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The Sundarban Tiger
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Soumyajit Nandy
 *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  *This image is copyright of its original author When a human is killed they hang an article of their clothing at the kill site  *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 Every image above is from the sunderbans and there are many more, here is the link https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=...=3&theater I highly recommend you take a look.  
Check this image, about the size of the Sundarbans tigers:
 *This image is copyright of its original author As we can see, they are relative smaller in body size, but very light in weight, compared with the mainland tigers. The few old records show this, but the difference has been more dramatic in modern times. Other possibility is that only specimens with bad health has been captured, so this influence in the weight recorded. Contrary to popular belief, the Sundarbans population is among the lowest in the world, and the animals here constantly struggle with a low prey base and floods in all the area. These tigers are living, literally, in the edge.
I definitely think the health of the individual tigers has something to do with their small size.
Some of the photos of the males I see are in far better health. While they lack to body proportions, muscle mass and larger frame, they still look to be big cats. According to the study, Sunderban tiger population is actually on the rise.
A tigress at Sunderbans. Eight more felines would be trapped and radio-collared. Photo: SUSHANTA PATRONOBISH
 *This image is copyright of its original author http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-...124337.ece  (12-18-2015, 08:39 PM)GuateGojira Wrote: Check this image, about the size of the Sundarbans tigers: I wouldn't say "on the edge", their habitat is safe from massive human intrusion which remains the biggest threat to any animal on earth, the Sunderban can be a safe haven for tigers and their long term survival and recovery are possible. On the other hand their numbers are not as high as the outdated pugmark census indicates ( 300 in India and 600 in Bangladesh) their actual numbers can be lower than 100 in India and lower than 200 in Bangladesh, doubling these numbers is possible. The males from Mukherjee and Mallick appeared to be in good health, the females from Adam Barlow's study were in poor health yet his examination of skulls of Sunderban tigers suggest they are likely to be smaller than Sumatran tigers, more data is needed (12-16-2015, 12:12 AM)SVTIGRIS Wrote: @Pckts wow, that is so much worse than I thought! When I saw 27 kills I instantly though between that whole time period, but per year...now that is a a major threat. It also seems to me that the smaller tigers are the most aggressive, sumatrans being another example. Small or large tigers are still tigers, they strike fear in the hearts of man and beast, once they have their permanent canines (about 16 months) tigers become ferocious predators easily able of killing man, a two hundred pound sunderban tiger is not a six hundred pound Chitwan tiger but both are tigers, both rule their domain, and both should be given the respect they need. If anything a smaller tiger is less successful in tackling large prey so man and his livestock may become substitutes.
The studies on feeding ecology on both sides of the border (India and Bangladesh) show dependence on chital and wild boar which combined make up more than 95% of eaten biomass , wild boar is not hunted by muslim hunters in Bangladesh so the pressure is less, and chital is also plentiful all over the Sunderban forests, if human disturbance is kept at a minimum the Sunderban tigers can flourish and become a tiger stronghold, the target of 1500 tigers ( 1000 in Bangladesh and 500 in India ) is very optimistic and reaching half these numbers would be an achievement.
Very true although I don't think what I was implying was the same thing that came across to you, it was more literal.
Soumyajit Nandy:
OBLIVION! It was a sighting which lasted for 4.5 hours, not an everyday affair in a place like Sundarban. This event will remain etched in my memory for the lifetime. Quite a lot of images were made during the sighting. I am starting the series with the one which I have been dreaming since ages. Dec 2015  *This image is copyright of its original author King on the Ramp!  *This image is copyright of its original author
(12-24-2015, 01:31 AM)Dr Panther Wrote: I wouldn't say "on the edge", their habitat is safe from massive human intrusion which remains the biggest threat to any animal on earth, the Sunderban can be a safe haven for tigers and their long term survival and recovery are possible. This time, I am not entirely agree. Despite human intervention, tigers have adapted (barely) to that massive human intrusion in some focused areas, check those huge peregrines in the National Parks, tigers learned to avoid (and fear) people. But in Sundarbans is not the case, here tigers not avoid people, they hunt them. Of course, less people is better for tigers and any other animal, but in the mangroves, humans do make intrusions and the results are bad. i guess that the main problem is the prey, check that as far I know, there is not a real figure about how much prey is available, and the animals are mostly small and in little numbers. The largest species is the Chital deer with a maximum of 50 kg in this region and besides, the habitat itself is shrinking as the sea is gaining terrain every year caused by the global warming; the tide erase the boundaries of the territories and possible some conflict may exist between the specimens. So, the always present human intervention, the low prey size and numbers, and the climate changes that affect and change the habitat, affect this population in an unique form. Tigers in other areas of India have similar problems, but not like here. A similar scenario is that of Indochina, where the species is almost "functionally extinct" from all the countries except Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia. The numbers of tigers in this area has been controversial. Government census put ridiculously high figures while scientists like Dr Karanth found that the population there is lower than 100 in India, like you mention. Sadly, there is not a true large-scaled scientific census in the entire area, just estimations. On the size, old records are too few to get an idea of the past, but modern records shows a true decline in size. Most of us had stated that the decline in size is caused by all the problems described above (the media follow this line too), but we most take in count that with lack of data from the past, we don't know if that reduction was in fact so dramatic or if this has been the tendency all the time. The specimens from Mukherjee and Mallick were, sadly, not in good health state, as some were found wondering and emaciated. He describe it very well, and it is sad, as all the specimens captured in this region have this same problem. The only specimen described as in good health is the female of 80 kg captured by Dr Barlow, she had 12-13 years old in that moment. However, ignoring the weight, the body size is in fact smaller than the mainland tigers and similar to the Sunda subspecies.
Guate@ I am quite hopeful that the Sundarban Tigers can make a remarkable recovery if the area can avoid catastrophic flooding and rising sea level.
Human intrusion in the area remains minimal , the swampy mangrove tidal forests can not support large economic activity for humans no settlement, no agriculture, no mining, and no industry so the pressure on tiger is less than anywhere else. As for their food the count of chital and wild boar or biomass per square kilometre is still decent and these two animals are practically among the top five food sources of Bengal tigers everywhere they occur, a 50 kg chital or wild boar will feed a tiger for 4-5 days The small size of sundarban Tigers is an adaptation to a limited prey base not just a sign of poor health, the healthy sundarban male I saw in zoo weighed a mere 108 kg , the sundarban had gaur and barasingha till recent times and with their disappearance larger tigers disappeared and those who can survive on chital and wild boar did well similar to tigers in Malaysia and Sumatra and most of indochina. The Sundarban is one of six TCL Class I and can potentially hold the largest contiguous tiger population if conservation measures are improved As for their preference for human prey it remains a peculiar and interesting characteristic of those tigers ( and lions in southern Tanzania Lindi and Rufiji areas) habitual man-eaters (12-28-2015, 07:10 PM)IMajingilane Wrote: Soumyajit Nandy: Gorgeous male |
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