Tiger Demographic

[Shardul]

@Dr Panthera

I don't understand why you deliberately keep ignoring my main point. In India's case the % of breeding adults is higher because the Indian tiger census does NOT COUNT SMALL CUBS. Let me repeat it again INDIAN TIGER CENSUS  DOES NOT COUNT SMALL CUBS. IT ONLY COUNTS TIGERS >1.5 YEARS OF AGE .

The Chitwan study you quoted actually supports my assertion. It says in an entire tiger population, the % of breeding adults is 42% WHEN COUNTING SMALL CUBS WHICH MAKE UP 30%. 

Resident males per population          0-15%          Mean 7 %
Resident females                             23-67%        Mean 35%
Cubs                                              0-65%          Mean 30%
Large Cubs                                     0-55%          Mean  18%
Transients ( pre and post-territorial)  0-40%          Mean  10%

So based on the Chitwan study that YOU QUOTED, % of breeding adults in a healthy tiger population is 60% WHEN NOT COUNTING SMALL CUBS.  Let me repeat: [b]60% WHEN NOT COUNTING SMALL CUBS.[/b]

So 60% of 2200 is 1320. 

Now,

Tigers are not doing well all over India. Let me give you some examples:

Chitwan-Parsa-Valmiki landscape. One contiguous forest patch in eastern Terai. However, Chitwan has almost a 100 tigers while Valmiki has less than 20, Both cover similar area.

Corbett Tiger reserve in Western Terai: 200+ tigers in 2000 km2

Rajaji in Western Terai: <40 tigers in 900 km2

Dudhwa & Pilibhit in Central Terai: <100 tigers in 1600 km2


Simlipal in Eastern India: <30 tigers in 3000 km2

Kaziranga in Assam: 120 tigers in 800 km2

Manas in Assam: <30 tigers in 3000 km2


The Gist: India's tiger population is divided in a lot of fragmented small habitats, not all of which are doing well. Some areas have high prey density and protection, others have sub-optimal prey density and low protection. Some have high poaching incidents , some have low. Others are in between. So some will have more % of cubs and subadults, others will have low. So considering this scenario and atleast some transient breeding males, the % is higher than 60. i.e  >1320 breeding adult tigers.


To the Mods: Sorry for the caps and bold text, I didn't know what else to do. Reply