Guest Blog Post on Eco-Sustainability: Countdown Begins – Tiger Census 2013-14 Started Last December
In India, there were around 1,114 tigers roaming in its jungles in the year 2006. This tiger population increased to 1,706 in 2010. Will the tiger lovers in India get a news to cheer in 2014, is a million dollar question… or they will be disappointed due to the extensive poaching and deforestation? What is the exact count of tigers across the country currently? Well, the process to find the answer is going to begin in December this year.
This immense exercise, to determine the crucial figure of tiger count, will get completed in December 2014. Conservationists are highly keen to know the final tally of this census as they want to know the effect of the tiger conservation methods, as compared to the last census. According to the 2010 census, there were around 360 tigers in Central India terrain that includes prestigious reserves such as Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Tadoba-Andhari and Pench.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has announced the schedule to calculate the tigers, prey, co-predators and their habitations in the protected and non-protected regions of various Indian states. Refined methodology of double sampling will be used to carry out this upcoming tiger census. Two more states, Nagaland and Goa have also been included in the census this year.
According to the census of 2010, the number of tigers in national parks and wildlife sanctuaries of Maharashtra was 169, while it was 103 as per 2006 census. SWH Naqvi, Maharashtra’s principal chief conservator of forest (wildlife), said that the department has images of 155 different tigers in and around the protected regions in the state. He also added that he expects the tiger count in the state would be around 200, as many of the tiger inhabited regions were not covered in Phase-IV.
The first practice of the refined methodology was done in 2006. A decade ago, it was estimated that the tiger count in the country will reach the figure of 4000 in 2010, but, it did not go that way. However, the increase from 1,114 to 1,706 can be taken as a significant achievement. The previous counting was done in 7000 square kilometers of area. In Phase-IV estimation of 2012, the state claimed that there are around 200 tigers in its protected areas. Though, this increase in the state’s tiger count may be because the newly declared Sahyadri Tiger Reserve in Western Maharashtra, was taken under the census for the very first time.
According to the wildlife experts, it is really hard to get the exact number of tigers in the state as the poaching is increasing at an alarming pace. Naqvi said that the final census program will get announced after training the field staff. He also said that it is expected to get started in December or January, 2014. This estimation is a mutual initiative of Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and NTCA. It is conducted after every four years and was last practiced in 2010, covering 17 tiger bearing states.
Various NGO’s and the experts f will also be involved in the 2014 census.
The census of 2013-13 will be held in three distinct phases:
- Phase I: This phase will involve the ground data collection through eight-day protocol.
- Phase II: It will involve the generation of landscape and related indices with the use of remote sensed data.
- Phase III: It will involve the computing of tiger densities by using distance sampling and camera traps.
According to an NTCA official, the significant new feature in the evaluation would be the use of data of Phase-IV. The teams of experts from WII will visit the target states for monitoring the process and collecting the data. 100% assistance will be provided by the ongoing sponsored schemes of center for accomplishing the eight day protocol of primary primary data collection. This assistance will also be provided for the training workshops and organizing the orientation.
From 4th September to 1st October 2013, the workshops were held to train the forest officials. The first workshop was conducted from 4th-6th September in Dudhwa, to the officials of Uttar Pradesh , Uttarakhand, Bihar and Rajasthan; From 11th-13th September in Kanha, for the officials of Madhya Pradesh , Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra; From 18th-20th September in Periyar for the officials in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra; From 25th-27th September in Kaziranga for the officials in Buxa, Arunachal, Mizoram and Assam; and from 30th September to 1st October in Sundarbans for the officials in West Bengal.
