REGIONAL OFFICE FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC (RAP), BANGKOK FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS Regional Quarterly Bulletin on Wildlife and National Parks Management Vol. XL: No. 1 2013 Featuring Vol. XXVII: No. 1 Contents Melanistic tigers of Similipal Tiger Reserve, India: Bane or Boon?........................................................................1 Social organization and population dynamics of Indian Gazelle in Thar Desert of Rajasthan................................. 5 Effects of ecological transition from natural forest to tea plantations and forest management in high altitude regions of Sri Lanka....................................................................15 Study of birds composition at the burned and unburned forests in Klias Forest Reserve, Sabah, Malaysia.............. 21 21st International Conference on Bear Research and Management: A Coherent System for Bear Management...29 REGIONAL OFFICE Ecological imbalance causing manifold increase in vector borne diseases................................................................32 FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC TIGERPAPER is a quarterly news bulletin dedicated to the exchange of information relating to wildlife and protected area management for the Asia-Pacific Region. Strengthening biodiversity conservation in the South Pacific.. 1 ISSN 1014 - 2789 Community forestry, livelihods and conservation in changing landscapes....................................................... 5 Forest policies for the 21st century...................................... 7 Address. TEAKNET - International Teak Information Network......... 13 Global Plan of Action for Forest Genetic Resources............. 10 TIGERPAPER New Forestry Publications from FAO..................................14 FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific FAO Asia-Pacific Forestry Calendar....................................16 Maliwan Mansion, Phra Atit Road Bangkok, 10200, Thailand Tel: (662) 697-4000 E-mail: [email protected] Website: http://www.fao.org/asiapacific/ rap/nre/links/tiger-paper/en/ Editor: Janice Naewboonnien Advisor: P. Durst TIGERPAPER is dependent upon your free and voluntary The opinions expressed by the contributions in the form of articles, news items, and announcements in contributing authors are not the field of wildlife and nature conservation in the region. In order to necessarily those of FAO. The better serve the n eeds of our readers please write to us and send in the designations employed and the information you have or let us know if there is any information that you presentation of the material in the need. We appreciate receiving your letters and make all efforts to TIGERPAPER do not imply the respond. expression of any opinion on the part of FAO concerning the legal or Front cover: Melanistic tiger of Similipal Tiger Reserve captured in camera constitutional status of any country, trap exercise (Photo courtesy of Debabrata Swain) territority or sea area, or the delimitation of frontiers. Vol. 40: No. 1 2013 | Melanistic tigers of Similipal Tiger Reserve, India: Bane or Boon? Melanistic tigers of Similipal Tiger MELANISTIC TIGERS OF SIMILIPAL TIGER RESERVE, INDIA: BANE OR BOON? by Debabrata Swain and Basanta Kumar Behura | Melanistic tiger of STR captured in the camera trap exercise conducted during 2007. About the Reserve ursinus), elephant (Elephas maximus), Indian bison (Bos gaurus), sambar (Cervus unicolor), imilipal Tiger Reserve (STR) is located between chital (Axis axis), barking deer (Muntiacus S20°28’ and 22°08’ North latitude, and 86°04’ and muntjak), mouse-deer (Tragulus meminna), four- 86°37’ East longitude in the Mayurbhanj district of horned antelope (Tetracerus quadricornis), langur Odisha (Figure 1). The hills, covering an extensive (Semnopithecus entellus), and wild pig (Sus area of 2,750 km2, have a large number of crests scrofa). and radiating perennial streams. The elevation of the tableland varies between 500m and 600m with Evidence of melanistic tiger in Similipal outer areas 1,000-1,100 m above mean sea level. It is covered with a rich canopy of largely tropical On July 21, 1993, a tribal youth of Podagada village moist deciduous forest, and harbors a rich flora and killed a young melanistic tiger in self defense that fauna of 1,254 plant species, 55 species of mammals, strayed from Similipal forest and entered his crop 304 species of birds, 60 species of reptiles, 21 (maize) field. The skin measuring 195 cm is now species of amphibians, 38 species of fishes and 164 with the Divisional Forest Officer, Karanjia Division, species of butterflies (Dutta et al., 2009; Mishra et Odisha (India). This was the first evidence of the al., 2011). Important mammalian species include presence of melanistic tiger in Similipal. But in the tiger (Panthera tigris), leopard (Panthera pardus), 1970s, Bitanath Nayak, then Assistant Field dhole or wild dog (Cuon alpinus), leopard cat (Felis Director, STR, had spotted two full grown black bengalensis), jungle cat (Felis chaus), hyena (melanistic) tigers on the road to Matughar situated (Hyaena hyaena), wolf (Canis lupus), golden in south Similipal, but it was not reported in the jackal (Canis aureus), sloth bear (Melursus absence of any evidence. In 1991, Niranjan 111 Vol. 40: No. 1 2013 | Melanistic tigers of Similipal Tiger Reserve, India: Bane or Boon? Melanistic tigers of Similipal Tiger | Figure 1 Mohanta, a Forest Guard stationed at Debasthali, Volunteer of Jodapal beat) on the Jenabil- claimed to have sighted a whole family of black Dhudruchampa road under Nawana South Range (melanistic) tigers- two full grown animals and two in the core area of the Reserve on September 5, cubs. But this was dismissed as a case of mistaken 2007. The black tiger was sighted with a normal- identity due to poor light conditions in the dense colored tigress. With the sighting of this new forest. colour variety, Similipal became the home to three different colour variants of tiger that can be During 1992, a 265cm-long skin of a melanistic distinguished by their skin colour. The normal tiger tiger was seized from poachers by officers of the has yellowish brown coat with black stripes, wildlife protection cell at Tis Hazari, New Delhi. melanistic tiger has a black coat with yellowish The rare skin was handed over to the National brown stripes, and black tiger has deep black coat Museum of Natural History following the order with a white abdomen, but no stripes. STR is of a Delhi Court in February 1993. This was perhaps the only tiger reserve in the country’s tiger probably the first physical evidence of melanistic reserve network to be inhabited by three different tiger in the world. This melanistic tiger is color variants of tigers. distinguished by yellow stripes on its back and white ventral stripes. Camera trapping exercises conducted under the direct supervision of the author (as Director, STR) During January 2004, Priyakanta Mohanty, by Wildlife Institute of India from 26.3.2007 to Assistant Field Director, STR, and his driver saw 26.5.2007, captured pictures of seven tigers, of a melanistic tiger in the dense forest on the which at least three were found to be melanistic Debasthali-Nuagaon road inside the reserve. An tigers, confirming the abundance of melanistic adult black male tiger was also sighted by tigers in Similipal. Debendra Nayak, jeep driver of STR, along with Solem Deogam, Sabuja Bahini (Green Brigade 2 Vol. 40: No. 1 2013 | Genetic basis of melanism Many different molecular and developmental Reserve, India: Bane or Boon? Melanistic tigers of Similipal Tiger changes can also affect the type, density and The question arises about the reason for such distribution of melanin on individual hairs and result melanism in the tiger population of Similipal. Singh in variation in the overall pelage coloration. Close (1999) reports from analysis of the records of tigers examination of the pigment and pattern on with aberrant colors – i.e., the stripeless, white, individual hairs can yield insight into the melanistic and black – that the body colour of tiger developmental changes and possible genes can vary over a wide range of aberrant colors responsible for overall coloration. However, ranging from ‘no stripes’ to ‘completely black’ Hoekstra (2006) emphasizes that these candidates tigers. The intermediary stages include various provide no guarantees as often changes in different shades of white tigers, the pallid or golden tiger, genes can produce similar phenotypic effects. various shades of normal yellow tiger, the brown tigers, the melanistic tigers and the blue tigers. All Thus, in mammals, melanocytes produce two of these possible colors occur according to a types of pigment (eumelanin and pheomelanin), normal distribution curve in the wild gene pool of and the ratio of melanin types is largely responsible Panthera tigris. The dome is occupied by for variations in hair colour. In pigmentation studies, different shades of ‘normal colour’ tigers, while it has been observed that recessive null alleles have the aberrants occupy various regions of the dome resulted in lighter coloration (i.e., loss or reduction on the curve. The aberrants reappear in a of pigmentation) in black bears (Ursus population in the normal course of time as americanus) reported by Ritland et al. (2001), throwbacks and not because of identical repetitions and among cave fish (Astyanax fasciatus) as | of mutations. Singh (1999) further states that reported by Protas et al. (2006), whereas dominant normal color tigers are due to dominant