Global InformationTigers in India information
Tigers in India constitute more than 70% of the global population of tigers.[1][2] Tigers have been officially adopted as the National Animal of India[3] on recommendation of the National Board for Wildlife[4] since April 1973.[5] In popular local languages, tigers are called baagh, puli or sher.[6] The Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris [NCBI:txid74535])[7] is the species found all across the country except Thar desert region, Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Kutch region.[8] These can attain the largest body size among all the Felidae,[6]: 29 and therefore are called Royal Bengal Tigers. Skin hides measuring up to 4 meters are recorded.[9] The body length measured from its nose to the tip of the tail can reach up to 3 meters and it can weigh up to 280 kilograms, with males being heavier than females. Their average life expectancy is about 15 years.[10] However, they are known to survive for up to 20 years in wild.[11] They are solitary and territorial. Tigers in India usually hunt chital (Axis axis), sambar (Cervus unicolor), barasingha (Cervus duvacelii), wild buffalo (Bubalis arnee) nilgai (Boselaphus tragocamelus) and gaur (Bos gaurus) and other animals such as the wild pig (Sus scrofa) for prey and sometimes even other predators like leopards and bears.[10] There are instances of Elephant calves (Elephas maximus) hunted by tigers.[12]
The tiger is estimated to have been present in India since the Late Pleistocene, for about 12,000 to 16,500 years.[13][14][15] Tigers are found in 20 states[16] of India with a variety of habitats including grasslands, mangrove swamps, tropical and sub-tropical forests,[10] as well as shola forest systems and from plains to mountains over 6000 feet.[17] The tiger is classified as Endangered in the IUCN's Red List of Threatened Species.[18] Tigers throughout the Asia are found across 12 regional tiger conservation landscapes (TCLs), of which India is home to 6 global priority TCLs for long-term tiger conservation significance, harboring more than 60% of the global genetic variation in the tiger species.[17]: 6
India is one of the founding members of the intergovernmental platform of Tiger Range Countries – Global Tiger Forum[19]: 4 headquartered in New Delhi.[20]: 5 With a global share of 17% human population and 18% livestock population within 2.4% land area of the world, India has conserved the single largest population of free ranging wild tigers in the world, effectively trying to reverse a century of decline.[19]: 2 Several initiatives in the form of amendments to the Wildlife Protection Act, creating the "National Tiger Conservation Authority", delineating inviolate Core Areas in Tiger Reserves and incentivised voluntary relocation program, among many others have been critical in securing the survival of key tiger populations, the biodiversity, and the ecosystem services of the forests they inhabit.[21] The Project Tiger Division under Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is dedicated for conservation efforts in a scientific way using advanced technological tools.[22] The Government of India increased the budget allocation for tiger conservation from INR 185 crore in 2014 to INR 300 crore in 2022.[19]: 3 . India is committed to secure the livelihoods of its citizens while simultaneously minimizing its impact on its wildlife conservation goals.[21] In 2022, 54th tiger reserve in India was declared in Ranipur Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttar Pradesh, it being the State's fourth tiger reserve.[23]
Tigers are present in different landscapes across the country. Some landscapes have rich and viable population with adequate habitat and abundance of prey. Then are some landscapes which are prone to human interference but have potential to support improved tiger population. Unfortunately, there are some habitats where once thriving tiger population has now disappeared.[24] As of 2020, it is estimated that nearly 30% of tiger population in India is present outside the Tiger Reserves.[25] While other tiger range countries with relatively more economic prosperity have failed to protect this endangered species, India has lived up to its global commitment for tiger conservation and achieved the target of doubling its population (TX2) ahead of the set time-frame. Despite all the odds ranging from population stress to the demands of development and livelihoods, India has successfully managed to achieve the fine balance between modernization and conservation owing to the people's traditional, cultural and religious tolerance to all forms of life that cohabit with them.[17]
- ^ Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (29 July 2022). "Tadoba Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra plays host for National Global Tiger Day Celebrations 2022". Press Information Bureau. Retrieved 22 August 2022.
- ^ Jhala, Y.V.; Qureshi, Q. & Nayak, A.K. (2020). Status of tigers, co-predators and prey in India 2018 (PDF) (Report). New Delhi, Dehradun: National Tiger Conservation Authority, Government of India, Wildlife Institute of India.
- ^ "National Animal -National Symbols - Know India: National Portal of India". National Portal of India. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- ^ "National Animal of India". INDIF.COM. 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ Anupriya Narsaria (Jamnabai Narsee School, Mumbai) (16 Jan 2022). "Why Is Tiger The National Animal Of India?". Science ABC. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
- ^ a b Sir Joseph Fayrer (30 September 1875). "The Royal Tiger of Bengal His Life and Death". Nature. 12 (309). London: J. & A. Churchill: 474. doi:10.1038/012474a0. S2CID 176888863.
- ^ Shukla, Harsh; Suryamohan, Kushal; Khan, Anubhab; Mohan, Krishna; Perumal, Rajadurai C.; Mathew, Oommen K.; Menon, Ramesh; Dixon, Mandumpala Davis; Muraleedharan, Megha; Kuriakose, Boney; Michael, Saju; Krishnankutty, Sajesh P.; Zachariah, Arun; Seshagiri, Somasekar; Ramakrishnan, Uma (2022). "Near-chromosomal de novo assembly of Bengal tiger genome reveals genetic hallmarks of apex predation". GigaScience. 12. doi:10.1093/gigascience/giac112. PMC 9795480. PMID 36576130.
- ^ Shibi Chandy; David L. Euler (July 2000). "Can Community Forestry Conserve Tigers in India". Proceedings RMRS. Personal Societal and Ecological Values of Wilderness: Sixth World Wilderness Congress Proceedings on Research, Management and Allocation - October 1998, Bengaluru, India. II. Fort Collins, CO: Rocky Mountain Research Station: 155–161. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
- ^ "Research Reviews". Office of Naval Research, Department of the Navy. 1957.
- ^ a b c "Frequently Asked Questions - Tiger". WWF India. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
- ^ "Facts". WWF.
- ^ Philip Lutley Sclater (1893–1894). Lydekker, Richard (ed.). The Royal Natural History. Vol. 1. London: Frederick Warne & Co. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
- ^ Kitchener, A. C. & Dugmore, A. J. (2000). "Biogeographical change in the tiger, Panthera tigris". Animal Conservation. 3 (2): 113–124. Bibcode:2000AnCon...3..113K. doi:10.1111/j.1469-1795.2000.tb00236.x. S2CID 86096562.
- ^ Luo, S. J.; Kim, J.; Johnson, W. E.; van der Walt, J.; Martenson, J.; Yuhki, N.; Miquelle, D. G.; Uphyrkina, O.; Goodrich, J. M.; Quigley, H. B.; Tilson, R.; Brady, G.; Martelli, P.; Subramaniam, V.; McDougal, C.; Hean, S.; Huang, S.; Pan, W.; Karanth, U.; Sunquist, M.; Smith, J. L. D. & O'Brien, S. J. (2004). "Phylogeography and Genetic Ancestry of Tigers (Panthera tigris)". PLOS Biology. 2 (12): e442. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0020442. PMC 534810. PMID 15583716.
- ^ Cooper, D. M.; Dugmore, A. J.; Gittings, B. M.; Scharf, A. K.; Wilting, A. & Kitchener, A. C. (2016). "Predicted Pleistocene–Holocene rangeshifts of the tiger (Panthera tigris)". Diversity and Distributions. 22 (11): 1–13. Bibcode:2016DivDi..22.1199C. doi:10.1111/ddi.12484.
- ^ "Counting tigers in India". National Tiger Conservation Authority, India. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
- ^ a b c Jhala, Yadvendradev Vikramsinh; Qureshi, Qamar; Nayak, Anup Kumar, eds. (July 2020). Status of tigers, copredators and prey in India, 2018 (First ed.). National Tiger Conservation Authority, Government of India, New Delhi, and Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. ISBN 978-8185496504.
- ^ Dino Grandoni (29 July 2022). "In much of Asia, tiger populations are rebounding". Washington Post. Retrieved 9 August 2022.
- ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference
StripesJAN-MAR22was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
StripesJUL-SEP21was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Q. Qureshi; S. Saini; P. Basu; R. Gopal; R. Raza; Y. Jhala (Feb 2014). Connecting Tiger Populations for Long-term Conservation. Dehradun: National Tiger Conservation Authority & Wildlife Institute of India.
- ^ "Rebuttal to the news item published in Rajasthan Patrika dated 09.11.2022 titled as "Bharat Baghon ki taskari ka gadh" This news item on Tiger mortality is based on incorrect and misleading information". Press Information Bureau. Delhi. 10 Nov 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
- ^ "Uttar Pradesh gears up for its fourth tiger reserve in Chitrakoot". newsonair.com. 2022.
- ^ "First ever NTCA meeting outside National Capital held at Arunachal Pradesh". Press Information Bureau, Government of India. Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. 9 April 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
PIB28072020was invoked but never defined (see the help page).