2) Tadoba - It has transformed from a little known forest in the 90’s to Central India’s tiger capital. The only park where tiger sightings in #buffer zone are as good as the core. @etadoba#tadoba@SvasaraResorts#TigerReserve
3) Kaziranga - Wildlife as far as the #eye can see, the only park in #India that can match the experience of #MasaiMara. You can sight the “Big Five” in a single #safari.
5) Pilibhit - My personal #favorite is this best kept #secret of #Terai jungles. It is a pristine forest with crisscrossing #canals and incredible density of wildlife.
Sixth post of the #WildlifeWeek Reintroduction series.
Day 6 - Panna Roars Again !!
#Panna National Park covering an area of 543 sq km is a splendid mosaic of plateaus, plunging gorges, vast expanses of teak #forests and #Savannah#grasslands teeming with #wildlife...
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.... and its lifeline Ken river running through the middle. It was upgraded to the status of a tiger reserve in 1994 but within 15 years it lost all its stripes !! The news broke out in May, 2009 that Panna TR which once claimed to harbour 40+ tigers had none left anymore.
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It shook the forest department, the govt and every concerned citizen of the country to its core. Investigations were done on the disappearance of tigers and reports submitted by the WII, SIT setup by the NTCA and by an expert committee initiated by govt of MP.
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Swamp Deer commonly known as Barasingha have three subspecies, Wetland Barasingha, Hardground Barasingha and Eastern Barasingha.
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Once #swamp#deer inhabited areas from Central India to the Godavari river in the south. Currently, they are found in five discrete populations in 3 regions of central, north-east and northern India.
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Before the 1950s, the number of Hard ground Barasingha was estimated to be around 3,000 in Banjar Valley of Kanha National Park (KNP). However, by the 1960s the number had dwindled to a meagre 66 due to expansion of #agricultural activities into barasingha habitats...
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Historically the species was widespread in the #Ganga River, both in #India and #Bangladesh. Extirpated from most of its former range but currently it has dwindled a last surviving population of less than 500 adult individuals in the #wild.
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Their population reduced drastically due to depredation of eggs and hatchlings by Golden #jackals, #habitat degradation due to #pollution and illegal sand mining in the floodplains. They are also extensively #poached for their meat and shell.
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The Greater One-Horned #Rhinoceros is the second largest #mammal in #India after the #Elephant. Its distribution once ranged from the flood plains of the Indus to the Indo-Burmese border.
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However the loss of #grassland#habitat resulted in only a small population remaining in North East India and #Nepal.The species was totally extirpated from the Indian Terai in the 19th century, with the last rhino there being shot in the #Pilibhit Forest Division in 1878.
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Following this extirpation, #Dudhwa National Park was surveyed for its habitat suitability for the species and finally in 1984, the Addl. CWLW U.P was tasked to capture 6 rhinos from the #Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, #Assam by tranquilizing them.
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Day 2 – Squeals return to the tall wet #grasslands of #Assam !!!
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Pygmy Hog is the tiniest, rarest and the most #endangered of all wild #pigs globally. In fact, phylogenetic analysis of the pygmy hog revealed that it belongs to a separate genus, Porcula. It is evolutionarily unique and completely different from #boars, #warthogs, and pigs.
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Known to once thrive in the lush tall and wet grassland plains of the sub #Himalayas, they were feared to be extinct in the 1960's but were “rediscovered” in the year 1971.
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#WildlifeWeek is here. This week I will be sharing 7 #positive wildlife reintroduction stories from around the country. One story for each day. A small thread.
Day 1 - The return of Gaur in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve !!! 1/7
#Gaur the largest #bovine in peninsular #India, was previously found in three discreet populations in Southern India (Western Ghats and #Nilgiri plateau), Central India (#Vidarbha, southern MP, #Chhattisgarh and Eastern ghats in #Odisha) and North-East India.
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Gaur were historically found in #Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in small numbers. There were around 30-35 Gaur in BTR in the early 1990s, which had dwindled to just one individual in 1996 and zero in 1998.
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