Tigers of the High Himalayas

[Rishi]

Promising tiger population detected at upper reaches of Arunachal’s Dibang
A three-year survey in with 108 camera-traps reveal photographic evidence of tigers in the snow-clad peaks of Eastern Himalayas. Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary (DWS) of Arunachal Pradesh is not a designated tiger reserve and is the highest site for 2018 tiger census.

One of the 108 camera traps deployed in and around the protected area at Mismi Hills captured a tiger wading through thick snow at 3246m altitude on January 2017. ©GV Gopi and Aisho Sharma Adhikarimayum, WII

*This image is copyright of its original author

*This image is copyright of its original author

Researchers have found a promising tiger population in the upper reaches of Dibang Valley in Arunachal Pradesh, the highest range in the Indian part of eastern Himalayas.
As far back as 1912, Captain FM Bailey of the Indian Army alluded to the “occurrence of tigers in the high altitude forests of the Mishmi Hills (which falls under the Dibang Valley district of Arunachal Pradesh).”

GV Gopi, a scientist with the Wildlife Institute of India who carried out the study, said as many as 11 tigers were caught on camera traps in a study from 2015 to 2017. Gopi carried out the study with Aisho Sharma Adhikarimayum, a research scholar.

“In Bhutan, in the Eastern Himalayas, tigers have been spotted at an altitude of 4,200 metres,” Gopi said. “Once we survey the upper reaches of DWS, the more high altitude areas, we are hopeful we will find tiger population even above 4,200 metres,” he said.
“Considering we could only cover 336 square kilometres of the 4,149 square kilometres of the DWS, 11 tigers shows a high density. We are certain the actual population will be much higher once we cover the entire area in the next course of study,” Gopi said.

It all started in December 2012, when two tiger cubs were rescued near the sanctuary. A rapid assessment study commissioned by the WII and National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) found the partial image of a tiger in one of the camera traps leading to commissioning of the full-fledged study.

The researchers claimed the tigers spotted in DWS could be genetically different from those found in other parts of Arunachal Pradesh. The state has three tiger reserves including the Pakke Tiger Reserve, Kamlang Tiger Reserve and Nampdhapa Tiger Reserve.
But those tiger populations are far from DWS. This surviving one is isolated, which is why the genetics could be different.

Unlike other striped cats which like to feed on the Sambar deer or the spotted deer, these tigers prey mainly on Mishmi Takin, a goat-antelope unique to Arunachal Pradesh, as the scat analysis shows.

https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/camera-traps-capture-tigers-at-3-630-metres-in-arunachal-s-dibang-valley.html
https://indianexpress.com/article/north-east-india/arunachal-pradesh/stripes-in-the-snow-at-3630-meters-indias-only-snow-tigers-are-burning-bright-5471558/ Reply