There are different national parks in India, along with that there are different types of animals in different national parks. Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) is one of the different national parks in India. This national park is a tiger reserve forest. Like all other tiger reserves, this national park also needs to keep a perfect ratio for the tigers’ prey. That will help the tigers to keep a good situation for the predators. Also, the number of prey will depend on how many tigers are there in Tadoba. It is always a better option to update the prey and predator estimation of any national park or any forest. And this is a must when it comes to any place like a tiger reserve.
Prey
These are animals or life, which get prayed by any predator. As the ecological pyramid goes up, the number of prey decreases, and the animal in the lower, relatively lower step of the pyramid is preyed on by the upper one. An animal that is prey to an animal can also be a predator to another animal.
Predators
The animals satisfy their hunger by haunting the prey. This predator will always be at an upper level of the ecological pyramid than the prey. So, to keep or reserve any predator, you also need to keep the prey at those locations. And as the number of the predators will always be lower than the prey, they must be preserved.
Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve
Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, also known as the TATR. It is a national park to reserve tigers in India. Tadoba Andhari national park is also the oldest and the largest national park in Maharashtra. The tiger reserve under this national park has the reserved tiger, the national animal of India, The Bengal Tiger, or the Panthera tigris Tigris.
The national park has some other mammals, like leopards, bears, nilgai, dhole, gaur, and others. But the TATR is especially for the Tiger reserve itself. This reserve forest is in the Chandrapur district of the state, created in 1955. Being a tiger reserve, keeping a ratio of the prey and the predators in reserve is necessary to keep the tigers habitable. It is completely based on how many tigers are there in Tadoba. And based on that, it is also necessary to increase the number of prey with the increasing number of predators.
The Statistics
Before going deep into the statistics of the prey and predators of TATR, it is important to know What are the tigers’ prey? On this note, some large animal names come in front. Being large predatory animals, tigers try to prey on large animals. Deer, boar, and nilgais are natural prey for tigers. But sometimes, they prey on elephant calves as well. Also, an ill, injured, or aged tiger can prey on a human being.
So, while discussing the statistics, you need to know that there are 115 tigers in the TATR. And there are 151 leopards based on the survey of 2019. So, for 100 sq. kilometres, the number of tigers is 5.23, and for the leopard, that will be 6.86.
On the prey side, there are different animals. They are also in a large number. It helps in the distribution and dynamics of tiger and prey. Some animals there are 5995 sambars, 12077 chitals, 12683 wild boars, 1059 hares, 542 grey jungle fowls, 1026 barking deer, and 1863 nilgais.
All of these animals play the role of prey for the tigers and leopards. As the number of tigers increases over time, the number of prey should also be increased. That is how to keep the tigers habitable in that particular zone and the reserve forest.
Conclusion
While discussing the statistics, based on the prey and the predators, you need to have a firm idea about both those and the different types of prey of a particular predator. Talking about the Tadoba Andhari Tiger reserve, you need to know the particulars of the tiger itself. And the most important factor over here is how many tigers are there in Tadoba to decide and consider the prey and predator factor of TATR.