HYDERABAD: Indians are causing more stress to
tigers
than their counterparts in Russia. This has been established through a unique study by the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology’s (CCMB) Laboratory for Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES) of Hyderabad along with Russian researchers.
Scientists say that the human pressure — tourists and local residents — is much higher on Indian tigers. They fear the increased stress may even affect their reproductive abilities. The researchers also found that Indian tigers were more stressed out despite having a larger prey base and better climatic conditions.
The research titled ‘Comparison of tigers’ faecal glucocorticoids level in two extreme habitats’ was published in ‘Plos One’ journal on April 10. It studied the Royal Bengal Tiger in Sariska, Kanha and Bandhavgarh in comparison to Amur tigers in Russia.
LaCONES principal scientist Govindhasawamy Umapathy said, “As part of an Indo-Russian bilateral research programme we have done the study by collecting faecal samples of the two sub-species over the past few years.”
‘Indian tigers subjected to more physiological stress’“We studied the levels of glucocorticoid hormone and found that Faecal Glucocorticoid Metabolite(FGCM) concentration is more in Indian tigers than in Amur tigers indicating that Indian tigers are subjected to more physiological stress,” Umapathy said.
Scientists used non-invasive technology for testing hormone levels instead of collecting blood samples. Vinod Kumar of LaCONES and Sergey V Naidenko of the Insitute of Ecology and Evolution,
Moscow
, were part of the research. Researchers analysed 35 samples of Amur tiger and 100 samples of the Bengal tiger. Stress hormone levels in Indian tigers on average are around 20% higher.
Umapathy said, “There are several villages located near Indian tiger reserves and tiger ranges are significantly smaller than in Russia. In the Russian far east human density is extremely low. But Indian tiger reserves are regularly visited by tourists.”
Researches also said that high cortisol level in Bengal tigers may also be due to higher tiger population density in Central India than in the Russian far east. Usually, tigers of the same gender fight for territory.
Sudhakar Reddy Udumula is the Editor (Investigation) at the Times...
Read MoreSudhakar Reddy Udumula is the Editor (Investigation) at the Times of India, Hyderabad. Following the trail of migration and drought across the rustic landscape of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Sudhakar reported extensively on government apathy, divisive politics, systemic gender discrimination, agrarian crisis and the will to survive great odds. His curiosity for peeking behind the curtain triumphed over the criminal agenda of many scamsters in the highest political and corporate circles, making way for breaking stories such as Panama Papers Scam, Telgi Stamp Paper Scam, and many others. His versatility in reporting extended to red corridors of left-wing extremism where the lives of security forces and the locals in Maoist-affected areas were key points of investigation. His knack for detail provided crucial evidence of involvement from overseas in terrorist bombings in Hyderabad.
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