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Tigers of the High Himalayas
Tigers of the High Himalayas
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Tigers of the High Himalayas
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Woodcutter saw a Bengal Tiger in Kabisa within 10 KMs radius of Thimphu city, Bhutan's capital!
Pic. Source: Wangchuk Ninda, Facebook.  *This image is copyright of its original author  *This image is copyright of its original author
Big News unearthed by Suhail! @peter @parvez @Jimmy @SuSpicious @Sully @
(05-13-2018, 08:46 AM)Suhail Wrote: Does bengal tigers have bigger cousin at home? Does the Bengal tiger have a bigger cousin at home? ITANAGAR, MAY 12, 2018 *This image is copyright of its original author Two rescued cats in an Arunachal zoo intrigue experts Two tigers with features distinct from the well-known Royal Bengal variety have led to research interest on whether India hosts more than one sub-species of the big cat. Rescued as orphans from India's north-easternmost corner, Ipra and Chipi were eight months old when they were found near Anini in Arunachal Pradesh’s Upper Dibang Valley district bordering China, in December 2012. They were shifted to the State capital Itanagar’s Biological Park almost a year later from Roing, the headquarters of an adjoining district at 7,000 ft above sea level. Ipra the male, and Chipi the female had two other siblings, but one died of pneumonia and the other was presumed killed like their mother. The two survivors have grown to be bigger, more aggressive and endowed with a coat shade different from the Royal Bengal tigers (RBTs) in the park. Officials say the Anini tigers do not have a white patch behind their ears like usual Bengal tigers. “The tigers from Anini are five-and-a-half years old, but they are markedly larger than the captive-bred Bengal tigers that are older than them. They also appear morphologically different from Bengal tigers and have a different colour coating,” the Park’s curator Raya Flago told The Hindu. Genetic test “We sent blood and hair samples to the Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology(LaCONES) in Hyderabad for a genetic test two years ago. But we are yet to get the report,” Mr. Flago said. Arunachal Pradesh’s Chief Wildlife Warden Ruselo Kemp said the department would push LaCONES for the test report. “Until we get it, we cannot say the Anini tigers are different though they appear so to trained eyes,” he said. Kamal Azad of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) said experts had marked the “non-Royal Bengal-like” appearance of the Anini tigers and explored the scope for a study with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII). Forest officials in Arunachal Pradesh said the only tiger sub-species bigger than the Royal Bengal (Panthera tigris tigris) is the Siberian or Amurtiger(Panthera tigris altaica). An adult Royal Bengal male grows up to 3.1 metres from head to tail while the Siberian reaches 3.3 metres. “Siberia is far off and the only species that comes geographically close to the Royal Bengal is the Indo-Chinese or Corbett’s tiger (Panthera tigriscorbetti), which is found in Laos, Cambodia and Thailand,” Mr. Flago said. The RBTs found in Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal besides India are also known to range across Myanmar. Yadvendradev V. Jhala, WII’s large carnivore expert, said the reported size of the Anini tigers does not match that of the Indo-Chinese that are smaller than the Royal Bengal. “The physical features of the two tigers at Itanagar zoo officials make them worthy of a study.” he said in Dehradun. Highest tiger territory  *This image is copyright of its original author The Anini tigers were rescued from Angrim village on the edge of the 4,149 sq. km Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary, which is at an altitude of 3,200 metres. The NTCA has proposed to make this sanctuary a tiger reserve because of a “sizeable population” of the animals. If so designated, the sanctuary, established in 1992, will be India’s highest tiger reserve. Bhutan is the only other country as of now to record the presence of tigers at 4,100 metres. But Arunachal Pradesh’s Forest Department is facing resistance from the local people besides running low on manpower for managing the proposed tiger reserve. “The sanctuary is too vast, taking up almost half of Upper Dibang Valley district’s area (9,129 sq km) and encompassing many villages. We have only five staff from social forestry division managing the sanctuary,” Mr. Kemp pointed out. During his visit to the area in January, the local people told Mr. Kemp that they fear their rights would be curbed if the sanctuary is upgraded to a tiger reserve. Officials said some villagers in the district hunt for food, though there have been no reports of conflict with tigers. Wildlife experts feel the case for a tiger reserve could be stronger if the “peculiarity” of the Anini tigers is genetically established. 
@Rishi To be honest I am not surprised. The Bengal tigers from northeastern most part of India are directly connected to habitats that are home to Indochinese tigers. Already wr have a study that doubts the mixture of indochinese genes in northeastern tigers, the article I shared here in the forum. But in these tigers the Bengal genes form majority part while indochinese genes are minority part. The indochinese genes though at first would have expressed dominantly, over the course of time they became indigenized and became Bengal tigers. But now there is continuous supply of indochinese genes in the area of these two tigers. So though the dominant genes are of Bengal tiger, they are getting fresh genes. These fresh genes get admixed with Bengal tiger genes that were worn out but always willing to be expressive in the indigenous conditions. So the admixture of the worn out genes or traits with majority fresh genes may lead to potential new subspecies in that region and also may develop new characters in these tigers. With the mixture of these fresh genes, the worn-out genes or traits are expressed strongly hence the new traits I believe.
 (05-13-2018, 09:33 AM)Rishi Wrote: Big News unearthed by Suhail! @peter @parvez @Jimmy @SuSpicious @Sully @ Very interesting. If authorities think they could be different, action is the best answer. Research is needed, but the sanctuary (Dibang) could do with more protection as well. This, by the way, would hold for most of India. Copters was right when he, in the tiger extinction thread, said too many tigers have disappeared in the last years. Central India in particular has been hit by poachers. As to the tigers discussed in the post. The info I have says tigers have been present in southwestern China, northern Myanmar and northeastern India for a very long time. This region is both elevated and isolated. Isolation often has a negative effect on size, but the region just east of northeastern India is extended and quite empty (referring to humans). In the Middle Ages, tigers were often seen in the eastern part of Tibet. In the centuries that followed, they disappeared in most of China. It could be that some survived in southwestern China, northern Burma and northeastern India, as this region is not attractive for humans. If true, they could be related to P.t. amoyensis. Chinese tigers were smaller than P.t. tigris and P.t. corbetti, but China is a very large country. Tigers shot in the western part of central China during the Great Leap Forward seem to have been larger than those shot in eastern and southeastern China in the first half of the last century. In some districts, they were known for their size (see the series on Chinese tigers in the thread 'On the Edge of Extinction - A - The Tiger'). The western part of China is very elevated and still had 5-10 tigers in 2011. Altitude seems to have an effect on the size of mammals. Humans are smaller than average, but 'mountain tigers' often are quite large. Himalayan tigers most probably are the largest wild cats today. Tigers living at altitudes of 10,000 feet and over (Bhutan) could be as large, if not larger. Bengt Berg shot his largest tigers just south of Bhutan and he wasn't the only one who noticed the size of tigers in that region. The remark on the difference in size between P. t. tigris and P. t. corbetti, although true, is a bit wanting. I've plenty of reliable records of large tigers shot in the northern part of what used to be Burma and there are more regions in southeastern Asia that produced tigers similar in size to those shot in central and northern India. Most regions were well-stocked and, again, elevated. The 'well-stocked' part is important. Wild herbivores often moved to elevated regions. One reason was more food. Another was less humans. Tigers following the herds and able to overcome competition of other tigers settled, which no doubt had an effect on the size of tigers in that region. Food however isn't the only reason. Himalayan tigers don't hunt large herbivores all the time and tigers just east of the plateau in central China most probably also struggled in the food department at times. Amur tigers, at home in hill country as well, also often settle for smallish animals. Everything I read suggests they never compared to Indian tigers in this respect (food). But they were large and, with the exception of weight, still compete with Indian tigers in this department. There has to be another explanation, that is. In old India, hunters often wrote about the difference between 'Bengal tigers' and 'hill tigers'. The Bengals, although longer, didn't really compare, they thought. Hill tigers were more robust and more aggressive. All in all, one gets the impression that tigers evolved in elevated regions. They adapted to low-lying flood plains and dense forests when the opportunity was presented, but the most impressive individuals were often shot in hill country. What we see today is no different from the situation some centuries ago, so it seems.   *This image is copyright of its original author first successfully collared tiger in bhutan tigress named tendrel zangmo
 *This image is copyright of its original author tigress in arunachal pradesh
(07-07-2018, 07:35 AM)Rage2277 Wrote: Pakke is on the Himalayan foothills. While some parts of it reaches an altitude above 6000ft in the north, the southern part adjoins the Brahmaputra plains. Watch this. (The image isn't shareable. Visit the link & view full-screen) Pakke entry 360° panorama. (07-07-2018, 08:10 AM)Rishi Wrote:(07-07-2018, 07:35 AM)Rage2277 Wrote: oh ok i see  |
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