Tiger count in the Sunderbans touches 100-mark, says report
Kolkata: The tiger population in Sunderbans has increased by a dozen touching the three-figure mark, as per the Status Report of the latest All India Coordinated Tiger Census held in 2022.
In the last report released in 2018, the big cat count stood at 88 which has risen to 100. In 2014, the figure was 76.
“The minimum numbers captured have not been statistically projected. The report that has been released is incomplete, the detailed one will probably come in due course. The report also speaks of tiger presence in Buxa, Mahananda and Neora Valley in North Bengal. But numbers have not been given,” a senior official of the state Forest department said.
The All India Coordinated Tiger Census was held in Sunderbans in two phases from December 5, 2021 to January 6, 2022, under Sunderban Tiger Reserve (STR) area and from January 8 to February 10, 2022, under the jurisdiction of South 24-Parganas forest division.
Camera grids were placed in 748 locations with two cameras in each of the locations for doing the exercise. “Our department has laid special emphasis on the protection of the habitat of the tigers and in the last 15 years not a single poaching case has been reported.
Measures have also been taken for augmentation of the prey base of the big cats from time to time. These are the two major factors that have contributed to the population rise,” the official said. The state Forest department in July 2021, released an estimate of the tiger population under Sunderban Biosphere Reserve (SBR) following a survey that was recorded at 96. The Sunderban Tiger Reserve (STR) had 74 and the forest division in South 24-Parganas had 22 big cats.
The exercise was carried out by analyzing data from 1,307 camera traps installed at 726 locations under SBR. As per the report released on Sunday, the number of tigers has once again increased in the country and now stands at 3,167 in the wild as of 2022. The 2018 Tiger Census, released in July 2019, established the presence of 2,967 tigers in India. The animal population in the country has increased by 200 or 6.7 per cent in the past four years.
