Tiger Directory

[Vijay Rajan]

(07-21-2014, 09:35 PM)'Pckts' Wrote: Who was there before Machli? I know Ranthambhore tigers are translocated tigers originally, correct?
I wonder where they where translocated from.

Judging from images I have to say that Ranthambhore tigers appear to be slimmer usually, I don't know if that is the reason for a taller look or not, but when I see other large tigers in front of jeeps or with other wild life, they usually appear to be equally tall. Even the heights and weights I have seen don't seem to change very drastically from area to area, not like they do from sub species to sub species. Its hard to get straight answers from people who have seen both, because there tends to be a pride issue from area to area, people want "their" tigers to be the largest. But from eye witnesses who have allegedly seen multiple tigers, each has a tiger who they claim to be the largest, tallest, heaviest, longest, etc..

 

There were several prominent Tigers before Machli (T-16) including her mother the original Machli or the Lady of the Lakes (with Fish / Gill like facial markings), Noon, Padmini, Laxmi, Broken Tooth, Akbar, Hamir, Babar, Lakshmi, Kublai, Genghis etc and all of them were documented by the late Fateh Singh Rathore & Valmik Thapar during the late-70s, 80s & 90s.

While Tigers of Ranthambhore were never introduced or relocated from other landscapes, fossil studies conducted by Dr.ADT John Singh as well evolutionary data suggests that the Tigers found their own way from the Satpura landscape to parts of Rajasthan since natural corridors during those times were mostly inviolate. 

As far as physical attributes of Tigers from different landscapes is concerned, if we talk of Ranthambhore, while Star Male (T-28) is taller & longer than most males & Fateh (T-42) is arguably the heavier one, pitting them against each other is highly subjective. My two cents ! Reply