The Major Indian Tiger Hub

¤ Sunderbans - The Major Indian Tiger Hub




Sunderbans, in eastern India, where according to an estimate though about half of the tiger population has mauled humans, the animal still enjoys reverence. Any assault or even harm of life is seen as a result of some dushkarma (misbehaviour) by the affected, in the present or prior birth, for which he or she is punished by the tiger. It can even be by his intrusion into the territory of the tiger, by breaking the laws of the jungle, by cutting green trees or just by harming some species.




In the paintings of Warlis, a tribe residing north of Bombay, the Indian tiger animal is depicted as a warm and friendly animal sitting or passing through the village. Warlis have always had faith in their tiger god, the Baghadeva. Carved wooden statues of tigers with the sun, moon and the milky-way in the background can be seen all over their habitat. Warlis believe that the tiger is supreme to all other organisms and that the universe exists only because the Tiger is there.




¤ Tiger Reserves in India

Ranthambore Tiger Reserve
Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve
Corbett Tiger Reserve
Sariska Tiger Reserve
Pench Tiger Reserve
Kanha Tiger Reserve
Rajasthan
Madhya Pradesh
Uttaranchal
Rajasthan
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh
Bandipur Tiger Reserve
Dudhwa Tiger Reserve
Manas Tiger Reserve
Panna Tiger Reserve
Sunderbans Tiger Reserve
Periyar Tiger Reserve
Tamil Nadu
Uttar Pradesh
Assam
Madhya Pradesh
West Bengal
Kerala






¤ Tiger Habitat

Scientific evidence suggests that the tigers first originated in Siberia. Fossil records dating from the Pleistocene period found in the Chigar caves of the New Siberian Islands indicate that the sabre-toothed tiger lived there some three million years ago. The last tiger of this species became extinct just 10,000 years ago. and its descendents started expanding their horizons, shifting more southwards ultimately finding their best home in the Indian Subcontinent.




Today biologists identify eight subspecies – the Royal Bengal Tiger, the Siberian, the Caspian, the Javan, the Sumatran, the Chinese, the Indo-Chinese and the Balinese. Today the Caspian and the Balinese species are extinct while a lot of survival-pressure is still on the other six subspecies.




Indian Tigers are very rugged and can survive in a variety of environmental situations, ranging from dry and arid to high-altitude, cold and Himalayan regions. In India, the animal is found in the mangrove forest of Sunderbans, the hot and arid jungles of Rajasthan, the wet and evergreen northeast India and the swampy reedlands of the Terai.