Tiger killed in turf war in Madhya Pradesh
Bhopal, Jan 19 (IANS) A four-year-old male tiger was killed in a turf war with another tiger in Madhya Pradesh’s Kanha National Park, officials said Monday. The tiger’s body, with deep bruises, was found at the Kisla range of the park.
“The tiger was around four years old. The body had several injury marks, which indicated that he might have had a fight with another tiger. These fights are common during the mating season. The body appears to be four-five days old,” said park director R.P. Singh.
Singh, however, ruled out that it was a case of poaching. “The tiger was not poisoned. All the body parts are intact, including the skin. Hence, it was not a case of poaching.”
“It is the result of competition for territory. Every year, 20 to 40 cubs are born in the park, but male tigers start fighting over territory once they reach the age of around two-and-a-half years,” said P.B Gangopadhyaya, Madhya Pradesh principal chief conservator of forests.
These fights have become more common today due to the shrinkage of their habitat, he added.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4363432.cms
Tigress killed in territorial fight in Ranthambore
JAIPUR: It's a law of the jungle. But few thought that one day it would take away the beauty' of the Ranthambore National Park. It took 24 hours for the forest guards of the Berda post to come out from the shock of having lost the most beautiful tigress of the park in a territorial fight that occurred sometime on the intervening night of Thursday.
The partially decomposed body of the seven-year-old tigress, a mother of two, was recovered by forest officials on Saturday morning. "The last time she was seen on Thursday when forest guards found her limping. She was walking towards the hill. After which we lost track of her. A whole day's search the next day, Friday, failed to yield results. The shock came on Saturday when her body was traced near the Bakul nullah," says the chief wildlife warden, Rajasthan, R N Mehrotra.
Autopsy reports revealed canine marks on the tigress' neck. "A front and a rear paw of the tigress had been crushed by jaws. She has definitely died in a territorial fight. We are trying to locate the male tiger who may be the culprit. It is a sad incident for she was a beauty. So shocked were the forest guards of the Berda nakka that they did not eat anything yesterday. It has taken a whole day for them to recover from the shock," he adds.
The tigress has left behind two fully grown cubs aged about a year and a half. One a male and other a female. But even at this age, officials of the forest department swear that they are amongst the most healthy lot that Ranthambore has ever seen till now. "The male cub would surely grow up to be one of the biggest tiger in Ranthambore. They are very healthy but they do require care. I am just praying that the male adult tiger who has killed their mother does not come this side again. For if he ventures here, it may spell doom for the cubs too," Mehrotra says.
Territorial fights are not uncommon in Ranthambore where the big cat populace is fast outgrowing the park area. A few months back, another tigress was killed in a territorial battle leaving behind two young cubs. Besides, reports of tigers' breeding and fighting is also coming in quite often. "While it is a sad incident but it speaks good about the health of the park. These are wild animals and it is natural for them to get into such fights. These are signs of a good eco-system in the park," he says.
Suspicions were aroused on the possible death of the tigress on Friday when its two cubs were seen feeding on a Sambhar that had been killed. "The absence of the mother from the spot made us curious. And the search for it began till we traced her body. Incidentally, the area where her body was traced is one of the most beautiful habitat. It is in the absolute core area and is lush green," says the wildlife warden.
JAIPUR: They say beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. But the beauty of the Berda tigress was unanimous. Not only her healthy looks but stories of her bringing up the cubs since the past year and a half lie embedded in the hearts of one and all who have seen her. And for the chief wildlife warden R N Mehrotra, it could not have been better when one day taking pictures of the big cats at Ranthambore he chanced upon the tigress teaching a lesson or two to her young cubs.
"She had killed a Cheetal. The cubs came running in for the meal but soon fell into a fight among themselves as to who should get the vantage point. And when even after a point of time the duo would not part, the mother interfered. She sneaked in quietly and using one of her front paws, she pinned down the male cub. The pressure was not much to cause harm but it ensured that he lay on the ground, distracted enough from the carcass till such time that his sister had finished her meal. After which he was freed. It were lessons such as these that distinguished her from the rest of the big cats in Ranthambore. It was of the healthiest family of tigers that I have ever seen," recalled Mehrotra.
Indian Officials won't Sacrafice lions. By moving them into tiger territory.
In Gir, too many lions, too little space
Earlier this month, two lions were captured in Gondal, 100 km north of India’s only refuge for the Asiatic lion.
It’s only the latest indication that the lions of Gir National Park are becoming victims of a conservation success.
This decade, lions have preyed on domestic cattle, fallen into village wells, been electrocuted by fences, even seen on Gujarat’s beaches.
The last official census in 2005 revealed 359 lions where there were 180 three decades ago in Gir, set up in 1974 as the Indian lion’s home.
Only, no one told the lions.
“They don’t know where reserve forest limits end and villages begin,” noted I. K. Chauhan, deputy conservator of forests. “They go wherever they see thick vegetation.”
Gir, spread over a core area of 258.7 square km in Gujarat’s Junagadh district, can accommodate upto 300 lions. That’s not enough now.
The solution: Expand the core area — no humans allowed here — or move some lions.
Expanding the core will displace tribals, and that’s politically impossible. As for finding a new home, the Gujarat government refuses to share its lions.
Madhya Pradesh has been trying to lay its hand on a few of Gir’s surplus lions for more than a decade, hoping to move them to a forest near Gwalior, to its Kunopalpur forest reserve.
Gujarat didn’t actually refuse to move lions: It simply did not.
The MP government has since approached the Supreme Court, but Gujarat refuses.
“Why should we give up our lions?” a senior politician argued, requesting anonymity.
Wildlife experts cite another reason. “Lions and tigers can’t stay in the same forest,” said S.K. Nanda, state environment and forest secretary. “There are tigers at Kunopalpur. We won’t sacrifice our lions.”
