Today is Global Tiger Day, a day to celebrate India’s national animal. Contrary to earlier years when declining tiger population was a cause of concern for activists and animal lovers, a latest report has brought joy to them by claiming that tiger population is rising at six per cent per annum from 2006-18.
The detailed Status of Tigers Report 2018, which was released by Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change Prakash Javadekar Tuesday, has claimed that Madhya Pradesh has the maximum number of tigers followed by Karnataka.
Madhya Pradesh has 526 tigers, closely followed by Karnataka (524) and Uttarakhand (442). Chhattisgarh and Mizoram saw a decline in tiger population and all other States saw a positive increase. India has 2,967 tigers, a third more than in 2014, according to results of a census made public on July 29 last year.
The present survey is a more granular estimate of these numbers. Speaking at the event, Javadekar said it was a matter of pride for India that it was a global exemplar in tiger conservation. ‘We have 70% of the world’s tigers. We should be proud of the fact that we are leading the world in terms of ensuring that their population increases. This is India’s soft power,’ he said
He also said that his Ministry was working on a programme to provide water and fodder to animals at the forest itself to deal with the challenge of human-animal conflict that was causing the death of animals. For this, Lidar-based survey technology will be used for the first time.
Lidar is a method of measuring distance by illuminating the target with laser light and measuring the reflection with a sensor. “We are ready to take leadership role and work with all 12 tiger range countries in their training, capacity building and in actual management of tiger reserves,” Javadekar said.
There are currently 13 tiger range countries — India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam. These countries should work together to protect tigers.
