Radio collars to study tiger behaviour in Sunderbans

[Mrudul Godbole]

Sharing some news about tigers in Sunderbans being radio collared.

Radio collars to study tiger behaviour in Sunderbans
Kolkata, Feb 28 (PTI)

For an authentic scientific study of their behaviour, tigers in the Sunderbans, the world's only mangrove eco-system which has big cats, will be fitted with radio collars, forest officials said.


"Last week a tigress which had strayed into Gosaba area in South 24 Parganas district was fitted with a radio collar. We have to radio collar a few more tigers which will provide information about their behaviour in Sunderbans," Sunderban Biosphere Reserve (SBR) director Pradeep Vyas said.

There was no scientific study on the behaviour of the big cats in the Sunderbans and all information was based solely on observation, he said."So, an authentic scientific study is needed and radio collars will provide us exact information about the behaviour of tigers," Vyas said.

It was found that it was the same tigress which had entered the locality for a second time in the past six months.Experts from the Wildlife Institute of India had last week fitted the tigress with a radio collar after it was tranquilised.

Vyas said as per signals received from the radio collar, the tigress was roaming within a three-km area at Chorkhali in Netidhopani where it was released. After every incident of tiger straying into villages, questions were raised from different quarters, including wildlife NGOs, about the lack of prey base in the mangrove forest.

According to locals in the Sunderbans, tiger sightings were more frequent now because their numbers have gone up, Vyas, who has earlier worked as a field director of Sunderban Tiger Reserve, said.

The West Bengal forest department has procured an imported radio collar at a cost of over Rs three lakh from the Dehra Dun-based Wildlife Institute of India.It would be fitted on a tiger if it strayed and was found to be in good health, he said.Earlier, in 2007 forest authorities radio collared a tigress, but it malfunctioned after some time, throwing a plan to modernise tiger monitoring methods in jeopardy.

The article can be read at - http://www.deccanherald.com/content/55392/radio-collars-study-tiger-behaviour.html

[Mrudul Godbole]

Read news in TOI about more Tigers to be radio collared.

More tigers to be radio collared
Subhro Niyogi, TNN, Aug 27, 2010, 01.22am IST

KOLKATA: Four to eight Bengal tigers will be fitted with radio collars and released in a small patch of the Sunderbans by this year-end to study the behaviour of big cats that inhabit the mangrove forests.

It will also aid in a more accurate estimation of the tiger count as the current figure of 275 tigers is widely disputed. Speaking to TOI on the sidelines of a symposium on the future of Bengal tiger, Sunderbans Biosphere Reserve director Pradeep Vyas admitted that the figure was a guesstimate. "Radio collar tracking and camera trapping are scientific means that allow a more accurate estimation than pug mark readings," Vyas said

The programme is also crucial to determine if the mangrove tigers protect territorial rights as fiercely as tigers elsewhere or have diffused and overlapping territories due to the peculiar nature of their habitation. "Precious little is known about the behaviour of Bengal tigers in the Sunderbans and wildlife researchers from all over the country are eagerly looking forward to the project," said wildlife activist Bittu Sahgal.

While tiger experts believe big cats in the Sunderbans behave no differently than those elsewhere, field officers in the Sunderbans have long held that inundation of the forest floors by tides twice a day has led to diffused territories shared by tigers.

"Tigers are aggressively territorial solitary animals. A dominant male constantly patrols his territory to ward off rivals. Tigers mark their territory by spraying urine on trees, bushes and rocks in their area and also leave scratch marks on trees and on the ground. However, there is a belief that in the Sunderbans, tides wash away such markings and hence territorial dominance may not be as fierce. Whether it is true can be determined once the movement of radio collared tigers are analyzed," said legendary tiger man Fateh Singh Rathore.

Two tigers that were fitted with radio collars in the Sunderbans earlier this year are already being tracked via satellite at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII). The territory of 35 sq km covered by one of these collared tigers has left foresters stunned as they expected tigers in the Sunderbans to remain restricted to a much smaller area. "It moved into Bangladesh. We do not know if it had originally strayed into Indian territory from Bangladesh or it has now strayed across the border. The tiger crossed its command area despite the presence of enough prey. Whether this is an aberration or general behaviour can be ascertained when more tigers are radio-collared," Vyas said.

The German radio collars that cost around Rs 4 lakh will be funded by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, formerly Project Tiger.

The official said male and female tigers will be trapped beginning October to fit them with radio collars. "Usually, male and female territories overlap in the breeding season. But at other times, both guard their territory zealously with the male tiger being more assertive. The year-long project will reveal whether the tigers here behave in a similar manner," said Bangladeshi tiger researcher Monirul H Khan.

A caption to the photograph accompanying the story "Call for stricter poaching laws" erroneously mentions Pradip Vyas, director of Sunderban Biosphere Reserve, as S S Bisht. The error is regretted.

The article can be found at - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/More-tigers-to-be-radio-collared/articleshow/6442547.cms