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Big herbivores! - Printable Version

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RE: Big herbivores! - Wolverine - 11-10-2017

(11-10-2017, 11:23 AM)Rishi Wrote:
(11-10-2017, 10:51 AM)Wolverine Wrote:
(10-29-2017, 06:28 PM)Rishi Wrote: This specimen is an example of maximum size Indian rhinos' horn get..

*This image is copyright of its original author

Amazing beast, powerful and magnificent. Real treasure of India.
What is the current rhino situation in Manas national park? Is there any chance for creation of a third large rhino population beside Kaziranga and Chitwan?

North Bengal's Gorumara Sanctuary(100 km² ) & Jaldapara National Park(215 km² ) on the other hand, houses 250+ rhinos together.. Both have reached their carrying-capacity

I am wondering what is the carrying capacity of Chitwan national park in Nepal. It's twice bigger than Kaziranga and hence theorethicaly could feed 4800 rhinos, but has "only" 600. I hope one day the number of rhinos in Chitwan to surpass at least 1000. Could any other protected aria in the subcontinent as Manas, Dudhwa or Bardia maintain same astronomical density of rhinos as Kaziranga national park and if not - why? Jaldapara is 50% of the territory of Kaziranga but has 12 times less rhinos...

So currently the three largest populations of Greater One Horned Rhino are:
1. Kaziranga - around 2400 - 5 animals per 1 sq km
2. Chitwan - 600 - 0,7 animals per 1 sq km
3. Jaldapara - 200 - 1 rhino per 1 sq km


RE: Big herbivores! - Rishi - 11-10-2017

(11-10-2017, 04:59 PM)Wolverine Wrote: I am wondering what is the carrying capacity of Chitwan national park in Nepal. It's twice bigger than Kaziranga and hence theorethicaly could feed 4800 rhinos, but has "only" 600. I hope one day the number of rhinos in Chitwan to surpass at least 1000. Could any other protected aria in the subcontinent as Manas, Dudhwa or Bardia maintain same astronomical density of rhinos as Kaziranga national park and if not - why? Jaldapara is 50% of the territory of Kaziranga but has 12 times less rhinos...

So currently the three largest populations of Greater One Horned Rhino are:
1. Kaziranga - around 2400 - 5 animals per 1 sq km
2. Chitwan - 600 - 0,7 animals per 1 sq km
3. Jaldapara - 200 - 1 rhino per 1 sq km

The numbers don't depend on size of the park.. but the size of the habitat.

Kaziranga, Indian Manas & Dudhwa had high percentage of grassland. Gorumara, Jaldapara & Chitwan have lot of dense forests interspersed with grasslands...


RE: Big herbivores! - Wolverine - 11-11-2017

That's why I think Manas is a potential rhino super-power.

Yes, percentage of forests in Chitwan is probably much higher than in Kaziranga. Nevertheless hope one day number of rhinos there to surpass at least 1000.
And also probably the soil around Brahmaputra river (Kaziranga) is more fertile than the soils in any other park.


RE: Big herbivores! - epaiva - 11-12-2017

Cape Buffalos fighting







RE: Big herbivores! - Rishi - 11-17-2017

Huge tusker roaming in SouthWest Bengal town..

*This image is copyright of its original author



RE: Big herbivores! - Wolverine - 11-18-2017

(11-17-2017, 10:23 PM)Rishi Wrote: Huge tusker roaming in SouthWest Bengal town..

*This image is copyright of its original author

Do you have idea why there are no wild elephants in Kanha national park? Corbett has wild elephants but doesn't have gaurs, Kanha has gaurs but doesn't have wild elephants as long as I know. Why Indian biologists do not introduce elephants in Kanha? An ideal Indian jungle should posses both elephant and tiger, Hathi and Sher Chan... as we know from "Jungle book".


RE: Big herbivores! - parvez - 11-18-2017

It may be due to poaching by man in kanha some elephant poaching mafia will be there. Or there are no preferred vegetation types for elephants in kanha. The bigger tigers in Corbett besides being overpopulated there should have targeted gaurs immensely that may have lead to their extermination.


RE: Big herbivores! - Rishi - 11-18-2017

(11-18-2017, 10:43 AM)Wolverine Wrote: Do you have idea why there are no wild elephants in Kanha national park? Corbett has wild elephants but doesn't have gaurs, Kanha has gaurs but doesn't have wild elephants as long as I know. Why Indian biologists do not introduce elephants in Kanha? An ideal Indian jungle should posses both elephant and tiger, Hathi and Sher Chan... as we know from "Jungle book".

Gaurs originated in the East & are still in the middle of their natural westward expansion.

Kanha & the similar landscapes​ haven't had elephants for many years, & it was a natural extinction. They were once found as west as Syria...
The forests became too dry about the same time Sahara started expanding about 5k years ago & Asian elephants need water more than African ones do (so.. no desert elephants). By Alexander's time their range have retreated to North-Indian plains.

Terai is a much wetter habitat with lots of most-undergrowth are important to support elephants. The eastern parts of Central India, like Orissa, Jharkhand have them. 

However, the have been recent reports of elephant here's migrating as west as Guru-Ghasidas Tiger Reserve of Chhattisgarh from the Chhotanagpur Plateau.

Also, elephants from Nilgiris have been paying visits to the Southern hills of Eastern Ghats after 200 long years of absence (Man-Elephant Conflict and Mitigation - Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh).

PS: Species aren't just introduced from one forest to another just because "..An ideal Indian jungle should posses both elephant and tiger, Hathi and Sher-Khan". C'mon, be sensible...


RE: Big herbivores! - Wolverine - 11-18-2017

(11-18-2017, 03:07 PM)Rishi Wrote:
(11-18-2017, 10:43 AM)Wolverine Wrote: Do you have idea why there are no wild elephants in Kanha national park? Corbett has wild elephants but doesn't have gaurs, Kanha has gaurs but doesn't have wild elephants as long as I know. Why Indian biologists do not introduce elephants in Kanha? An ideal Indian jungle should posses both elephant and tiger, Hathi and Sher Chan... as we know from "Jungle book".

Gaurs originated in the East & are still in the middle of their natural westward expansion.

Kanha & the similar landscapes haven't had elephants for many years, & it was a natural extinction. They were once found as west as Syria...
The forests became too dry about the same time Sahara started expanding about 5k years ago & Asian elephants need water more than African ones do (so.. no desert elephants). By Alexander's time their range have retreated to North-Indian plains.

Terai is a much wetter habitat with lots of most-undergrowth are important to support elephants. The eastern parts of Central India, like Orissa, Jharkhand have them. 

However, the have been recent reports of elephant here's migrating as west as Guru-Ghasidas Tiger Reserve of Chhattisgarh from the Chhotanagpur Plateau.

Also, elephants from Nilgiris have been paying visits to the Southern hills of Eastern Ghats after 200 long years of absence (Man-Elephant Conflict and Mitigation - Koundinya Wildlife Sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh).

PS: Species aren't just introduced from one forest to another just because "..An ideal Indian jungle should posses both elephant and tiger, Hathi and Sher-Khan". C'mon, be sensible...

Thank you Rishi. So basically what you want to say is that the forests of Central India currently are too dry for Asiatic elephants.


RE: Big herbivores! - parvez - 11-18-2017

I once read a news that Indian rhino population once was only around 12. I was worried that time that all individuals that survived must have been inbred. But surprisingly NO. That estimate must have been wrong or those 12 or odd  surviving rhinos must have been like one individual each from different diverse populations. Whatever has happened to my surprise Indian rhinos in kaziranga have the highest genetic diversity among Indian rhino population elsewhere. Here is the proof from the research that has been conducted. 

*This image is copyright of its original author



RE: Big herbivores! - parvez - 11-20-2017

One horned rhino

*This image is copyright of its original author



RE: Big herbivores! - parvez - 11-20-2017

This map may help, 

*This image is copyright of its original author



RE: Big herbivores! - parvez - 11-20-2017

Asiatic elephant,

*This image is copyright of its original author



RE: Big herbivores! - Shardul - 11-21-2017

MASSIVE Bull Elephant at 0:44







RE: Big herbivores! - Wolverine - 11-21-2017

(11-20-2017, 01:41 PM)parvez Wrote: This map may help, 

*This image is copyright of its original author

According to this map the wild elephants were presented in the arias of todays Kanha as well as Pench national parks around the end of colonial era, hence during the first half of 20th century. As we know the action in Kipling's fiction-novel "Jungle Book" (1894) took part exactly in this aria (not far from Seoni, MP) and according to novel "Hathi", the wild elephant was presented there at those times. So know when the foreign tourists visit Kanha or Pench national parks they expect to see Hathi, but they are bit disappointed....
Nevertheless Kanha national park is no doubt one of the most brilliant and remarkable parks in all Asia with probably widest variety of hoofed and carnivorous mammals in all the subcontinent.