Aaranyak – Project Update
Tigers in Bhutan are a global priority for the species’ conservation. With more than 72% of the country under forest cover and 51.4% under protected areas, Bhutan is home to an estimated 103 tigers.
WildCats is working with Aaranak, in an exciting ‘Population Monitoring’ project across the Transboundary Manas Conservation Area (TraMCA), who have just published their interim report that you can read here.
The TraMCA straddles the international boundary of India and Bhutan, and is a significant tiger habitat that has potential to double its tiger population within a decade. The TraMCA spans an area of over 6500km2 from the river Sankosh, the western boundary of Ripu reserve forest in India to the Jomotsangkha Wildlife Sanctuary in Bhutan to the east. To the south it extends to the southern boundary of the Manas Tiger reserve (MTR) in India and to the north, the northern extent of the Royal Manas National Park (RMNP) in Bhutan. The Manas National Park (MNP) in India and the RMNP in Bhutan forms the core of this extraordinary Transboundary landscape.
The first camera-trapping survey sadly didn’t capture any images of tigers, however 41 different species were found across the landscape, including an abundance of prey species, elephants and a number of small and large wild cats.
The Aaranyak teams in both India and Bhutan are now confidently entering the second camera-trap survey, with new survey sites identified as a result of their results. We look forward to updating you on the results over the coming months.
