7 months ago
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The Tamil Nadu authorities has sanctioned ₹1 crore for the conservation of 4 lesser-known endangered species: the lion-tailed macaque, Madras hedgehog, striped hyena, and hump-headed mahseer.
The Government Order (G.O.), issued successful this respect connected September 29, 2025, follows an announcement made by the Minister for Forests and Khadi during the State Legislative Assembly league successful March 2025.
The inaugural is portion of the State’s efforts to grow biodiversity conservation efforts beyond fashionable taxon similar elephants and tigers, focusing alternatively connected taxon that play important ecological roles but person received constricted attention, an authoritative merchandise said.
Under the scheme, ₹48.50 lakh has been allocated to the lion-tailed macaque, an endangered primate endemic to the Western Ghats that survives successful fragmented rainforest patches. The Madras hedgehog, a nocturnal and little-studied mammal recovered successful semi-arid landscapes of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala, volition person ₹20.50 lakh.
The near-threatened striped hyena, a scavenger taxon facing colonisation declines successful areas specified arsenic the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, has been allocated ₹14 lakh. The critically endangered hump-headed mahseer, erstwhile abundant successful the Moyar River but present affected by dam construction, overfishing, pollution, and invasive species, volition beryllium supported with ₹17 lakh.
The merchandise said the funds volition beryllium utilized for activities including situation monitoring, semipermanent colonisation studies, ecological surveys, and conservation breeding programmes.
Specific interventions see the installation of canopy bridges to amended wood connectivity for the lion-tailed macaque, assemblage consciousness and acquisition campaigns, grooming for frontline wood staff, and successful situ civilization and restocking programmes aimed astatine reviving mahseer populations. These efforts are expected to make baseline information connected taxon colonisation and situation quality, helping to pass aboriginal conservation measures.
