Status of tigers in Dudhwa National Park

Hello everyone,and merry Christmas. I wanted to know the present status of tigers in Dudhwa NP. According to the 2008 census by WII,the entire Dudhwa-Pilibhit landscape has 109 tigers. The density is reported to be high,with "poaching in border areas". Could anybody plz tell me about the present status of tigers in Dudhwa,how conservation activities there are progressing. Please speak from your own personal experience if you have visited the park. Any views on the threats and problems facing the park will also be welcomed.

I haven't personaly visited Dudhwa, but thought of sharing this news update.

DNA fingerprinting for Dudhwa tigers to find genetic diversity
PTI – Mon, Dec 13 12:13 AM IST
Abhinav Pandey

Lakhimpur, Dec 12 (PTI) Authorities at Dudhwa Tiger Reserve will soon conduct fingerprinting of the big cats to ascertain their genetic status and devise a long-term strategy for healthy conservation of the feline.
"The Uttar Pradesh forest department has granted permission to Terai Nature Conservation Society (TNCS) to carry out DNA fingerprinting of the Dudhwa tigers," Chief Wildlife Warden B K Patnaik told PTI.
The fingerprints will help in ascertaining genetic status of tigers, enabling wildlife experts in identifying factors affecting or likely to affect the big cat population, TNCS general secretary Vijay Prakash Singh said, adding, the study will also help in chalking out a decisive long-term strategy for healthy conservation of the species.
The study will be conducted with help of scientists from Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad
"DNA samples collected from the reserve will be sent to CCMB''s Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) where the scientists would analyse the specimens and prepare a report," Singh said.
The DNA samples would be collected from tiger-scats or droppings. Exhaustive guidelines from CCMB on collection, preservation and dispatching of scats had been received, he said.
"The fingerprinting is likely to start from Dec 19 onwards", TNCS general secretary said, adding, the task is likely to conclude by February 2011.
He said it would decide if the tigers of Dudhwa were genetically strong to give birth to a superior generation.
"This would also help ascertain that gene-diversity among the Dudhwa tigers to allay fears about inbreeding," Singh said.
"The genes are always carried forward to succeeding generations and healthy generations can be ensured with gene diversity. This also wards of fears about inbreeding, which often affected the healthy survival of living-beings", he said.
He said that with clear knowledge about hereditary of the tigers and their genetic formation measures can be take to improve their productivity, which will further assist in increasing their population and conservation. This article can be found at this link: http://in.news.yahoo.com/dna-fingerp...diversity.html

P.S - Though this is not directly related to the question, you may be interested in knowing more about Billy. You can check the following link -

http://www.indiawilds.com/diary/indi...-vol-2-issue-i

My information about this place is a bit dated as I haven't visited this place recently. I am told that there is poaching not only of tigers, but also of pythons. Also, you may like to research the issue of the caged rhinos, even though two decades have passed since they were translocated (first batch from Assam and second from Nepal).

Billy always wanted DNA testing of the tigers in Dudhwa to establish that his hand reared and released tigress TARA has successfully bred in the wild.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi