There are officially 103 tiger individuals (Panthera tigris tigris) roving freely within the wilderness of the country. The estimated range of credible tiger number in the country is within 84 to 124. From 78 tigers estimated in 1998, the tiger population has increased to 103 in 2015. This is 39 percent increase in last 17 years, which is almost more than one tiger every year.
There is 0.46 tiger for every 100 sq. km of the overall survey area of 28,225 sq. km. However, there are 2 to 3 tigers in every 100 sq. km in areas such as Royal Manas National Park (RMNP), Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park (JSWNP) and Zhemgang forest division.
All these were confirmed by the National Tiger Survey conducted by Department of Forest and Park Services (DoFPS) from March 2014 to March 2015 for the period of one year. The final report of the survey was released coinciding with the Global Tiger day on July 29, 2015. The set of pure national team undertook the gargantuan scientific exploration which strongly suggest that Bhutanese professionals have come of age.
The report states that the survey was conducted deploying latest methods known as Spatial Capture-Recapture (SCR) estimation method and the advanced models of camera traps. Considering the inherent limitations posed by numerous factors, the country was compartmentalized into Northern and Southern Block. A total of 1,129 cameras were stationed which captured 1,784 tiger images and 138 videos, the report states.
The survey found that tigers in Bhutan thrives from altitudes as low as 150 in the south to 4000 metres in the northern fringes. However, they are mostly concentrated in north-western, central and south-central region of the country. Only four individuals were recorded by the survey from the whole eastern region.
By virtue of the fact that tiger revalidation survey covered more areas, tiger presence were documented from the areas never known before. For the first time, tigers were confirmed in protected areas (PAs) such as Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary (WS), Jhomotshangkha WS, Phibsoo WS and Wangchuck Centennial National Park (WCNP). Similarly, tiger presence were established outside PAs within the jurisdiction of territorial forest divisions such as Tsirang, Gedu, Bumthang and Samdrupjongkhar. Zhemgang with 20 recorded consisting of 17 adults and 3 cubs, has the highest number of tigers.
The healthy population of the tigers also heavily depends on number of breeding individuals. The report boast of having captured five breeding sites in the whole country. Two females were spotted at Paro tailing by two and three cubs respectively. In addition, a breeding female was also recorded on movement between Jigme Dorji National Park (JDNP) and Thimphu division.
According to the national tiger survey report, in certain parts of the country, tigers exist in localized area. This means tigers are confined to one area, not moving from one place to another which tigers are generally known to do. For instance, none of the tigers of JDNP, Paro, Thimphu, Bumthnag, WCNP, and upper part of Zhemgang were sighted in Southern block, stated the report. Similarly, none of the tigers in Northern block were spotted in Southern block.
http://www.moaf.gov.bt/nation-wide-survey-confirms-103-tigers-in-bhutan/
In September 2010, the BBC announced a stunning discovery of tigers (Panthera tigris) living at high altitude in the Himalayas. The article claimed that a BBC team had discovered first hand evidence of tigers living at 4,100 metres above sea level (asl) in Bhutan.
This revelation spread quickly, achieving worldwide media coverage within days. In a subsequent three-part television documentary Lost Land of the Tiger, BBC claimed that their strategically-placed camera traps had recorded video evidence of tigers, not just in the Bhutanese tropical lowland forests but also at 4,100m asl in high-altitude alpine meadows. Global media hailed this as a great discovery and a boon for tiger conservation.
The problem is, the BBC team were not the first to collect evidence of tigers living at this altitude. A country-wide Bhutan survey had found evidence of tigers living at altitudes of at least 3000m asl in 1989 - more than 20 years earlier.
Lost Land of the Tiger was lavish and gripping documentary filmmaking. The BBC dramatically portrayed their team risking lives to achieve their goal, culminating in a final episode showing remarkable high-altitude tiger footage. The documentary was a great success with approximately 4.5 million British viewers per night.
The documentary has subsequently aired in several other countries, including in the USA and Australia (as Expedition Tiger) in May 2011 and February 2012 respectively. Judging from the associated blogs, the hype has not lost any momentum and public applause for the BBC’s discovery continues.
But the BBC’s claim to this discovery is unethical.
Bhutanese wildlife ecologists have been surveying tigers for decades and systematically documenting their occurrence – including at high altitudes – since 2005 under a nationally mandated 10-year Tiger
A Bhutanese wildlife researcher setting a camera trap. The Bhutanese have amassed a large dataset from thousands of camera trap nights, some of which have yielded images of tigers at high altitudes. JDNP/DoFPS
The first photographic evidence of tigers at high altitude was reported by the late Nepalese conservation biologist Pralad Yonzon who, in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Division (WCD) of Bhutan, recorded an adult tiger at a ‘camera-trap’ at 3,000m asl, more than a decade ago in 2000. During that fieldwork, the team also discovered tiger pugmarks (footprints) at 4,110m asl, firmly establishing the presence of tigers at this altitude before the BBC’s discovery.
Follow up tiger surveys by WCD in 2008, again before the BBC arrived in Bhutan, resulted in camera-trap photographs of tigers and pugmarks at altitudes between 3,700m and 4,300m asl.
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий