Context - The Wildlife Institute of India and the National Tiger Conservation Authority, who are responsible for the quadrennial ‘tiger census’ reports, recently updated their estimates for the animal’s numbers. Madhya Pradesh, for the second time in eight years, reported 785 tigers, or about a fifth of the national count. The State reported a 50% rise in tigers since the last census.
A Case Study : How Madhya Pradesh over the years has perfected the Tiger conservation approach:
It has focussed on balancing the predator – prey relationship: M.P. has reintroduced species such as barasingha (swamp deer) to new habitats such as Satpuda and Bandhavgarh, and the gaur to the Bandhavgarh and Sanjay-Dubri tiger reserves. Prey species such as chital (spotted deer) have been successfully supplemented in the Satpuda and Sanjay tiger reserves, Nauradehi, Kuno, and Gandhisagar wildlife sanctuaries through translocation from high-density Pench and Bandhavgarh.
These often involve tracking, darting and capturing animals, keeping them in temporary enclosures until they reach sufficient numbers and then releasing them into their new habitat.
Key facts:
- The number of tigers in India has increased from 2,967 in 2018 to 3,682 in 2022, an annual rise of 6 per cent.
- India has become home to approximately 75 per cent of the world’s tiger population.
- Tiger census is held every four years in the country.
- With a 50 per cent increase in the last four years, Madhya Pradesh has the maximum number (785) of tigers in the country, followed by Karnataka (563), Uttarakhand (560), and Maharashtra (444), according to the data.
- The number of tigers “within the tiger reserve” is highest in Corbett (260), followed by Bandipur (150), Nagarhole (141), Bandhavgarh (135), Dudhwa (135), Mudumalai(114), Kanha (105), Kaziranga (104), Sundarbans (100), Tadoba (97), Sathyamangalam (85), and Pench-MP (77).
- Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand have recorded a dip in the number of majestic cats in the last few years.
- The Western Ghats witnessed a decrease in tiger occupancy, except for a few areas like Kali (Anshi Dandeli), where the number of unique tigers remains stable. The report pointed to “increasing human footprint and development” as the primary reasons behind the declining tiger population in the Western Ghats