Tiger population in India rises to 3682; shows 6 per cent annual increase

In a significant achievement in wildlife conservation Indiarsquos tiger population has grown to 3682 in 2022 up from 2967 in 2018 showing a 6 per cent annual increase in consistently monitored areas the Parliament was informed on MondayThe rise in tiger numbers is due to efforts by the National Tiger Conservation Authority NTCA which focuses on three main strategies material and logistical support restricting habitat interventions and following Standard Operating Procedures SOPs Minister of State for Environment Forest and Climate Change Shri Kirti Vardhan Singh told the Lok Sabha in a written replyThe Central Indian Landscape Complex and Eastern Ghats Landscape Complex spanning Andhra Pradesh Telangana Chhattisgarh Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra Odisha Rajasthan and Jharkhand saw the numbers rise from 1033 in 2018 to 1439 in 2022 while the ShivalikGangetic Plain landscape complex encompassing Uttarakhand Uttar Pradesh and Bihar registered a rise from 646 to 819 including from 442 to 560 in Uttarakhand Other complexes also registered significant growth such as Sunderbans where the population increased from 88 to 101However within the Central Indian Landscape Complex and Eastern Ghats Landscape Complex the tiger population has declined in Odisha Telangana Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand Apart from this the tiger population has also decreased in Arunachal Pradesh where it has come down from 29 to 9 in 2022 However in Madhya Pradesh tigers increased from 526 in 2018 to 785 in 2022 and in Maharashtra from 312 to 444Indias tiger population has more than doubled since 2006 when it was 1411 This growth has been supported by Project Tiger a government initiative that funds conservation activities through annual plans prepared by tiger reserves These plans are based on broader Tiger Conservation Plans as mandated by the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 the reply saidFunding is provided to tiger reserves for acquiring capacity in terms of infrastructure and material to deal with tigers dispersing out of source areas These are solicited by tiger reserves through an Annual Plan of Operation APO every year which stems from an overarching Tiger Conservation Plan TCP mandated under Section 38 V of the ActBased on the carrying capacity of tigers in a tiger reserve habitat interventions are restricted through an overarching TCP In case tiger numbers are at carrying capacity levels it has been advised that habitat interventions should be limited so that there is no excessive spillover of wildlife including tigers thereby minimising mananimal conflict Further in buffer areas around tiger reserves habitat interventions are restricted such that they are suboptimal visavis the corecritical tiger habitat areas judicious enough to facilitate dispersal to other rich habitat areas only the reply saidAs per Standard Operating Procedure SOPs the National Tiger Conservation Authority has issued three SOPs to deal with humananimal conflict the issue of managing dispersing tigers managing livestock kills so as to reduce conflict as well as relocating tigers from source areas to areas where the density of tiger is low so that conflict in rich source areas does not occurAlso as per Tiger Conservation Plans needbased and sitespecific management interventions are undertaken by the tiger reserves to improve the quality of wildlife habitat and funding support for these activities is provided under the Project Tiger Component of the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Integrated Development of Wildlife Habitats the Minister said in the replyAlso ReadWildlife conservationist Dr Jane Goodall praises Mumbairsquos humanleopard coexistence watch videoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever