Amrabad now has 36 tigers
The Phase-IV monitoring for the previous year estimated the tiger population at 33, while the latest one counted 36. Of these, 13 are males and 20, females, besides two cubs and one unidentified tiger. The previous year's estimate counted 11 males, 15 females and seven cubs.
The number of adult tigers rose from 26 to 34, reflecting a steady positive trend, said a statement from the Field Director, Project Tiger. Notably, the increase in breeding females signifies improved reproductive success and population resilience.
The monitoring exercise was carried out in accordance with National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) protocols, covering 10 forest ranges divided into four spatial blocks for effective and systematic data collection, the statement said.
A total 1,594 camera traps were deployed in the reserve between December 20, 2024 and May 15, 2025 for identifying the tigers. The indirect monitoring exercise covered 797 grid locations, each two square kilometres, to confirm the camera trap data with indirect signs such as pug marks, scats, and scrape & rake marks, the statement said.
Field Director Rohit Gopidi termed the results as encouraging and attributed the success to the field staff.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
a day ago
- Time of India
Tiger population tells success of India's wildlife conservation story but challenges remain
NEW DELHI: In 2006, India had just 1,411 tigers left in the wild. By 2022, there were 3,682, almost 75% of the world's wild tiger population — a 161% jump in just 16 years. More than 50 years since the launch of Project Tiger in 1973, the numbers tell a tale that's obvious: tiger conservation has been a roaring success. But challenges remain. 03:37 Where Tigers Get Caught Between Faith And Tourism | I Witness The numbers are significant, especially in the backdrop of a decline in tiger population in the 1980s, and a period of not-so-robust growth thereafter because of multiple factors, primarily poaching. By 2004, the situation had become so bad that tigers were on the brink of extinction at Rajasthan's Sariska Tiger Reserve. The country's wildlife managers and biologists sensed the urgency and started taking multiple measures to protect the existing tiger population and increase the number of big cats. But, in the journey from 1,411 in 2006 to 3,682 in 2022, many lessons have been learnt — primarily about human-tiger conflict and the lurking threat of poaching. 'The country has been a leader in tiger conservation,' said Yadvendradev V Jhala, a senior scientist at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, and a former dean of Wildlife Institute of India (WII). But Jhala — who has been part of the journey to bring back tigers through policy intervention and management strategies, following the Sariska situation — cautions that the threat to tigers has never gone away. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Cote D'ivoire: New Senior Apartments (Prices May Surprise You) Senior Apartments | Search Ads Search Now Undo 'Though India now has approximately 3,700 tigers, they are still vulnerable and can be decimated if poaching is left unchecked, as the market for illegal tiger parts and products still thrives outside India. ' He also reminded that the tiger population increase had not been uniform: reserves such as Palamau (Jharkhand), Achanakmar (Chhattisgarh), Satkosia (Odisha), Dampa (Mizoram) and Buxa (Bengal) have seen declines and localised extinctions. On the other hand, big cat populations in Uttarakhand and eastern Maharashtra had increased so much that man-animal conflict has become an issue. 'Also, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand have registered declines, though they have good habitats because of prey base depletion,' Jhala said. India began its efforts to protect the tiger population when it launched Project Tiger as a centrally sponsored scheme in 1973 in nine reserves (Assam, Bihar, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal) over a 14,000sq km area. Since then, project coverage has expanded to 58 tiger reserves, over more than 84,487sq km across 18 states, occupying nearly 2.5% of the country's total geographical area. The numbers show that approximately 35% of our tiger reserves urgently require enhanced protection measures, such as habitat restoration, ungulate augmentation and subsequent tiger reintroduction. 'Tiger recovery is linked with rural community prosperity and law and order,' Jhala said. 'In the last 20 years, wherever there has been extreme poverty and armed conflicts (Maoist activity or other law-and-order problems), we have seen tiger extinctions. Improving the livelihoods of forest communities, so that they do not have to rely on forest produce for a living, will reduce their negative impact on biodiversity. ' He, however, stressed that India would need a strategy to manage the growing population of tigers. 'If this is not done in time, there will likely be a severe backlash from local communities, and we stand to lose all we gained in the past 20 years.' The conflict has, indeed, taken a human toll. The environment ministry told Parliament on July 24 that 73 lives were lost in tiger attacks in 2024, with Maharashtra reporting the highest (42), followed by UP (10), MP (6), Uttarakhand (5) and Assam (4). There were 51 human lives lost in 2020, 59 in 2021, 110 in 2022 and 85 in 2023. Indian Forest Service officer and Barabanki DFO Akash Deep Badhawan said during his tenure as DFO Katarniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, Bahraich, forest personnel grappled with a mix of threats: a 45km porous border with Nepal, with cross-border gangs and illegal wildlife trade putting staff at risk. Understaffing and resource shortages are another constraint. 'Human-wildlife conflict fuels mistrust between communities and enforcement teams. Efforts to evict encroachments or set up fencing provoke resistance from villagers, compounding socio-political tension. Balancing legal constraints, regulatory delays, and ecological imperatives adds further administrative and ethical complexity.'
The Hindu
2 days ago
- The Hindu
Dedicated gibbon conservation action plan sought in NE
GUWAHATI A leading Assam-based primatologist has sought a dedicated gibbon conservation action plan modelled on Project Tiger or Project Elephant to ensure the long-term survival of the western hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock), India's only ape species. Addressing the 30th Congress of the International Primatological Society (IPS) at Antananarivo in Madagascar from July 20-25, India representative Dilip Chetry underscored the urgency of a national-level Project Gibbon given the grave threats the ape faces from habitat loss. One of 20 gibbon species found in Asia and currently listed as endangered on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the hoolock gibbon is distributed across eastern Bangladesh, parts of Myanmar, and India's northeastern region. The primate's populations in India are restricted to the southern bank of the Brahmaputra River and east of the Dibang River across seven northeastern States – Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura. 'The hoolock gibbon faces habitat loss due to encroachment, unregulated resource extraction, infrastructure development, tea plantations, shifting cultivation, fragmentation, hunting, and the illegal wildlife trade. Cases of local extinction have already been observed in fragmented forest patches of the northeast, reflecting a steady population decline,' said Dr Chetry, who serves as the vice chair of the Primate Specialist Group–South Asia under the IUCN's Species Survival Commission (SSC). He advocated for urgent conservation actions, including the restoration of degraded habitats, creation of ecological corridors, scientific research, capacity building for forest staff, and community engagement. He also stressed the need to promote the western hoolock gibbon as a flagship species to generate broader public and policy support for biodiversity conservation in the region. The IPS convention brought together 657 delegates from 53 countries to evaluate the world's 25 most endangered primates for 2025-27. Its special session was chaired by Russell A. Mittermeier, a conservationist and chair of the IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group. Dr. Chetry, also the director and head of the Primate Research and Conservation Division of Aaranyak, a biodiversity conservation organisation, said the western hoolock gibbon is among the six of the world's 25 most endangered primates from Asia. The other five are the Banka slow loris (Nycticebus bancanus), Sangihe tarsier (Tarsius sangirensis), pig-tailed langur (Simias concolor), Myanmar snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus strykeri), and the Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis).
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
Two tigers kill six cattle in Nilgiris
Representative image UDHAGAMANDALAM: Two tigers have killed six cattle in the Gudalur forest division in the Nilgiris in the last 12 days. According to forest officials, one tiger was responsible for the deaths of five cattle in Padanthurai area while another tiger killed a cow in the foothills of the Needle Rock, approximately 3 km away from Padanthurai. Five cattle were killed in an unmaintained tea garden in Devarshola in Padanthurai area. "The five incidents occurred on different days but consecutively over the past ten days," said district forest officer for the Gudalur division Venkatesh Prabhu. "The most recent incident took place two days ago in the foothills of the Needle Rock. In this case, a cow was also killed by a tiger," he added. The forest department has mapped the locations of the first five incidents in Padanthurai and has installed a camera trap. A tiger was captured on camera during this monitoring. "In the latest incident in the Needle Rock area, the size of the tiger's pugmarks indicates that it is a sub-adult. This area, which is very close to the reserve forest, is known for frequent tiger movements," Prabhu said. Forest officers, who are concerned about the increasing number of cattle deaths, have sent a letter to the chief wildlife warden of Tamil Nadu and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), requesting permission to form a technical committee for further action. "We have written to the chief wildlife warden and NTCA to establish a technical guidance committee to monitor tiger movements in the affected areas on a day-to-day basis. A committee will be formed soon. Decisions will be made based on the committee's recommendations," added the district forest officer. The technical guidance committee will consist of a nominee from the NTCA, a nominee from the chief wildlife warden and a representative of an NGO. The district forest officer will serve as the chairperson of the committee. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Friendship Day wishes , messages and quotes !
