Radio collars & tiger mating put Rajasthan foresters in a fix

The 1.5 kg collars probably make it tough for tigers to breed. Collars preventing tigers from breeding? The Rajasthan forest department has been in a fix over removing the radio collars of tigers in Sariska Tiger Reserve. The 1.5 kg collars are apparently threatening the existence of the tigers as the cats have been finding it difficult to mate with the heavy contraption around their necks. Scientists suspect that Ranthambhore National Park tigress T-17, renamed Krishna after champion athlete Krishna Poonia of Rajasthan, and three other females shifted to Sariska were finding the radio collars a burden during mating. Following requests from environmentalists, including state wildlife board member Rajpal Singh, forest officials got rid of T-17's collar last week as the device stopped sending signals 18 months ago. Singh and wildlife enthusiast Dhirendra Godha argued that T-17 had not had a litter but her sister, T-19, who was not collared, gave birth to three cubs around six months ago. Forest officials don't know what to do because once the gadgets are removed the tigers would become vulnerable to poachers. And if they aren't, the tigers wouldn't mate and procreate. None of the three tigresses in Sariska has been able to reproduce though experts haven't detected any hormonal imbalance affecting their fertility. As an experiment, forest officials are now contemplating removing the collar of at least one tigress. Ironically, they have reportedly chosen ST-2, who is eight years old and whose collar has not been sending proper signals for quite some time. Read more at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/foresters-in-jam-over-mating-tigers-radio-collars/1/161820.html