Bandipur Tiger Reserve Director, also Chief Conservators of Forest, T Balachandra highlighted the unique features of tigers and said that Tiger is a majestic animal as it has no cunning nature and the animal plays a vital role in terms of preserving the ecosystem, environment and climate change.
Balachandra was delivering a talk on ‘Tigers, the majestic predators’, organised by the Department of Studies in Genetics and Genomics, University of Mysore, to mark International Tiger Day, here.
Tiger is the pride of India and it has unique features, compared to other animals. Tiger is perfectly designed to handle its prey and no other animal has such a feature. Crab to gaur is the prey for tigers, he said.
Many think that tigers hunt successfully, but their success rate is only from 5 to 10%. For instance, many tigers die due to starvation. Tigers can be severely injured by spotted deer and there are such examples. A group of gaurs chased away a tiger, which was waiting to hunt in Bandipur, recently, the director said.
Tigers fear human beings and stay away. A tiger consumes 3,500 to 4,000 kg of meat per year. The big cat kills an average of 60 to 70 spotted deer a year. The tiger has an unique communication system and one tiger communicates to another for a few kms, he said.
According to the director, in many cases, male tigers go out of the forests to establish their territory. Male tigers look for territories which can be acquired easily. Young male tigers are not capable of fighting with adults to establish their territory, he said.
The director said, "Bandipur National park has 150 plus tigers and the department has photographs of 139 of them. The national park has a total of 13 ranges and there are 13 tigers in Bandipur Forest Range alone. The authorities have the photographs of 11 of them. The Bandipur range measures 55 sq km and one tiger is present for every 7.5 sq km."
Claiming that human disturbance to tigers is less in Bandipur, the director said, "The tigers avoid coming out during the day, due to fear of human beings. But, one can see tigers hunting and dragging prey in Bandipur forest."
Deputy Conservator of Forests, Male Mahadeshwara Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, V Yedukondalu delivered a talk on 'Corridors and Confinements, the struggle for survival of Asiatic Elephants'.
Earlier, Vice Chancellor G Hemantha Kumar released a video and slogan created by the department. Registrar R Shivappa and the Department of Studied in Genetics and Genomics chairperson Suttur S Malini were present.