IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Ahmed, M.F.; Borah, J.; Das, C.; Basumatary, A.; Sarma, R.N.; Gogoi, D.D.; Buragohain, S.N.; Vasu, N.K.; Talukdar, B.K.; Jhala, Y.V.; Qureshi, Q. | |
| Monitoring tigers and prey animals of Kaziranga National Park, Assam, India | |
| 2010 Full Book | |
The Kaziranga National Park in the alluvial floodplains of Assam is an important tiger habitat in the country and perhaps the only viable source population left in the entire Northeast India. Even before it became a tiger reserve (notified in 2007), tiger conservation was on under the rhino as a flagship species. Since 1996, there has been very little research on tigers of the park. It is very important to monitor tiger and prey animal population to adapt to the management need in an important tiger habitat like the Kaziranga NP to ensure long term survival of tigers not only in the park but also in the entire region. To carry out regular monitoring of tigers and prey animals in the Kaziranga NP, the park authority and Aaranyak has already established a collaboration in 2008 and as a follow up this project was designed and being implemented to complement the management authority, state forest department and the National Tiger Conservation Authority. The overall goal of this project is 'Long term conservation of source population of tigers in the Kaziranga National Park through intensive monitoring and ensuring habitat connectivity to nearby tiger inhabiting areas.' The objective of this project for the first year was 'identification of individual tigers and estimate density of tigers in the study area.' Intensive field surveys were carried out in the park during October 2008 to March 2009. Expert from Wildlife Institute of India and other competent institutions and organizations were advising the team in designing and executing research on tigers and prey animals. Over 3500 man-hours were invested in executing this project. Result of this study is going to have significant implications on management of tigers and prey animals and habitats in the entire country. Kaziranga has been known to have highest density of tigers in the world which is further established with unbelievable density of tigers in any tiger habitat by scoring 32.64 (ñ7.79) tigers/100 km2. As many as 39 individual tigers (including a cub <1 yr) were identified in the camera trapped area of the park indicating that the tigers are thriving in the park. |
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