The highest density of tigers anywhere in the world has been recorded in Kaziranga National Park in northeast India, a new report reveals.
Using camera traps, scientists recorded 39 tigers, including a one-year-old cub, living in a 144 sq km area covering the centre and west of the park.
An abundance of prey, such as hog deer, help support such high tiger numbers.
Other potential prey such as this wild boar, were also recorded by the survey, carried out between January and March 2009 by conservation society Aaranyak, with funding from the UK David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation and The Rufford Small Grants Foundation.
In tiger reserves throughout India, tigers usually are found at a density of 3-12 tigers per 100 sq km. In Kaziranga, camera traps revealed 32 tigers per 100 sq km.
All the tigers present are unlikely to have been photographed by the survey, and scientists estimate that there may actually be up to 47 tigers living in the 144km study area.
The previous record of 19.6 tigers per 100 sq km was recorded in the Corbett Tiger Reserve in northern India. Kazinranga's grassland habitat is ideal for tigers and other rare animals such as this Indian rhino.
Rhino are likely to be too big to regularly fall prey to tigers. But animals such as this sambar are not, and their presence also helps support such a high density of predators.
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