The National Animal of India
Known throughout the world for its ferocity and unmistakable beauty, tigers
are an example of untamed royality. Tigers dwell in a broad range of climate
zones and form a mosaic of tropical moist evergreen and deciduous forests,
tropical dry forests, subtropical forests, and mangroves. India is an
intriguing place biogeographically because of its dual-origin of flora.
Original Habitats
Tigers are an Asian species, found from the frozen tundra of the Soviet Far
East, south to the humid jungles of Malaya and Indonesia, and west to the
hot, hardwood forests of India. There are five living subspecies; three
others are already extinct. Current estimates put the world population of
wild tigers at about 5,000-7,000, the most numerous race being the Bengal
race, distributed among some 18 tiger reserves and sanctuaries of India (and
a half-dozen in Nepal and Bangladesh), accounting for over two-thirds of all
wild tigers.
About Indian Tiger
India is the home of 60% of world's tiger population and therefore is the
only place of hope for the survival. The Indian tiger is is in a vulnerable
state because of habitat reduction and poaching for Traditional Chinese
Medicine. With only 2000-3000 tigers left in severely damaged habitats in
India, there is a distinct threat that the wild tiger could collapse into
the extinction zone in the near future and disappear forever.
» Royal Bengal Tiger
» White Bengal Tiger
In a country that has 3% of the earth's landmass and 20% on its human
population, it is a wonder that the Indian subcontinent has provided the
wild tiger's safe haven.
The Indian Mythology
The cultural and spiritual traditions of Hindu and Buddhist faiths have
been offering reverence to this royal animal. The maharajahs also set aside
large sections of land as hunting preserves that provided a natural home to
tigers and their prey. Along with colonialism came large-scale sport hunting
(which stopped in 1972) and combined with poaching for Traditional Chinese
Medicine and modern day business and industry, the tiger population has been
devastated and their habitat exploited for human needs.
Save this Wild Relic!
People have now recognised the need to save tigers in this particular
region. Law in India sets tiger habitat aside, and significant financial
resources are committed every year by the governments to save the tiger.
There are 22 tiger reserves and many more national parks and wildlife
sanctuaries.
Amazing Fact!
One of the most fascinating facts about the wild tiger is the extremely
close and extended bond between the tigress and her cubs. A tiger learns
every survival skill from its mother - which can not happen if they are fed
in captivation. If we preserve their habitat, they will live. Probably the
most important reason for saving the wild tiger - being at the top of food
chain, her survival means the survival of all other species that live in her
habitat and preserving the complex relationships within an ecosystem that
was created by Nature and that can not be recreated by man.
You can find Indian Tiger at :
» Kanha National Park ( Madhya Pradesh )
» Bandhavgarh National Park ( Madhya Pradesh)
» Corbett National Park ( Ramnagar, Uttaranchal )
» Ranthambhore National Park (Rajasthan )
» Manas Wildlife Sanctuary ( 219 km from Guwahati)
» Kaziranga National Park ( 176 km from Guwahati)
» Nagarhole ( Karnataka)
Ready for face to face encounter with the wildlife of Sanctuary. We can 
