Tiger numbers leaping in India

India's tiger population rose by 200 in the past four years to reach 3,167 in 2022, reveals the latest tiger census data released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. According to the data, the tiger population was 1,411 in 2006, 1,706 in 2010, 2,226 in 2014, 2,967 in 2018 and 3,167 in 2022.

At the inaugural session of the commemoration of 50 years of 'Project Tiger', the Prime Minister also launched the 'International Big Cat Alliance' (IBCA) and released a booklet 'Amrit Kaal Ka Tiger Vision', presenting the vision for tiger conservation in the next 25 years. The unique tigers photographed in 2022 are 3,080 as against 2,461 in 2018.

The tiger population increase is substantial in Shivalik and Gangetic floodplain, which is followed by Central India, North Eastern Hills, and Brahmaputra flood plains and Sundarbans, while the Western population showed a decline with major population being stable.

Although the Central Indian landscape has witnessed an increase in tiger population, the local tiger population in areas such as Sri Venkateswara National Park in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, and Kawal Tiger Reserve in Jannaram of Telangana has become extinct wherein serious conservation efforts are required.

The report says that if management activities like prey augmentation, habitat restoration, and protection are undertaken up seriously, in the tiger reserve areas still there is potential for further recovery of the population.

Unlike the Status of Tigers Report in India-2018, released in 2019, wherein Telangana was home to 26 tigers, the Census report released on Sunday has not given any number of the tiger population in the state.

In the Monitoring Effectiveness Evaluation report (MEE) released by the Central government, two tiger reserves in Telangana are placed in the 'Very Good' and 'Good' category.

The MEE report is based on the assessment of how well the tiger reserves in the country are being managed and their effectiveness in conservation, undertaken by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), in partnership with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

The Kawal Tiger Reserve remained in the 'Good' category like the MEE 2018 report with a score of 74.24 percent, while Amrabad Tiger Reserve scored better at 78.79 percent compared to the last census 71.09 percent. Periyar in Kerala (94.38%), Satpura in Madhya Pradesh, Bandipur in Karnataka (93.18%) and Nagarhole in Karnataka (92.42%) reported top three MEE scores in the 2022 cycle report.