News Excerpt: 

A Bengal tiger travelled to four states seeking a home

More about News:

• A male royal Bengal tiger travelled across four states, covering over 2,000 km of forested terrain over the past five months.
• The Gajapati Forests sent the image to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) for mapping, and they confirmed that the camera-trapped image matched a tiger previously photographed in the Bramhapuri forest division of Maharashtra. 
• The tiger has covered over 500 km in the past month, moving from Parlakhemundi to Srikakulam, then to Ichhapuram, and finally returning to Parlakhemundi.

About Royal Bengal Tiger

• Royal Bengal Tigers are primarily found in India but can also be found in small numbers in Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, and China.
• It is the only tiger breed in the world that lives in mangrove forests and is commonly found in the Sundarbans mangroves in West Bengal.
• These creatures have six times the night vision of humans and five times the hearing. 
• Panthera Tigris is the binomial name for the tiger. Male tigers weigh 200-300 kg, whereas female tigers weigh 100-181 kg. Male tigers stand 8-10 feet tall, while females are 8-9 feet tall.
• They are most commonly found in mangroves, marshes, and grasslands. The mangroves have made them more prone to swimming, and they can even hunt in the water.
• Unlike lions, Royal Bengal Tigers care about the females and children; therefore, when a killing happens, male tigers eat after the females and children have had their feast.
• The Royal Bengal tigress delivers a litter of 4-5 cubs; their gestation period is 3 months.
• The   International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) considers the Bengal tiger an endangered subspecies. 
• The largest threats to Bengal tiger survival are poaching and the conversion of the Bengal tiger’s habitat to agriculture, roads, and other types of human-controlled space.

Protection Initiatives for Tigers in India

• In 1973, Project Tiger was introduced by the Indian Government for the first time to protect the dwindling population of tigers.  India is home to 75% of the world’s tiger population.
• There are a total of 54 tiger reserves in India. 
• The population of tigers in India has increased from 1,706 in 2011 to 3,682 in 2022.
• International Tiger Day is celebrated each year on July 29 to turn the spotlight on the conservation of tigers worldwide.
• The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has been constituted under section 38 L (1) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Prelims PYQ

Q. Among the following Tiger Reserves, which one has the largest area under “Critical Tiger Habitat”? (UPSC 2020)

(a) Corbett

(b) Ranthambore

(c) Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam

(d) Sunderbans

Q. The term ‘M-STrIPES' is sometimes seen in the news in the context of (UPSC 2017)

(a) Captive breeding of Wild Fauna

(b) Maintenance of Tiger Reserves

(c) Indigenous Satellite Navigation System

(d) Security of National Highways

Q. Consider the following areas: (UPSC 2012)

1) Bandipur

2) Bhitarkanika

3) Manas

4) Sunderbans

Which of the above are Tiger Reserves?

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 1, 3 and 4 only

(c) 2, 3 and 4 only

(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4