Tiger Habitats Grasslands and Jungle

 Where do tigers live?  

Known as a tiger habitat the home of the tiger is varied but limited. Being an ambush hunter it needs to hide or camouflage well in order to pounce on its prey. In India, the big cats thrive in dense jungles and tall grasslands often called elephant grass. They are incapable of making a long chase for a hunt unlike the lion and the hunting methodology is to stalk prey from hidden confines make a chor chase or rush and pounce on the neck. The 2.5-inch canines rupture the jugular veins upon the impact and the weight of the predator brings the prey down and helps pin it to the ground. 

The animal is perfectly at home in grasslands as it is in the forests. The height of the tiger rarely exceeds 2.5 feet while the length may cross over 9.5 feet including the head and tail. The medium height enables it to crouch amid grass and stalks its prey before pouncing upon it. Thus the medium height helps in hunting effectively.  

If you come across a big male tiger on the road you will then realize the medium height and how closely it hugs the ground. The predator is large with big males weighing as much as 250 kg in India. The females generally weigh between 100 to 180 kg. 

Often on a tiger safari, the carnivore is an exciting spectacle as it walks in open grasslands neighboring the jungle. I came across Neelam tigress at Kanha National Park as it walked across the huge cross-section of a meadow with medium grass and a few scattered bushes.  Most of the visitors seek this kind of encounter when on a wildlife safari in the reserves. 

                                                                  Tiger Walking in Grassland

A walk-in short crop grass accords a clear vision to the spectators and to the filmmakers and photographers as well. When the predator walks in the dense bush in the jungle the sight is equally exciting but often cryptic as the bush mars the sight. Nevertheless, the beautiful jungle canopy with a huge cat sliding through is a treat to watch.  

                                                                     Tiger Walking in Forest

In the reserves tourists often come across big tigers on the jungle road and they continue walking through the tourist jeeps busy with marking their territory.   This sighting is exciting with thrilling closeness and one has to keep reversing the jeep to keep moving forward. I once came across a huge dominant tiger on the road and we kept reversing throughout the drive as it came head-on. Full of tense moments and dangers, these head-on encounters are the most memorable encounters in the wild. 

                                                          Tiger Walking on Jungle Road                   

This enchanting predator cannot survive in open or in short-crop grasslands since it needs to be hidden in tall grass or dense forest canopy. This habitat preference limits its range and the animal needs the niche to survive. Coming from the cold climes of Siberia it needs plenty of waterholes and rivulets in its habitat and a high percentage of prey.  As a specialized hunter, the carnivore needs a good prey base comprising of deer although it literally eats anything that walks.  

In the tiger reserves the prey base, protection, and inviolate grounds are helping the tiger survive in India. Their number is now well over three thousand adults. 

These wild tigers were filmed in the reserves and not in the zoo. Please watch my YouTube videos and Subscribe!

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Uday Freelances as Naturalist in Central India. He is an avid birder and tiger enthusiast. He blogs on tigers, wildlife, and birds. He also writes on the environment and conservation.

Uday also provides SEO Services and Website Contents in English. He teaches Digital Marketing in Jabalpur in Summer Holidays.
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Contact: pateluday90@hotmail.com
09755089323 

Useful forest trees

For tribal communities the jungle means more than tigers and leopards. In time of duress, they had survived on offerings of the forests. Pushed into deep recess of the forest by invading civilizations they lived for long within the womb of the jungles. With a benevolent governance things began to change but then massive destruction of the forest lands left nothing for the forest dwellers.  

Anyway time had come for them to join the mainstream. But with very little understanding of the modern world and little education they are trapped in the quagmire of an overpowering civilization. Likewise the wild denizens are in a greater stress due to terribly reduced habitat. The ensuing man animal conflict have pushed many species to the brink of extinction. But certainly younger people have recourse to education and training and are much familiar with the modern attributes. Some of them have found employment in the department and the tiger reserves but many are seeking mainstream jobs in larger settlements and metros! It is a our perspective that makes us think of them as primitive people devoid of any contemporary leanings this has to change.    

The tribal communities still survive on minor forest produce like Mahua, Chironzi, Ber, Amla, Palas and many shrubs that are used as medicine. These produce are in short supplies and their saleability is going down. Mahua fruits is obtained from the Mahua tree which grows well in the jungles and village groves. The  fruits are used to  make butter and liquor, the latter from dried fruits. The tree has many medicinal properties as well. 

Similarly the Char tree yields a very tasty fruit and the seed is used to garnish condiments. The tree grows well in the Central Indian forests. Amla or Gooseberry tree is the boon of the forests as the fruit is rich in vitamin C and consumed by vast population in India. Anti oxidant rich Ber is a popular fruit eaten all over India. The tree is a medium sized shrub that grows few feet above the ground. Palas tree yields a yellow orange dye that is used in coloring and in the Holi festival. The Palas Bark exudes a resinous substance called Lac in Hindi. It is used for sealing envelops and other packaging.  

The powdered bark of Arjun tree found near streams and nullahs is used as a blood pressure medicine. Similary many forest trees yield edible fruits like Bel, Kaitha, Morchhali, Jamun to name a few. The forests help conserve water but also offer survival materials to humans.

The destruction of habitats has not only exterminated endemic species. It has resulted in loss of many natural products useful to humans. If we do not save our trees a wonderful natural heritage would be lost for ever.