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Reproductive characteristics of female Bengal tigers, in Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve, India

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Abstract

Reproductive characteristics of tigers (Panthera tigris) are important to understand population viability. We studied the reproductive parameters of female Bengal tigers (P. t. tigris) in a dry, tropical, deciduous habitat in Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve (RTR), western India, from April 2005 to March 2010. We monitored tigers by direct observation and with cameras placed throughout their habitat. The potential breeding population included 13 adult females. The average age at first reproduction was 3.3 years; 34 cubs were born during the study period (6.2 ± 0.82 per year). Sixty-six percent of the births occurred between October and December. Mean litter size was 2.26 ± 0.52 (n = 13, range = 1–3). The sex ratio of 32 cubs was 1.29 M:1.00 F. The survival rate of cubs (<12 months) was 85 % (95 % CI = 0.68–0.94), whereas that of juveniles (12–24 months), and subadults (24–36 months) was 79 % (95 % CI = 0.61–0.91). All breeding females were >3 years old. Only 2 of the 13 females reproduced twice during the 5 years of the study. The birth interval was 33.4 ± 3.7 months (range 24–65 months). The mean reproductive rate was 0.59 ± 0.23 cubs/female/year. Our study indicates that tiger populations can grow rapidly if the habitat provides adequate protection, an adequate population of prey, and minimal to no poaching.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Director and Dean of the Wildlife Institute of India for their support. We thank the Rajasthan Forest Department and the reserve officials and field staff at RTR for permissions and for facilitating this work. We especially thank nature guides of RTR and our field assistants, M. S. Gurjar and S. Sharma, for providing support. The Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun provided financial support for the project. We are also thankful to four anonymous reviewers who have provided their valuable suggestion and comments on an earlier draft.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wildlife Institute of India, Post Box # 18, Dehradun, 248 001, Uttarakahnd, India

    Randeep Singh, Qamar Qureshi, Kalyanasundaram Sankar & Surendra Prakash Goyal

  2. Boone and Crockett Program in Wildlife Conservation, University of Montana, Missoula, 59812, USA

    Paul R. Krausman

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  1. Randeep Singh
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  2. Qamar Qureshi
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  3. Kalyanasundaram Sankar
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  4. Paul R. Krausman
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  5. Surendra Prakash Goyal
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Correspondence to Randeep Singh.

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Communicated by C. Gortázar

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Singh, R., Qureshi, Q., Sankar, K. et al. Reproductive characteristics of female Bengal tigers, in Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve, India. Eur J Wildl Res 60, 579–587 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-014-0822-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-014-0822-3

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