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This National Park is
small compared to others, but its importance lies in the
fact that it has a high game density. When originally
notified as a protected area in 1968, the Park was only
105sq km in size. But in 1986, this area was extended to
include large areas of sal (Shorea robusta) forests in the
northern and southern ends of the Park. Today, the Park
covers an area of about 448sq km and is home to a wide
variety of animals, including carnivores, primates,
ungulates, reptiles and birds.
The Elusive White Tiger
The forests of Bandhavgarh are the white tiger jungles of
the yesteryears. However, no white tigers have been
reported from the wild in the last 50 years, and it is
believed that less than a dozen have been seen in India in
about a hundred years. and yet when white tigers were
sighted, it was right here in Bandhavgarh.
Documents in the Rewa Palace record as many as 8 occasions
on which white tigers had been sighted in and around
Bandhavgarh during the first half of the 20th century. In
1951, Maharaja Martand Singh of Rewa captured an orphaned
white tiger cub from the Bagri forest in Bandhavgarh (see
Rewa & Land under Madhya Pradesh). The Maharaja
domesticated this male white tiger and named him Mohan.
The Maharaja was also able to successfully breed white
tigers in Rewa and export the cubs to distant countries.
As a result, all white tigers in captivity today are
Mohan’s descendants. The species has thrived in captivity,
with a number of specimens related to Mohan finding homes
in zoos and circuses all over the world. Mohan was the
last white tiger in the wild, and no white tiger has been
reported ever since.
Before scientists undertook research projects on the white
tiger, it was widely believed that the animals were
albinos. However, it was discovered that the white tiger
did not have pink eyes as albinos do. Instead, these
tigers had black stripes and blue eyes, a result of
genetic aberration that occurs due to mutant recessive
genes in both parents. |
