Four mammal species identified in India tiger reserve for the first time

Uncovering Valmiki's treasures: Four more species added to the Tiger Reserve baseline

August 2013: A once neglected tiger reserve has proved that a wealth of smaller mammals have survived and are now benefitting from the recent efforts to revive the reserve. Three species, previously unrecorded in the once-neglected Valmiki Tiger Reserve have been spotted in the past two months.

A crab-eating mongoose (Herpestes urva), a yellow-throated marten (Martes flavigula) and a Himalayan serow (Capricornis thar) were all captured in camera traps placed by the Bihar Forest Department and NGOs WWF-India and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).

A 4th new species, a hoary-bellied squirrel (Callosciurus pygerythrus) was also photographed recently by WTI's Regional Head for Bihar, Dr Samir Kumar Sinha.

Dr Sinha said; "We are excited by these discoveries. Valmiki has excellent potential for tiger recovery and given its contiguity with the Chitwan National Park in Nepal, it will be a critical site for undertaking transboundary tiger conservation. WWF will strengthen its partnership with the management of Valmiki and intensify conservation efforts," said Dr. Dipankar Ghose, Director, Species and Landscapes, WWF-India. 

These species have all been previously recorded in the neighbouring Chitwan National Park in Nepal, which forms the northern boundary of Valmiki Reserve. ZSI has recorded 10 species of amphibians, 27 species of reptiles and 75 species of insects in Valmiki, including the gaur (Bos gaurus) and the Indian wild dog (Cuon alpinus), which are not found in rest of the Terai region in India.

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Bandhavgarh tigress visits secret spa hideaway

The Tigress Wakeeta's Naughty Secret - Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, India
June 2012. Wakeeta is not enjoying the summer heat or the never ending pressures of raising a growing family. She's exhausted.

Her three cubs are now almost fifteen months old and her boys are bigger than she is. Feeding these ever demanding youngsters is driving her mad. Let's face it, she can't just nip to the supermarket for some ready meals and there is no such thing as a take away. Instead, potential takeaways keep running away, and her kids are still hopeless at hunting, completely lacking in patience and guile.

The result; it's easier to go to the jungle food counter alone.

Secret retreat
But she has a naughty secret. A secret she has not even told her kids. A place to rest and recover from the demands of motherhood. It's the Ghorademon Gorge Spa and Sanctuary high in the sandstone hills. This is her own home from home, where she can lie in a natural pool, rest and recuperate once the job of feed and watering her children is done.

It's just a bit of a slog to get to - Sound familiar ?

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http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/Bandhavgarh-wakeeta.html

Modern male single parent tiger bringing up cubs

The extraordinarily caring tiger

May 2012. In the sun baked Araveli hills and lakes of Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan, India, an extraordinary wild drama is being played out.

The well-known and patient tigress, Kachida, had already raised three cubs to full maturity in the park, between 2007 and 2010, putting up with her mature brood well into their adulthood. She was also a favourite to visitors and the park guards, being completely comfortable with humans in her territory.

Balendu Singh, an honorary Wildlife Warden, found Kachida in the small pool behind the Dhakara anicut in late January last year. Soon, two healthy cubs came scampering down to the water's edge calling for their mother. Traces of blood on the mouths and paws confirmed that the cubs had eaten meat from a fresh kill, likely to have been one of their first proper meals, after coming off their mother's milk.

Tragedy
Tragically, only two weeks later, Kachida came within 50 metres of chowki (guard post) and was heard roaring throughout the night, deeply unsettling the forest guards inside. In the cold dawn that morning, the guards found her dead body under a gum tree, after an agonizing death that night from blocked intestines.

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/tiger-father.html