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Bigcats News
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Tailing the Tiger
March 29, 2013 By Anurag Sharma With 10 comments Tagged with: Bandhavgarh, fighting with tiger, tiger attack Bandhavgarh, tiger attack on tourists  *This image is copyright of its original author Tiger Warrior His love for wildlife made him quit a well settled career & luxurious city life to settle in a remote place called Tala, close to Bandhavgarh National Park. A Chartered Accountant by qualification, Rajvardhan Sharma is the owner of famous ‘ Nature Heritage Resort’ located close to Tala gate.’Raj Ji’ as he is popularly know would have never imagined even in his wildest dreams that one day in his life he would literally ‘tackle a tiger by its tail’.
Exactly a decade ago on this date he literally fought with a tigress to save two tourists & it was only his bravado because of which those two people escaped the jaws of death. The story goes like this:
 *This image is copyright of its original author On 29th March 2003 morning, he was accompanying a group of french tourists for a regular game drive in the park. Following the tiger trail they reached charger point via Akla kund where a sambhar deer was calling at regular intervals. By this lot of jeeps had also gathered at the same point in anticipation of tiger sighting. After few minutes a tigress appeared, in the middle of road approximately 20 feet away from jeeps. Most of the tourists got excited seeing a tiger so close, little did they know that memories of this sighting would haunt them forever.The previous night this tigress later identified as Mohini, was hit by an unknown speeding vehicle. She lost her two canines and also suffered some other injuries. She was in tremendous pain & had wandered whole night in forest moaning, rubbing her head on grass and tree trunks, chewing twigs in anguish. By the time she was sighted she was suffering from ever-growing pain & was in huge distress.
She looked unusual, her face was distorted, mouth was blood stained and before anybody could sense danger she growled, lashed her tail and jumped in the nearest jeep. This jeep had four french tourists along with driver, guide & a naturalist. Sensing danger the driver, two tourists & naturalist fled from the jeep. Within no time the tigress brought down the remaining two tourists, bit the thumb of one and embedded her canines in chest of other, only to miss the heart by a centimeter fortunately. Her sharp claws left deep gashes in their bodies and they started bleeding profusely.
By this time all the other jeeps drove off to safety, isolating the ill-fated jeep.People inside the other jeeps froze with terror. The tigress was still inside the jeep, mounted on victims growling and twitching her tail. Suddenly everyone noticed one man getting down from his jeep and walking towards the tigress, while people shouted at him to come back but the sheer thought of saving lives of those two people kept him going.
He approached the tiger from front, lifted her paw and freed one tourist. Then he caught her with ears and twisted them to force her to release the deadly grip from chest of other tourist. Tigress was unaffected, he punched and pushed the tigress but nothing happened. Perhaps her anger had over come her reflexes. Suddenly he went to the rear of jeep, caught the tigress by tail and pulled it with all his energy. The tigress wheeled sharply, threw her paw in air and snarled. Though she had left the victim by now but was still inside the jeep. Suddenly mahaout Dayaram arrived at the scene & tried to put his elephant between Raj and tigress. This was of little help as the elephant frightened by blood smell and roars, ran away from scene. By this time another guide, snapped a bamboo from clump and threw it towards Raj. He started hitting the tigress with this bamboo & broke the bamboo in process, this worked. The tigress jumped out of the jeep only to push him on ground. He got up once again, lifted his both hands in air to appear big but the tigress pushed him again this time with more energy.
Even before he could get up, the tigress walked towards him and was on him the very next second. He immediately covered his neck with his right arm in order to protect it. Mohini bit his forearm and one of her canines pierced deep in his flesh. Realizing his end was inevitable, he prayed to Sidh Baba a local deity and protector of Bandhavgarh. He asked”would i be killed by an animal whom i love so much”. Then a miracle happened Mohini for no reason left him & stood next to him. He got up, they both looked into each others eyes before the tigress disappeared in woods, never to be seen again.
All the injured were rushed to hospital & it was only his timely intervention that both the tourists were saved. It was only courage of Raj Ji which stood between life and inevitable death for those ill-fated tourists. After spending two weeks him hospital, he was back in forest, only to be charged by another tiger the famous ‘charger’ & he stood ground once again.
Tigerwalah salutes this Tiger Warrior.http://www.tigerwalah.com/tailing-the-tiger/ 
THE CONVERSATION OF DEATH
A tigress severely wounded by a vehicle and in great pain attacked a jeep with tourists less than a day after she was hit. Inside the jeep, she bit a tourist in the chest and held on. Would have been game over in most cases, but then someone intervened. It took an effort, but it had an effect. When the tigress had left the jeep, the one who made her change her mind was attacked. When he thought his time had come, the tigress suddenly let go. Both looked into each others eye and than the tigress left, never to be seen again. Courage is something difficult to fathom. Mr. Sharma definitely made a difference that day. In more than one way, the tigress also did. She apparently knew about jeeps and those inside. When she was about to take her revenge, someone made her let go. Anyone who knows a bit about big cats and their anger would conclude this was remarkable. When she attacked the one who had intervened, she decided against it and, after what must have been a kind of exchange, disappeared into the forest. Even more remarkable. I remember a book written by Barry Lopez. He noticed that wolves, when they have cornered their victim, often seem to interact with their victim. The 'conversation of death' has an effect: not all are attacked. Those who hunt in the forest and use stealth to contact their victim don't talk. All energy is invested in the kill. When it isn't about food, however, ambush hunters, very seldom, talk with the one they targeted. When Mr. Sharma seemed doomed, the tigress let go. I know of more stories I consider reliable. Those who survived a very personal encounter with a wild big cat always are unable to say why that was. Maybe there are things that can't be described. After his ordeal, Mr. Sharma was again attacked by a tiger. Again he stood his ground and again he survived. It seems Mr. Sharma knows something about tigers only very few can understand. It's in this respect telling that he decided to inform the public many years after the event only. Good find, PC. I propose to post a copy in the thread about wolf children. In a way, this story seems to fit. 
Well I have years of experience interacting with people in hilly areas living around corbett.some of the key takeaway fits well for this stories.
1. Most of the people always describes the Tiger as someone who has utmost respect for everything around them especially the jungle. 2. Many people have always said they have never heard of a tiger who disturbed people without the people doing some harm to it first. 3. Leopard in general are considered to be the cunning cat while tigers are more or less respected by most of the people. 4. There is also a temple near Corbett boundaries deep in the forest which has no gates .I have been there few times.the 'saadhus' there talk about the tigers frequently visiting that temple without doing any harm.infact they protect it from other animals. The story of Mr. Sharma is truly inspiring. He really does know alot more tiger than we all can ever imagine.and I guess there is always so much to know about the tiger. I just wonder what stopped 'Mohini' that day from attacking. 
Cheers! (I'm like..The bringer of good news)
Rajasthan seeks nod to bring tigers from other States *This image is copyright of its original author SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT JAIPUR, NOVEMBER 25, 2017 21:59 IST After seeking the Centre’s nod for shifting of tigers from Ranthambhore to Mukundara Hills Tiger Reserve, the Rajasthan government has asked for permission to bring tigers from other States for their rehabilitation and cross-mating in order to develop strong breeds of the big cat. State Forest and Environment Minister Gajendra Singh said two tigers could soon be relocated from the Ranthambhore National Park to the Mukundara Hills tiger reserve, located in the Hadoti region, which has been waiting for the big cats since its establishment in 2013. Mr. Singh, who met Union Environment and Forest Minister Harsh Vardhan in New Delhi on Friday, said the Sariska Tiger Reserve in Alwar district, where the tiger population had vanished a few years ago, had brought back a significant number of big cats. More tiger couples could be rehabilitated there, he added. The Minister pointed out that shifting tigers to Rajasthan would help resolve the problem of hereditary diseases among them and improve their breeds through cross-mating. He also sought the Centre’s assistance in the relocation of villages situated in the National Park areas and conservation of forest land. The Mukundara Hills is the third notified tiger habitat in the State, after Ranthambhore and Sariska. Though it was established to cater to the spill over tiger population from Ranthambhore, the majestic cat is still missing from its wildlife population, due to absence of resident females.
Big cats gain from India-Myanmar warmth
25th November 2017 There are less than 150 tigers left in the wild Myanmar today. (Freddy Mercay / WWF)  *This image is copyright of its original author NEW DELHI: The improved strategic relationship between India and Myanmar has a secret benefactor—the tiger. India, which is home to nearly 60 per cent of the world’s tigers in the wild, is set to sign a pact with Myanmar for tiger conservation and checking illegal wildlife trade along the border. According to government sources, the Ministry of External Affairs has sent an official communiqué regarding this to Myanmar. A team of experts comprising government officials from Myanmar is expected to visit India in January 2018 to discuss the details of the agreement on tiger conservation. The move also holds importance as Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September this year visited Myanmar, the only Southeast Asian country India shares its land boundary with. “The process of having a protocol with Myanmar was started seven years ago, but it could not be finalised due to internal issues in Myanmar. With India looking to have a better relationship with its Southeast Asian neighbour now, tiger diplomacy is one of the links,” said a senior environment ministry official. Myanmar is one of the 13 tiger range countries. Its total tiger population was estimated to be 85 in 2011, according to the Global Tiger Recovery Programme Implementation report 2012. Similar to other tiger range countries, the big cats in Myanmar are also facing threats such as hunting for commercial trade and prey depletion. India’s Tiger Estimate pegged the country’s tiger population at 2,500, of which around 250 are in North Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra Flood Plains. Tigers in the Northeast have habitat connectivity in trans-boundary areas in Myanmar. India has a MoU with Nepal on controlling trans-boundary illegal trade in wildlife and conservation, apart from a protocol on tiger conservation with China. A bilateral protocol with Bangladesh and Bhutan is in place. Myanmar is the only neighbouring tiger range nation without a tiger a pact with India. In 2010, the Wildlife Conservation Society released a report estimating that there were only 50 tigers left in Hukawng Valley Tiger Reserve, dubbed to be world's largest at 22k km². Other rare animals, including clouded leopards and Asian bears, are also feared to be in decline. Now, however, according to local animal trackers who spoke with Bauk Ja, no tiger paw prints have been seen for several years.
Buxa Reserve all set to get 12 Royal Bengal Tigers
This kind of treks within the forest are soon to stop.  *This image is copyright of its original author Kolkata: The state Forest department is all set to fetch as many as 12 Royal Bengal Tigers in the Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) in Alipurduar district of North Bengal in a bid to augment tiger population there, an increase from the initially intended number of 6. The tigers will be brought from the forest reserves in Assam, which have a similar flora and fauna as Buxa forest. "The climatic conditions and the flora and fauna of Buxa matches with that of Assam. We have already written to the Assam government for procuring a dozen tigers. The introduction of these tigers will surely be an added attraction of BTR," state Forest minister Binay Krishna Barman said. It is learnt that Buxa is one of the four forests in India where the National Tiger Conservation Authority has approved the tiger augmentation programme. Sunderbans in South Bengal is home to about 100 tigers. However, the department has consciously decided not to bring tigers from the mangrove forest. "Sunderbans has a completely different mangrove ecosystem and the animals are specifically adapted to survive there," Barman said. The BTR is located close to Assam's Manas Tiger Reserve, and some experts believe that animals from Manas often come to Buxa using Bhutan as a corridor. The Buxa reserve is home to smaller cats such as leopards which occasionally surface in the tea gardens nearby. Forested hills of Bhutan seen from the Indian side of Jayanti river.  *This image is copyright of its original author There are also common clouded leopards, jungle cats and fishing cats. The herbivore list includes elephants, Indian gaur, chital, sambars, barking deer and hog deer. The Forest department has decided to bring sambar and bison to the Buxa Tiger Reserve from other wildlife sanctuaries to boost the food chain ahead of the introduction of big cats in the BTR. "A number of herbivores need to be present in Buxa for the food of the tigers. So, we have decided to bring in at least 50 sambars and a good number of bisons from Jaldapara National Park to the BTR," a senior Forest department official said. The tiger reserve has an area of about 757.9 sq km, of which 390 sq km lies in the core area and 367 sq km in the buffer zone. The number and even the existence of tigers in the Buxa reserve has been often debated by wildlife enthusiasts. While Forest Department officials claimed there were tigers in the reserve, almost no sighting of the big cats raised questions about their presence. The survey of tigers in 2011 based on DNA analyses put the number of tigers at 20, but the overwhelming portion of them being males suggest,that they are non-local transient tigers who temporarily visit from Bhutan. 
New leopard population being discovered in China's Tibetan plateau.
just heard the sad news, Bajirao the dominant male of Bor Tiger reserve was hit by a speeding truck and died on the spot.
here's the full story. NAGPUR: The dominant male tiger of BorTiger Reserve, 'Bajirao', aged around 8 years, was knocked dead by an unidentified speeding vehicle on NH-6 near Bazargaon, 30km from here, on Friday at 7pm. Though there have been several leopard deaths, this is perhaps the first case of an adult tiger dying in a road hit in the state in last 6-7 years. With this, the national tally of tiger deaths this year has mounted to 114, with 24 deaths in Maharashtra, second highest in the country after neighbouring Madhya Pradesh (26). Wildlife experts blamed lack of planning by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), and lax attitude of state forest officials in not insisting upon mitigation measures on the highways. The tiger death comes a day after a big nilgai was knocked dead on NH-6 near Murdoli in Navegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve (NNTR) corridor. NHAI has not taken any mitigation measures on NH-6 despite Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court directing it to construct underpasses. Bajirao (BTR-T2) was the dominant male of Bor, and foresters posted in Bor say it must have sired at least 22-25 cubs with three breeding females — Katrina, Ambika and Katlabodi — in his 400 sqkm home range, which included patches in Wardha and Nagpur divisions. "The incident shows that small protected areas like Bor are highly dependent on small forest patches around them to maintain connectivity. Loss of such individuals due to linear infrastructure is detrimental to the gene flow, and long-term viability of tiger populations. This tiger regularly shuttled between Bor-Kalmeshwar range, crossing NH6. Its pictures were captured on camera traps in 2012 survey in Kalmeshwar," said Aditya Joshi of Wildlife Conservation Trust(WCT) and NTCA representative. As a sizeable crowd gathered at the spot, the tiger was dumped in a tractor and later shifted to an ambulance to be taken to Nagpur, where it will be kept in a deep freezer. The post mortem will be performed on Saturday. Earlier, tigers have dispersed from Kalmeshwar range to Pohra-Malkhed in Amravati, indicating it is a highly functional corridor to Melghat. "Multiple incidents of dispersal have been recorded by our field biologists," said Milind Pariwakam, head, WCT's Central Indian Tiger Landscape Programme. He said lack of planning while developing highways is the major cause of such tiger deaths. NH-6 and NH-7 are classic examples of such unplanned development. "NHAI is also unnecessarily delaying construction of mitigation measures along NH-6 near Navegaon-Nagzira, despite of all clearances from statutory authorities and courts. NHAI should be held responsible for tiger deaths along highways for the delay in mitigation measures," Pariwakam said. Honorary wildlife warden Kundan Hateand wildlife enthusiast Sarosh Lodhi demanded registration of offences against NHAI officials for the tiger death. They said Bajirao's death shows why wildlife mitigation measures are a must. "At least now NHAI should construct underpasses at these spots. Earlier, a full-grown male leopard had died at the same spot in 2010," said Hate. "Looking at the carcass, it seems the tiger was heading towards Bor from Kalmeshwar range," said Lodhi.  *This image is copyright of its original author Rip Bajirao, Maharashtra lost a legend.
Is this the same tiger or different @Roflcopters
I'd guess female but not sure. " Dead in Shan Waghiran road accident in Bargarh An incident near Paper Mill on Nagpur Amravati Road"  *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
Bajirao the eight-year-old male tiger was killed in a road accident on yesterday evening, about 35 km from Nagpur near Bazargaon on the Nagpur-Amravati four-lane highway on National Highway 6.
Officials from the forest department said the incident took place between 7pm and 7.30pm. . “The Tiger received severe injuries to his head and hind legs, and was killed due to the impact of the speeding vehicle. The body rushed the animal to a treatment centre in Nagpur for a post-mortem. Mallikarjuna added that CCTV footage from the highway would be monitored to track the vehicle that killed the animal.
Ramped up tiger protection in North Bengal
Tiger photographed in the Neora Valley National Park in December  *This image is copyright of its original author Jalpaiguri/Alipurduar: More cameras will be installed at the Neora Valley National Park to intensify vigilance and better gauge the tiger population at the reserve in the hilly Kalimpong district, senior officials of the state forest department said on Saturday. The decision comes a day after five photos of royal bengal tigers, clicked by five different cameras at the park on Thursday and Friday and on December 27, were examined and released by the department. Neora Valley, known as a virgin forest, is spread over 159.89sqkm on the ridges of the lesser Himalayas at the tri-junction of Bengal, Sikkim and Bhutan. On January 19 last year, a tiger was sighted for the first time in the park after more than two decades as Anmol Chhetri, a cab driver, saw a tiger near Lava, which is on the outer areas of the park, and clicked photos. This made the forest department to act and they immediately installed trap cameras in some locations of the park. The initiative worked and again, photos of two other tigers were clicked on January 27 and February 15, last year. "We have 10 pairs of trap cameras in Neora now and intend to set up more because the presence of the Royal Bengal Tiger has been reaffirmed in the reserve," said Ravikant Sinha, the chief wildlife warden of the state. The photos were clicked at a height of 7,500ft in the core areas of the park, forest sources said. During the past two days, the photos of tigers were shot from three cameras located near Rachela, one of the highest points of the park located at the tri-junction of Bhutan, Sikkim and Bengal. Another forest official said the presence of tigers had made them consider increasing the number of forest guards at Neora. "Most areas of the park are still virgin and located in difficult hilly terrains. To ensure the safety of the tigers, we are planning to increase the number of forest guards. The idea is to ensure comprehensive vigilance through our guards and cameras," said the forester. He said a dip in temperature may have prompted the tigers to descended from the higher reaches of the park and get clicked by the cameras. "We plan to check out some other cameras to see whether any other photos have been stored in them," a department source said. The Buxa plan Deer brought to be released into the Buxa tiger reserve  *This image is copyright of its original author Twenty-one spotted deer have been brought to the Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) to be released into the wild for tigers. The deer are part of a plan to a preparatory move to increase the numbers of Royal Bengal Tigers brought to the reserve earlier. "We got the deer herd from Malda a couple of days back and kept them in an enclosure. They will be released into the wild after a month. We have plans to release around 150 such deer to ensure the carnivores have adequate prey in the reserve," said Sinha, the chief wildlife warden. Sambar and gaur (Indian Bison) will be brought in from the Jaldapara National Park and released into the reserve later, Sinha added. 12 tigers will be brought and released into Buxa over five years. The department plans to speak to Assam forest officials for the tigers. "If they refuse, we will speak to officials in Bihar and Nepal. We want to start releasing the tigers by the end of this year," said a source.
@parvez This one's for you...
Tiger count likely to go up by 40 in Atmakuru division Jan 27,2018 | 11:53 PM IST  *This image is copyright of its original author
About a decade ago, the number of tigers in the country was claimed to be near 3,500, but it came down because of poaching. In fact, almost 50% of Andhra Pradesh's tigers are located in the Atmakuru division of the Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve. As the forest laws have been given more teeth, the number of tigers is likely to increase. The tiger population rose by 95 in 2006, increased by 72 in 2010 and went down by 68 in 2014. On the directions of the Union government, the authority commenced tiger estimation, which entered the sixth day on Saturday. In the current exercise, at least 600 personnel were involved in tiger estimation under way in forest divisions, forest beats, ranges and sections. The exercise begins at 5 am and concludes by 5 pm. It may be recalled that Atmakuru Divisional Forest Officer, Mr. Selvam and Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve Field Director, Mr. Saravanan commenced the estimation in Nallamala forest spread across Kurnool, Prakasam and Guntur districts. Marked increase in the tiger population will commence from Pechchurvu area of the Atmakuru division. Using the GPS facility, animal trap cameras, ecological cameras, the tiger population is documented. Mould of the tiger pug marks is made using the plaster of paris solution. The pug marks are photographed using infrared high-beam cameras to document it. The enumerators visit water holes, hills, waterfalls, streams and plain areas to spot pug marks, excreta and gather other data and it will be sent to the bio-diversity center at Srisailam. Later, the samples will be sent to CCMB in Hyderabad for DNA analysis. After conducting 12 types of research on the data, monitoring the tigers with the help of computers, final population of the tigers will be arrived at. Tiger enumeration work is limited to 2,444 square km area out of the 3,727 square km area.
Karnataka : Buoyed by the success of its conservation programmes, the Karnataka Forest Department (KFD) was in shock on Thursday when officials discovered carcasses of two tigers and an elephant in Bandipur tiger reserve. At a time when the entire department is busy estimating the number of tigers, the mysterious death of two adult tigers and an elephant has sent shockwaves and the entire department has been put on high alert.
Sources in KFD told Bangalore Mirror that carcass of a 3-year-old male tiger and 2-year-old-tigress was found near Hirikere water hole in Somanathapura within the range of the famous Gopalaswamy Betta on Thursday. In a release, Ambadi Madhav, Director of Bandipur Tiger Reserve, said that the department staffers found the carcasses on Thursday morning and they are yet to ascertain the actual cause of death. According to sources in Bandipur, while the carcass of a male tiger was almost decomposed, another carcass was partially decomposed. “At the outset, tigers appeared to be poisoned. However, some KFD officials suspecting it could also due to internal fights. Samples have been sent to forensic and veterinary lab for DNA testing,” said a senior KFD officer. Field staffers of KFD revealed that last year too there were cases of tigers being poisoned by miscreants in retaliation of a ban on cattle grazing and tigers killing livestock in the villages abutting the national park. Soon after the post-mortem by certified veterinarians, the caracass of the animals were burnt as per the guidelines of National Tiger Conservatory Authority (NTCA). Bandipur, known for dense deciduous forest, has the largest concentration of tigers in the country. The park has more than 100 tigers, besides the presence of Asiatic elephants. The department has been conducting tiger estimation for the year 2018 for the last one week and sudden death of two tigers has triggered panic among conservationists. |
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