North East India Tigers Are Unique And Special

The Tiger Population of the Northeast is genetically different from the rest of the country, an official tiger report has revealed for the first time.

The revelation was made in the detailed report of Status of the Tigers, Co-predators and Prey in India brought out by Wildlife Institute of India and National Tiger Conservation Authority that for the first time has dealt with genetic structure of tigers in the country to ensure effective conservation efforts.

There are mainly two large population clusters of tigers in the country - the northeastern population and population of the rest of the country.

"The Tiger population in the Northeast represents a unique cluster when compared to those from the rest of the country.

An interesting step would be to investigate the admixture of genetic material between these and the Indo-Chinese tigers ( Panthera tigris corbetti) found in the border areas of the northeastern states," the report said.

Senior professor at the Wildlife Institute of India and one of the authors of the report, Yadvendradev Jhala, said: "Tigers from the Northeast India are distinctly different in their genetic composition. This is likely as the Northeast tiger population probably forms a zone where there has been historic gene flow from Myanmar."

"This is the route tigers took to enter India and this process has been continuous, resulting in mixing of genes of tigers from Southeast Asia and India. It creates a different and distinct composition of gene frequencies in the region," he added.

Wildlife biologist with NGO Aaranyak, Firoz Ahmed, said: "The tigers of the Northeast have more chances to share its genes with the Southeast Asian tigers of Myanmar, Thailand and South China because of its habitat connectivity in the trans-boundary areas. Therefore, the Indo-Chinese sub-species and the tiger population of the Northeast India are likely to be very similar. Further genetic study may reveal this."

"The tiger population of the Northeast is significant for conservation as they may work as a stepping stone to exchange genes between the Royal Bengal tiger and Indo-Chinese tiger. This will help gene pool preservation within the tiger species," he added.

The report said the Northeast, Dibang and Namdapha formed one population cluster, while Manas, Kaziranga, Nameri and Buxa formed a second cluster.

Quantifying gene flow in tiger populations was also crucial to the understanding of how ancestry, dispersal and isolation operate in maintaining meta populations, the report said.

A meta population consists of a group of separated populations of the same species which interact at some level. The authorities also carried out non-invasive genetic sampling where tiger populations could not be assessed by camera trap because of logistic constraints like extremely low density.

Under non-invasive genetic sampling , 12 tigers were found in Namdapha, Dibang and Dampa reserves in the Northeast, respectively.

Overall, in the Northeastern Hills and Brahmaputra landscape, Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong-Pakke-Nameri-Orang is the largest source  with (163 tigers) and should be managed as a single meta population.

Enhanced protection in the region will help build prey and subsequently tiger population in the long-term, the report suggested.

Manas-Buxa, along with areas of Bhutan landscape, had potential to sustain higher number of tigers and were currently below their carrying capacity.

Dibang and Namdapha show good promise for tiger and biodiversity conservation but needed more conservation investment, the report added.

Credits : Telegraph India 

Bhoramdeo Wildlife Sanctuary Is Now A Tiger Reserve

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has sanctioned ‘Bhoramdeo Wildlife Sanctuary’ spread over 351.25 sq kms as a ‘Tiger Reserve’ in Chhattisgarh.

Five years ago, a proposal was sent to NTCA in this regard as there were  tigers on the move from Kanha National Park, Madhya Pradesh to Bhoramdeo Wildlife Sanctuary, officials  said.

Now after getting the status of a Tiger Reserve, there will be DFO level Forest Officer there. Besides, there will be well trained staff including a veterinary doctor.

A Tigress was spotted moving with three cubs and a tiger five years ago in Bhoramdeo Wildlife Sanctuary.

So, The  Forest department sent a proposal to NTCA to declare it as a Tiger Reserve.

Chief minister Raman Singh had provided in-principle approval in a meeting of State Wildlife Board for formation of the Tiger Reserve recently.

As per officials, it may take six months for formation of the Tiger Reserve. Barasingha (swamp deer) will be translocated here from Kanha National Park, MP, as there is conducive atmosphere for such animals.

There is abundance of water in Bhoramdeo in addition to other natural surroundings. This wildlife sanctuary is the origin of Fen and Sankari rivers and these rivers join and make up a Big River in Kanha National Park. Bhoramdeo has 160 sq km as core area and 152 sq km as buffer zone.

Kabirdham DFO Prabhat Mishra said, “ We are in regular touch with NTCA officials after sending the proposal for the Tiger Reserve. Though It is a Wildlife  Sanctuary , we are doing our level best for wildlife conservation but now as it has been made a Tiger Reserve, it will be an added advantage for us and we will work more.”

Two tigers , a tigress and cubs had been spotted in Bhoramdeo Forest Reserve during the last few months since March this year.

The Forest Department has installed camera traps for the monitoring of wild animal movements which proved presence of two cubs along with two tigers and a tigress in the reserve.

Bhoramdeo Forest Reserve situated in between Kanha National Tiger Reserve and Achanakmar Tiger Reserve, has provided evidence of presence of wildlife  ever since it was formed three years ago. 

The camera traps installed across the forest region of Bhoramdeo Forest Reserve has provided evidence of presence of tiger, tigress and cubs for the last few years.

Credits : Daily Pioneer 

All India Tiger Census Set To Begin In January 2018

India will begin its four-yearly tiger census in January 2018 amid expectations that new data, set to be released in January 2019, would show a rise in big cat population.

Training of staff is underway for the census, which counts tiger numbers inside and outside reserves.

The last all-India census occurred in 2014, when tiger numbers stood at 2,226 , up from 1,706 in 2010.

With state surveys reporting notable increases, some estimate that the tiger population will cross 3,000 during the 2018 count.

Top officials at the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) confirmed that the tiger census will happen in 2018 and the final numbers will be ready by January 2019.

“We expect tiger numbers to show an increase,” NTCA chief Debabrata Swain, said.

States with high big cat populations are jostling for the title of the ‘tiger state.’ Top officials from Uttarakhand that had the second largest population in 2014 (340) , said their numbers had grown to at least 361. Officials from Madhya Pradesh. with the third largest population (308) in 2014, said it now has 350 tigers.

Read The Whole Article Here : http://www.hindustantimes.com/environment/tiger-census-begins-in-january-2018-numbers-expected-to-go-up/story-yxHwmCMbLsrFlmTmVnTuEJ.html

The Tiger Roar Is Fading in Odisha

This is a Terrible Situation all around with the Wild Tigers being the Victims and Sufferers because of official neglect and apathy. 

Orissa, thanks to its sizeable area of forest cover, has all along been regarded as a major tiger habitat in the country—Similipal in the north, Sunabeda in the south and Satakosia in Angul district. But the ground reality in these places has worsened over the years, resulting in a sharp decline in wildlife population, including tigers. 

The nearly 6,569 sq km Simlipal Biosphere in Mayurbhanj district has since been run over by Lawless Forces.
    
The situation is no better at the 600 sq km Sunabeda sanctuary, which, too, poses a serious danger for tourists. Satakosia, which is not far off from Bhubaneswar, has all but become a haven for poachers and timber smugglers.
    
Amid all this, the helpless tigers are witnessing a steady decline in their numbers. Five years ago, tiger population in Simlipal, going by the state census, was 101. But in 2006-07, when the WII conducted a camera-trap census, the number was found to be abysmally low around 20. The number was not to the liking of the state government, which  conducted its own survey again and could not take the number beyond 60. All this notwithstanding, the government’s ongoing “Project Tiger” and over Rs 12 crore spent on the conservation program at Simlipal.
    
The Sunabeda sanctuary, where Lawless Forces Writ runs after they repeatedly attacked forest offices there, is claimed to have 34 tigers. Satakosia has now hardly 10 tigers, which, environment activists say, is not a “viable population” to let the animals survive for long. More so, a 2000 MW thermal power plant has been proposed on the borders of the sanctuary.     

Orissa had counted 226 Royal Bengal Tigers in 1993, which subsequently fell to 192 (M-57, F-75, cubs-60) by 2004. If one goes by the WII’s cameratrap census, from out of the 1,411 tigers counted across the country in 2008, Orissa accounted for not more than 54, including 20 in Simlipal actually. 

 There is rampant destruction of animal habitat all over the state. Large-scale mining has worsened the situation. 

Credits : Tiger Roar Fading In Orissa 
               By Rajaram Satapathy 
               Times of India 
               March 8, 2010

Missing Male Tiger of Tadoba Reserve Located

Four years after wildlife observers said they lost track of a male tiger in the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) at Chandrapur near Nagpur, an image of Ookhan was captured via a camera trap far away from his home early this month.

Eight-year-old Ookhan was spotted 80-100 km away near Pathri, a village close to Ghodazhari area, where safaris recently began. The area and falls under the Brahmapur division adjoining TATR.

The stripe pattern of Ookhan from a 2012 photograph matched with tiger’s image recorded by the camera trap on March 2 this year. Stripe patterns are unique to every tiger.

 “It is a known fact that male cubs generally travel farther away from their mother’s territory to establish their own. This prevents inbreeding among tigers,” said Jignesh Patel, a naturalist, and who has been visiting TATR for six years.

 Born in 2009 to Yeda Anna (also known as Crooked Tail) and mother Tara (or Nakkatti) in the Moharli range, Ookhan separated from his mother in 2011. Moving 15-20 km away, the two-year-old was regularly seen at Vasant Bhandara — his father’s territory. Vasant Bhandara was dominated by two older male tigers Katezhari (better known as Tyson) and Gabbar, making it difficult for Ookhan to establish his territory.

Credits : Four years on, missing male tiger of Tadoba reserve spotted
               By Snehal Fernandes
              Hindustan Times, Mumbai
             March 21, 2017 

Collarwali Tigress a Super Mom

You May Call Her A "Super Mom".

Collarwali is an amazing fertile tigress at Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh State who has given birth to 4 more cubs now.

This is Her Seventh Litter and she has so far mothered 26 Tiger Cubs -- An Amazing Record for any Tigress in Madhya Pradesh State.

The Latest Litter is a massive increase in the State that has lost 35 Tigers recently.

Referred to as Queen of Pench and Pench Princess -- Collarwali is one of 4 Cubs of Famous Tigress Barimada who was photographed and featured in a BBC Wildlife Documentary -- Spy In the Jungle.

She was the First Tiger Cub to establish her Home Range so close to her Mother's Home Range.

Collarwali has had her Ups and Downs with Litters with her first litter not surviving the harsh climatic conditions in Pench.

However, as an Experienced Tiger Mother Her Subsequent Litters have survived and have added to the Adult Tiger Population of Pench Tiger Reserve.

Most Of her Litters have been in caves in and around Pench.

Here's Saluting You Collarwali from Mumbai, India.

May You live for many more years to come and add to the Tiger Population of Pench.

Credits : Ab Tak 26, Tiger Mom Delivers 4 More Cubs
               Page 13
               Times of India, Mumbai
               April 7, 2017

Orang Tiger Reserve in Assam Has The Highest Tiger Density

Orang National Park, one of the smallest national parks in India is poised to emerge as the reserve with the highest tiger density with 35 tigers per 100 sq km.

 

The tiger population in Assam has increased noticeably from last census but India’s smallest and relatively lesser-known Orang National Park could displace heavyweight Kaziranga National Park as the reserve with the highest tiger density.

 

Kaziranga had highest tiger density (12.72 per 100 sq km) followed by Corbett in Uttarakhand (11) and Bandipur in Karnataka (10.28) in the 2014 census of the big cat population.

 

But the latest round of tiger estimation carried out in January to March 2017 could displace Kaziranga from the top slot.

 

The Rajiv Gandhi Orang National Park in Darrang district which was notified as the 49th Tiger Reserve of the country only in 2016, may soon become the highest tiger density forest in India, surpassing several world famous Tiger Reserves including the Corbett Tiger Reserve (National Park) and Kaziranga Tiger Reserve (National Park). 

 

Much to the cheer of the nature lovers of Darrang district and the officers and staff of the forest, a month-long tiger census with the help of camera trapping conducted by the State Forest department for the first time on their own, which ended in the forest on Friday last has triggered this signal. According to Chakrapani Rai, Range Officer of the forest, preliminary monitoring of the camera capturing has shown the possibility of around 40 individual tigers (excluding cubs below the age of six months numbering more than ten). 

 

“All other cameras, except two out of the total 72 cameras with modern technology, installed across the forest have spotted movements of tigers. This is evident from the preliminary monitoring of the camera trapping. We are hopeful of finding around 40 adult individual tigers in this exercise ,” said the Range Officer. “However, we will have to wait till the declaration of the final result after the analysis of camera captures by experts from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA),” he added.

 

It may be mentioned here that in 2010, according to a tiger status report released by the NTCA, an organisation of the Government of India, Orang National Park had only 0.15 Tigers per 100 sq km unit density behind Corbett National Park with the highest tiger density in the country with an average of 17.83 per 100 sq km. 

 

On the other hand, a study report revealed in 2014 declared Kaziranga as the forest with the highest tiger density in the country with a figure of 12.72 per 100 sq km followed by the Corbett National Park (11) in Uttarakhand and Bandipur National Park (10.28) in Karnataka. 

 

In the last tiger census conducted in 2013 before Orang was notified as a Tiger Reserve, it reportedly recorded a total of 24 adult tigers. Similarly, in 2011 the figure recorded was 20 and it is easily evident from these figures that the number has been gradually increasing in the forest over the last several years.  

 

This may be attributed to the conducive eco- system for the habitation of the big cat species and adequate prey base, besides the sincere protection measures taken by the forest officials and the staff.

 

Read all about it here : http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/assam-s-orang-may-replace-kaziranga-as-park-with-highest-tiger-density/story-qNcpdcNVpDaf7gPbPNv1gO.html