-like situation on the afternoon of March 2, ironically, just two days [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In the Tarapur unit of the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) at Boisar, in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, gas leaks are not uncommon. Yet no one was quite prepared for over a ton of liquid oleum leaking into the atmosphere and creating a dense fog-like situation on the afternoon of March 2, ironically, just two days before National Safety Week which aims to promote safety and prevent accidents in workplaces. While a few suffered the toxic effects and were admitted to nearby hospitals, there were no fatalities reported. Oleum is a corrosive liquid, a mix of sulphuric and sulphur trioxide, used in the production of sulphuric acid. It is a raw material for manufacturing dye intermediates in which Bhageria Industries specialises. The leak occurred from two day-tanks at Bhageria Industries Limited. The Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health (DISH), Maharashtra which is investigating the leak, found that about 1,200 litres or 1.2 tonnes of oleum was stored in these two tanks at the unit and they were placed on cement structures on four legs. One of the legs broke possibly due to the corrosive ambience, and one of the tanks with 800 litres of oleum, tilted and collapsed onto the other tank which contained 400 litres, breaking the charging valve. As a result, the liquid oleum spilled out, forming a dense gas when it came into contact with outside air. The liquid vapour spread due to the wind direction, and many people started running away from the vapour that was rapidly&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/oleum-leak-puts-spotlight-on-safety-and-pollution-in-a-chemical-hub/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/03/oleum-leak-puts-spotlight-on-safety-and-pollution-in-a-chemical-hub/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>A new book documents voices from the Baghjan disaster</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/a-new-book-documents-voices-from-the-baghjan-disaster/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/a-new-book-documents-voices-from-the-baghjan-disaster/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Feb 2026 14:29:30 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nabarun Guha]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[book]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[book review]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[disaster]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Disaster management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fuel leak]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural gas]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/02/19122343/AP20162465039212-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36971</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Assam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Energy, Environment, Environmental Crime, Fossil Fuels, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health impacts, Industry, and Oil]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“&#8230;Neither a fleeting joy, nor an unbidden laughter remains. In a moment, OIL took it all, stripping me of everything.” This stanza is from a poem written by Papul Gogoi, a resident of Baghjan, Assam, from the point of view of a (fictional) woman who lost everything in the Baghjan blowout, a 2020 industrial disaster [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“&#8230;Neither a fleeting joy, nor an unbidden laughter remains. In a moment, OIL took it all, stripping me of everything.” This stanza is from a poem written by Papul Gogoi, a resident of Baghjan, Assam, from the point of view of a (fictional) woman who lost everything in the Baghjan blowout, a 2020 industrial disaster that had widespread impacts on people and the environment. The poem, expressing grief and despair about the blowout, is part of a book Our Burden of Grief published in October 2025. On May 27, 2020, there was a leak in Oil India Limited’s (OIL) Well No. 5 in Baghjan Oil Field, Tinsukia, Assam, resulting in the uncontrollable flow of the natural gas (methane gas), crude oil and condensate droplets. People living nearby had to be evacuated. A subsequent blast on June 9, 2020, completely burned down 12 houses and more than 10,000 residents from nearly a dozen villages within a three-kilometre radius of the rig were affected and displaced. The fire engulfed adjacent wetlands, killing endangered birds and animals. The fire lasted for almost six months, and OIL only succeeded in extinguishing it entirely on November 15, 2020. The impact of the incident, one of the worst industrial disasters in modern India, has been captured in the book Our Burden of Grief. The book, co-authored by Sanjay Barbora, who teaches sociology and social anthropology, and Dolly Kikon, who teaches anthropology, both at the University of California, along with Noihrit Gogoi, a PhD student in sociology&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/a-new-book-documents-voices-from-the-baghjan-disaster/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/a-new-book-documents-voices-from-the-baghjan-disaster/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>CITES withdraws recommendation to suspend trade of endangered species to India</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/cites-withdraws-recommendation-to-suspend-trade-of-endangered-species-to-india/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/cites-withdraws-recommendation-to-suspend-trade-of-endangered-species-to-india/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Nov 2025 17:11:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[captive animals]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CITES]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[IUCN]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife crime]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/11/25152050/Orangutan_Pongo_pygmeus_pygmeus-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=35755</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Environmental Crime, Environmental Law, Environmental Politics, Wildlife, Wildlife Protection Act, Wildlife Sanctuary, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) withdrew its earlier recommendation to suspend the trade of endangered species to India, after it failed to garner adequate support by Parties at the ongoing CITES meeting in Uzbekistan. Earlier this month, the CITES Secretariat recommended India halt [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) withdrew its earlier recommendation to suspend the trade of endangered species to India, after it failed to garner adequate support by Parties at the ongoing CITES meeting in Uzbekistan. Earlier this month, the CITES Secretariat recommended India halt the import of species threatened with extinction (listed under Appendix I) until it revised its due diligence mechanisms. The recommendation was made after the Secretariat observed inconsistencies in India’s animal imports during a site visit in September. Without doing so, India ran the risk of importing animals which may have been sourced from the wild and traded as captive-bred, the Secretariat said. Over 40,000 imported animals – including endangered species like cheetahs, chimpanzees, and orangutans – were acquired by Vantara, a private zoo and rescue and rehabilitation centre founded by Anant Ambani of Reliance Industries. The Secretariat’s visit to India was made on the request of several Party members who had raised concerns about the volume and origin of animals being sent to Vantara. When the issue came up for discussion at the CITES meeting on November 23, however, most Parties in the Standing Committee hesitated to support the recommendation for temporary trade suspension to India, leading to its withdrawal. Observers at the meeting said the proceedings were unexpected. “We’re surprised by the amount of support India has received,” said Daniela Freyer, co-founder of the German conservation NGO ProWildlife, who was present during the meeting.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/cites-withdraws-recommendation-to-suspend-trade-of-endangered-species-to-india/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/cites-withdraws-recommendation-to-suspend-trade-of-endangered-species-to-india/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>India defends animal imports, calls wildlife governance ‘unmatched’</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/india-defends-animal-imports-calls-wildlife-governance-unmatched/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/india-defends-animal-imports-calls-wildlife-governance-unmatched/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Nov 2025 16:16:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CITES]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Supreme Court of India]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/11/14141822/Pan_paniscus_female-e1763116234859-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=35579</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Environmental Crime, Environmental Law, Wildlife, Wildlife Protection Act, Wildlife Sanctuary, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[India responded to an investigation of its animal imports by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) this week, arguing that any recommendations for a moratorium on wildlife trade are “premature and disproportionate.” The CITES Secretariat had found lapses in India’s due diligence of wildlife imports, in a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[India responded to an investigation of its animal imports by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) this week, arguing that any recommendations for a moratorium on wildlife trade are “premature and disproportionate.” The CITES Secretariat had found lapses in India’s due diligence of wildlife imports, in a report published earlier this month. Over 40,000 animals imported by India were headed to Vantara, a private animal rescue and rehabilitation centre founded by Anant Ambani of Reliance Industries. The report expressed concern that the imports may have allowed wild-caught animals to be traded as captive-bred, despite the validity of permits. The Secretariat gave India 90 days to respond to the findings and provide evidence of its revised due diligence mechanisms, recommending the trade of species threatened with extinction be paused till then. In response, India defended the animal imports, calling the scale of its wildlife governance systems “unmatched,” and arguing that “a five-day verification visit by a small mission team can, at best, provide an interim snapshot.” India further urged the Secretariat not to take punitive measures “in the absence of verified violation.” It also cited a recent Supreme Court judgement which declared all animal imports into Vantara were legally carried out. “India’s voluntary invitation to the verification mission and full disclosure of all records exemplify the good-faith cooperation that the Standing Committee has historically encouraged and rewarded,” India’s statement said, adding that it “urges all Parties to preserve this trust-based system rather than&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/india-defends-animal-imports-calls-wildlife-governance-unmatched/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/india-defends-animal-imports-calls-wildlife-governance-unmatched/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Quarries devour buffer forests of Western Ghats after sand mining ban</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/quarries-devour-buffer-forests-of-western-ghats-after-sand-mining-ban/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/quarries-devour-buffer-forests-of-western-ghats-after-sand-mining-ban/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Nov 2025 12:42:47 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Max Martin]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[construction]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infrastructure]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sand mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sustainable development]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/10/20235400/Ornamental_stone-_Dolerite_India-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=35130</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Just Transitions]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kerala and Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cities and Towns, Environment, Environmental Crime, Mining, Rivers, and Wetlands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Kerala, the demand for river sand, one of the primary materials used in construction, has increased in line with development. The state has experienced rapid expansion in modern housing, partly fuelled by remittances from the Gulf since the 1970s oil boom and large-scale migration from the state. As Kerala’s demand for sand grew sharply, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Kerala, the demand for river sand, one of the primary materials used in construction, has increased in line with development. The state has experienced rapid expansion in modern housing, partly fuelled by remittances from the Gulf since the 1970s oil boom and large-scale migration from the state. As Kerala’s demand for sand grew sharply, the state’s riverbeds bore the brunt — leading to falling groundwater levels, disrupted stream flows, and weakened bridges. To prevent these consequences, in June 2015, the Kerala government banned sand mining in six rivers and restricted it in five others. In January 2016, the central government amended the Environmental Impact Assessment Notification of 2006, mandating prior environmental clearance for the mining of minor minerals, including sand, in areas less than or equal to five hectares. While this was a well-intended move, a new study shows that the ban on river sand mining may have led to an unexpected boom in stone quarrying across the Western Ghats. The study was published by a team of three researchers from the National Institute of Technology, Kozhikode. The study attains added significance in the light of the Revenue Department of Kerala issuing an order in May 2025, approving new guidelines for the resumption of river sand mining in the state, effectively lifting a nearly decade-long moratorium. The study noted that the state’s construction industry, the largest consumer of the mined river sand, reacted to the ban by replacing river sand with manufactured sand (M-sand). M-sand is artificially made from&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/quarries-devour-buffer-forests-of-western-ghats-after-sand-mining-ban/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/11/quarries-devour-buffer-forests-of-western-ghats-after-sand-mining-ban/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Court submission challenges ‘confidential’ report on the Great Nicobar Island plan</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/a-new-submission-challenges-confidential-report-on-the-great-nicobar-island-plan/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/a-new-submission-challenges-confidential-report-on-the-great-nicobar-island-plan/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Aug 2025 16:18:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Simrin Sirur]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Coastal Regulation Zone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[development]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[earthquake]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environment clearance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Great Nicobar]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/27143234/155711087_43890ea788_o-768x464.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=34331</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coast, Coastal erosion, Coral Reefs, Environment, Environmental Crime, Environmental Politics, and Islands]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A submission by activist Ashish Kothari in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has challenged the confidential status of a report which clears the way for a trans-shipment port on the biodiverse Great Nicobar Island. The report — which hasn’t been publicly released — abruptly concluded that parts of the planned mega port no longer fell [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A submission by activist Ashish Kothari in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has challenged the confidential status of a report which clears the way for a trans-shipment port on the biodiverse Great Nicobar Island. The report — which hasn’t been publicly released — abruptly concluded that parts of the planned mega port no longer fell in an ecologically fragile no-development zone. However, the port’s construction could destroy coral reefs and turtle and megapod habitats. The government envisions building a trans-shipment container port, township, greenfield airport and solar and gas power plant on the Great Nicobar Island. Despite criticism from environmentalists, bureaucrats, opposition party leaders and international conservation groups, the government has pushed for the project citing its strategic location — close to key trade routes along the Malacca strait. In 2023, The National Green Tribunal ordered the government to constitute a High Powered Committee (HPC) to “revisit” the project’s environmental clearance, based on “certain deficiencies” pointed out in Kothari’s petition. The Union Environment Ministry granted the project clearance in 2022, based on several conditions. Citing the island’s coastal maps and existing rules under the Island Coastal Regulation Zone notification 2019, Kothari’s petition pointed out that seven square kilometres of the project fell in the CRZ 1-A coastal area, where most development activities are strictly prohibited. Of the seven square kilometres, 0.63 square kilometres fall under the port and port reclamation — the first of the four projects to come up.  CRZ 1-A areas are those are documented to have coral&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/a-new-submission-challenges-confidential-report-on-the-great-nicobar-island-plan/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/a-new-submission-challenges-confidential-report-on-the-great-nicobar-island-plan/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tiger deaths reveal conservation challenges</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/07/tiger-deaths-reveal-conservation-challenges/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/07/tiger-deaths-reveal-conservation-challenges/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jul 2025 10:16:35 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bharti Dharapuram]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shailesh Shrivastava]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tiger conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tiger cub]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tiger reserve]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife crime]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/07/14113705/Two_tiger_cubs_at_Tadoba_Andhari_Tiger_Project_India_2016-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=33608</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[The Indian Forest Story]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Karnataka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Big Cats, Environmental Crime, Mammals, and Tigers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The recent deaths of five tigers by alleged poisoning reveals gaps in wildlife protection and the challenges of conserving forests traversed by people and livestock. On June 26, an adult tiger and her four cubs were found dead in the Malai Mahadeshwara (MM) Hills Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka, prompting investigations. Three people were arrested on [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The recent deaths of five tigers by alleged poisoning reveals gaps in wildlife protection and the challenges of conserving forests traversed by people and livestock. On June 26, an adult tiger and her four cubs were found dead in the Malai Mahadeshwara (MM) Hills Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka, prompting investigations. Three people were arrested on the accusation of lacing the carcass of their cattle with poison to target the carnivore that killed it. A preliminary report by an inquiry committee confirms the poisoning, pointing to dereliction of duty by forest officials and raises the issue of cattle grazing within the sanctuary. As details emerge, the incident has brought to light systemic issues with wildlife protection in a unique landscape where conservation challenges have evolved over time. Why, what, and who The Karnataka Forest Department faced a crisis on June 26, when five tigers were found dead in the Hoogyam range near the southern boundary of the MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary. Reports confirmed that a cow carcass was found close to the tigers, raising suspicions that the tigers may have been intentionally poisoned in response to a killing of livestock. The Karnataka Forest Minister ordered an investigation by a six-member team consisting of senior forest officials, a veterinarian, and a wildlife biologist. The Centre formed a team of representatives from the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau for a parallel probe. As more details emerged, negligence by forest officials came to the fore. The tiger carcasses were&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/07/tiger-deaths-reveal-conservation-challenges/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/07/tiger-deaths-reveal-conservation-challenges/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Upholding the law, Supreme Court halts amnesties for EIA violators, jolts industry</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/06/upholding-rule-of-law-supreme-court-halts-amnesties-for-eia-violators-jolts-industry/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/06/upholding-rule-of-law-supreme-court-halts-amnesties-for-eia-violators-jolts-industry/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Jun 2025 12:06:20 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Akshay Deshmane]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kundan Pandey]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amnesty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[EIA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environmental impact assessment (EIA)]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mining]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[real estate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Supreme Court of India]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/06/10091828/Aerial_view_of_sand_mining_in_Gundlakamma_river-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=33026</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Connected Environments]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India, Jharkhand, and Kerala]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environmental Crime]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On May 16, a Supreme Court judgment struck down two amnesties issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&#38;CC) for violators of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification. One amnesty was notified in 2017 and another in 2021, both drafted by the environment ministry to regularise projects that had started without [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On May 16, a Supreme Court judgment struck down two amnesties issued by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&amp;CC) for violators of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) notification. One amnesty was notified in 2017 and another in 2021, both drafted by the environment ministry to regularise projects that had started without prior environmental clearance (EC) or had extended beyond approved clearances. The court criticised the 2017 notification and the 2021 Office Memorandum (OM), declaring them illegal as they allowed authorities to grant ex-post facto environmental clearances — an action the court found contrary to law and harmful to the environment. Commenting on the 2021 OM, the two-judge bench of Justice Abhay S. Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan observed, “The 2021 OM talks about the concept of development. Can there be development at the cost of environment? Conservation of environment and its improvement is an essential part of the concept of development. Therefore, going out of the way by issuing such OMs to protect those who have caused harm to the environment has to be deprecated by the courts, which are under a constitutional and statutory mandate to uphold the fundamental right under Article 21 and to protect the environment. In fact, the courts should come down heavily on such attempts.” The court was equally critical of the 2017 amnesty, stating, “&#8230;what was sought to be done was to protect the project proponents who committed gross illegality by commencing construction or commencing operation or process without obtaining prior&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/06/upholding-rule-of-law-supreme-court-halts-amnesties-for-eia-violators-jolts-industry/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/06/upholding-rule-of-law-supreme-court-halts-amnesties-for-eia-violators-jolts-industry/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Otters face heat from smugglers in northeast India</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/07/otters-face-heat-from-smugglers-in-northeast-india/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/07/otters-face-heat-from-smugglers-in-northeast-india/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 Jul 2024 13:33:10 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nabarun Guha]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Shailesh Shrivastava]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kaziranga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Kaziranga National Park]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Manas National Park]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Northeast India]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Otters]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2024/07/02130732/Smooth-coated_otter_Vandalur_Zoo-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=28365</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, India, and Sikkim]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Environmental Crime, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On May 23, in a joint operation carried out by the sleuths of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) along with Dhemaji forest department, four otter skins were seized from a man at Jonai in Dhemaji district of Assam. While seizure of otter parts is not very common, this recent incident highlighted the fact that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On May 23, in a joint operation carried out by the sleuths of the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) along with Dhemaji forest department, four otter skins were seized from a man at Jonai in Dhemaji district of Assam. While seizure of otter parts is not very common, this recent incident highlighted the fact that smuggling and poaching of otters for their skin and other body parts is taking place in northeast India. Otters are carnivorous mammals belonging to the Mustelidae family which includes weasels, badgers, minks etc. They are one of the top predators found in river ecosystems across the country. Out of the 13 otter species found globally, three are found in India – the Eurasian otter, smooth-coated otter and small-clawed otter. Speaking about the raid in Assam, Dibakar Mahanta, a forest official from Dhemaji forest department told Mongabay-India, “We received a tip-off about a person hailing from East Siang district in Arunachal Pradesh, carrying a few otter skins. Based on that lead, we nabbed him from the Nepalibasti area of Jonai, a subdivision in Dhemaji. He said he is just a carrier and his job was to transport these skins to another person in Gogamukh. He said he is unaware about the route ahead.” The otter skins seized by forest department and WCCB from the raid at Jonai. Photo by Dibakar Mahanta. International demand fuels illegal trade Authorities say they believe that the skins seized are at least a year old. A WCCB official involved in the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2024/07/otters-face-heat-from-smugglers-in-northeast-india/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/07/otters-face-heat-from-smugglers-in-northeast-india/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>A new web tool offers ways to trace where illegal lion parts come from</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/01/a-new-web-tool-offers-ways-to-trace-where-illegal-lion-parts-come-from/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/01/a-new-web-tool-offers-ways-to-trace-where-illegal-lion-parts-come-from/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jan 2024 16:26:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawahare]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mongabay Editor]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lion]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife trade]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2024/01/15150908/Asiatic_Lion-4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=26051</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Big Cats, Cats, Environmental Crime, Technology, Technology and Conservation, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Lion numbers across their habitats the world over have decreased by three-quarters in the last 50 years. Today, only 20,000 to 40,000 of the majestic cats survive in the wild. Poaching amounts to a third of their deaths, and in many cases where they&#8217;re killed due to wildlife-livestock conflict, their body parts are harvested for [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Lion numbers across their habitats the world over have decreased by three-quarters in the last 50 years. Today, only 20,000 to 40,000 of the majestic cats survive in the wild. Poaching amounts to a third of their deaths, and in many cases where they&#8217;re killed due to wildlife-livestock conflict, their body parts are harvested for sale. Wildlife crime investigators face a big handicap when dealing with confiscated wildlife products. Sifting through dismembered remains — claws, bones, teeth — it is hard to say where they originate from. To trace lion parts to their source populations, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign developed a web tool, the Lion Localizer, which uses DNA testing to pinpoint the geographic source of contraband lion parts. “Currently, the origin of most lion products is unknown,” said Rob Ogden, director and co-founder of TRACE Wildlife Forensics Network, a partner in the Lion Localizer project. The U.K.-based nonprofit, which supports the application of forensic science in wildlife law enforcement and works in at least a dozen African countries, is trying to change that. Barring a small population in India, these big cats (Panthera leo) are only found in Africa. Technically, there are two extant lion subspecies: the northern lion (P. l. leo) and the southern lion (P. l. melanochaita). The former includes populations in Asia and those in Central and West Africa, while the latter includes lions in Southern and East Africa. DNA samples from confiscated parts are already used to identify species. This is key&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2024/01/a-new-web-tool-offers-ways-to-trace-where-illegal-lion-parts-come-from/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2024/01/a-new-web-tool-offers-ways-to-trace-where-illegal-lion-parts-come-from/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
			</channel>
</rss>