14 tigers in Manas national park

14 tigers in Manas national park
29 OCT, 2012, 03.23PM IST, IANS

THIMPHU: Over 200 cameras that were switched on 24X7 for 64 days have confirmed the presence of 14 tigers in the Manas national park that Bhutan shares with India, a media report said.

Wildlife officials of Bhutan's Royal Manas National Park and Manas National Park in India have confirmed the presence of 14 Royal Bengal tigers across the trans-boundary area. Six out of them were tigresses, reported kuenselonline.com

Royal Manas manager Tenzin Wangchuk said 204 camera-traps were fixed in the core tiger habitat areas.

He said that cameras mounted on trees and poles were on 24X7 for 64 days; to avoid damage from elephants, fresh elephant dung was placed on the camouflaged cameras.

Of the 14 tigers, four were common, photographed both in Bhutan and India, Tenzin Wangchuk was quoted as saying.

"This joint study was possible only through financial, technical and field support from World Wildlife Fund and Bhutan Foundation."

The Royal Manas National Park spread over 1,057 sq km is located in the southern foothills. It borders India?s Manas tiger reserve in the south forming a transboundary conservation landscape.

In both national parks, conservationists said there was a combined record of 60 species of mammals such as Bengal tiger and clouded leopard. There are also 500 species of birds and more than 1,000 plant species.

I hope that Manas gets adequate protection so that the wildlife will bounce back. Once it was among the finest of wild landscapes of this subcontinent. These wilderness areas should be protected at all costs.