IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Karanth, K.U.; Nichols, J.D. | |
| Non-invasive survey methods for assessing tiger populations | |
| 2010 Book Chapter | |
Way back in the 1970s, I (K.U. Karanth) had tirelessly followed tiger tracks along dusty trails of India's N Nagarahole reserve. Much as I struggled to identify individual tigers from their tracks, I was frustrated and confused by the bewildering variations in the shapes of paw prints of the same animal, induced by factors such as substrate type, moisture, pace, and numerous other factors that I could not even identify. A As the tiger walked on, the same cat's tracks seemed to morph into tracks of several individuals. Yet, the Indian G Government had just begun to claim that its officials could identify each tiger from such paw prints to 'census' tigers across the vast subcontinent. Years later, tests on captive tigers and other analyses demonstrated that the hallowed pugmark field census-by now almost elevated to a religious practice-did not work. Eventually, decades later, a Tiger Taskforce appointed by the Indian Prime Minister ordered abandonment of the pugmark census. These events demonstrate the challenge tigers pose to those prying into their secret world. |
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