Following Tigers Trail - a 20 percent increase in number

Tigers – Magnificient and Majectic big cats.

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Most of us follow the campaigns blindly, not aware why we should support such a cause and what significance it has by promoting such acts. One such campaign is Save our Tigers Campaign, but just allow me to explain what endangered species means and why we should strive to save them.

Any species which has dwindled in numbers over the years, threatened by humans and are facing extinction due to exploitation is called and endangered species and is recorded in RED DATA book. Tiger is one such animal, though it is a carnivore it is very important balance in ecosystem, by being one top predator in the food chain. If tigers are to become extinct in forests the delicate balance of predator vs prey relation is ruined and there would not be any check on the herbivore whose number will increase throwing the ecological balance out of order. Humans are the conservers and preservers of ecology and should take all necessary actions to protect all endangered animals, in my below article i have tried to give more information relating to tiger.

Royal Bengal Tiger from Sunderban Mangrooves

Scientific Name: Panthera Tigris
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Felidae

Estimated Remaining Population in the world: < 3,000

Size and Physical Characteristics: The tiger (Panthera tigris) is the largest among all the living wild cats of the family Felidae. It has an elongated body, short neck, and compact head with a relatively short muzzle. The legs are stout and the paws are armed with retractile claws. The total body length of an adult male tiger is between 275-290 cm and that of an adult female is 250-260 cm. The adult male tiger weighs 180-260 kg whereas the adult female weighs 100-160 kg. 

Tigers have a reddish-brown to rust-brown coat with black stripes and a white underbelly. Variations in coat colouration occur among individuals. White and black tigers are caused by a recessive gene.

Behavioural Characteristics: Tigers are usually solitary, except for females with cubs. They are territorial and males have discrete territories overlapping those of several females. Male territories are mate oriented while those of females are more resource oriented. Tigers use scent (spraying urine on the trees or other vegetation or deposited on a scrape), scratch (marking on tree trunks with claws) and scrape marks on the ground to maintain contact and advertise their presence to others. 

Males associate with females for breeding and have been observed with females and cubs when feeding and resting. Although tigers mate and produce cubs throughout the year in India, peak breeding activity is in winter and early summer. During breeding, which lasts about 20 to 30 days, males and females communicate with each other with loud and distinct calls that travel great distances. About 8 different kinds vocalizations have been documented in tigers from the wild.

The gestation period is about three months (90 days). The litter size may vary between 1-6 cubs, but 2-3 cubs are most common. At birth, the tiger cub weighs between 800 - 1500 grams and measures 31 - 40 cm in length. Cubs stay with their mother and siblings until about the age of two when they move on to establish their own territories. During these two years, cubs learn hunting techniques from their mother.

Tigers are well adapted to stalking prey rather than running it down. Tigers primarily hunt at night, between dawn and dusk and usually rest during daytime. On an average, tigers and tigresses without cubs kill once in eight days, whereas a tigress with cubs makes kill almost once every five days. However, the rate of kills depends on the number of successful attempts. The prey is killed mostly by a fatal throat bite causing suffocation, strangulation or severance of blood vessels. Sometimes nose bites are applied to suffocate the animal, when an effective throat bite is not an easy task, mainly in case of larger prey. Small prey is killed by a nape bite resulting in broken neck vertebrae or dislocation of head from vertebral column.

Diet: Tigers are meat eaters. Their diet includes chital, sambar, gaur, barasingha, hog deer, barking deer, nilgai, pigs and cattle. Apart from large prey, tigers are also known to consume birds like peafowl and large rodents like porcupines. They are even known to attack elephants and rhino calves. Tigers in the Sundarbans are known to feed on fish and crabs. 

Threats: The tiger population in India is officially estimated to be between 1,571 - 1,875. Many of the tiger populations across the nation, particularly those outside protected reserves, face a variety of threats, including habitat fragmentation, encroachment, and poaching and developmental projects. These problems are directly or indirectly linked to anthropogenic factors.

Decades of scientific research on tigers and their prey have provided us with a set of guidelines to develop and design protected areas to help the species survive. However, these reserves protect only a fraction of tiger habitat, and most are under severe human pressure. In the last few years, tiger poaching has increased dramatically, fueled by illegal trade in tiger body parts.

Large development projects, such as mining, hydroelectric dams and construction of highways are also taking their toll on the tiger's habitat. In the past few years, thousands of square kilometers of forestland have been diverted and destroyed to facilitate such projects. Though mostly outside the protected network, the loss of this vital habitat will have serious repercussions on tiger conservation in India.

During their evolutionary history, tigers split into eight subspecies. All the subspecies were alive until 1940. However, during the next three decades, three subspecies became extinct. 

The five surviving subspecies are: 
1. Bengal Tiger - Panthera tigris tigris
2. Siberian (Amurian) Tiger - Panthera tigris altaica
3. Sumatran Tiger - Panthera tigris sumatrae
4. Indo-Chinese Tiger - Panthera tigris corbetti
5. South China Tiger - Panthera tigris amoyensis

The three extinct subspecies are:
1. Javan Tiger - Panthera tigris sondaica - extinct since early 1980’s
2. Bali Tiger - Panthera tigris balica - extinct since the 1940’s
3. Caspian Tiger - Panthera tigris virgata - extinct since the early 1970’s

Conservation: Project Tiger was launched in India in 1973, with the goal of saving the tiger and its habitat in India. With an initial list of 9 Tiger Reserves, this Project went on to cover 28 Tiger Reserves across the country, incorporating an area of 37,761 sq. km. Though this Project tackled various issues over the past 20 years, it had not been able to keep pace with the rapid changes that have changed the tiger landscape and increased human pressures. In 2006, it was replaced by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

Despite all these problems, India still holds the best chance for saving the tiger in the wild. Tigers occur in 18 States within the Republic of India, with 10 States reportedly having populations in excess of 100 tigers. There are still areas with relatively large tiger populations and extensive tracts of protected habitat.

We need to make a concerted effort to combat poaching and habitat loss, if this magnificent animal is to survive into the future

Current Status of Tiger in India

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India holds over half the world's tiger population. According to the latest tiger census report released on March 28, 2011 by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the current tiger population estimated is 1,706 (i.e. ranging between a minimum of 1,571 to a maximum of 1,875). In 2008 the tiger population figure stood at 1,411.

 
The strategy for tiger conservation in India revolves around the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Between the mid 1970's and mid-1980's, many protected areas (66 national parks and 421 wildlife sanctuaries) were set aside, including large tracts of tiger habitat. They were later increased to 102 national parks, 515 wildlife sanctuaries and 44 conservation reserves and 4 community reserves. This resulted in an increase in tiger densities at many locations. Rampant poaching for the trade in tiger parts - all destined for markets outside India's borders - now threatens the tiger's very existence.

Prevailing conservation efforts are not geared towards, nor have they adequately addressed, the new threats with new protection strategies ie. better law enforcement, training and support.

Map of Wildlife sanctuaries.

Tiger Poaching Statistics

To date, following cases have been documented:

 95 cases of tigers known to have been killed in 1994 
 121 tigers killed in 1995 
 52 tigers killed in 1996
 88 tigers killed in 1997 
 39 tigers killed in 1998
 81 tigers killed in 1999
 52 tigers killed in 2000
 72 tigers killed in 2001
 46 tigers killed in 2002
 38 tigers killed in 2003
 38 tigers killed in 2004
 46 tigers killed in 2005
 37 tigers killed in 2006
 27 tigers killed in 2007
 29 tigers killed in 2008
 32 tigers killed in 2009
 30 tigers killed in 2010

The illicit demand for bones from wild tigers for use in traditional oriental medicine, coupled with the international trade in tiger skins, continues to be the main reason for the unrelenting poaching pressure on tigers in India. There is virtually no demand for either bones or skins of tigers within India.

India's Tiger Poaching Crisis

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Habitat loss was thought to be the largest single threat to the future of wild tigers in India. It has now been established that the trade in tiger bones, destined for use in Oriental medicine outside India's borders, is posing an even larger threat. Having decimated their own sources, Far Eastern traditional medicine manufacturers are now targeting India for their supply of tiger bones. Poaching of tigers for the traditional Chinese medicine industry started in northern India in the mid-1980's. 

In the 90s, during which a total of 36 tiger skins and 667 kilos (1470 pounds) of tiger bones were seized in northern India, brought to light the severity of the problem. The illegal trade is now widespread and in the hands of ruthless, sophisticated operators, some of whom have top level patronage. A tiger can be killed for as little as just over a dollar for the cost of poison, or $9 for a steel trap. Much of the tiger poaching is done by tribals who know their forests well. They are usually paid a meager amount (in a case near Kanha Tiger Reserve, in May 1994, a trader paid four poachers $15 each for killing a tiger), their hunting talents and knowledge exploited by greedy traders. It is these traders and the middlemen who make substantial profits from the illegal trade in tiger parts. 

POACHING METHODS

Poachers use one of the following methods to kill a wild tiger:

Poison - which is usually placed in the carcasses of domestic buffaloes and cows. During the dry, hot summer months small forest pools are also poisoned by poachers, or depressions dug and filled with water for this purpose. There is a sophisticated and well organised supply route operated by the major traders, to distribute poison and collect tiger bones from the remotest villages. .

Steel Traps - which are made by nomadic blacksmiths. These traps are immensely strong. In a tiger poaching case near Raipur in 1994, it took six adult men to open a trap. In one area in central India, investigators found that so many steel traps had been set that the villagers were fearful of going into the forest. People have received dreadful injuries from these traps.

Firearms - are used where hunting can be carried out with little hindrance.

Electrocution - by tapping 230 volts -11KV overhead electrical wires and laying a live wire on animal tracts.

Tiger poaching occurs in all areas where large number of tigers have been recorded. Poaching is particularly prevalent in the States of Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Assam. Lets all strive to educate more about the preservation of ecology which will ensure the longevity of these magnificent animals.