
The reintroduced population of hard-ground Barasingha in Satpura Tiger Reserve reached approximately 303 individuals by 10 October 2026. The animals were brought from Kanha National Park under a reintroduction programme initiated by the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department in 2015.
A rare olive-green snake was reported from Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Hills (B.R. Hills), Karnataka, on 9 October 2026. The available details do not establish the snake’s species, the precise sighting location or the circumstances of the encounter. Several snake species in India have olive-green or olive-brown colouring, so colour alone cannot confirm identification.
A Red-Headed Vulture (Sarcogyps calvus), classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), was sighted on 5 October 2026 in the Munsiyari area of Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand. The observation was made at about 2,650 metres above sea level in the forests of Patalthod, between Balati Bend and Munsiyari town.
A 15-year conservation breeding programme has led to the release of approximately 11,000 wētāpunga (Deinacrida heteracantha) into the wild in New Zealand. The wētāpunga is New Zealand’s heaviest insect and is among the heaviest insect species in the world.
Ladakh launched India’s first high-altitude snow leopard wildlife safari on 7 October 2026, during Wildlife Week celebrations in Leh. Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena flagged off six specially designed open-back vehicles. The initiative is a collaboration between the Snow Leopard and High-Altitude Nature Conservation (SHAN) Society and the Department of Forest, Ecology and Environment, UT Ladakh. Ladakh hosts 477 of India’s estimated 718 snow leopards.
A rare two-headed wolf snake was rescued from a farm in Agaswani village, Dhanpur taluka, Dahod district, Gujarat, on 6 October 2026. The non-venomous snake is about 6 inches long and has two heads, four eyes and a single body. It is the first recorded case of a two-headed snake in Gujarat and the fifth reported case in India.
Maharashtra ordered a minimum 10% water cut across all urban local bodies from 16 October 2026. The measure applies to municipal corporations, municipalities and gram panchayats in the state.
Five cheetah cubs were born at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on 5 October 2026 to KJP21, an India-born female cheetah. The birth raised India’s cheetah population to 60, including 41 cheetahs born on Indian soil.
UltraTech Cement Limited became the first Indian cement company to cross 2 gigawatts of green energy capacity for captive use on 5 October 2026. Its cumulative installed green energy capacity reached 2,024 MW, with 1,580 MW from renewable energy sources and 444 MW from Waste Heat Recovery Systems.
The Northern Western Ghats in Maharashtra added a new subterranean amphibian species, Gegeneophis chandgadi, from the Kolhapur region in September 2026. The discovery placed the North Western Ghats among important Indian localities for caecilian diversity, a group of legless amphibians that live underground.
Ten captive-bred Great Indian Bustards (Ardeotis nigriceps) are scheduled for release in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan on 3 and 4 October 2026. The release is planned at Ramdevra and Sudasari in the Desert National Park, and the birds will be monitored after release for movement, behaviour, habitat use, adaptation, and survival.
A three-year-old Royal Bengal tigress weighing 150 kg was released into the Buxa Tiger Reserve in West Bengal on 2 October 2026. The release marked the launch of the state’s first tiger reintroduction project and involved translocation from the Valmiki Tiger Reserve in Bihar.