Current Science

Randeep Singh ¹, Parag Nigam ¹, Qamar Qureshi ¹, Kalyanasundaram Sankar ¹, Paul R. Krausman ², Surendra Prakash Goyal ¹

Affiliations
1 Wildlife Institute of India, Post Box # 18, Dehradun 248 001, IN
2 Boone and Crockett Program in Wildlife Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana 59812, US

Abstract

In felids, mortality caused by dominant males can affect life history characteristics, demography and reproductive success. When a dominant male is removed, an incoming male may kill offspring sired by the previous male to induce the resident female into oestrus. We had the opportunity to observe the infanticide avoidance responses of female tigers (Panthera tigris) to incoming males in the core area of Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve (RTR), Rajasthan, during 2008-2010. In one case, following the disappearance of a dominant male tiger (TM-12) from the established territory of a female tiger (TF-13), the female tiger, accompanied by two cubs, immediately moved approximately 20 km away into riverine areas outside the protected area of RTR. In another case, a female (TF-04) died from a battle with a male while defending her cubs. These observations reveal the attempts of female tigers to avoid infanticide. Observations and results from behavioural decisions made by tigers are important to understand the species and the factors that facilitate their conservation.

Keywords

Camera Trap, Female Tigers, Infanticide Avoidance, Ranthambore Tiger Reserve.

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Randeep Singh ¹, Puneet Pandey ¹, Qamar Qureshi ², Kalyanasundaram Sankar ³, Paul R. Krausman ⁴, Surendra Prakash Goyal ²

Affiliations
1 Wildlife Institute of India, Post Box # 18, Dehradun 248 001 and Amity Institute of Forestry and Wildlife, Amity University, Sector-125, Noida 201 303, IN
2 Wildlife Institute of India, Post Box # 18, Dehradun 248 001, IN
3 Wildlife Institute of India, Post Box # 18, Dehradun 248 001 and Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Coimbatore 641 108, IN
4 School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721, US

Abstract

Understanding the social organization and acquisition of potential home ranges in solitary polygamous mammals is important for their management and conservation. However, such information requires a continuous long-term study. Therefore, limited information is available for mammals from South Asia. We studied the western most distributed Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris) population of Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve (RTR), Rajasthan, India, intensively during 2005–2011 using direct observation and intensive camera trapping-based methods. We examined how the home ranges of deceased tigers would be filled. Nine home ranges of tigers were vacated (two males and seven females) because of death, translocation, emigration and dispersal. Vacated female home ranges were filled by neighbouring tigers; 57% of neighbouring females were related to each other and after females vacated their ranges, their daughters acquired these home ranges. Mother tigers shared their home ranges with their daughters to increase the reproductive success of the latter. The home range of adult male tiger (TM-02) was estimated to be 73 sq. km using camera traps. Vacated male home ranges were filled by four transient individuals that were not related to each other. These data help understand the social organization and land tenure system of tigers in semi-arid habitats of India.

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