Big Cat Headcount in Kalakad Reserve Ups

The New Indian Express , Monday, February 01, 2016
Correspondent :
TIRUNELVELI: The recent census of tigers carried out by officials of the Forest Department at the Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve shows an increase in the tiger count compared with the previous census.

The Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve is the 17th southernmost tiger reserve in the country and the first of its kind in the state. The tiger reserve has a core area of 895 square km and a forested buffer of 236.64 square km, which includes a part of the Kanyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary and a part of the Nellai Wildlife Sanctuary.

The estimation of tigers, co-predators and their prey in the Kalakad-Mundanthurai tiger reserve is carried out every year following the standardised eight-day protocol of phase-I prescribed by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

As the exercise is being carried out only in the core area, the estimation was carried out in the core and the buffer area from January 23 to 28. The exercise involved 160 staff members, including forester, forest guards, forest watchers, anti-poaching watchers and 90 volunteers separated into 52 teams.

At the end of the census, it was found the number of tigers had seen a positive growth in the last one year.

Forest ranger Elango told Express that last year there were 17 Tigers reported and the count had marginally increased between 18 and 20. Tigers do not give birth to cubs generously like pigs and their breeding habit is strongly determined by their prey. As Kalakad-Mundhanthurai Tiger Reserve is a rugged terrain preying is a difficult task.

Compared with tiger reserves in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh which have flat tracks and not-so-dense grass surface, Kalakad-Mundhanthurai Reserve is thick and not so suitable for the tigers.

Apart from the 32 pug marks of tigers, 18 pug marks of leopard have also been recorded.

The scat samples of carnivores will also be analysed further to ascertain their prey species, forest ranger Elango further said.

 
SOURCE : http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/Big-Cat-Headcount-in-Kalakad-Reserve-Ups/2016/02/01/article3255502.ece1
 


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