There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
crocodiledunphd
Happy World Tiger Day! Here in Chitwan, tiger and gharial range overlaps, and we occasionally record gharial-tiger interactions. Here a tiger walks along the beach, whilst a mother gharial is guarding her hatchlings down in the river. The female gharial is showing a defensive response to a potential threat: she is facing the tiger, and following the tiger's upstream movement. The babies are in the water around her. This is a large female gharial: a tiger would be unlikely (and pretty crazy) to take her on, and I'm not sure who I'd put my money on. However, there is at least one record of an adult tiger killing an adult female gharial in the 1990s, so it can happen, probably only for small females caught onland and unaware. This video is from a 2019 camera trap at the most isolated site we monitor gharial at, a beautiful downstream gorge just before the river flows to India. Here the Narayani is collected into a single very deep channel, where we sometimes see the last dolphin of the Narayani too. Tigers use these beaches as easy walking routes, on some days we see hundreds of tiger footprints from a few different tigers over a day of fieldwork. Nepal is really winning at tiger conservation, hopefully river conservation will follow the same trends in the future!