Latest census shows 1,706 big cats in the wild

The all-India tiger census released on Monday has projected 1,706 tigers in the wild, marking an increase of 295. Interestingly, Sundarban forests have been included in the census for the first time, with 70 tigers in the area.

The latest figures for the rest of the country stand at 1,636, which is 15.94 per cent higher than the 2006 figure of 1,411 tigers.

The estimation was carried out by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, along with Government and private partners. Confusion was created over the 12 per cent increase in figure stated by Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh. Later, a WII official clarified to The Pioneer that the rise was 15.9 per cent and not 12 per cent.

According to the latest report, Nagarhole-Mudumalai-Bandipur-Wayanad reserve forests — that extend across three States in the Nilgiris — have the single largest population of the tiger in the world while Sunderban has the highest tiger density in the world.

The big cats’ loss, on the other hand, has been found to be significant in northern Andhra Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh while Maharashtra and Terai regions (Himalayas) have shown a hike.

The figures indicate that Shivalik-Gangetic plains (Uttarakhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh) have 353 tigers; central India and Eastern Ghats (Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh) have 601 tigers; Western Ghats (Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka) 534; the northeast hills and Brahmaputra floodplains (Assam, Mizoram, West Bengal) 148, and Sunderban 70.

“We have a mixed bag of results,” said Ramesh. Even if the figures show an increase, there is decrease in tiger occupancy by nearly 22 per cent due to poaching and development, which shows that tiger corridors are under major threat,” observed Ramesh.

Another important aspect of the census is that close to 30 per cent of estimated tiger population is outside the 39 tiger reserves and “we do not yet have a strategy to protect the big cats in these areas,” pointed out Ramesh.

This time, the upper limit for the tiger numbers has been set at 1,875 as against 1,657 in the last census. Against the corresponding lower limit of 1,165 in the previous census, the present figure is 1,571. The population estimate comes to 1,706.

This time the tiger estimation was done using more scientific methods of camera trapping rather than the conventional pug mark count for getting more realistic figures.

Explaining the system, Dr YV Jhala from WII, who headed the tiger census team, said, “Tigers walk across a sensor and take self-photograph — each tiger has a unique stripe pattern like finger printing which avoids duplication.” The authorities have taken 615 pictures of adult tigers as the sample size, based on which the estimation of the total figure was done, he added.

The tiger census reported that the man-animal conflict has been increasing in Corbett, Ranthambore, Tadoba, Bor and Bandhavgarh national parks.

The Forest Minister called for the need to balance development and environment. “Choices have to be made on whether we can afford nine per cent growth and end up having no forest cover. We have to find a way of balancing imperative high growth with imperative preserving ecosystem,” he said.

He further pointed out that many tiger reserves are under threat from coal mining, hydel power projects, irrigation projects. “There is no dispute over the need for economic growth but we have to reconcile growth with environment,” the Minister pointed out.

Talking on similar lines, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia said: “I don’t know why I am being seen as the biggest threat to environment. We need to balance development and environment.”