94 results for “Environment & Biodiversity”
Gujarat restructured the Porbandar Forest Division on 29 September 2026 to strengthen forest administration and support lion rehabilitation in the Barda region. The reorganisation covers forest ranges, village boundaries, beat limits, and inter-divisional transfers for conservation management in western Gujarat.
Maharashtra declared 265 of its 358 talukas drought-affected on 26 September 2026. The affected talukas account for about 74% of the state’s total landmass. The declaration followed a rainfall deficit of 18.8% between 1 June and 18 September 2026 and a two-month monsoon break linked with El Niño conditions.
A new parasitic wasp species, Oxyserphus narendrani, was discovered on 22 September 2026 in Dibru-Saikhowa National Park in Assam. The species was identified by scientists from the Zoological Survey of India through microscopic characters, including a single horizontal groove on the thorax, a shorter ovipositor sheath, and a distinctive wing spot.
A weather system over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a deep depression on 22 September 2026. The India Meteorological Department forecast that it would cross the north Andhra Pradesh-South Odisha coast between Visakhapatnam and Gopalpur during the night of 23 September to the early hours of 24 September 2026.
A rare leucistic Great Cormorant was spotted at Ameenpur Lake near BHEL in Hyderabad on 19 September 2026. The bird had unusually pale feathers, while the Great Cormorants around it showed the species’ usual dark plumage. The sighting was documented with photographs by Raghuvamsh Chavali, a Hyderabad-born Canadian birder.
The endangered black robin, also known as karure, was named New Zealand’s Bird of the Year on 21 September 2026. The competition was organised by Forest & Bird, and the black robin won after receiving more than 25,000 votes in a record turnout of 105,000 votes.
Namibian cheetah Gaurav, a 10-year-old male, died at Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh on 21 September 2026 at around 4 p.m. He had been under treatment in a Quarantine Boma at Palpur for about 10 days after forest officials found him weak and dull on 12 September 2026.
A three-year-old female cheetah named CCB-2, originally from Botswana, was released into a protected enclosure at Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary in Madhya Pradesh on 20 September 2026. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav renamed the cheetah “Radha” during the release, which coincided with Radha Ashtami.
A new checklist of the flowering plants of the Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve in South India has recorded 3,261 species, 26 subspecies, and 28 varieties. The checklist was compiled by the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute in Thiruvananthapuram and published in Plant Science Today in September 2026.
A yellow-bellied sea snake washed ashore at Crystal Cove in Orange County, California, in September 2026. It was the first reported appearance of the venomous species in the state since 2018. The species is an ocean-dwelling reptile that usually lives in tropical and subtropical waters.
India initiated its first direct benefit transfer payments for soil carbon credits on 16-17 September 2026 to more than 2,500 smallholder farmers in Punjab and Haryana. The payments totalled over ₹2.9 crore and were linked to verified carbon credits generated through regenerative farming practices under the Aadi farmer carbon programme.
Assam had 3,260 one-horned rhinoceroses as of September 2026, and this figure formed about 80% of the global population of the greater one-horned rhinoceros. The global population reached 4,075 individuals in 2026, while India had an estimated 3,323 rhinos and Nepal had around 752.