Golden Tiger

Context:

Image of rare ‘golden tiger’ captured in Assam’s Kaziranga National Park.

Golden Tiger:

• Rare colour variant of Bengal Tiger.
• Called as ‘Tabby tiger’.
• Orange-yellow with black stripes and whitish abdominal region.
• A recessive gene mutation that gets expressed due to interbreeding.
• Reason for abnormal whitish colour
  • Mutation in agouti gene – lack of yellow colour.
  • Mutation in tabby genes – lack of black colour
• IUCN status – Endangered

Tiger Population:

• Habitat – Tropical rainforests, Evergreen forests, Temperate forest, Mangrove Swamps, Grasslands and Savannas
• 13 Tiger Range countries – India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Russia, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Loas and Vietnam
  • As per the latest IUCN report, tiger has gone extinct in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam
• Conservation efforts –
  • International Big Cat Alliance – Conservation of 7 Big Cats namely Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Cheetah, Jaguar and Puma
    • Launched by India
• T x 2 Campaign – Launched by WWF
• Protection Status –
  • IUCN Red List – Endangered
  • CITES – Appendix I
• International Tiger Day – 29th July

Tiger Population in India:

• India has the largest tiger population (70%)
• Leading State – Madhya Pradesh
• Concentrated in –
  • Central Indian Highlands
  • Eastern Ghats Landscape

Tiger Conservation in India:

• Royal Bengal Tiger is the national animal of India
• Acts /Schemes-
  • Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 – identifies Critical Tiger Habitats
  • Project Tiger, 1973
  • Tiger Census (every 4 years)
  • Tiger Task Force, 2005
  • M- STrIPES (Monitoring System for Tigers – Intensive Protection and Ecological Status)
• Bodies – National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)
  • Under Wildlife Protection Act
• Tiger Reserves – Total 54 reserves
• Largest – Nagarjuna Sagar in Andhra Pradesh
• Smallest – Orang in Assam

Other important Tiger species:

Black Tiger

White Tiger

• Called as Bleached tiger.
• Bengal or Siberian tiger with a rare colour mutation called leucism.
• Coated with white or near-white with black strips
• Reason for White colour –
  • Leucism- recessive gene mutation that causes a lack of pigmentation in the fur, resulting in its unique white coat.
  • Mutation in pheomelanin pigments – lack of the orange colour
• Indian states – Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Sunderbans region.
• IUCN status – Endangered

Source: The Hindu

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Previous Year Question

Among the following Tiger Reserves, which one has the largest area under “Critical Tiger Habitat”?

[UPSC Civil Services Exam – 2020 Prelims]

(a) Corbett
(b) Ranthambore
(c) Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam
(d) Sundarbans

Answer: (c)

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