Status of Tigers in India, 2018 Report

Why in news?

The 4-year tiger census report, Status of Tigers in India of 2018, released recently shows numbers of the big cat have increased across all landscapes.

What is it all about?

• The total number of tigers has risen by 33% since 2014.
• This is by far the biggest increase in terms of both numbers and percentage since the census using camera traps and the capture-mark-recapture method began in 2006.
• The 2018 figure has a great degree of credibility because83% of the total tigers have been photographed by trap cameras.

Why is a tiger census needed?

• As tiger sits at the peak of the food chain, its conservation is important to ensure the well-being of the forest ecosystem.
• The tiger estimation exercise includes habitat assessment and prey estimation.
• The numbers reflect the success or failure of conservation efforts.
• The Global Tiger Forum, an international collaboration of tiger-bearing countries, has set a goal of doubling the count of wild tigers by 2022.
• More than 80% of the world’s wild tigers are in India, and it’s crucial to keep track of their numbers.

Where has the tiger population increased the most?

• The biggest increase has been in Madhya Pradesh,71%as compared to the numbers in 2014.
• In Maharashtra, Karnataka and Uttarkhand, the number has gone up by 64%, 29% and 30% respectively.
• However, since tigers keep moving between states, conservationists prefer to talk about tiger numbers in terms of landscapes.
• India’s five tiger landscapes:Shivalik Hills and Gangetic Plains, Central Indian Landscape and Eastern Ghats, Western Ghats, North-East Hills and Brahmaputra Plains, and the Sundarbans.

Which states/regions have done badly?

• Only one of the 20 tiger-bearing states has seen a fall in numbers — Chhattisgarh, where the number reduced to 19 from46 of 2014.
• The report has cited law and order as the reason,as large parts of the state are hit by the Maoist insurgency.
• No tiger has been found in the Buxa, Palamau and Dampa reserves.

How was the census carried out?

• Phases 1 and 2–
  1. Forest beats (15 sq km each)covered by Forest Departments,
  2. Collection of the signs of tiger presence like scat and pugmarks.
• Phase 3 -
  1. Sample areas are of 2sq.km. parcels and trap cameras were laid in these grids.
  2. The information was plotted on the forest map prepared with remote-sensing and GIS application.
• Phase 4 –The data were extrapolated to areas where cameras could not be deployed.

Why have the numbers gone up?

• The success owes a lot to increased vigilance and conservation efforts by the Forest Department.
• The number of tiger reserves went up in 2018, extending protection to larger numbers of tigers over the years.
• The fact that organized poaching rackets have been crushed.
• The increased protection has encouraged the tiger to breed.
• The rehabilitation of villages outside core areas in many parts of the country has led to the availability of more inviolate space for tigers.
• Since state boundaries do not apply to the movement of tigers, conservationists prefer to talk about tiger numbers in terms of landscapes rather than of states.

Source: The Indian Express