Tiger Directory

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A little more info Jhumroo
T20 aka Jhumroo a 11 year old male tiger was finally tranquilized and later released deep inside the protected area. As per eye witness Jhumroo, who is otherwise very shy in  nature was probably enjoying his meal of cattle when a villager got too close to his comfort and was attacked. As  news started spreading & place was full of tamasha viewers, one  more man got entangled in the bushes and fell, he was also attacked  by  tiger leaving him with multiple injuries to nurse. By this time more villagers had gathered at the spot, approximately 700 in number making the rescue operation more difficult. Before things could turn ugly, forest department under leadership of DCF (Core) Mr. Y.K Sahu along with one forest guard Rajveer & tourism driver Raees Bhai swiftlytranquilized the tiger and moved him away to safety of protected area. Mr. Sahu lead his team from front-reached the spot himself & directed the entire operation, he wasinfact first to walk towards tiger post darting to ensure that this gentle beast was sedated properly . Sensing mood of crowd, he also moved the tiger immediately from spotto avoid any undesired incident. Since the department personnel were clearly outnumbered & crowd had already man handled the local SDM & some police officials during theoperation, this surely was a wise move. The tiger has been sighted by forest department today afternoon in the area he was released yesterday & seems to be doing fine. During monsoon time village cattle startsflocking the forest for grazing, as the natural prey base shift to higher places these animals become an easy catch for big cats. The search for easy prey had probablytaken this 280 kg giant to forest periphery on the eastern side of Park boundary. 


here's Machali's first Husband from Ranthambore that is no more, a huge male known as Bamboo Ram. 

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Info on Bambooram
P. Devarajan

Sawai Madhopur (Rajasthan), Nov. 18

BAMBOO Ram, an eight-year-old, fully grown tiger, who had a breakfast meet with President Clinton at the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve some months ago, is missing.

For sharing his fears over Bamboo Ram with the world , Mr Fateh Singh Rathor, honorary life warden of the Reserve, has been stopped by the Rajasthan Government from freely entering the Park. Till now as an honorary life warden he was given the freedom to move in and out as he pleased.

From today he will have to pay entry charges like any other tourist to enter the Reserve to renew his 40-year friendship with a large number of tigers and tigresses. The man who built up the Ranthambhore forests and its tigers over 40 years is persona no n grata. His term as an honorary life warden ended on April 2000 but the State Government waited till date to remind him of the lapse. Tiger Watch, of which Mr Rathor is vice chairman, plans to take up the issue with the Government.

A rather sad Mr Rathor showed the Government letter to Business Line today and wondered over the fate of his favourite cat Bamboo Ram. Clad in Bermudas and a wind cheater, the 60-year-old forest-hardened Mr Rathor sat in his office room speculating wheth er Bamboo Ram had shifted territory being nudged out from his first home by a tigress and her three full-grown cubs. ``You know, he is a huge, powerful feline. The three grown cubs could be challenging him,'' he said with a tinge of admiration for Bamboo Ram. But nobody is sure. ``I am not saying he is dead. What I want is to know what has happened,'' he adds twirling his sumptuous moustache with thick fingers.

Government officials at the Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve are also worried.

On Friday Mr G. Viswanatha Reddy, Deputy Conservator of Forest, held a close-door meeting with 10 to 12 forest guides to track down Bamboo Ram.

Mr Reddy told Business Line that for three monsoon months (July to September) every year the Park is closed. Pug marks, probably of Bamboo Ram, were seen on October

7, 20 and November 3 of 2000 in the core area of the Reserve measuring 274.50 sq km. A big tiger was spotted in the buffer zone in November by a resident of a farm house. Like Mr Rathor, Mr Reddy thought Bamboo Ram may have changed territory with the ori ginal area being crowded by one male, one female and three grown-up cubs.

Mr Rathor showed pictures of the left and right sides of Bamboo Ram (code no. 111) along with his pug marks taken by the camera trap method in the summer of 1999 when a census was taken by Project Tiger Watch along with Mr Karanth. The census placed the tiger population in the core area at 16 (two males and 14 females). Extrapolating, it was estimated the buffer zone could have another two males and six females, placing the total tiger population at 24. Using a modified pug mark approach, Mr Reddy sa id the total population came to 30 (plus/minus five) and this estimate was confirmed by Mr Rajeev Kumar Tyagi, Conservator of Forest & Field Director.

Tracking of the entire area would start from today, Mr Reddy told Business Line, with forest rangers and guides agreeing to join hands. Apparently, there is no mechanism as of today to keep a tab on the tiger population with guesses being made on the b asis of sightings. Mr Reddy explained a continuous monitoring method, in place of a count once every year, has been put in place. On October 20 the first training session for the staff was conducted.

Plaster cut of pug marks will now be put in practice and information compiled on a weekly basis. ``Bamboo Ram is missing and that is like my son getting lost,'' a distraught Mr Rathor said as he walked away from the interview. For now, there is no infor mation about Bamboo Ram.


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