Kolkata, Feb. 20 -- The country will have to wait for at least one more year to know the number of Royal Bengal Tigers in the Sunderbans - the largest tiger habitat in India. The project envisages tiger census through DNA sampling of the tigers' droppings, a maiden application of the technology. The state forest department has decided to extend the time for collection of droppings for authenticity's sake. "It won't be possible to collect tiger scat (droppings) within 10 to 15 days. During the next one year, forest officials would collect scats and send them to Hyderabad for testing. After a year, we should be able to give a figure close to the actual number," Sunderbans Biosphere Reserve director Pradeep Vyas told Hindustan Times. The last tiger census report, released by government in 2008, put tiger population in India at 1,411, a 61 per cent drop from the 2001-02 figure of 3,642. But the shrinking population didn't include the tigers of the Sunderbans for lack of authentic figures. Pending the DNA method, an interim study will be done employing the 'All India Tiger, Co-predator, Prey and Habitat Monitoring' method with a few modifications. It may be carried out between March 4 and 8. Acoording to the 2004 tiger census, the number of big cats in the Indian part of Sundarbans was around 274. Out of these Sunderban Tiger Reserve had 249 and South 24-Parganas Forest Division had 25 tigers. That number was based on pugmark method of calculation. Analysing thost pugmark data, the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) claimed in July 2006 there were only 75 tigers in the Sundarbans. The ISI report was trashed by the West Bengal government.
In 2006 tiger census, this new method was used in the Sunderbans, but the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) rejected it, terming the method archaic. This report was never made public.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
A humble request....
This is a humble request to you all, to join this blog. I very well know that there are countless sites dedicated to Tigers(concerning their extinction). But believe me, this blogs gonna be different!(only if you all show your support by donating 5 mins to join this blog). Please, please its a request! Only the number of members a blog has matters!
Thanks,
Shahnawaz
Thanks,
Shahnawaz
A brief intro to start.....
Well, I feel that its too late to start a blog on one of the most beautiful animals on earth, The Tiger. Human negligence is on the edge and if we dont take a step back, we may loose this great animal. Anyways we'll take up this in the upcoming posts....
So let me give u an intro:-
The tiger (Panthera tigris) is a member of the Felidae family; the largest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera.Native to much of eastern and southern Asia, the tiger is an apex predator and an obligate carnivore. Reaching up to 3.3 metres (11 ft) in total length and weighing up to 300 kilograms (660 pounds), the larger tiger subspecies are comparable in size to the biggest extinct felids.Aside from their great bulk and power, their most recognisable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes that overlays near-white to reddish-orange fur, with lighter underparts. The most numerous tiger subspecies is the Bengal tiger while the largest subspecies is the Siberian tiger.
Highly adaptable, tigers range from the Siberian taiga, to open grasslands, to tropical mangrove swamps. They are territorial and generally solitary animals, often requiring large contiguous areas of habitat that support their prey demands. This, coupled with the fact that they are endemic to some of the more densely populated places on earth, has caused significant conflicts with humans. Of the nine subspecies of modern tiger, three are extinct and the remaining six are classified as endangered, some critically so. The primary direct causes are habitat destruction and fragmentation, and hunting. Their historical range once stretched from Mesopotamia and the Caucasus through most of South and East Asia. Today it has been radically reduced. While all surviving species are under formal protection, poaching, habitat destruction and inbreeding depression continue to threaten the species.
Tigers are among the most recognisable and popular of the world's charismatic megafauna. They have featured prominently in ancient mythology and folklore, and continue to be depicted in modern films and literature. Tigers appear on many flags and coats of arms, as mascots for sporting teams, and as the national animal of several Asian nations.
Shahnawaz
So let me give u an intro:-
The tiger (Panthera tigris) is a member of the Felidae family; the largest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera.Native to much of eastern and southern Asia, the tiger is an apex predator and an obligate carnivore. Reaching up to 3.3 metres (11 ft) in total length and weighing up to 300 kilograms (660 pounds), the larger tiger subspecies are comparable in size to the biggest extinct felids.Aside from their great bulk and power, their most recognisable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes that overlays near-white to reddish-orange fur, with lighter underparts. The most numerous tiger subspecies is the Bengal tiger while the largest subspecies is the Siberian tiger.
Highly adaptable, tigers range from the Siberian taiga, to open grasslands, to tropical mangrove swamps. They are territorial and generally solitary animals, often requiring large contiguous areas of habitat that support their prey demands. This, coupled with the fact that they are endemic to some of the more densely populated places on earth, has caused significant conflicts with humans. Of the nine subspecies of modern tiger, three are extinct and the remaining six are classified as endangered, some critically so. The primary direct causes are habitat destruction and fragmentation, and hunting. Their historical range once stretched from Mesopotamia and the Caucasus through most of South and East Asia. Today it has been radically reduced. While all surviving species are under formal protection, poaching, habitat destruction and inbreeding depression continue to threaten the species.
Tigers are among the most recognisable and popular of the world's charismatic megafauna. They have featured prominently in ancient mythology and folklore, and continue to be depicted in modern films and literature. Tigers appear on many flags and coats of arms, as mascots for sporting teams, and as the national animal of several Asian nations.
Shahnawaz
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