Manas National Park

                                The Tiger Population Growth pattern of Manas Tiger Reserve The conservation fraternity has delighted to look at tiger population growth in Manas Tiger Reserve. Recent, 2020-21, annual tiger monitoring (Phase-IV), camera trapping exercise in Manas NP, the First Addition to Manas NP, and Bornadi Wildlife Sanctuary have revealed this outstanding result. This exercise revealed a 50% increase in the total number of tigers compared to last year (2020). This year, 45 unique individuals (19 adult females, 16 adult males, 03 sub-adults, and 07 cubs) were recorded, including the one in Bornadi WLS, compared to 30 unique individuals (18 adult females, 07 adult males, 01 unknown, and 04 cubs) last year. Another good news is that evidence of breeding females from all parts of the park.

Pugmark of tiger, Manas National Park  Pugmark is the term used to refer to the footprint of most animals. 'Pug' means foot in Hindi. Every individual animal species has a distinct Pugmark which helps in their identification.  Pugmark was an art that had once been perfected by professional trackers known as Shikaris  (Hunters). Significantly, such Shikaris were maintained on the payrolls of the Indian Royalty and British Colonial rulers and had sole responsibility of providing their near magical skills during Shikars. Some master trackers were reputed to possess phenomenal capabilities and could follow the trail of tigers and other animals over ground that hardly registered the movement of any animal. A bent twig and upturned pebble was enough for them to follow a trail. They could even determine the sex, age, and size of a tiger from its pugmark as well as identify individual animal with a great deal of accuracy and ease.   This skills o...

 Clouded leopard inside Manas( A camera trap photograph ) 

A mother rhino with her new born calf at Manas NP Manas… a name I relate to with passion. I had fallen in love with the Manas as soon as I had seen photos of my friends who had visited the Park when we were in college. My love for Manas was concreted as soon as I put my step in it. Working for WWF-India in my dream place was no less than a fairytale. The first day of work (for collecting data on indirect evidence of tigers and other animals) is still etched in my mind as if it were only yesterday. I saw a fresh pugmark of a male tiger on the sand for the first time and imagined the tiger walking majestically down the river bed minutes before our arrival! That was 6 years ago; however, nothing much has changed. I still get excited to work in Manas and see a pugmark or camera trap photo of a tiger. Kilometres of walks inside the forest were tiring, yet, were a source of immense joy and content. My friends (Binita, Sharavana, David) and I would compete to walk through the ta...