There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
--- Peter Broekhuijsen ---

  • 4 Vote(s) - 4.5 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
B2 and Other Great Tiger Pics from India

United States Pckts Offline
Bigcat Enthusiast
******
( This post was last modified: 07-29-2015, 10:42 PM by Pckts )

Since its Global Tiger Day, lets celebrate this awesome Creature.Arjun Kamdar Follow · 1 hr ·    
Happy International Tiger Day! Just about 3200 tigers remain in our country from the hundreds of thousands that once roamed our fabled jungles. This magnificent keystone species is under grave threat from poachers, habitat loss, inbreeding and a host of other issues. Here's one of my best photographs of Konda the huge male from Kanha.

*This image is copyright of its original author



*This image is copyright of its original author



*This image is copyright of its original author



*This image is copyright of its original author



*This image is copyright of its original author



*This image is copyright of its original author



*This image is copyright of its original author



*This image is copyright of its original author
Anup RanadiveTadoba Wild Images July 18 ·     #Face-off 3
Size does matter - When the size of your potential prey blocks out the Sun, it is preferable to stay away, which is what this young Cat did.
Part of the Telia Sisters in the summer of 2012, and remembering how bold this one was, she could have been Sonam.

*This image is copyright of its original author

 
 

 
4 users Like Pckts's post
Reply

India Vjedhe Offline
New Member
*

Any News about Tala Zone New Male please share
2 users Like Vjedhe's post
Reply

United States Pckts Offline
Bigcat Enthusiast
******


*This image is copyright of its original author

Karthik Rugvedi Photography (Wilderness Explored)

August 4 · Edited ·

 



A Dream Frame | Kabini

As we are exiting through the old MM road, we saw a sloth bear drinking water in the distance, we approached slowly towards it, but the bear saw the vehicle and was walking away from us on the road, As he was walking with his heads down suddenly a tigress came on the road, the bear was still unaware of the big cat and was walking towards tiger, then he realized the tigers presence and disappeared, until then he was posing us, wat an amazing moment it was, its a dream frame to shoot, the image is average, but the moment is unfathomable...

one thing is for sure the bear was least bothered abt tiger..Crazy Bear...smile emoticon — with Vijay Viju, Ravindra Arali, Pranay Chandra and 43 others.
1 user Likes Pckts's post
Reply

Roflcopters Offline
Modern Tiger Expert
*****

Sloth Bear in Kabini? And a tigress at the same time? That is one hell of a luck. Tfs
1 user Likes Roflcopters's post
Reply

Guatemala GuateGojira Offline
Expert & Researcher
*****

(07-27-2015, 10:45 PM)Pckts Wrote:
Spalea\ dateline='\'1438005169' Wrote: @GuateGojira : One fundamental difference :

Natural predation (or "struggle for life"):  elimination of the weakest. The predators killed the weakest at first.

Human predation: elimination of the strongest: The men killed at first the elephant with the biggest tusks, the lions with the biggest manes, the biggest male bears, tigers , the most horned rhinoceros, buffalos and so on. Therefore natural order makes the animals' size decreased... And after if they (the scientists) want to call some other subspecies...

 

Sub species must have a different DNA code to be considered "sub species" correct?
So more than just habitat, prey or territory have to come in to play, if the DNA sequence is different than all factors came in to play to create a different cat. I am by no means a genetic expert nor will I begin to say I know what it takes to change one genetic code to another, the time it takes or what is occuring, but im curious to know what happens and how it happens. They don't just classify something as a "sub species" without scientific data to back it. I just wish we had a genetic expert here to discuss it with more.

 

To be sincere, I found both replays interesting but a little confusing. Based in my personal interpretation of them, IF I made it correctly, this is my reply to them:

@Spalea: Natural selection is the base of all animals, only the strongest survive, although this "strength" is not just material, but also the capability of adaptation. In this form, the smaller specimens from the Sundarbans were the "stronger" and at the end, they adapted to this new environment, influenced by the humans, of course. The interesting here is that although the hunting of the largest specimens changed the modern Sundarbans and Amur tigers, this seems not to be the case for the mainland Indian-Nepalese tigers, which based in comparisons of old and modern records, they stay about the same. Prey base and its density is also very important, even more than selective hunting, Sunquist et al. (1999) states that the low densities of the prey base was, probably, the principal cause of the extinction of the Caspian and Javan tigers. This could be the case with the Sundarbans tigers, however as the density of chital deer is somewhat high, the smaller tigers adapted to this new prey base and changed its body size and now live at lower densities. However, I most act like the Devil's Advocate here, because we most remember that the few modern specimens captured in the area were all frail, underweight and some of them were even incapable of hunting, but at the same time, its body dimensions still fit in the low ranges of the mainland tigers. It is possible (but this is just a guess), that the prime Sundarbans tigers are probably not so small, and among the size than the Island tigers, represented in modern days only by the Sumatran tigers.

@Pckts: DNA is a modern way the found the ancient origin of species and its species/subspecies differences. However, like @tigerluver have pointed out, the results are too open to interpretation and it depend of the believes of the investigator. For example, you remember the old study of 2009 about the cave lion from Dr Barnett and his team? In that document they stated that they have found "3 different taxas", which means "3 different species" per se, after all, they found no interbred between the American lion (Panthera atrox) and the Cave Eurasian lion (Panthera spelaea), and no interbreed between the Cave Eurasian lion and the modern African-Asian lion (Panthera leo). If these 3 "species" lived alongside and NEVER interbreed, even with no geographic barriers, this means that they were different species and this is stated in the document. HOWEVER, in popular media, Wikipedia and even in a popular document from the same author (Barnett), it is stated that they were "subspecies" of the same "species" Panthera leo, under this new interpretation there are not 3 taxas but only 1 with 3 subspecies. So, what happen here???? It is like the personal interpretations of one of the authors and the popular believe changed the results of the original document with no apparent reason. Interestingly, not a single specimen of Panthera atrox from Rancho La Brea was used, and the "4" specimens used are too close to the northern ice sheet that the possibility of been "washed" specimens from northern areas can't be ruled out.

Other example is the modern tiger DNA studies. The original documents of Luo et al. (2004 and 2010) found "significant" differences between 5 putative tiger subspecies and even proclaimed a new one. However, newer studies and comments stated that those "differences" were overemphasized by the small size of the samples and at the end, there is no such thing as "differences" (Kitchener & Yamaguchi, 2010). Using the same database, together with new specimens, new studies state that there are no more than two subspecies and that the genetic variations between populations disappear when more specimens are added (Wilting et al., 2015; Mondol et al., 2015).

The mutations in the DNA are mostly caused by habitat change and prey selectivity (probaby other natural factors also cause them), but in the case of modern animals, human intervention seems to be the greatest factor. In the case of the Sundarbans tigers, DNA showed that they are related with the Central Indian population, so DNA don't provide evidence to classify them as a "subspecies" and logically are not part of they morphological changes; human intervention seems to be the real factor here.
5 users Like GuateGojira's post
Reply

United States Pckts Offline
Bigcat Enthusiast
******

katezari on the Left, Namdev on the right.
Apparently this is from a few months back

*This image is copyright of its original author
3 users Like Pckts's post
Reply

United States Pckts Offline
Bigcat Enthusiast
******
( This post was last modified: 08-12-2015, 01:45 AM by Pckts )

Check out what this photographer says



*This image is copyright of its original author


"This is my 5th tiger from Sundarbans which I could photograph during my 16th visit. It took me quite some time to absorb the fact that I have seen tigers in back to back visits. Focusing was extremely difficult due to the dense foliage, moving tiger and moving boat; hence a not-so-good image. By the way, this is the biggest tiger ever seen by me. It's a complete myth that Sundarban tigers are smaller in size"

Uploaded by Soumyajit Nandy
3 users Like Pckts's post
Reply

United States Pckts Offline
Bigcat Enthusiast
******
( This post was last modified: 08-12-2015, 01:45 AM by Pckts )


*This image is copyright of its original author


This is the best shot we could manage of this huge, but extremely shy male T-57 who is seen at the southern fringes of Zone 2 in RTR in June. We found him in the area between Guda Chowki and Lahpur Tiraha. He has now been seen marking territory in Ustad's former area. What happens next will be interesting to note. ©
close



One more from the sunderban photographer

*This image is copyright of its original author

This was my 15th visit to this magical mangrove forest and I really feel blessed to have seen & photographed tigers there on 4 different occasions. On this particular occasion she was walking along with the boat inside the forest for quite some time before emerging out near a small canal. The sighting in the open would have lasted for 2-3 minutes, best few minutes of my life! ©
4 users Like Pckts's post
Reply

United States stoja9 Offline
Banned

All do respect to the photographer, but it's NOT a myth that Sunderban tigers are smaller. It's proven science. Just because the biggest one you've seen is located there doesn't vacate the fact that 9 out of 10 largest tigers will be located elsewhere.
2 users Like stoja9's post
Reply

Guatemala GuateGojira Offline
Expert & Researcher
*****
( This post was last modified: 08-12-2015, 09:42 AM by GuateGojira )

I agree with Stoja9 in the fact that Sundarbans tigers are smaller than mainland ones.

The average total length of 3 males is of 255 cm (range: 252 - 261 cm), which is just slightly longer than the Island tigers. For 3 females, the average is of 234 cm (range: 228 - 239 cm).

Now, in what I am still not entirely agree is in the weights, because all the captured specimens (except an 12 years old female of 80 kg), males and females, were frail, underweight, captured in human villages searching for domestic animals, and some of them were even unable to hunt. I guess, and is only a guess, that prime Sundarbans tigers weight the same than the Sumatran tigers, but as only very few specimens has been captured, we can't get to clear conclusions.

From the data that we have, the average weight of 4 males is of 115 kg (range: 97 - 150 kg), while the average for 5 females is of 76 kg (range: 72 - 80 kg).
2 users Like GuateGojira's post
Reply

United States Pckts Offline
Bigcat Enthusiast
******
( This post was last modified: 08-12-2015, 10:02 PM by Pckts )

Eye witness accounts must be taken with a grain of salt, obviously if you are looking at a tiger through trees from a boat a good distance away, that isn't going to be as true as looking at a tiger 5 feet away from you. Also, what other places has that photographer been to? What other Tigers? etc.


The sumatrans I saw in the zoo where obviously smaller than indian bengals, so if Sunderban tigers are nearly the same size, they will obviously be a smaller cat.
But sumatra was/is an amazing place, like java, there are all types of herbivores there, I would imagine in older days before we destroyed their habitat, prime males could definitely of been much larger tigers.
1 user Likes Pckts's post
Reply

United States Pckts Offline
Bigcat Enthusiast
******

Hemant MasurkarTadoba Wild Images


 



Saturn AKA Namdev
#HemantMasurkarPhotography
12-Aug-15 — at Tadoba - Andhari Tiger Reserve.

*This image is copyright of its original author


One of the most beautiful Tiger face photographs I have ever seen!
3 users Like Pckts's post
Reply

Roflcopters Offline
Modern Tiger Expert
*****

Saturn is the most electrifying tiger personality in the Tadoba Andhari Jungle, to be fair. he earned his stripes and is the boss of all his ranges. No one is touching him now adays, everyone that tried him have failed and for good reasons. Just look at his physique and compare it from 2013-2014. No way anyone wants to go head to head with him. Matkasur male from Kolara Buffer is the only known male that could challenge Saturn but i dont think hes ready yet. also now that i think about it, I think Matkasur male and the occassional sub adult males from Pandherpauni might have been sired By Saturn and are tolerated by him.
2 users Like Roflcopters's post
Reply

Guatemala GuateGojira Offline
Expert & Researcher
*****
( This post was last modified: 08-14-2015, 11:04 AM by GuateGojira )

(08-12-2015, 10:01 PM)Pckts Wrote: Eye witness accounts must be taken with a grain of salt, obviously if you are looking at a tiger through trees from a boat a good distance away, that isn't going to be as true as looking at a tiger 5 feet away from you. Also, what other places has that photographer been to? What other Tigers? etc.


The sumatrans I saw in the zoo where obviously smaller than indian bengals, so if Sunderban tigers are nearly the same size, they will obviously be a smaller cat.
But sumatra was/is an amazing place, like java, there are all types of herbivores there, I would imagine in older days before we destroyed their habitat, prime males could definitely of been much larger tigers.

The stories of the photographers are excellent and should be summarized in books, like Valmik Thapar has done with all his observations. A condensate of knowledge of the several observations can transform quantitative data in qualitative and even statistical information. I would like that some one, could achieve that goal.

About the size, yes, I guess that Sundarbans tigers, in good health state, could weight the same than the Sumatran-Java-Bali tigers. In fact, a male captured in 2008 weighed 150 kg, less than 2 kg more than "Slamet" in Sumatra (the radiocollared male of 148.2 kg). Sadly, new captures in Sundarbans revealed males of only up to 115 kg, but they were in bad shape.

In older times, we have speculated, based in the information from @peter, that Sumatran tigers were larger and the large skulls (up to 350 mm in G.L.) together with the pictures support this. However, something tells me that as Sumatra never had a great prey base, like for example Java, I guess that Javanese tigers were even larger, probably reaching the 160 kg, which is the hypothetical maximum for the Malayan tigers, calculated by Locke (1986). I think that the estimations of Mazák (1981-1983) for the island tigers, especially for Java and Bali, are too small.
2 users Like GuateGojira's post
Reply

India shaileshsharadnaik Offline
Tadobatigerlover
***

(08-14-2015, 07:09 AM)Roflcopters Wrote: Saturn is the most electrifying tiger personality in the Tadoba Andhari Jungle, to be fair. he earned his stripes and is the boss of all his ranges. No one is touching him now adays, everyone that tried him have failed and for good reasons. Just look at his physique and compare it from 2013-2014. No way anyone wants to go head to head with him. Matkasur male from Kolara Buffer is the only known male that could challenge Saturn but i dont think hes ready yet. also now that i think about it, I think Matkasur male and the occassional sub adult males from Pandherpauni might have been sired By Saturn and are tolerated by him.

I have myself seen saturn as well as Katezari male. for me katezari is a beautiful sepcimen; larger too. Katezari is the king
3 users Like shaileshsharadnaik's post
Reply






Users browsing this thread:
1 Guest(s)

About Us
Go Social     Subscribe  

Welcome to WILDFACT forum, a website that focuses on sharing the joy that wildlife has on offer. We welcome all wildlife lovers to join us in sharing that joy. As a member you can share your research, knowledge and experience on animals with the community.
wildfact.com is intended to serve as an online resource for wildlife lovers of all skill levels from beginners to professionals and from all fields that belong to wildlife anyhow. Our focus area is wild animals from all over world. Content generated here will help showcase the work of wildlife experts and lovers to the world. We believe by the help of your informative article and content we will succeed to educate the world, how these beautiful animals are important to survival of all man kind.
Many thanks for visiting wildfact.com. We hope you will keep visiting wildfact regularly and will refer other members who have passion for wildlife.

Forum software by © MyBB