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Indo-Chinese and Malayan tigers
Indo-Chinese and Malayan tigers
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Indo-Chinese and Malayan tigers
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Indochinese tigers caught with camer trap in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailandia. Credits to Thailand Tiger Project.
Original text: "“รอบหมุนเวียน” จากการศึกษาเสือโคร่งในบริเวณหุบนางรำ ห้วยขาแข้ง ตั้งแต่ปี 2005 ถึง ปัจจุบัน พบว่า มีเสือโคร่งเพศผู้ เปลี่ยนหน้า กันเข้ามายึดครองพื้นที่เพื่อหากินและสืบพันธุ์ถึง สี่ ตัว โดยแต่ละตัวใช้ชีวิตในบริเวณนี้ประมาณ สาม ปี ซึ่งหมายถึงสามารถจับคู่ผสมพันธุ์ได้มากสุด สอง รอบ นี่คงอธิบายได้ว่าทำไมเสือโคร่งเพศผู้จึงพยายามครอบครอง พื้นที่ของเพศเมียให้ได้มากที่สุด"  *This image is copyright of its original author
Myanmar tigers,
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Malayan tiger, credits: Wwf tigers fb page
 *This image is copyright of its original author
Indochinese tiger mother and cub,
 *This image is copyright of its original author
Is there any recent report about much sought after plan of reintroducing tigers and ecosystem restoration in mondulkiri province of cambodia?
Greater mekong's eastern plains landscape in cambodia and vietnam contains incredibly rich in biodiversity and hosts one of the highest assemblance of large mammals in the world. easternnplains landscape consist of unique deciduous dipterocarp forest,similar to that of india.which is very suitable of large mamamals.a bulk of forest remains in the mondulkiri province of cambodia.  *This image is copyright of its original author Just 50 years ago, scientists compared this important ecoregion with the savannas of East Africa. Once called "serengeti of asia".Large herbivores like Banteng,gaur,elephants,sambar deer,eld's deer,asian wild water buffalos,kouprey(possibly extinct.a few may occur at virachey national park of north),javan rhinocerous(extinct in this region),and many more,roamed in large numbers.predators include indochinese tiger,leopard,dhole etc.now only few of the species occur here.the last image of tiger captured is in 2007. As cambodia have one of the highest deforestation rates in the world.rampent poaching depleted much of the species.still vast forests with low human population suitable for tigers remaining in this region.this unique landscape is now underestimated. Poaching is the great threat for reintroduction.the plan is now or never? few pictures from this region: Herd of banteng  *This image is copyright of its original author Wild water buffalo ftom mondulkiri  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author Few articles a recent news: https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&source...7mDbZXeCXV Pdf: https://wwf.be/assets/Uploads/Images/PRO...ochure.pdf from wwf: http://cambodia.panda.org/projects_and_r...tigers_go/ A small hope: https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/a...tuary.aspx 
Cambodia has one of the lowest densities of human population in all of Asia (81,8 per sq. km), this country poses vast open dry forests very similar to Dekan plato in Central India with a lot of grass growing among the trees which potentially is ideal habitat for numerous large animals.
Unfortunately too many and too bloody civil wars, too much poaching, local people like elsewhere in South East Asia obviously don't respect wild nature very much. 
Body size of the Indochinese tiger - scientific records:
For long time I was trying to create a final table summarizing all that available information on the size of the modern tiger. To be honest I had done it, but a tragedy happen and I lost all the information gathered for 5 years! Sadly, I also lost my format to make comparison images, and now I am collecting all the information, again, since the beginning and is not an easy task.
However, I received a gift that I did not expected a few weeks ago, but let me tell you the story. A fear ago, I was traveling through the web and I found this document: “Female tiger Panthera tigris home range size and prey abundance: important metrics for management” from 2014. This document made by Achara Simcharoen and a big team of scientists working in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand, present a series of information regarding the 4 males and 7 females radio-collared during they study (some were recaptured). Table 1 summarize the information of the specimens. Sadly there is no information about size and weight, so I needed to continue my search.
Years ago I found a webpage of Thailand tigers, I remember that the name was “Thailand Tiger Project”, or something like that, and I saw a picture of a big tiger that according with the article weighed 200 kg. Sadly I did not saved a screenshot or anything, just the link and by 2016 the webpage no longer existed, so the record was lost. Even then, I found a presentation from the Thailand government and for some time this image was all I have for that particular record:
 *This image is copyright of its original author Yes I know that it was not much, but I am sure of what I saw, so I kept that record and quoted it many times.
Now a few weeks ago I was searching to reconstruct my database when I found a document wrote in Thailand language and the name is: “Home Range Size of The Tiger in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Uthai Thani Province”. It was made by Dr Achara Simcharoen in the same area of Thailand and published in 2012. Of course I have no idea of how to read this language but happily Google translator worked correctly this time and I found this jewel in table 1:
 *This image is copyright of its original author Now check it translated:
 *This image is copyright of its original author Ohhh yes, this is the first table that show that body size and weights of the only Indochinese tigers reported by scientists, for the moment. Now, are this real measurements or estimations, well, here are two good pictures:
 *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author So yes, tigers were measured and weights. Of course, I know that there is a pair of people in another forum that will try to discredit all the information about tigers, so before to publish it here, I made my personal investigation, and of course I found the answers. We have lengths and weights, so we need to know how the tigers were measured and if the weight includes stomach content. I wrote to Dr Achara Simcharoen, the author of the previous documents and she was very kind to clarify my “important/annoying” questions. So here we go:
1. Body length:
As we know modern scientist measure they cats “along the contour” and follow a “standard” protocol, like Dr Karanth says, however we know that there is no such thing as “standard” trought the countries as any scientist measure they study animals in different ways. We have many methods like keeping the tape straight like measuring between pegs (Dr Mel Sunquist), or leaving the tape somewhat loose but not pressing it (Dr Vidya Athreya), or pressing the tape in the undulations (Mohammad Farhadinia), and this is just the mention a few. I don´t quote the supposed email from Dr Dale Miquelle as I don’t trust in the source of that email, I don’t even know if is real, so I am going to leave it like that; the pictures of tigers been measured in Russia are a cacophony of methods, but that another theme of discussion. So as there is no such thing as “crystal clear” things or any other “myth” created by pseudo-scientists in other forums, I prefer to go to the source of the information and I ask to Dr Simcharoen how they measured her tigers: a) along the curves following a straight line; b) along the curves but pressing the tape in all the undulations. Her answer was option (a) so she followed the same method used for tigers in Nepal.
This picture shows that the tape is curved in the head, but we must take in count that the act is just for the picture and not a real measurement:
 *This image is copyright of its original author However, in this other one it shows the head been positioned in the same form that Dr Sunquist described, remember that he says that the head was hold before to measure the tiger:
 *This image is copyright of its original author So with the answer of Dr Simcharoen and the pictures available we can safely conclude that the tigers were measured like those from Nepal.
2. Weight:
There is a tendency to discredit tiger weights because of the method used to capture them. In the paper it says that baits were used to attract tigers but at the end was unsucsefull, just like with the Amur tigers, so they decided to use snares and then the tigers were captured in the trails. However I ask to Dr Simcharoen if the tigers were baited or not and she says that the tigers “were not feed before the capture”, in fact she don’t understand why I was asking that. So we can be sure that tigers were not baited and the specimens were captured in the road with snares, case close.
Comparison:
Taking in count all the tigers recorded by scientist we have a small sample from only three populations: India/Nepal, Russia and Thailand. From Sumatra there is only a couple of weights and the measurements of one tigress. A report from Malayan tigers shows a few measurements of tigers, but probably they were taking “pressing the tape”, this judging by the estimated weights, but in the past these sizes were real and taken “between pegs” (remember that the largest skull from “Indochina” recorded by Mazák was, apparently, from Malaysia).
It is interesting that the weights from the Thailand tigers and those from the Russian Far East are about the same, which is very interesting as there is a larger difference in the body length. This is probably because of the method used as Dr Simcharoen measured her tigers straight while the pictures of Amur tigers shows that the tape is curve, not pressing, jut curved (a picture with the President Putin shows a tiger been measured in straight line, but that is from the Amur Tiger Programme, not the Siberian Tiger Project). If we adjust the sizes from the Amur tiger by at least 10 cm like @peter suggested, the sizes will be about the same, which will explain the similarities in the weights.
So with a rough calculation, I can make the following comparative table, but please take in count that this is just a preliminary table, it still need the references and a few other details, but it summarize all the records from tigers recorded by scientists:
 *This image is copyright of its original author Of course the next step will be to make a comparison between the scientific and the hunting records from Indochina, although I only found 3 weights from male tigers in the region (173 – 182 – 259 kg), and the last one is an exceptional one.
I hope this helps for those that like to keep records of sizes and weights.
Here is the document about the size of the Thailand tigers, is in Thailandese so you need to use Google translator.
Enjoy it. 
GUATE
Very informative posts. Many thanks on behalf of all. As to the method used to measure the tigers. In his mails, Sunquist told us in what way the 'standard' method was applied in Nepal. Ullas Karanth, indirectly (in his book), also did regarding Nagarahole. Waveriders contacted Miquelle on Amur tigers and posted his answer. That leaves Dr. Simcharoen. You contacted her and got an answer. Would she object if you posted her answer? In your post, you said you have some doubts on Miquelle's mails. You don't trust the source, to be precise. My advice is to contact Miquelle, Kerley or Goodrich yourself. Best way to solve all problems in the method department, as it will eliminate interpretations. We're also interested in the way the Russians apply the 'standard' method. As to measuring a big cat. I measured about 30 captive big cats. Some were measured both 'between pegs' and 'over curves'. When done, I asked those who had assisted me to apply both methods themselves. All volonteers got an instruction. Those assisting them were asked to keep silent. The only one talking was the one in charge. The first method ('between pegs') yielded very similar results. The second did not. The reason is the first method is clear in all departments, which is not true for the second. It depends on the way the method is applied. Those with experience have more ability than those who don't. In my experience, someone measuring a big cat 'over curves' three times will produce three quite different results. A century ago, there was a lengthy debate on big cats, measurements and methods. In order to solve the problem once and for all, Sterndale proposed to measure big cats 'between pegs' only. Most unfortunately, his advice was largely ignored. Today, biologists, for unknown reasons, measure big cats 'over curves'. Those interested in measurements have no other option but to ask a few questions, that is. (09-11-2018, 06:50 AM)peter Wrote: In your post, you said you have some doubts on Miquelle's mails. You don't trust the source, to be precise. My advice is to contact Miquelle, Kerley or Goodrich yourself. Miquelle has a few doubts about 'forums' in general. Goodrich said most records of Amur tigers are unreliable. Based on the mails I saw, Kerley would be my choice. Best way to solve all problems in the method department, as it will eliminate interpretations once and for all. As you know, I don't trusth in Waveriders at all, I don't know if the "email" of Dr Miquelle is real or not. I had answers from Dr Goodrich before, but it seems that he changed his email. I already tried to contact the 3 but there was no result. From pictures, like I said, there is a cacophony acording with pictues, one in a straight line, other straight but along the curves, other with the tape curved but not presed in the back and other with the tape completelly lose along all the curvatures. Based in the document of Kerley et al. (2005) it only quotes Nowell & Jackson (1998) about the method but that is all. In fact, In my tables I am going to change from "straight line" to "along the curves" but that is all, I can't corroborate emails that I have not received, specially for unreliable posters. About the email of Dr Simcharoen, I don't think that there is a problem to put the email here. Let me finish the comparison email with the new measurements and I will put it here too, for the database.
According to Jhala et al. (https://web.archive.org/web/201201202324...t_2010.pdf), tigers have dispersed from Myanmar to areas with contiguous forests in Northeast India:
Page 151: "The largest contiguous forested region in this landscape is over 136,000 km 2. This landscape unit commences in the north-west from Pakke Tiger Reserve through the forests of Palia, Tale Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, Mouling National Park and Daying Ering Wildlife Sanctuary into Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary and upto the Namdapha Tiger Reserve in the east. The landscape continues south through some degraded areas into the Intanki National Park, and further south to the Dampa Tiger Reserve and Blue Mountain National Park. The Kaziranga National Park in the Brahmaputra flood plains is connected through the Karbi-Anglong Hills to Intanki in the south. This connectivity through Karbi-Anglong is crucial for dispersal of tigers from their source population in Kaziranga. Kaziranga has almost lost its connectivity to the north (to Pakke) due to intensive agriculture on northern banks of the River Brahmaputra. Intanki National Park is also connected westwards through priority III forests upto the Balphakram National Park. This landscape has contiguous forest across the international border with Myanmar. The weak links in this landscape are the forests in the districts of Mon, Mokokchung, Tuensang, Zuheboto, Wokha, and Phek in the east. The landscape between the Balphakram National Park and Intaki National Park through the districts of Karbi-Anglong, West Khasi Hills, East Khasi Hills and East and West Garo Hills is fragmented. The major source population of tigers in this landscape are in Kaziranga and Pakke in India and dispersing tigers from Bhutan and Myanmar. This landscape holds the largest tiger population in the North-Eastern region consisting of about 125 tigers. It is connected to the southern parts of the North East Landscape via the Karbi-Anglong Hills, for which it acts as a major source. The Kaziranga population connects to the tiger population of Nameri-Pakke through riverine corridors (Fig. 4.1)." Page 156, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh: "The Nameri Tiger Reserve is located in the Sonitpur districts of north-east Assam. It is contiguous with the Pakke Tiger Reserve of Arunachal Pradesh to its north and covers an area of 344 km2 of which 200 km2 forms the core demarcated by the Rivers Bhorali and Bordikarai. Within the Reserve are located 13 villages of which eight are forest villages with predominantly tribal population. The population of tigers is small (about 9) and is shared with Pakke. Though the area has potential for higher densities and ability to sustain a larger population of tigers, the depletion of prey by subsistence poaching as well as other anthropogenic disturbances is responsible for the current situation. Its connectivity with Kaziranga is important and needs policy and managerial inputs for its continued viability (Fig.4.AS.1.1). This complex may further be connected to the Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam and the greater forest complex of Arunachal, that provides connectivity, although with high hunting pressures and insurgency problems, to the forests further east into Namdapha, Intanki and maybe even Myanmar. The Namdapha Tiger Reserve covers an area of 1,985 km2 in the Changlang district of eastern Arunachal Pradesh. While most of the area is free of human presence, about six small patches of cultivation still exist within the Reserve covering about 25 hectares. On the peripheries of the Tiger Reserve are settlements such as Gandhigram, Deban and M’pen with mostly Lisu population. The Miao-Gandhigram road traverses 105 kilometers of the Reserve and 13 kilometers of the MiaoVijaynagar road cuts across the buffer zone of the Reseve. Hunting for cultural and subsistence reasons appears to be the greatest threat to biodiversity in this area. Namdapha Tiger Reserve is connected to the forests of Kamlang Wildlife Sanctuary and further eastwards to the forests of Myanmar which is a contiguous forestpatch of 1,36,000 km2." Burmese tiger in Hukawng Valley Tiger Reserve, near the border with Northeast India: http://www.globalnewlightofmyanmar.com/s...r-reserve/  *This image is copyright of its original author
Wildlife plan sees footprints of success
Following the expansion of Highway 304 in Eastern Thailand that bisect the critical corridor and divides Khao Yai National Park in the west from Thap Lan and adjacent Pang Sida National Parks in the east,the construction of wildlife corridor using tunnels and highway overbridge across the highway still underway, a survey has found wildlife footprints on top of the traffic tunnels, proving that animals are now adjusting to the presence of the corridor and are able to cross over the road with more safety. Map showing the highway cuts through the corridor connecting two forest complex:  *This image is copyright of its original author Dong-Phayayen-Khao Yai Complex , the largest tract of surviving forest in central Thailand is acknowledged as the second-last hope to provide a safe home for the tiger, after the success of Thungyai-Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuaries on the West.if connected the complex will span over 6000 sq km of contiguous tiger habitat.  *This image is copyright of its original author According to the Department of Highways, animals that are expected to use the wildlife corridor include wild boar, muntjac, Asian black bears, the Indochinese water dragon, frogs, and puddle frogs. The study is consistent with the department's report, which found that the forest along Highway 304 is a significant habitat for boar, deer, tigers, gaur and elephant. An even better result would be if the tigers could roam out of the forests, cross the main Highway and replenish the population where it absent for years. Wildlife corridor on progress..  *This image is copyright of its original author
The Malayan Tiger Conservation efforts :
Click to play https://www.facebook.com/wildlifer.dnaim...70259/?t=6  Rare to see one. Malaysian Tiger is near extinction. |
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