Protecting Tigers

Tigers, like most wild animals, have no concept of boundaries. For thousands of years they have moved across the planet’s landscapes seeking food, shelter and new territories. For many, their migratory routes are dictated by the seasons and this is true of the tigers in Kaziranga National Park. During the dry season they grow fat on the alluvial flood plains where prey is plenty and when the floods come they, with many other species, move to the safety of higher ground.

Tigers are excellent swimmers and for the tigers of Kaziranga it’s an important skill. The park’s northern boundary is formed by the Brahmaputra River; the tenth largest river on earth it flows from the Himalaya’s through China, India and Bangladesh out into the Bay of Bengal. It is a river that connects a series of important and precious tiger populations. Studies of the tiger’s migratory routes continue and there is evidence that the mighty Brahmaputra holds little fear for the tigers that cross it using the many river islands as stepping stones in their passage to the northern bank.

This movement of tigers is vital for big cat survival; as they reach the age of two the cubs disperse in search of territories and mates of their own ensuring that their DNA stays robust by breeding away from close family. Protecting these migratory routes and wildlife corridors is as important as protecting the parks themselves.

On the far side of the Brahmaputra, 114km northwest of Kaziranga by car lies Orang National Park which became India’s 49^th Tiger Reserve in 2016. And there’s good news from Orang as recent studies look likely to herald the park as having the highest density of tigers in India, surpassing the record once held by its larger neighbour, Kaziranga.

That tiger populations in this area continue to thrive is thanks in part to your support which helps fund our work across this region’s important tiger landscape that embraces Kaziranga, Orang and Manas National Park a further 200km upstream.  With growing pressure from human activities, maintaining the migratory routes is vital and forms a key part in the education and conservation programmes that we fund.  And, during the seasonal floods, it is your support that helps provide extra staff and volunteers to work around the clock to ensure the safe passage of wildlife, including tigers, from the parks to higher ground. With many animals having to cross busy roads, maintaining road blocks and speed reduction programmes while also keeping a vigil for poachers who take advantage of the animals’ use of traditional paths, is key.

In a world with so many man-made boundaries we’d like to thank you again for helping us maintain the connectivity that is so vital to tiger survival.

Links:

• An overview of our work in Kaziranga