Journey Into the Emerald Forest And Meet India’s New Tiger-King Programming Highlights / Animal Planet Posted by RAD on Nov 19, 2004 - 12:00 AM The Tiger king is dead and war is declared across the rugged terrain of the Panna region in India. In tiger society, the dominant male presides over his kingdom and ensures peace for his feline subjects. But when this position is vacant, all bets are off. No one is safe – especially the cubs of the previous alpha male. Meet leading tiger scientist Raghu Chundawar as he follows the battle for the throne in the brand-new, one-hour special Tigers of the Emerald Forest, premiering Mon., Nov. 29 at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. The Panna region is famous for diamonds and the erotic Khajouro Temples – the home of the Kama Sutra. Panna Tiger Reserve, India’s 22nd tiger reserve, encompasses an area of 543 square km and is situated in central India. With 70,000 cattle using the park and 14 villages inside its perimeter, there was not much initial hope for the tigers on the reservation whose numbers were rapidly dwindling. Over time the dedicated team of scientists, vets and conservationists protecting the park has begun to make headway in developing this tiger population. Until now. With the region’s two largest cats at war, the fragile population of Panna’s majestic tigers is under threat. According to the World Wildlife Federation, India today has the world’s largest number of tigers, numbering somewhere between 3,030 and 4,735 and it is estimated that only 5,100 to 7,500 individual tigers now remain in the entire world. These remaining tigers are threatened by many factors, including growing human populations, loss of habitat, illegal hunting of tigers and their prey, and expanded trade in tiger parts used for traditional medicines. Animal Planet is an animal lover‘s paradise. Whether cats and dogs or lemurs and elephants, Animal Planet focuses on what makes the relationship between humans and animals so special. The channel launched in Fall 2001. This article is from CHANNEL CANADA   http://www.channelcanada.com/ The URL for this story is:   http://www.channelcanada.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=657