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Tigers of Ranthambore & Western India Landscape
Tigers of Ranthambore & Western India Landscape
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Tigers of Ranthambore & Western India Landscape
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 (06-27-2019, 07:17 PM)BorneanTiger Wrote: On Rajasthan State's southern border with Gujarat (where the tiger used to be (Jhala et al., page 10: https://web.archive.org/web/201306021246...df#page=22), especially when an individual crossed over from Madhya Pradesh in February this year before sadly dying: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/anima...-big-cats/, https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city...aign=cppst), there is the sanctuary of Mount Abu, part of the Kathiawar-Gir dry deciduous forests' ecoregion (https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/im0206), where the tiger used to be before 1971: https://books.google.com/books?id=UDS5BA...&q&f=false An old map i found in a news-article. The English heading in the map says: "Distribution of large cats in Rajasthan - 19th century (Imperial Gazette of India -1904)."  *This image is copyright of its original author
Sariska repopulation programme is in deep sh!t... has always been, truth be told.
Opposite of Panna TR, it's going to be a casestudy of what not to do during tiger relocation. Not only the man-animal conflict problem still remains, the first three tigers sent from already inbred Ranthambore stock were step-siblings, then followed by first cousins! With the first male quickly dying & on top of more recent unnatural deaths, further misfortunes fell as ST-4 was killed by ST-6 & his replacement ST-16 (Ranthambore's T-75) soon followed him earlier this month in a complex controversy of septicemia, heatstroke & ostensible tranquilizer overdose. (You'll find in previous posts that he was too small & light for a 7-year-old, no more than 180kg. A "standard dose" for a 220kg male could kill him.) That again leaves ST-6 as the only ruling male in Sariska (only less than 300km² of the 850km² reserve is tiger habitated) against 8 tigresses. Already all the dozen-odd cubs were fathered by him... Under the original tiger reintroduction program of National Tiger Conservation Authority started in 2008, around 20 tigers were to be reintroduced in Sariska Tiger Reserve. There's been 9 sent until now, with half of them dead, mostly males.  *This image is copyright of its original author There's also an allegation, soething everybody suspects but nobody knows, is that powerful business lobbies don't want Sariska to stand up to Ranthambore. The deliberate neglect by successive governments have been too evident. Atleast the geniuses have at last had the clue to call in NTCA for review & overseeing. The breeding problem is another mystery! They took a decade to settle down & finally started breeding. Multiple tigresses relocated to STR did not even have any litters and are assumed to infertile, but they breed like rats in Ranthambore, even in the human-dominated fringe areas. Rajasthan now plans to bring 2-3 cats from Madhya Pradesh for unsafe Sariska in order to avoid inbreeding... Another folly. Even the needs of a "tiger reserve" status for this isolated, fragmented forest was questioned recently. At this point they might as well ditch it & concentrate on creating the new Mukundara Hills genepool that actually has a future. The new viable population could use those MP tigers' genes, so could Ranthambore buffers like Kailadevi Sanctuary. Ranthambore NP has enough surplus cats for exchange, that'll benefit MP tigers' genes as well. Associate professor at National Center for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, Uma Ramakrishnan, who studied genomes of tigers at RTR said: Quote:We have sequenced and studied genomes of Ranthambore tigers. Our analyses suggest RTR tigers are isolated, have low genetic variation, are related to each other, and inbred. Inbreeding depression is when inbred tigers have a lower chance of survival. We (and others) do not see telltale signs of inbreeding depression yet. Further research in the coming years is needed to investigate this. Right now, Sariska tigers are only good for one thing, capture & exchange with MP.  (06-29-2019, 08:54 AM)Rishi Wrote: Sariska repopulation programme is in deep sh!t... has always been, truth be told. I didn't think that tigers in Sariska or Rajasthan would suffer from similar issues as their stripeless, tawny Gujarati cousins to the south (https://www.epw.in/journal/2019/22/comme...7t6CH-CHLg)! I see that Madhya Pradesh is important not just for the survival and genetic variability of the inbred Gujarati lions that are threatened by disasters such as an outbreak of the canine distemper virus (which massacred about 1,000 of their East African cousins in the Serengeti), but also for Rajasthani tigers. I wonder how many tigers are suffering from issues like this?  (06-29-2019, 02:50 PM)BorneanTiger Wrote:(06-29-2019, 08:54 AM)Rishi Wrote: Sariska repopulation programme is in deep sh!t... has always been, truth be told. the most genetically diverse tigers seem to be from panna,kanha,umred,nagzira,satpura and probably banhavgarh  *This image is copyright of its original author kwildlife_photography- An experience with the current King of Ranthambhore. Late June visits to RNP mean even a couple of pre-monsoon rains have transformed the forest floor to a carpet of green and the predominant Dhok trees have sprouted leaves. And in my recent visits to RNP, the dominant males of the reserve have eluded me - one in particular, the illusive T-86, has been a tiger I have been itching to see in his majestic glory but with no luck until now. He is notoriously shy and covers a massive territory making the odds of seeing him even slimmer. To see him twice over 3 days in locations 7-8 kilometers apart confirms how large his territory is. He was as majestic as I had heard and his shyness was also obvious. In this instance, we chanced upon him at a higher elevation in Zone 3. As we turned the corner in a tree covered area we saw him sitting under the forest canopy close to the Jeep path. He gave us 8 minutes of glorious time alone - he had just walked out of a muddy waterhole on the side of the Jeep path- clearly visible here on his back side. He is a massive male tiger and the sire of Arrowhead’s current litter. His mane is almost lion like. When he stands he is taller than all of the other males I have seen at RNP including his father - Kumbha. Our encounter came to an end as soon as a few jeeps drove up behind us. T-86 didn’t like the commotion and initially walked 50 meters further into the forest. A few minutes later he stood up and disappeared into the forest. I thought this might be the best encounter I ever have with him but was I wrong as 2 days later he gave us 90 minutes at a considerable distance from this location. This story will be continued.
After fighting with male tiger T 57, tiger T34 kumbha was lame in zone 6 Ranthambore national park
BIG NEWS!!!
Rajasthan likely to shift tigers to new locations Rajasthan has three tiger reserves with atleast 85 big cats, of which 66 are at Ranthambore Tiger Reserve, 15 at Sariska Tiger Reserve and 4 at Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve. Relocation or developing new tiger habitats in the state is now part of a action plan for next 10 years. Jul 20, 2019  *This image is copyright of its original author HINDUSTAN TIMES, JAIPUR: The Rajasthan government is considering introducing tigers at 9 locations spread over 4 districts in the state over the next 10 years in an effort to reduce human-wildlife conflict and provide new homes for the big cats. The feasibility of tiger reintroduction in those sites is being analysed. State forest minister Sukhram Vishnoi told the assembly on Friday that the forest department was looking at the possibility of introducing tigers in forest areas such as Ramgarh-Vishdhari (19), Shergarh(23), Kumbhalgarh (14), Rawli Toadgarh (26), Jhiri forests in Dhaulpur district, Khetri Bansiyal in Jhunjhunu district, forests of Sultanpur (Bundi district.) & Shahbad (Baran district.). “A feasibility study in this respect will be conducted,” he said. He said the move was to avoid the possibility of human-wildlife conflict in existing tiger habitats and relocating excess tiger. “A workshop was held in May at which the possibility for distribution of excess tigers through self dispersal, environment improvement and relocation was discussed,” he said. 8 tigers have been relocated to Sariska from Ranthambore since 2004, and 4 to Mukundra in 2018 to decongest Ranthambore & repopulate those former habitats. A male tiger was sent to Sariska from Ranthambore in January to improve the skewed sex ratio in the habitat, but it died in June after being tranquillised. A senior forest department official said on condition of anonymity, “Relocation or developing a new habitat is part of an action plan for the next 10 years. The objective is to improve the carrying capacity of tiger reserves by village relocation and improvement in habitat, especially for Mukundra Hills and Sariska.” Dharmendra Khandal, former member of the State Wildlife Board, appreciated the move. But former IFS officer Sunayan Sharma termed the move to create alternate tiger habitats as “theoretical and not practical”. Vishnoi said Sariska would soon get a special tiger security force, for which recruitment was being done. The National Tiger Conservation Authority has agreed in principle to create a similar force for Mukundra Hills, he said. 
Tiger T- 108 aka Jai killed spotted deer in Ranthambore National Park
On 22 July 2019, Tiger Jai T-108 killed a spotted deer in zone 6, Ranthambore National Park. Video by Dilip Mathur kwildlife_photography- Seeing tigers in the wild - in their natural habitat — is a true privilege. The odds of seeing tigers - even in areas where they are most densely concentrated - are low. On this day we had spent 8 hours enjoying Ranthambhore but with no striped big cats to be seen. Until we chanced upon perhaps the biggest and most impressive of them all - the current King of this jungle. He is an awesome and massive physical specimen, and if his father Kumbha is regarded as one of the biggest tigers at the National Park in recent years, his son has taken over that mantle. The largest Bengal Tigers have been known to approach 300 kg and this boy is 270+. He is very shy and notoriously elusive. He will meet you on his terms and with a little more than a minimal amount of commotion, he will disappear into the forest as he did here when 3 jeeps arrived on the scene. May he roam these forests and enjoy his home for many more years to come. Video credit to my mom.
 *This image is copyright of its original author arrowhead dec 2016 ranthambore photo by Mohammed Salman (06-29-2019, 04:02 PM)Rage2277 Wrote:(06-29-2019, 02:50 PM)BorneanTiger Wrote:(06-29-2019, 08:54 AM)Rishi Wrote: Sariska repopulation programme is in deep sh!t... has always been, truth be told. Actually @Rage2277, the most genetically diverse tigers are from Southern India. From genetic analysis of various haplogroups, we know that Bandipur and Nagarhole have 3 different sub-populations each with different markers. One subpopulation is actually closer to Tigers from North East than anywhere else in India. |
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