Roar, Rise: India Has 3,167 Tigers in Forests, 200 More than 2018, Shows Govt Estimate​

India now has as many as 3,167 tigers in forests, up by 200 from 2018, shows the latest government estimate. While the survey has given a reason to cheer, it has also raised concerns over the falling tiger occupancy in several big states.

The latest estimate photo-captured a total of 3,080 individual tigers (aged over 1 year), which is larger than the ones captured in 2018.

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“The number of tigers is either stabilising or decreasing in most of the 13 tiger range countries, but India has been able to set an example,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he released the ‘5th Cycle of All India Tiger Estimation’. “It is all because of people’s participation and our culture of conservation.”

Camera traps were placed at 32,588 locations spread across 174 sites for mark recapture analysis. Over 47 million camera trap pictures were segregated using artificial intelligence (AI), which identified as many as 3,080 tigers.

FALLING TIGER OCCUPANCY IN STATES

While the increase in tiger count remains marginal, the falling occupancy of big cats across vast regions remains disconcerting. The report raises concern over how deteriorating landscapes, deforestation and poaching are threatening the long-term survival of the big cats.

As many as 1,161 of India’s tigers are now in Central India, 824 in the Western Ghats, 804 in the Shivalik Range, 194 in the North-eastern states and 100 in the Sunderbans. The north-western states such as Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh now have more tigers outside reserves, requiring officials to step up habitat conservation.

On the other hand, the Western Ghats, which are home to the largest tiger population in the world, has shown a significant fall in the occupancy of tigers, especially outside the protected areas. The region is not only losing forests at a faster rate, but the increasing human-wildlife conflict is threatening the growth of the endangered cat, says the report.

The big cat occupancy has also declined in the states of Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, and Telangana. On the eastern front, too, the number of tigers remained low at 194. Large forest areas and protected reserves continue to remain devoid of Tigers in the North-eastern hills due to traditional hunting practices, habitat loss, fragmentation and poaching threatening their survival. Even though poaching is illegal, the demand for tiger products remains high, and poachers continue to kill tigers for profit, says the report.

TIGER MORTALITY

The period covered in the survey — 2018 to 2022 — also saw 551 tiger deaths, with 208 of them adults. Over the past five years, the average tiger deaths per year has hovered around 110 – 101 in 2018, 96 in 2019, 106 in 2020, 127 in 2021 and 121 in 2022.

The government recently told Parliament that of the total 121 deaths in 2022, 50% were adults. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which maintains the data, said a majority of the deaths were due to natural causes, followed by poisoning, snaring, shooting, electrocution and poaching.

LAUNCH OF BIG CATS ALLIANCE

India takes stock of its population every four years. From just 1,411 tigers estimated to be in the forests in 2006, the country has been able to double the population, reaching 2,967 in 2018, as per the government estimate.

Strengthening the conservation measures, India also launched the International Big Cats Alliance (IBCA), a global pact to curb poaching and illegal wildlife trade and protect the seven major big cats of the world — tiger, lion, leopard, snow leopard, puma, jaguar and cheetah. All 97 range countries harbouring these species will be a part of the alliance.

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