Tigers of Central India

[Pckts]

Sagir Khan‎
The legacy of "Shivaji " carried by his son .. "KANKAZHARI".. Very aggressive

Kolara buffer Tadoba

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Sanjeev Siva
Elephant-Tiger Dilemma.

An elephant is one of the most important players in Tiger conservation. Like a tiger, the elephant (Asian here) too is endangered.

Anatomically, elephants aren't evolved to carry heavy loads on their backs because of the spinal protrusions / processes. The spine of an elephant is under-body weight resistant, i.e., it can support weight hanging from below the spine, but not from above.

Most elephants in service are decoyed, their free spirit crushed by a process known as 'phajaan', and then inducted as tame animals, ridden by a clan of people known as mahouts. (A few elephant calves are born in captivity too, but that is a long process and requires a lot of effort and money, that it's generally managed by forest department in India).

While elephants are used as temple animals, procession animals, joy-ride animals, all of these amounting to cruelty, tiger conservation is one area where they remain indispensable.

An elephant is the only 'tame' or 'domestic' animal that will not be attacked by a tiger. Tigers are tracked using elephants for various reasons, including health monitoring, pushing back stray tigers into natural habitat/core areas, vigil along rough terrain which otherwise is inaccessible.

Seen here is the Mahavir female tiger that had injuries infested with maggots. The elephants tracked the tigress and the information relayed to the vet and the department personnel. They would then arrive at the spot and examining the condition, give an antibiotic shot or tranquilize in worst case scenario to treat her; this entire process would have been otherwise impossible without the service of an elephant.

And that's the paradox or the dilemma - using one endangered animal to save another endangered animal.

Mahavir tigress | Kanha TR.
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Ram Kumar Yadav Kanha
Chhota Munna and DJ cub


26 April 2018

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In other news, My friend is doing another marathon Trip From Bandhavgarh-Kanha-Tadoba and he just finished up with Bandhavgarh and got to see the Mangu male, I asked him how he stacked up to the Sangam Male we saw together in kanha and he said he was easily as large as the Sangam male, I didn't press on if he's larger or smaller, I'm waiting for the rest of his trip to discuss everything with him but that gives us an idea of the bloodlines that are pumping through Bandhavgarh right now.
I'd imagine Bhim is on par with any male in C. India at the moment.
I'll get more info when the trip is concluded.


These aren't my friends shots but these are few others who spotted Mangu recently, my friend will post his once he touches them up, I'm sure.

‎Ravi Pathak Bandhavgarh
Mangu

#Bandhavgarh 2018

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