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RE: Bigcats News - Apollo - 12-21-2014

 Two tigers found dead


*This image is copyright of its original author



*This image is copyright of its original author



The spate of tiger deaths continues in Tamil Nadu, keeping the forest officials on tenterhooks.The death of two tiger cubs in the Sigur range of the Nilgiris North Forest Division, bordering the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR), on Friday has increased the concerns here. 

The anti-poaching watchers patrolling the Adicombai area came across the carcasses of the tiger cubs, six months and eight months old. This is the 14{+t}{+h}incident of tiger death in the State this year, mostly in the three tiger reserves in the western region.

Almost all the cases are “under investigation” by the Forest Department, except the man-eater that was shot dead by the STF in Udhagamandalam, according to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

Meanwhile, the post-mortem of the cubs has revealed that they were killed by a dominant male tiger to mate with the mother of the cubs. The cubs had died about 48 hours ago, Nilgiris North Division DFO Soundarapandian said.

According to him, the cubs may have become victims of a territorial fight or a fight relating to mating.Activists say surveillance needs to be stepped up, particularly in the sensitive ranges like Sigur and Singara

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/two-tiger-cubs-found-dead-near-mudumalai-tiger-reserve/article6708926.ece


RE: Bigcats News - Pckts - 12-21-2014

I saw that, I was curious in to which male was the contributor. Poor Young tigers were so close to being able to go out on their own, now they wont get the chance. 


RE: Bigcats News - Pckts - 12-22-2014

Sanctuary AsiaDecember 20"Your Future Self." That would be your children. We expect them to thank us for this? Road widening in progress between Kolkata and the Sundarban Tiger Reserve. Across the nation the road infrastructure is being poorly planned and built at the cost of our survival infrastructure. (4 photos)

*This image is copyright of its original author


*This image is copyright of its original author


*This image is copyright of its original author
"Your Future Self." That would be your children. We expect them to thank us for this? Road widening in progress between Kolkata and the Sundarban Tiger Reserve. Across the nation the road infrastructure is being poorly planned and built at the cost of our survival infrastructure. (4 photos)Sanctuary Asia Tourism does not need wider roads, it needs more picturesque, better-surfaced roads, where visitors feel like stopping and thus feeding the local economy. Zippy roads are being built in the name of facilitating tourism, but will be used nakedly by industry to bring in polluting industry and vistas that are industrial in nature... right to the doorstep of the tiger.
*This image is copyright of its original author


Bad news for all involved with actually helping the world.
 
 

https://www.facebook.com/sanctuaryasiapage
Images are here since they didn't show up ^^


RE: Bigcats News - Apollo - 12-24-2014

 Tiger and Wild Cat Trade from Myanmar to China Growing

 The trade in tigers and other wild cat parts from Myanmar into China has grown in recent years, a new study based on two decades of survey data suggests.

It reports a surge mainly in Mong La, a Burmese town bordering China, where shops selling such products have more than trebled in the past eight years.Tiger parts were found in 80 percent of the surveys, the study says, representing at least 200 tigers.

The most common parts were from clouded leopards, numbering some 480 animals.The findings, published in the journal Biological Conservation, reinforce past claims that the town was emerging as a major wildlife market in the region for products from as far away as Africa.

At the same time, they suggest that in another Burmese town, Tachilek, on the border with Thailand, there has been a fall in trade."It could be due to greater enforcement action in Thailand," says report author Chris Shepherd of Traffic, an international wildlife trade monitoring network."But because that is yet to happen on the part of China, Mong La has seen the rise in wildlife trade," he added.

Experts say the Burmese authorities have no control over the town, which is run by an armed group following a peace deal with the government.No government or local official was available for comment.

Dwindling numbers Burma has banned the trade in tiger and leopard parts, under the international convention against the buying and selling of endangered species (CITES).Wildlife conservation organisations have told BBC News that the law is not working in Mong La.

"Many of the products, particularly wildlife meat and tiger bone wine, don't enter China but are consumed in Mong La by Chinese tourists," says the World Wildlife Fund's Thomas Grey, in the Greater Mekong area."However presumably many of the skins are imported into china as souvenirs."So what we need is better enforcement at the border so Chinese tourists are not bringing illegal wildlife products back into China.

"The latest study on wildlife products supply from Myanmar to China is based on information gathered from 19 separate surveys of the wild cat trade in Tachilek between 1991 and 2013 and seven surveys between 2001 and 2014 in Mong La.The surveys recorded a total of over two thousand wild cat parts - mostly skins.Other products included tigers and leopards' claws, skulls, and canine teeth.

This year there were 21 shops selling some of these parts in Mong La, compared with just six in 2006, the survey found.China is the world's biggest consumer of tiger products and has been criticised for not doing enough to control its domestic trade.Earlier this year, the BBC reported that China publicly admitted for the first time that it allowed trade in tiger skins, although buying and selling tiger bones was banned.

Despite growing international concern, poaching of tigers has continued and there are now only around 3,000 of the endangered species left across the globe.That is only 5% of what the population was a century ago.Surveyed traders in Burma's Mong La and Tachilek said the tiger and leopard parts reaching China originated from Burmese territory and India.

Experts say the two countries and others in South East and South Asia are now also losing leopards, as demand has shifted to other wild cats in the wake of a dwindling tiger population and stricter wildlife regulations in some countries.Previous studies have also shown the Burmese town Mong La is emerging as a major centre for other wildlife products, including ivory.

One study, by Oxford Brookes University and Traffic earlier this year, found nearly 3,300 pieces of carved ivory and 49 whole tusks were "openly for sale in Mong La"."The origin of the ivory may constitute a combination of Asian elephant ivory from Myanmar and African ivory imported via China," the report read.It said the survey in 2009 found just 25 elephant skin pieces, while between 2013 and 2014 the figure had jumped to 1050.

http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-30556409

 


RE: Bigcats News - Apollo - 12-27-2014

 ‘Shoot-at-sight’ order for tiger after attack on woman



*This image is copyright of its original author


 The mutilated body of the 23-year-old pregnant home-keeper, who was taken away by a tiger, was found in Karagali village in the early hours on Thursday.The woman, identified as Anjana Hanabar, was attacked by the tiger when she had gone to fetch water from a ‘nala’ flowing on the outskirts of Mudagai village under Jamboti forest range of Khanapur taluk on Wednesday evening.

The forest authorities, who have come under tremendous pressure from the angry villagers, issued “shoot-at-sight” orders after obtaining permission from the higher authorities.Public has also been given permission to hunt down the elusive tiger.The tiger is stated to have caught the deceased’s neck, dragged her inside the forest area and eaten parts of face, neck, stomach and one of her legs.

The Forest Department has announced a compensation of Rs. 5 lakhs for the family of the deceased. Prakash B. Hukkeri, M.P., rushed to the spot and gave Rs. 2 lakhs from Chief Minister’s relief fund to the bereaved family.This is the first case of a tiger hunting down a human being in Khanapur taluk and the possibility of it becoming a man-eater is not being ruled out.Deputy Conservator of Forests, Ambadi Madhav said it was the same tiger which was captured near Pandaravalli village of Chikkamagaluru after it killed a woman and later released into Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary, near Talawade village of Khanapur on November 19 and attacked and killed a few cattle thereafter.

A tiger was also spotted around the campus of the Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) at Machhe, about 14 kms from the city and on the outskirts of the adjoining villages of Tirthkunde, Santibastwad and Rankunded of Belagavi taluk between Sunday and Tuesday.

But the Forest Department failed to trace the tiger even as the villagers allegedly that no serious efforts was made to trap the wild cats straying into human habitats.After confirming that the wild cat that killed Ms. Hanabar was a tiger and carrying out search operation till afternoon, the police and forest personnel winded up the hunt for the tiger after announcing that the tiger had returned to the wilds.



Angry protest

The villagers pelted stones at a group of police while they were eating and the Khanapur MLA Arvind Patil turned aggressive on Mr. Madhav.The family of the deceased and villagers were angry seeing the personnel eating in front of the bereaving family and the spot where Ms. Hanabar was killed. The alleged incompetence of the personnel in tracing the tiger also angered them. However, Mr. Hukkeri pacified the villagers and assured that the elusive tiger was free to be killed by anybody.



Conflicting arguments

Noted wildlife expert, K. Ullas Karanth had suggested that the tiger captured near Padavaralli (a sub-adult tiger identified as Bhadra S5146 in his database) cannot be recaptured and kept in captivity as it posed the risk of it killing humans again.The forest officials here had ruled out that the wild cat was a man-eater. However, the forest officials could not immediately confirm whether the tiger that killed the young woman at Mudagai and Bhadra S5146 were same.


http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/shootatsight-order-for-tiger-after-attack-on-woman/article6725146.ece


RE: Bigcats News - Apollo - 12-28-2014

No sign of Gir transfer, MP seeks to shift zoo lions to Kuno


A year after Madhya Pradesh won an eight-year legal battle with Gujarat government to translocate a few Gir lions to its Kuno-Palpur wildlife sanctuary, the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government seems to have given up hope of getting the prized predators and is now looking to have zoo lions from the south released into the sanctuary. 

The state government has decided to translocate Hyderabad-bred Asiatic lions to the Kuno reserve in Sheopur district, instead of waiting for the Gir lions, whose relocation was opposed by Narendra Modi when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. 

Gir is the only place in the world where the Asiatic lion survives in the wild. The idea behind the Kuno-Palpur project was to raise a buffer population of wild lions as an insurance against epidemics or natural disasters wiping out the Gir lions. 
 In August this year, the Gujarat government's curative petition against the shifting of Gir lions too was dismissed by the Supreme Court. 

As CM, Modi had refused to entertain any request from the Chouhan government to shift the lions till the apex court on April 15, 2013, set a six-month deadline to the environment ministry to relocate the predators to Kuno. The court held that the species was under the threat of extinction and needed a second home. But the court's order has not been followed. 

Government sources in Hyderabad told TOI that the MP forest department had approached them asking for pure breed Asiatic lions, bred in captivity, for the Kuno reserve. 

Asked about the move, state chief wildlife warden Narendra Kumar said, "It would be too early to comment." Other senior forest officers in the state, however, confirmed they have decided to shift lions from Hyderabad zoo to Madhya Pradesh. 

But the Kuno project might take time to kick off, following global concern over the recent death of the Asiatic lion pair — Lakshmi and Vishnu — at Etawah's lion safari in Uttar Pradesh. The two zoo-bred lions died within a month of relocation from Hyderabad, said sources. Both suffered 'multiple infections', including viral infection that caused paralysis. The Etawah safari was a pet project of the Samajwadi Party government, which started two months ago. The lions were brought to Kanpur zoo from Hyderabad in April, 2013, and shifted to Etawah safari in September 2014. 


*This image is copyright of its original author



In May, the MP government sent its second reminder to the Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) to take urgent measures to shift lions from Gujarat to Kuno. More reminders were sent to additional director general (ADG) wildlife, (MoEF), who heads the 12-member committee formed to execute the translocation. 

The move to relocate big cats, first mooted in 2000, had been hanging fire because Gujarat steadfastly refused to part with the majestic lions. 


Times View 

The reported move to release zoo-bred lions in the Kuno-Palpur sanctuary neither makes sense from the conservation standpoint nor would it be safe for the translocated animals. It's well documented that animals bred in captivity do not adapt well in the wild. Moreover, the idea behind Kuno-Palpur was to have a second home for Gir lions so that epidemics and natural disasters do not finish off this last surviving wild population of Asiatic lions. The Supreme Court has turned down Gujarat's curative plea against the transfer of Gir lions to the sanctuary. The MP government should be asking for the court's orders to be implemented, instead of thinking up such disastrous schemes.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Home/Environment/Flora-Fauna/No-sign-of-Gir-transfer-MP-seeks-to-shift-zoo-lions-to-Kuno/articleshow/45379624.cms

 

 


RE: Bigcats News - sanjay - 12-28-2014

To be true, I am now not liking Modi Gov any more.
Only promises and long speech. He is very mean if he do not want to translocate lions. I have never expected this to him. Disappointing


RE: Bigcats News - Apollo - 12-31-2014

(12-28-2014, 11:52 AM)'sanjay' Wrote: To be true, I am now not liking Modi Gov any more.
Only promises and long speech. He is very mean if he do not want to translocate lions. I have never expected this to him. Disappointing

 



I too agree on this. 
Narendra Modi should change his views on this Asiatic lion translocation issue.
Being a PM its time for him to see things in a National level rather than a State (Gujarat, MP, etc) level.


Siberian tiger population at China's park up by 105 this year


*This image is copyright of its original author

 The population of endangered Siberian tigers has gone up by 105 this year, bringing their total number to over 1,000 at a tiger park in China's northeast Heilongjiang Province.A total of 105 Siberian tiger cubs, were born in 2014, the park said.Over the past decade, the Siberian Tiger Park, the largest Siberian tiger breeding and field training centre in the world, has adopted planned breeding of tigers in a move to protect strong genes among the species' population."The number of artificially bred Siberian tigers in the park is not 'the more the better'," said Liu Dan, chief engineer of the park."We have been strictly controlling their population to ensure the quality of the species," a state-run China Daily quoted him as saying.Currently, there are more than 1,000 Siberian tigers at the park.All the tigers have undergone wildness training to make them efficient predators, Liu said.Siberian tigers are among the world's 10 most endangered species and mostly live in northeast China and eastern Russia.China established the Siberian Tiger Park in 1986 with only eight Siberian tigers.


 http://zeenews.india.com/news/sci-tech/siberian-tiger-population-at-chinas-park-up-by-105-this-year_1521896.html

 


RE: Bigcats News - GuateGojira - 12-31-2014

Both are sad news, from my point of view:

1. Asian lions: The Gujarat government is not going to move any lion, that is practically a fact, and taking in count the slow action of Indian authorities, I don't see any Gir lion in any other part for a long long long time. It is interesting to read that the two lions that were moved catch infections very fast. This is the major concern on the Asian lion conservation, they have such a low defenses in they body, caused by inbreeding, that any single infectious disease can kill the entire population. Gir lion population seems secure, for the moment, but if they are not relocated in another part, the future of this lions, in the long therm, seems in danger.

2. Amur tigers in China zoo-park: This has been one of the largest lies on conservation, all these Chinese parks that "conserve" and "breed" tigers, for what???? They have not released a single tiger in the wild in all this time. It is a shame that no one can see that this are "tiger farms". They only breed tigers to sale them, like chickens! Check Harbin, with a large tiger population and mysteriously, not a single corpse is burn or destroyed, all are storage for future sales, that is sure.

What I see with these two news is how far the human selfishness can reach. In one place, the greed can kill the last population of the Barbary-Indian lion in the world, while on the other place, the breeding of tigers for economic purposes only feed the terrible hunger for tiger products in China. [img]images/smilies/dodgy.gif[/img]
 


RE: Bigcats News - Apollo - 01-03-2015

 MP, Tamil Nadu record highest number of tiger deaths in 2014
 

With the death of 15 tigers in Madhya Pradesh in 2014, the state has recorded the highest tiger mortality in India along with Tamil Nadu.

This is not good news for the state, especially at a time when MP government is claiming to be making efforts to reclaim the 'tiger state' tag, which it lost to Karnataka in 2010.

On December 24, MP tourism minister Surendra Patwa had admitted that losing the tag had affected the state's tourism sector to some extent. MP's tiger deaths amount to 22% of India's total tiger mortality this year, reveals the data of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).

Overall, 2014 has not been a good year for big cats in MP. As compared to nine tiger deaths in 2013, 15 tigers have died in the state because of various reasons ranging from natural death, infighting, radio-collar infection and poaching, in 2014.

According to the figures of Tigernet, the official database on tiger mortality in India, which is maintained by NTCA, of the total 64 tiger deaths reported in India in 2014, 14 are from MP. With the death of a white tiger in Indore recently, the toll has reached 15.

Of the 15 tiger deaths, six have been reported from Bandhavgarh alone. Over the years, many tigers have died in Bandhavgarh, mostly due to territorial fights and poaching, leaving wildlife experts and activists worried about the future of the animals, in what is considered among the safest sanctuaries for tigers in India. 


This has prompted the NTCA to ask its regional office in Nagpur to look into the cause of growing tiger deaths in Bandhavgarh.MP's chief wildlife warden Narendra Kumar attributes the highest tiger mortality due to natural reasons and territorial fights.

"Apart from these reasons, there have been some cases like poaching by electrocution, death due to radio collar infection and so on, which are being investigated," he said.



*This image is copyright of its original author



http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/bhopal/madhya-pradesh-tamil-nadu-record-highest-number-of-tiger-deaths-in-2014/article1-1301809.aspx

 


RE: Bigcats News - Apollo - 01-04-2015

Already 2 Tiger deaths for the starting of the year.


Tiger found dead in Bandipur

 A tiger was found dead in the Bandipur Tiger Reserve on Thursday.

The carcass was found close to the Tamil Nadu border, near the Moyar gorge.

Officials suspected the tiger to have died on Wednesday.

The authorities have ruled out foul play on the grounds that the tiger skin and claws were intact. However, the actual cause of death would be known only after the post-mortem.


http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tiger-found-dead-in-bandipur/article6747296.ece



Tigress found dead near Tadoba reserve

 An eight-year-old tigress was found dead on Thursday at Mudholi, at the famous Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Chandrapur district. Foresters have ruled out any foul play.

Foresters said some injuries were found on the tigress' body and it is believed that the animal may have been injured while fighting with her prey.

A half-eaten wild boar was found near the carcass.According to the reports reaching the state forest headquarters, a forest guard noticed the body while patrolling on Thursday morning.

He immediately informed the local forest office. A team of senior forest officials accompanied by veterinary doctors reached the spot and inspected the area.Initially, it was suspected that the tigress may have been poisoned.

"There were serious wounds on her body, which she may suffered during a fight with another animal and some half-eaten prey was found near her," said GO Dharad, chief conservator of forests and the field director of Tadoba tiger project.

Officials added that the big cat's nails and skin were intact. Wildlife experts are of the opinion that the animal may have died at least 24 hours before the carcass was discovered.The autopsy was performed by a team a veterinary doctors, in the presence of senior forest officials.

Approximately 15 big cats were killed by either the villagers or poachers near the periphery of Tadoba in 2014 after man-animal conflicts.

Several villagers were also killed by the tigers last year.Tadoba, one of the oldest tiger reserves in the country, is home to more than 60 tigers and an equal number of leopards.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/maharashtra-tigress-found-dead-near-tadoba-reserve/article1-1302392.aspx

 


RE: Bigcats News - Apollo - 01-06-2015

India lost 66 wild tigers in 2014


*This image is copyright of its original author




Sixty-six wild tiger deaths were reported in the country in 2014. Two tiger deaths occurred on the last day of the year. It was the only day in 2014 when two wild tiger deaths were reported. One was at Bandipur in Karnataka and the other at Tadoba Andhari in Maharashtra.

As per statistics provided by Tigernet, the official database of the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the highest number of wild tiger deaths was reported from the forests of Tamil Nadu —15, followed by Madhya Pradesh —14. Six of the deaths in Tamil Nadu were from the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.

The majority of wild tiger deaths was caused by poaching. The data do not give a clear figure on the number of tigers killed by poachers, but it is estimated that about 50 tigers could have been killed in this manner.

Of the 66 deaths, only one death was due to natural causes — reported from the Valmiki Tiger Reserve, Bihar. Fights between tigers, possibly for territory control, caused three deaths.

Two tigers, suspected to be man-eaters, were shot dead by police personnel. One was near Udhagamandalam on January 23 and the other near Chandrapur in Maharashtra on July 19.

In the Valmiki Tiger Reserve, one cub was found dead. Wild tiger deaths were also reported from Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Kerala, Karnataka and Uttarakhand. Thirty-two deaths were reported in the first six months of the year.

The highest number of deaths was in December — 10. Wild tiger deaths had taken place during all months of the year. The first tiger death of the year was reported from the Melghat Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra on January 10.

During the year, 12 cases of seizure of tiger parts were registered. This included seizure of seven tiger skins. While three tiger skins were seized from Maharashtra, two were seized from Andhra Pradesh and one each from Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

In 2013, the number of wild tiger deaths was 63 and the highest number was reported from the forests of Karnataka —16, followed by Maharashtra, 9.

In 2014, Karnataka accounted for seven wild tiger deaths. In 2013, only one wild tiger death was reported from Tamil Nadu.  


http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/india-lost-66-wild-tigers-in-2014/article6751006.ece


RE: Bigcats News - Apollo - 01-06-2015

Trapped leopard rescued



*This image is copyright of its original author




Forest Department personnel rescued a female leopard that was trapped in an iron wire within a bush, nearly 100 metres away from the Mordhana Reserve Forest on Saturday.

Officials of the Pernambut Forest Range said the animal was around two-and-a-half to three years old.

It was trapped in the wire, kept inside a bush on a land falling in the Rangampettai beat on Friday.

Though they received information about the animal, the personnel could not trace its location as it was dark and foggy. Such snares were reportedly kept by villagers to trap wild boars that enter agricultural lands.

“We reached the spot in the early hours of Saturday. A three-member team from Vandalur Zoo arrived and tranquilised the animal. It is now in our custody. Whether the animal will be released into the wild will be decided by senior officials of the department,” an officer of the Forest Department said. Initially, the personnel faced problems as crowds gathered around the spot.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/trapped-leopard-rescued/article6752226.ece
 


RE: Bigcats News - Apollo - 01-11-2015

 Adult tiger bred in captivity set for Pench release
 

In probably just the second experiment in the country, two tigresses, rescued as 6-month-old cubs, hand-reared in captivity and now aged 5 and half years, will be radio-collared and released into the wild in the Pench Tiger Reserve.Though the move comes after a nod from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), there is huge risk involved as the tigresses — Sukhwasi and Ganeshpipri — have only been 'trained to hunt' while being kept in two huge separate cages in Pench itself.

Though the NTCA had certified in 2011 that the tigresses were fit to be released in the wild, it was delayed due to various reasons, the latest one being Delhi customs not clearing the satellite radio collars procured from Germany. The order for the collars was placed on November 28, 2013 but it took more than a year to get clearance.

The final clearance came from the union ministry of telecommunications and information technology on January 1. Its permission was needed as the radio collars were fitted with satellite monitors. "As suggested by the NTCA, we will release only one tigress first," Pench chief conservator of forests (CCF) & field director MS Reddy told on Monday.

It is not known which of the tigresses will be released first. However, it's learnt that the one which is more aggressive will be released first. Either way, they will have a 'soft release'. "It involves continuing care for animals at the release site, particularly backup feeding," said a forest official. "It will help the tigress learn about her surroundings and learn survival skills such as hunting.

"Though some experts spoke to said the release in the wild is fraught with danger, the only previous recorded experiment was successful. Madhya Pradesh had released a wildcat each in Kanha and Panna Tiger Reserves in Madhya Pradesh. Both, T4 and T5, were slightly older than Sukhwasi and Ganeshpipri.

"T4 and T5 were orphaned in 2005 when they were just a month old," said Panna field director RS Murthy."They were hand-reared in Kanha. T4 bred thrice and raised the cubs twice. T5 delivered cubs once but abandoned them. T4 is no more while T5 is still alive."

Sukhwasi and Ganeshpipri, and a male Bhangaram (Talodi) were rescued separately from Gondpipri in Dhaba forest range in Chandrapur in September 2009 after their mother went missing.The male tiger, which was "sluggish" and deemed unfit for a release in the wild, has found a new home in the Katraj zoo in Pune.

The three were hand-reared in a temporary shelter in Bor Wildlife Sanctuary for three years. After an outcry by wildlife activists, the cubs were shifted to a bigger enclosure spread over 4 hectares in Pench in May-June 2013.The two tigresses were trained to hunt live animals like chitals, sambars, nilgais and buffalo calves at times. The herbivores used to be let into the enclosure.

Reddy said that how the two will actually behave in the wild will only be known if they are released. "They will be monitored closely.If they are seen moving near human habitations, they will have to be captured and sent to a zoo," he added.

However, wildlife experts, who did not want to be quoted, said releasing fully grown adult tigers was a big gamble. "In the case of Panna tigers, the move was initiated to reintroduce tigers in that sanctuary as there were none remaining," one said.

They argued that Pench, where one tigress is planned to be released, already has tigers, some of which are in dispersal stage. They feared the tigress to be released should not "suffer" in territorial fights. Moreover, the tigress to be released has not learnt the skill a mother teaches her cubs to protect themselves from enemies and wild dangers.

A three-member NTCA team comprising Wildlife Institute of India (WII) scientists Bilal Habib and Parag Nigam and NTCA assistant inspector general (AIG) Ravikiran Govekar had given the go-ahead for the "soft release" of the tigress subject to compliance of certain conditions.

In October 2011, a two-member team of WII consisting of K Ramesh Kumar and Parag Nigam had said that the tigers were good candidates for rehabilitation.However, fate of the tigers was mired in red tape that led to unwarranted delay in release.

Reddy said even though radio collars have been cleared, permission from chief wildlife warden and NTCA will have to be taken again."The NTCA team will once again be asked to review all compliances. A 15-member team will be sent to Panna for 20 days training. If all goes well, we expect to release the tigress in February," he added.

The second tigress will only be released if the experiment on the first is successful.

In an almost similar experiment in 2000, APCCF GV Reddy from Rajasthan 'fed' abandoned tiger cubs in Ranthambhore without putting them in an enclosure. The two 8-month-old cubs were groomed in the open after their mother died.The cubs were given goats as live bait. "When we stopped feeding them, the cubs would venture closer to a village. Then they had to be driven back to the park and continued to be given live baits until they started hunting on their own."



 MAHA EXPERIMENTS WITH TIGER


* Two tigresses, rescued as cubs and now aged 5.5 years, have learnt hunting skills only when herbivores were released into the huge enclosures they were kept

* They may or may not turn out to be good mothers. As they are full-grown adults, they will have to quickly adapt to their surroundings

* Both will have satellite radio collars fitted on their necks

* Only one will be released first. The 'soft' release will see it being monitored continuously

* Staff will be trained to keep watch on them

* The second will be released only if the first experiment is successful

* A similar experiment conducted in Madhya Pradesh was quite successful

* Several reasons in release delay

* Radio collared were not cleared by Delh customs; final clearance came on January 1

* Pench chosen as release forest as it has large population of deer familiar to the two tigresses who have hunted them in captivity

* The 4 hectare enclosure where the tigresses have been kept, encompasses dense forest and will quickly become familiar to the forest area

* Pench landscape is good and vast and connects many Pas

* Experts wary as the tigresses could succumb in territorial fights


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/nagpur/Adult-tiger-bred-in-captivity-set-for-Pench-release/articleshow/45768633.cms

 


RE: Bigcats News - Pckts - 01-13-2015

Territorial rivalry cause of tiger’s deathTop Ranked MBA School - Forbes Top 5% of Best U.S. Colleges Several Campuses. Apply Now! chooseredlands.com/MBA_BusinessAds by GoogleR. KrishnamoorthyComment   ·   print   ·   T  T     =1px ! importantinShare Intra-species fight signifies healthy breeding in STRA dead sub-adult tiger in putrefied condition with partially-scavenged hind portion was located by a forest patrol team in an interior part of Talamalai in the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve on Saturday.Officials said it is a “healthy signs” that it had died in an intra-species fight for territory.The cervical vertebra of the dead tiger was found fractured and dislocated. Differing sizes of tiger pug marks, blood stains and scattering of hairs to a distance from a stream till where the smaller tiger had been dragged indicated the territorial fight between the tigers, officials explained. It happens when a sub-adult gets separated from its family and tries to demarcate an area for itself.The stronger tiger feeding on the vanquished one happens incidentally after such fights, officials said.“The territorial fight is a healthy sign as it indicates a growing tiger population vying with one another to demarcate their territories,” I. Anwardeen, Conservator of Forests and Director of STR, told The Hindu .Camera trapsPresence of 60 tigers, including 27 female ones, has been recorded in the camera traps. Usually, the strongest ones survive and pass on genes to the next generation. Intra-species rivalry, especially among males, was a healthy sign. Tigers are breeding in ideal conditions in STR, Mr. Anwardeen said.The healthy condition of dead tiger's intestine determined during post-mortem implies that it had not died of any ailment. The intestine was full of scat. Sick tigers usually die starving, added K. Rajkumar, District Forest Officer of Sathyamangalam and Deputy Director of STR.Officials, however, could not make out if the dead tiger was a male or female. DNA samples have been taken for testing, Mr. Rajkumar said.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/territorial-rivalry-cause-for-tigers-death-say-officials/article6779367.ece