Gopal is a cousin, friend and fellow wildlifer. He is much more – a businessman, nature photographer and birding enthusiast. Since years of our association, he has matured into an interesting person especially when it comes to wildlife and nature.

He relishes good life and leaves no stone unturned whence it comes to enjoying nature. 
Apart from his interest in nature he is an excellent photographer ….amateur if you call him since he is not full time into it. Here are some images he and his friends captured on tiger tour to Bandhavgarh. It was difficult to sort out from the lot since all images carry heart and soul.

The images have been captured by Ila Ben S Dalal (nee Ambani), Shrujal and Gopal Desai.

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

The Central government, under whose purview the project lies, has initiated negotiations with the families likely to be affected by offering a compensation of Rs. 10 lakh each for their relocation. “We are working with these families. We cannot shift them forcibly,” Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh says. Mr. Jairam Ramesh, who is currently in the tiger reserve on a two-day visit, sees “great potential” for revival of the area.

Monthly payment
Mr. Ramesh said in an innovative measure to protect the dwindling population of tigers, 400 youth hailing from the Chenchu tribes had been recruited and entrusted the task of monitoring the tiger population in tiger reserve. The tribal youth will be offered payment of Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 4,000 a month for fulfilling their responsibility. “Police and forest guards alone would not be in a position to protect tigers and we have preferred local youth for the purpose,” he said.

Mr. Jairam Ramesh, who held extensive interactions with the ‘new recruits’, told The Hindu that these local youth would forthwith be the ‘tiger watchers and protectors’. Though the department had taken up similar initiatives elsewhere, “it is really taking off in Andhra Pradesh.” He said the department was also facing one of the biggest threats to the protection of ecology in the form of grazing. Close to four lakh cattle came to the reserve for grazing and efforts had been initiated to identify lands where fodder could be grown or areas which could be converted into grazing grounds to prevent cattle from entering the reserve. In addition, the location of nine temples in the sanctuary area was creating hindrances in the revival efforts. “We have to first regulate the traffic flow through the forest area and a mechanism is being evolved in this direction.”

He said the Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam tiger reserve, spread over 3,600 sq. km, was by far the number one among the 39 notified areas in the country, but suffered destruction over a period of one decade from 1994 to 2004. Efforts to revive the reserve had started yielding results with the current tiger population, pegged at 70, showing “great scope for revival”.

http://beta.thehindu.com/news/states/andhra-pradesh/article431151.ece

Tiger Reserves in IndiaBehold the spectacular black and yellow amidst swaying grass or peep over a rock is enough to titillate your heart with colourful cameos. You need not be a wildlife enthusiast to appreciate this wild beauty. So exciting is it, that people abandon all luxuries and comforts to roam in the jungles ignoring scorching heat and biting cold.

There is’nt any other better place in the world to encounter this fascinating beauty in its natural habitat than India.The Indian sub-continent has around 80 National Parks and 441 Sanctuaries of which some have been conserved as Tiger reserves under the Project Tiger Scheme.

Visit India!! and know what diversity is !

No place in the world offers such a diverse spectrum of wild wonders as does India. This ecologically blessed land perpetuatuates wildness and scatters the colours of nature, randomly. In fact vacation to the Indian wild zone is like a rendezvous to the who’s who of the Kingdom Animalia. The tourist’s indeed can act as the parks’ best ambassador and introduce them to the remainder of the world. The exposure at times may harm the ecological balance of the area but the constant flow of tourist help stop the poaching and plundering of this endangered species.

Several tiger reserves are established in the former hunting grounds of the former Indian and British aristocracy. Some parks do offer modern styled guesthouses with electricity while others only have bungalows with basic amenities. Jeep or Van ride is available everywhere and in some, elephant or boat rides are organized to scan these areas more discreetly.

Tiger Safari in IndiaAll these reserves are protected under ‘Project Tiger’ and bookings are generally done at state forest departments or through private operators. Sometimes the state even promotes a particular area as a part of its tourist attraction. Advance booking in accommodation is advisable. One should obtain necessary permits, where required, prior to entry.

Save the pride of the wild!

Protecting the tiger is a serious cause and by the virtue of serious and persistent endeavors, this royal animal is now more and more active (and hence more visible). Hence, we must move ahead.

View the Original article

The tiger (Panthera tigris), a member of the Felidae family, is 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, weighing up to 300 kilograms (660 pounds), and having canines up to 4 inches long, 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 is the Siberian tiger.

Tigers have a lifespan of 10–15 years in the wild, but can live longer than 20 years in captivity. They are highly adaptable and range from the Siberian taiga to open grasslands and 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 indigenous to some of the more densely populated places on earth, has caused significant conflicts with humans. Three of the nine subspecies of modern tiger have gone extinct, and the remaining six are classified as endangered, some critically so. The primary direct causes are habitat destruction, fragmentation and hunting.

Historically tigers have existed from Mesopotamia and the Caucasus throughout most of South and East Asia. Today the range of the species is radically reduced. While all surviving species are under formal protection, poaching, habitat destruction and inbreeding depression continue to threaten the tigers.

Tigers are among the most recognizable 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, including India.

The tiger is the largest of the cats and is a perfect killing machine with a superior combination of power, cunning and agility. On the other hand, A lion has an appearance to frighten even the mightiest of animals. There have been some real fights between the two kings of the jungle. So, what do the evidences and experts (and common sense) say about who will win a fight between the two, or rather, if there are 100 tiger-lion fights which one will have more victories?

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The image below gives a vivid comparison of apparent and actual size of these felines. The image is self-explanatory. There are some links to video in this post where, when a lion stands near a tiger, you can have a good comparative view that conforms with the image here. The videos and this image clearly explain why a lion looks bigger even though an average Bengal tiger is actually bigger than an average African lion. The tiger being shown here is most probably an IndoChinese one (going by the color and stripes). Bengal/Siberian tigers are even bigger.

Another size comparison image, taken from National Geographic:

This image compares a 6′ man with a lion (without the mane), a Bengal tiger and a Siberian tiger. Even though it is from National Geographic, I’d say it definitely exaggerates the size of the Siberian tiger!

Here are more size comparisons from National Geographic (clock-wise from top-left: Polar Bear, Brown Bear, Black Bear and Grizzly). Notice that, Grizzly bear has been considered as separate from Brown bear and the Grizzly and Black Bear images are actually the same!

If these size comparisons from National Geographic are to be believed, even a Grizzly doesn’t stand a chance against a Siberian tiger, let alone an African lion!

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THE KING OF BEASTS:

Lion is known to be the King of Beasts across most cultures of the world. This is mostly because of a lion’s appearance and partly because of the social structure of a pride and the lion’s role in the pride. A lion does possess a royal look and attitude. Add to that a tremendous roar that can be heard over miles on the Savannah. Also, living in a pride, a lion doesn’t need to hide itself or avoid any other animals including human beings. A lions lives in the open and controls its territory like a true king, sporting a ‘kingly’ mane and heading a pride that feeds him. The Bible of the Christians and the Geeta of the Hindus both mention the lion as the king of the beasts. So it has got accepted as a sign of royalty all over the world from as early as the Roman empire. Have a look at this magnificent lion (Shambala zoo).

Vital Statistics:
[There are a lot of variation in the figures found online. I tried to collect them from reputed instituion and/or govt sources]

• Largest Lion in captivity: 806 lbs (366 kg)
• Largest Lion found in the wild: 702 lbs (318 kg) and 11′ (3.35 m)
• Average size (mode) of African Lion: 410 lbs (186 kg) and 8’10″ (2.7 m)
• ** Lions stand around 1.15m (including mane) at shoulder as opposed to 1m of a tiger **

The King of The Kings:
When you think of a lion, you think of an African lion. The Asiatic ones are somewhat smaller in size and relatively unknown living in the tiger country. There is no significant variation in size among the African lions. In some online forums it is claimed that Ngorongoro Crater lions are the largest sub-specis of lions. But there is no base to that claim.. The Tsavo lions are generally considered more aggressive, but they are naturally maneless.
Choice: African lion (with mane).

Relative advantages over a tiger:

1. Thick protective mane. It also makes a lion look much bigger, heavier and taller than it really is. This is of immediate psychological disadvantage to any animal fighting a lion. It’s downright scary to see a lion coming towards you roaring. A lioness, even if it were of similar size, wouldn’t inspire as much awe. From the fight videos, it does seem that the mane is of huge advantage to the lion. In the only fight-video of a maneless (shaved) lion, the lion seemed too easy to beat by the tiger. The mane is the biggest weapon for a lion – both for defence and for scaring off the opponent.
2. More massively built shoulders. Both the cats have extremely powerful and muscular ‘shoulders’ and forelimbs.
3. Taller structure. This makes the lion more intimidating. Also, this somewhat compensates for the weaker hindquarters.
   Here’s a very good video showcasing lions.

________________________________________________ THE AMBUSH KILLER:

Living largely secretive life and attacking preys using stealth, cunning and agility, a tiger is mostly considered a villain (like Sher Khan in Kipling’s Jungle Book). Moreover, the man-eaters in India have further maligned the image of a tiger. Not much is still known about the lives of the tigers in the wild and hence a lot of the information considered as ‘facts’ about tigers are merely informed guesses. Since the chance of encountering a tiger in the wild is way less than the chance of encountering a wild lion, a lot of data about tigers reflect either only a small population of them, or are based on indirect studies, or both. Also, a tiger’s unwillingness to fight without necessity has often been seen as lack of courage and aggression. Look at these majestic Bengal tigers.

Vital Statistics:
[There are a lot of variation in the figures found online. I tried to collect them from reputed instituion and/or govt sources]

Entering the English language in the late 19th century, the word safari means “long journey” in Swahili. Originally from the Arabic سفرة (safar) meaning a journey  The verb for “to travel” in Swahili is “kusafiri”, the noun for the journey is “safari”. These words are used for any type of journey, e.g. by bus from Nairobi to Mombasa. The person generally attributed to having used the word in English is Sir Richard Francis Burton, the famous explorer.

The Regimental March of the King’s African Rifles was ‘Funga Safari’, literally ‘Halt the March’, or, in other words, stop work for the day.

Funga safari, funga safari. Funga safari, funga safari. Hamari ya nani? Hamari ya nani? Hamari ya Bwana Kapteni, Hamari ya keyaa.

Which is, in English:

Halt the march. Halt the march. On whose orders? On whose orders? On the order of the boss captain, On the order of the KAR.

On Kenya’s independence from Britain, Funga Safari was retained as the Regimental March of the Kenya Rifles, successor to the K.A.R.

View the Original article

MALACCA – A 500ha resort in Alor Gajah, with its own safari, has attracted the attention of animal lovers and authorities here over a video clip on the Internet allegedly showing the abuse of a drugged tiger during a photography session.

The two-minute clip first appeared on YouTube in February with the title “Tiger Being Abused For Money.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v

HYDERABAD: The Critical Tiger Habitat (CTH) in the Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve (NSTR) now has a twin. Though developed at different times, it was discovered recently that Gundla Brahmeswara Wildlife Sanctuary (GBMWS), in fact, is a conjoined twin of the famous NSTR. Hence, the government came up with a declaration that GBM should actually be considered the extended core of the NSTR.

Spread over five districts connecting all the three geographical regions of the state, NSTR boasts of roughly 70 tigers. On the other hand, GBMWS, that controls the most dense part of the Nallamalla forest, has about 12 big cats. The two are connected by a wide corridor. The government order, which is in the process of being published as a gazette notification soon, is the result of behind-the-scene developments taking place for the past several years.

Before becoming NSTR in 1983, the place covering the catchment areas of Nagarjunasagar and Srisailam dams was first declared a sanctuary, the Nagarjunsagar Srisailam Wildlife Sanctuary (NSWLS). Later, with the objective of protecting tigers in the area more efficiently, the status of the sanctuary was upgraded to a ‘tiger reserve’. This is the only tiger reserve of in the state in which 23 per cent of the total area is forest land.

The birth of GBMWLS took place much later, in 1998. The area under the sanctuary is rich and diverse in flora and fauna. While there are well known species of trees like teak, boswellia and terminalia, bamboo etc. There are numerous plants, shrubs and herbs that await scientific categorization and preservation. The animal world is equally rich there with sloth bear, wild dog, hyena, jungle cat, langur, bonnet monkey, sambar, nilgai, chowsingha, chinkara, mouse deer, monitor lizard, marsh crocodile and python etc. found in abundance. Topping the list are, of course, the tigers and panthers. “The forest is free of human habitation and, at most places, too dense to be accessed even on foot,” DFO Tulasi Rao said.

Since the 3,568 square km NSTR came into being, the forest department has been pestered with claims on land in the Nagarjunasagar area of the tiger reserve. Ideally, a tiger reserve should be free from human habitation. But NSTR has considerable number of tribals, especially Lambada population, in the Sagar catchment area.

According to some estimates, the number of Lambadas, Chenchus and others in the area has risen to about 30,000. Many of these people have also been given title books on their claims under the Tribal Act.

Rao said an expert committee set up on the advice of the central government found that the Sagar area has become porous with hardly any tiger population. Therefore, the committee felt 1,000 sq km in Sagar should be delineated from the NSTR. This 1000 sq km would not form part of the CTH, meaning the area is not vital for the survival and growth of tiger population. But at the same time, the area would continue to play a decisive role for the protection of hydrological and other natural heritage. Hence, it would remain within the boundaries of NSTR and considered part of the sanctuary, Chief Wildlife Warden Hitesh Malhotra explained.

He said some six years ago, the forest department had sent a proposal to the Centre to convert the 1196 sq km GBMWLS into a tiger reserve. The government of India suggested that instead of making GBMWLS an independent tiger reserve, it could be connected with NSTR and the entire sanctuary be considered an extended core of tiger habitat. Malhotra summed up the situation by saying that while about 1000 sq km from the NSTR is taken out from CTH, 1196 sq km of GBM has been added. The area of the two sanctuaries together now adds up to 4,763 sq km while within this boundary the CTH for tiger would be 3,763 sq km.

With this new development, the forest department has begun working out a fresh management plan for the core one and core two of the tiger reserve together. The core two or GBMWLS would be brought under the Project Director, Tiger, of NSTR and he would be given more assistant conservators (forests), range officers and other staff to jointly manage the two cores. The objective would be to manage Project Tiger better with improved results, Malhotra said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Hyderabad/New-action-plan-for-Project-Tiger/articleshow/5966737.cms

http://www.bigcatrescue.orgPosted byTigerAngelat10:53 PM

SRIVILLIPUTTUR: A tiger was spotted in the Shenbagathoppu forest near here. Local people claimed that it had taken away a calf reared by one of the tribals last week. However, the Wild Life Warden, Srivilliputtur, S.A. Raju, said, “It is not clear whether it is a tiger or a panther as the pug marks lifted were not clear.”

Stating that one of the anti-poaching watchers, who spotted the animal on Friday, had claimed that it was a tiger, Mr. Raju said that officials would monitor the Western Ghats range for some more time to confirm it.

The officials are planning to capture the animal’s image using a camera.

Mr. Raju said that the animal could have strayed from the reserve forest into the thick forest area which has a huge population of deer.

Srivilliputtur Ranger A. Palaniraj said that forest officials would keep a vigil in the area as the tiger is an endangered species. The big cat usually roams around in a range of 25 km, he added.

Thirty-two tribal families are living in the forest area of Shenbagathoppu, he added.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/25/stories/2010052557630100.htm

http://www.bigcatrescue.orgPosted byTigerAngelat8:03 PM