Tigers of the High Himalayas

[Rishi]

Tigers detected at 12,000ft in Uttarakhand
Jul 30, 2016, 08.31 AM IST


The pictures were shot from a camera fixed in Askot Wildlife Sanctuary in March this year, Divisional Forest Officer (Pithoragarh) informed.

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Forest officials have sighted a royal Bengal tiger at an unusually high altitude of above 12,000 feet in the Himalayas, prompting ecologists to sense another disturbing instance of climate change.

A senior bureaucrat said the tiger—the animal typically lives at a height of 3,000-4,000 feet—was spotted in the upper ranges of Uttarakhand, adding to the faunal diversity of the rugged state bordering China’s Tibet on the north.
"Usually, it is other varieties of big cats, like snow leopards, you find at altitudes above 12,000 feet,” he told Hindustan Times. “The image was captured on March 13.”


The sanctuary, 55 km from Pithoragh in the state’s Kumaon administrative division, lies at an altitude between 2,000 ft and 22,654 ft. Famous for its musk deer population and conservation, its 600-sq-km habitat is home to leopard, jungle cat, civet, barking deer and brown bear besides the antelope-like and serow and goral among other mammals.


Scientists say tiger sighting at 12,000-ft height might indicate an effect of global warming & habitat unavailability for the growing population.

DP Dobhal of Dehradun-based Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology said the tiger-spotting meant the animal found it warm at an elevation of 12,000 feet. “It’s not healthy news,” he told. “Now more animals may scale up. That will pose threat to other animals of the upper Himalayas.”

Number of tigers in Uttarakhand has grown, as per an all-India estimation last year. The state, formed in 2000, reported 340 tigers—the country’s second, after Karnataka (406).
Another wildlife expert pointed out that tiger-sighting in higher pose a challenge for the forest department in monitoring big cats. “Already, we are struggling to conserve tigers in their know territories,” he added.
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Personal Input: I think they are being a bit too paranoid, about tiger presence in high altitude being solely effect of climate change & habitat loss. Afterall Jim Corbett had hunted tigers in the districts of Rudraprayag & Pithoragarh a hundred years ago I'd like to hear his & @Sunalroamin 's take on it.

*This image is copyright of its original author

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