On the occasion of Global Tiger Day,29 July,Prime Minister Narendra Modi reassured India’s commitment to protecting tigers. Releasing the four-yearly report of the All-India Tiger Estimation, Modi said that the number of tigers in India stands at around 3,000 today. “India is one of the safest habitats for tigers,” he added.
“The story which started from ‘Ek Tha Tiger’ and reached to ‘Tiger Zinda hai’,shouldn’t end there,” PM Modi said, adding that the results of the just declared tiger census would make every Indian happy. “Nine years ago, it was decided in St. Petersburg that target of doubling tiger population will be 2022. We completed this target 4 years early,” he said.
‘status of tigers,CO-predators,prey and their habitat 2018’ released by National Tiger Conservation Authority last day.The survey observed 2967 tigers in their specific habitats.The growth of 33% is quite significant as compared with the previous data.There were only 1411 big cats in India in 2006 followed by 2226 in the year of 2014.
The census was carried out in four phases.Phases 1 and 2 covered forest beats, generally spread over 15 sq km each, by Forest Departments, to collect signs of tiger presence like scat and pug-marks. Census enumerators walked paths called line transects to estimate the abundance of prey. This was followed by sampling of plots along the transects to assess habitat characteristics, human impact, and prey dung density.In phase 3, the information was plotted on the forest map prepared with remote-sensing and GIS application. Sample areas were divided in 2-sq-km parcels, and trap cameras were laid in these grids.
In the last phase, data were extrapolated to areas where cameras could not be deployed.Report says the census is the world’s most extensive biodiversity mapping exercise so far . A total 3,81,400 sq km of forests were surveyed;3,17,958 habitat plots were sampled for vegetation and prey dung. There were 26,838 camera trap locations, which covered 1,21,337 sq km.A staggering 3,48,58,623 wildlife pictures were captured. Of them, 76,651 were of tigers; 51,777 of leopards. The entire effort consumed 5,93,882 man days.Camera traps deployment leads to increase in tiger photographs.It is actually notable that ministry of environment and forest moved on from pug-mark based model to scientific camera model developed by wildlife institute of India.(WII).
Though the population of tigers increased there are certain worrying aspects.First,Reports computes the loss of 17,881 sq.km area which is 20% tiger habitats in four years,this is quite alarming as it suggests the tussle between human and tigers in upcoming days.Second,report recorded potential extirpation of tigers in three tiger reserves Buxa(west Bengal),Dampa (Mizoram),Dalama (Jharkhand).These reserves listed poor in management effectiveness evaluation,released with tiger Census.
In conclusion,India has achieved a remarkable growth in tiger conservation with efficient conservation measures but authorities also need to minimise the regional unevenness in tiger population.
