According to sources who were part of the census, the number of tigers in this forest can be anything between 30 to 40, where as the census carried out last year had put the number at 47. The latest census indicates that there are at least 12 new young tigers in this forest.

This was the first time that wildlife experts used three methods simultaneously to know the exact number of tigers in the forest. These were pugmark system, water whole counting and deployment of digital camera at certain strategic locations. The Wildlife Institute, Dehradun, has developed a computer software to analyse the pug marks and the strips on the bodies of the tigers to differentiate one from another.

In all about 250 pug marks were taken in Ranthambhore, Kailadevi and Man Singh forests. Sources said that contrary to the claims by the authorities that sometimes the tigers move to the adjoining forest areas, not a single pug mark was found in the forests of Kailadevi and Man Singh. This has disturbed them and the wildlife experts as they all the time believed that the tigers from Ranthambhore often stray to these forests.

Now some of them are of the view that the actual number of tigers in Ranthambhore might be less than the expected.

The tiger census in Sariska tiger sanctuary is also in progress and its results would be known some time in next month. This tiger sanctuary, off late, was making headlines following the reports of illegal poaching and disappearance of tigers from the forest.

Meanwhile, a hot debate is going on about the cause of the death of tigress Sharmili, whose carcass was found in Kota Danar area of the Keoladeo National Park, the world famous bird sanctuary in Bharatour, on last Friday.

After the post-mortem of the viscera of this seven-and-half-year-old tigress, the carcass has been sent to wildlife institute for analysis. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje has constituted a three-member committee to find out the cause for the death of the tigress.

Though there is unanimity that this was not case of poaching, experts differ on the real cause of her death. Some say acute shortage of water in the forest lead to her death. However, others feel thirst cannot cause death to tigers.

This tigress was spotted in these forests in 2000 and tiger experts believed that she had strayed away from Ranthambhore. Since she was lonely in these forests, some experts had suggested to arrange for her migration to the adjoining Sariska, where she may find a male partner. But some environmentalist were opposed to the idea as they were of the opinion that she was living in a natural forest surroundings and could survive for long.

Last month, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh discussed the protection of tigers with senior forest official at Ranthambhore, the proposal to shift this tigress to Sariska was again mooted.