Le retour du tigre en Europe: le blog d'Alain Sennepin

TIGRES DU BENGALE EN THAÏLANDE

31 Juillet 2017 , Rédigé par Alain Sennepin

La Thaïlande cherche à préserver et dynamiser sa population de tigres d'Asie du Sud - Est (Panthera tigris corbetti) mais aussi ses tigres du Bengale présents dans le Nord Est du pays, zone frontalière du Laos. Le plan consiste à permettre une augmentation de moitié en 10 ans (d'ici 2027). Voir le détail dans le Bangkok Post, hier. More bengal tigers set to make northeast home.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1296343/

ENFER VERT

31 Juillet 2017 , Rédigé par Alain Sennepin

Vietnam (à la frontière cambodgienne), été 1969. Des soldats américains et un tigre vert pâle. Illusion d'optique collective? Voir le dossier sur Shuker Nature "Green grow the tigers, O -at least in Vietnam?"

http://karlshuker.blogspot.fr/2017/06/green-grow-tigers-o-at-least-in-vietnam.html

I saw a green tiger. I wasn't alone.

We were out towards the Cambodian border in summer of 1969, an American light infantry company of about 100 or so guys. We were operating in flatlands, thick jungle, along a river. (Saigon River? Not sure.) Bright, sunny day.

We were proceeding single file when point platoon came to a stop, there was some yelling (we were stealthy - yelling is bad) from the point, then point platoon radioed for the Command Post (CP - the company commander and his people) to come up to point.

When we got there, we found the point team glaring at each other - some kind of tussle. Point and drag were standing in the machine gunner's line of fire glaring at him. The machine gunner had wanted to shoot. Point and drag stopped him. He didn't like that.

The object of discussion was across a jungle opening maybe 15 meters away, just peeking at us over the elephant grass. It was a big tiger - biggest I've ever seen, Frank Frazetta-style big, but without the lady.

Here's the insane part. The tiger was white where a tiger is white and black where a tiger is black, but all the orange parts were a pale green. We all saw it, maybe twenty grunts and me. The machine gunner was arguing that we have to shoot it, because otherwise no one would believe it. He had a point.

But the rest of us were just awestruck. I mean, it might as well have been an archangel, wings halo and all. I felt an impulse to kneel. I don't think I was alone.

The tiger stood there checking us out for maybe 15 minutes, not worried, not angry, just a curious cat. Then he turned and disappeared.

Don't believe me? That's okay. I don't believe it myself. I mean WTF was that? Hallucinogenic elephant grass? Some trick of the light? The tiger walked through some kind of green pollen just before we saw it? No freakin' idea.

There it is, OP. I don't believe it, and I saw it. Or hallucinated it. Me and all my blues. Make of it what you will. I'm done.

In fact, this person did make a few additional, minor comments in reply to various responses from other Reddit readers, of which the following one is well worth recording here:

I apologize for not making clear that the tiger was scaring the shit out of all us. He did NOT look sick or malnourished. He looked like he could be right in the middle of all of us in no time flat. He thought so, too. Didn't seem the least bit scared of us.

And I guess he wasn't hungry.

Karl Shuker comment : Not surprisingly, faced with an account from someone claiming to have encountered a green tiger, my initial reaction was to assume that it was just a spoof, a joke, not to be taken seriously. But then I decided to investigate the credentials of the person who had posted it, especially as their account did sound as if it had been written by someone familiar with military action in Vietnam, and I was very intrigued to discover that they had written a number of other, much more mainstream and very detailed accounts on Reddit concerning their alleged time and military service there during the Vietnam War that all seemed entirely authentic , and had been well-received by Vietnam veterans who would surely spot and soon expose any imposter. Consequently, it seems both reasonable and parsimonious to assume that this person's Vietnam-related testimony is indeed genuine.

Par ailleurs, dans un ouvrage sur la Turquie publié en 2002,Tim Cahill raconte le parcours d'un journaliste à la recherche du Tigre "de la Caspienne" (Panthera tigris virgata) dans les régions orientales du pays. L'auteur y évoque notamment la fourrure olivâtre ("khaki fur") de certains de ceux - ci... Tim Cahill. 2002. Hold the enlightenment, 11 - 27 : "The search of rhe caspian tiger". Villard Books, Random House.

UN JOUR PARMI D'AUTRES

29 Juillet 2017 , Rédigé par Alain Sennepin

Aujourd'hui 29 juillet, est célébré dans le monde "The International Tiger Day". A cette occasion, le zoo de Moscou sacrifie largement au rituel. Voir le détail dans "Amur Tiger Centre".

http://amur-tiger.ru/ru/press_center/news/871/

МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЙ ДЕНЬ ТИГРА ОТМЕТЯТ В МОСКОВСКОМ ЗООПАРКЕ

http://amur-tiger.ru/ru/press_center/news/872/

ТИГР ПОМОГАЕТ ЛЮДЯМ

Depuis un an.

Since the last Global Tiger Day in 2016, researchers have discovered tiger populations in unexpected areas, such as forested corridors along riverbanks and in areas that recently served as theaters of war.
Several countries have worked to protect the tigers that live within their borders, including the creation of a massive national park and taking steps to end tiger farming.

1. China contemplates, then approves, a massive national park that’s home to tigers and leopards.

2. Laos pledges to shutter its commercial tiger farms.

3. Scientists find evidence that tigers and other animals are using forest corridors in Sumatra.

4. Scientists find a wildlife treasure trove in Myanmar (Karen State).

5. A camera trap survey reveals a second breeding population of Indochinese tigers in Thailand.

Voir sur le site "Mongabay".

https://news.mongabay.com/2017/07/five-promising-stories-for-global-tiger-day/

LE HUITIEME CONTINENT

29 Juillet 2017 , Rédigé par Alain Sennepin

La Nouvelle Zelande et la Nouvelle Calédonie constituent les parties émergées (soit 6%) de la Zélandie,, continent englouti il y a 75 millions d'années. Des scientifiques s'engagent dans l'exploration de ce "continent perdu". Voir le détail dans "The Sun", hier.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/4119057/secrets-of-lost-eighth-continent-zealandia-to-be-unlocked-as-scientists-set-sail-to-explore-underwater-landmass/

PAQUEBOTS IMMERGES. Par sa position centrale dans le Pacifique, a t-il été, à "l'époque historique", une pouponnière et un diffuseur des cachalots de cet océan, comme le fut l'Antarctique pour les baleines bleues?

SURRECTION OROGENIQUE

27 Juillet 2017 , Rédigé par Alain Sennepin

Dans les contreforts de l'Himalaya indien, des modifications dans les méthodes de protection de la grande faune sauvage ces dernières années ont dynamisé les populations de grands félins. En Uttarakhand, le recensement de l'automne 2014 avait mis en lumière un cumul de 179 tigres pour les réserves de Corbett et Rajaji, entraînant une refonte des pratiques de mise en protection et de dynamisation des populations tigréennes de ce secteur. Le recensement de cet hiver (28 novembre 2016 - 19 mars 2017) et dont les résultats sont connus aujourd'hui, met en lumière une croissance démographique au sein de chacune des deux réserves (208 contre 163 précédemment pour Corbett, 34 contre 16 précédemment pour Rajaji). Ceci représente une croissance de plus de 35%. Il s'agit là d'estimations minimales, choix délibéré des concepteurs du système de comptage. Il est donc très probable que plus de 250 tigres vivent dans ces deux réserves. L'Uttarakhand abritait officiellement 340 tigres sauvages à l'automne 2014. Le recensement effectué n'avait toutefois pas concerné de vastes secteurs, situés aussi bien à l'ouest qu'à l'est de cet Etat. Il est donc vraisemblable que sa population tigréenne actuelle se situe aux environs de 450 individus, dans les seuls espaces couverts par le recensement de la fin de l'année 2014. Voir le détail dans "The Times of India", ce jour. Seema Sharma, TNN.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/dehradun/tiger-numbers-up-in-corbett-rajaji-63-more-found/articleshow/59783416.cms

RECONSTRUCTION D'UN TERRITOIRE

26 Juillet 2017 , Rédigé par Alain Sennepin

Le territoire de Khabarovsk abritait, il y a plusieurs siècles, des centaines de tigres sur un espace supérieur d'au moins 50% à ce qu'il est aujourd'hui. Au siècle dernier, la population s'est effondrée : moins de 20 individus au début des années 1940. La croissance à partir de ce point bas put reprendre avec l'interdiction de la chasse en 1947 et de la capture pour les zoos en 1952. En 1996, la population se situait officiellement entre 64 et 71 individus, entre 71 et 77 dix ans plus tard, et entre 100 et 109 l'an dernier, avec une expansion significative de leur aire de distribution vers le nord. Voir le détail dans l'article d'Igor Souslov dans le deuxième numéro de cette année du Zvezda Priamura magazine, traduit ici en anglais sur le site du "Amur Tiger Programme".

Article by Igor Suslov, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources of the Khabarovsk Territory and Chairman of the Hunting Farm Committee, in the second issue of the Zvezda Priamurya magazine, 2017.

The Amur tiger’s habitat in the Khabarovsk Territory was larger throughout history than it is today: the tiger could also be found in the Lesser Khingan and Vandan mountain ranges, or near the Amgun, Bureya, and Selemdzha rivers. There is no exact data on the tiger’s habitat size in those times, though it supposedly exceeded their present-day home by more than 50 percent.

By the beginning of the 20^th century, the population had decreased drastically for reasons still unknown, and by the end of the 1940s, the tiger’s habitat in the Khabarovsk Territory was divided into separate patches with a total area of no more than one million hectares for a population of less than 20 tigers.

Adopting a law which prohibited tiger hunting in 1947 and introducing a ban on catching tiger cubs for zoos in 1952 played an important role in restoring the population. It resulted in the general growth of the population since the 1950s, and in the 1970s the habitat covered a continuous area, as it does now.

In August 1995, the Russian Government adopted Resolution No. 795 On the Conservation of Amur Tigers and Other Rare and Endangered Species and Plants in the Primorye and Khabarovsk Territories, which became the basis for the strategy of Amur tiger conservation in Russia. The positive outcome was clear during the tiger count in 1995-1996, which estimated the population in the Khabarovsk Territory at 64-71 animals.

The Amur tiger counts in the 1970s showed that the increase in the population and the settling of tigers in new areas happened primarily in the northern parts of their former habitat. This was also confirmed by the counts held in the 1980s and the early 1990s. The 2005-2006 count showed that in the beginning of the new century the tiger population stabilised and stood at 71-77 animals in the Khabarovsk Territory.

In 2014-2015, another regular Amur tiger count was held in the Khabarovsk Territory.

For the past 15 years, annual monitoring has been conducted in separate areas in addition to the usual counts. This local monitoring considers the Amur tiger the only biological indicator of the biodiversity, introduces new count methods using camera traps and studies Amur tiger migrations beyond the existing habitat in order to research the possibility of its expansion and find new possible places to relocate combative animals.

The results showed that the tiger population has grown significantly. The main part of the population lives in the Lazo and Nanaisky municipal districts of the Khabarovsk Territory.

According to the 2015 count, there are 100-109 Amur tigers, including 20-30 cubs, living in the Khabarovsk Territory.

At the same time, the population’s growth and its settling in the north are the result of measures aimed at preserving the Amur tiger, as well as conserving its food sources and habitat. These included joint efforts of federal and regional state agencies, as well as public organisations; implemented were measures to protect the Amur tiger in 2010-2015, approved by the Khabarovsk Territory Governor’s Resolution No. 38 of 6 March 2010, and the action plan for the preservation of the Amur tiger for 2016−2020, approved by the Governor’s directive No. 412-r of 21 August 2015.

Hunting farm and environmental protection committees of the Khabarovsk Territory’s Ministry of Natural Resources, as well as the local ministries of education, science and culture, the Service for Wildlife Protection and Protected Areas of the Khabarovsk Territory, the forestry service, the Integrated Directorate of the State Nature Reserves and National Parks of the Khabarovsk Territory, the Russian Ministry of the Interior Directorate for the Khabarovsk Territory, hunting farm managers and public organisations are jointly carrying out the measures set out by the action plan to implement the high-priority measures to protect the Amur tiger defined by the strategy of Amur tiger conservation in the Russian Federation, approved by the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment’s directive No. 25-r of 2 July 2010.

The action plan aims to preserve a stable population of Amur tigers in the Khabarovsk Territory.

Actualisation au 28 juillet.

http://programmes.putin.kremlin.ru/en/tiger/news/25554

Amur Tiger population in Khabarovsk Territory grows by 50% over 10 years.

The Khabarovsk Territory government’s recent inter-agency meeting, held on 28 July, focused on the conservation of Amur tigers in Russia’s Far East. Those present at the event included representatives of hunting farms, forest users and officials from the Khabarovsk and Primorye territories, the Amur Region and also the Jewish Autonomous Region.

Experts discussed how the population of the Amur tiger was being counted, measures that should be taken to increase food for them, prospects of restoring the rare animal’s population within the historical habitat as well as its conservation. The participants noted that the success of the conservation strategy of Russia’s Amur tiger is indicated by the annual head count. The monitoring methods used include capturing animals’ images with trail cameras and following the predator outside its natural geographic range in order to explore opportunities of expanding the borders and possible relocation of conflicting animals.

Alexander Yermolin, Khabarovsk Territory’s Deputy Chairman of the Government and Minister of Natural Resources, reported that there has been significant population development of the Amur tigers. According to the 2015 count, between 100 and 109 tigers inhabit the area, including more than 36 females and 28 cubs while ten years ago the population was only around 71 animals. The majority of the tigers are currently based in the Nanaisky and Lazo districts.

MORT D'UN HEROS

24 Juillet 2017 , Rédigé par Alain Sennepin

Dmitry Gregorievitch Pikunov a permis aux sources de Vie de réémerger.

Dmitry Pikunov, chasseur, explorateur, docteur en sciences biologiques, membre de la Fédération Ecologiste de Russie, avait fondé, en 1990 (au début d'une période particulièrement chaotique et dangereuse pour la Russie, son peuple, sa flore et sa faune ) l'Institut de Géographie du Pacifique. Il y a conçu de nouvelles approches d'étude et de protection des grands animaux sauvages en général, et des grands prédateurs en particuliers, et a formé toute une génération de chercheurs, comme Pavel Fomenko et Vassily Solkin. Son travail immense, "sur des chemins où les autres ne vont pas", a permis aux tigres et léopards de l'Amour de survivre à la fin du XXème siècle, puis de rebondir au XXIème, et à la Russie, de disposer des personnalités les plus compétentes et des équipes les plus efficaces au Monde pour assurer un avenir solide aux félins géants. Voir le détail et les interventions de Pavel Fomenko et de Sergeï Aramilev, dans "Amur Tiger Centre", ce jour.

http://amur-tiger.ru/ru/press_center/news/865/

ЦЕНТР АМУРСКИЙ ТИГР

BASSE INTENSITE

23 Juillet 2017 , Rédigé par Alain Sennepin

Les relations entre tigres et populations riveraines se sont sensiblement améliorées dans les mangroves Sundarbans (delta du Gange indo - bengladeshi), ce qui rééquilibre le dynamisme et la qualité de vie des uns comme des autres. India blooms, hier.

https://www.indiablooms.com/ibns_new/life-details/L/3015/here-come-the-sundarban-tigers.html

UNE BONNE MERE

21 Juillet 2017 , Rédigé par Alain Sennepin

La chatte Muska a élevé huit petits hérissons après que leur mère soit morte lors de la fenaison aux environs de Vladivostok. Voir le détail dans "The Siberian Times", hier.

http://siberiantimes.com/other/others/news/hero-foster-mother-cat-feeds-eight-orphan-hedgehogs-saving-their-lives/

Depuis quelques semaines, dans le Ngorongoro, en Tanzanie, la lionne Nosikitok prend soin d'un petit léopard (les deux espèces sont habituellement très antagonistes).

PREPARATION CULINAIRE

19 Juillet 2017 , Rédigé par Alain Sennepin

Avec un "tour de gueule" particulier, des dauphins du Golfe du Mexique ont appris à éviter les dangers de la chasse au poisson chat marin, en décapitant leur victime, technique qu'ils transmettent à leur entourage. Les scientifiques ont découvert ce savoir faire en observant un nombre significatif de têtes de poissons - chats flottant au sein d'un troupeau de dauphins. Les décapitations étaient récentes : les yeux et nageoires pectorales des poissons bougeaient encore. Michael Greshko, dans National Geographic, hier. "Why these dolphins behead their preys."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/dolphins-catfish-feeding-behavior-animals/