Tiger population up in India; at all time low in Odisha

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
New Delhi, Jan 20:

Even as the tiger population in the country went up by as much 30% in the three years since 2011, the number of big cats in Odisha plunged to an all time low of just 28, the countrywide tiger survey report released by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) revealed today.

“The tiger population has gone up from 1,706 to 2,226 tigers…We are proud of our efforts. This corresponds to a little over 30 percent increase,” Javadekar said at the inaugural session of the meeting of field directors and chief wildlife wardens on best practices and wildlife crime monitoring systems organised by NTCA in New Delhi.

“The Mudulalai-Bandipur-Nagarhole-Wayanad complex holds the world’s single-largest tiger population currently estimated at over 570 tigers,” stated the 2014 tiger assessment report.

The above complex is spread across three states — Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It is a contiguous zone where there is no perceptible difference in the landscape.

The report said, Karnataka has 406 tigers while Kerala and Tamil Nadu have an estimated 136 and 229 tigers, respectively. Goa which was reported as being without any big cats in the last census was found to be home to five tigers in the latest count.

The report added that the Western Ghats has an estimated 776 tigers (685-861).

All the three states, barring Goa, saw a substantial increase in their tiger populations over the 2010 estimates where the number of tigers were 300, 71 and 163, respectively, in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Second to Karnataka, Uttarakhand has an estimated 340 tigers as against the 227 which were reported in the 2010 assessment. Besides, Jharkhand has registered a decrease in tiger numbers from 10 in 2010 to 3-plus in the latest report.

As far as other regions are concerned, tiger population in the Sunderbans has remained stable and is estimated to be about 76 (62 to 96) tigers. A major part of the Sunderbans has now been camera-trapped with 62 unique individual tiger photos captured.

The report added said that the big cat population has shown an improvement in Assam where the Kaziranga national park has the maximum number of tigers. Population of tigers in Karbi Hills, Dibang Valley and Namdapha tiger reserve, on the other hand, has been encouraging, the report added.

Odisha bucks the trend

In sharp contrast, the tiger population in Odisha has come down from 32 to 28 since the last Census.

Odisha has been steadily losing tigers over the last one decade despite crores of rupees of central aid poured into protection. The state had 45 tigers in 2006 which declined to 32 in 2010.

“The current estimates are at an all time low of only 28 tigers which indicates that the species is on the way to extinction in the state,” environmentalist Biswajit Mohanty said.

Out of 3,299 forest beats which were sampled by the Wildlife Institute of India in partnership with state forest department in Odisha during the study for tiger occupancy and tiger signs, only 81 beats recorded tigers, sources in the wildlife department said. Out of 140 camera traps set up to capture tiger photographs, pictures of only six tigers were obtained, the sources added.

Simlipal and Satkosia are two well known tiger habitats in the state. However, the menace of poaching affects both and there is a steady decline in the prey base in both the Tiger Reserves of the state. The third proposed tiger reserve at Sunabeda is affected by left wing extremism and nobody has estimated the tiger population in that area, pointed out Mohanty.

The state government accords top priority to tigers in Nandan Kanan Zoo and even wild tigers which stray inside the zoo are captured and kept for breeding purpose instead of being relocated back into the wild.

There is enormous potential for increase of tiger numbers in the state, especially in Simlipal which has a vast contiguous habitat of nearly 5,000 sq.kms provided adequate protection is given to the resident herbivore population like deer, sambhar and wild boar. Every day shikaris enter Simlipal, Satkosia and other tiger areas of the state and hunt the prey base of tigers, the wildlife activist alleged.