The Terai Tiger

[Shardul]

After seeing the kaziranga and Sunderban tiger threads, I decided to start this one. I firmly believe that tigers should be classified after the ecosystem they inhabit, instead of the region, which is the norm right now. For example, Panna tiger reserve is technically in Northern India, but not part of the Terai. Also, AFAIK, Nepal doesn't have any tigers outside the terai arc landscape.

The "Terai Arc"

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Often called 'Northern Indian' or 'Nepal' tigers, the animals that inhabit the Terai ecosystem are unique in terms of appearance and behaviour. The Terai landscape is simply the forest patch that runs along the foothills of the himalayas. Because of good forest cover and availability of water throughout the year, the landscape is able to support a large variety of birds and mammals, including tigers, rhinos, elephants, sloth and asiatic black bears and numerous other species.

From WWF-India's page:

"The Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) is an 810km stretch between the river Yamuna in the west and the river Bhagmati in the east, comprising the Shivalik hills, the adjoining bhabhar areas and the Terai flood plains.
It is spread across the Indian states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, and the low lying hills of Nepal. The landscape boasts of some of India’s most well-known Tiger Reserves and Protected Areas such as Corbett Tiger Reserve, Rajaji National Park, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, Valmiki Tiger Reserve and Nepal’s Bardia Wildlife Sanctuary, Chitwan National Park, and Sukhla Phanta Wildlife Sanctuary. In total, the landscape has 13 Protected Areas, nine in India and four in Nepal, covering a total area of 49,500 km2, of which 30,000km2 lies in India.

These forests are home to three flagship species, the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris), the greater one horned rhino (Rhinoceros unicornis) and the Asian elephant (Elephas maximus). Apart from these, there are several other species of cats such as the rusty spotted cat, fishing cat, jungle cat, leopard and leopard cat, as well as antelopes and deer such as the four horned antelope, sambar, chital, hog deer and barking deer. Other wildlife includes the sloth and Himalayan black bear, yellow-throated marten, Indian pangolin, Himalayan goral, Gangetic dolphin, gharial and crocodile. The Protected Areas in this landscape are connected with one another through wildlife corridors, which are mostly part of the interconnected Reserve Forests. These corridors are used by wildlife, especially large mammals, to move from one forest to another, in an attempt to find new territory, mate and prey."

http://www.wwfindia.org/about_wwf/critic...landscape/

List of Protected ares in the TAL, from Wikipedia.

• Parsa Wildlife Reserve, Nepal
• Chitwan National Park, Nepal
• Banke National Park, Nepal
• Bardia National Park, Nepal
• Blackbuck Conservation Area, Nepal
• Shuklaphanta Wildlife Reserve, Nepal
• Valmiki National Park, India
• Sohelwa Wildlife Sanctuary, India
• Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, India
• Dudhwa National Park, India
• Kishanpur Wildlife Sanctuary, India
• Corbett National Park, India
• Rajaji National Park, India
• Pilibhit Tiger Reserve, India
  

Please feel free to add photos of tigers from this landscape and any other useful information. Reply