The tiger population in the two States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will soon hit the century mark, thanks to a successfully laid recovery track that channels through Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam Tiger Reserve. If Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments manage to prevent poaching in the coming years, the tiger population will grow from an all time low of 68 in 2014 to a little over a hundred by 2018.

The minimal, but encouraging growth in tiger population will come about as wildlife conservation authorities have managed to nurture eight female tigers who gave birth to an average of three cubs during the last two years. As some cubs would attain adulthood by reaching the age of two this year, conservationists say another batch will turn two by 2018.

The cubs were spotted in the camera-tracking equipment of wildlife crime control bureau that was introduced only a few years ago.

As per the latest tiger census, report of which was released in January 2014, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are the only States in South India with a depleting tiger count that dipped from 95 in 2006 to 68 in 2014. In other South Indian States like Karnataka, the tiger population increased from 103 in 2006 to 190 in 2014.

In Tamil Nadu the population had seen a steep growth from 76 to 229 during the same period. In Maharashtra, the population increase was from 103 to 190 from 2006 to 2014 and in Kerala the increase was from 290 to 406 during the same period. The tiger population has been depleting in Telangana due to large-scale poaching of individuals for tooth, skin and nails. Hyderabad is an active market for the sale of nails, officials pointed out.

Indigenous population chips in

Conservationists have been supporting tigers with the aid of indigenous population who find their abode in Nallamala forests. “Using the cameras we could spot 20 to 22 individuals in Mahabubnagar and Adilabad part of the reserve and some of them have cubs,” said chief wildlife warden, Telangana. In Andhra Pradesh too, cubs and individuals were spotted, officials said. According to conservationists, tigers are found more in moist deciduous forests of Andhra Pradesh than the dry deciduous forests in Telangana. “In Kawal, Telangana, we spot mostly a floating population of tigers. The moist deciduous forests in Guntur, Kurnool and Prakasam have a good population of tigers,” said Rahul Pandey, an IFS officer who worked on conservation.