The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and report assesses the status of tigers in terms of spatial occupancy and density of individual populations across India. On July 28, the eve of world tiger day, Minister Prakash Javadekar said that the tiger is an incredible part of nature and that the increased number of the big cats in India reflects equilibrium in nature.
The report of the 4th All India Tiger Estimation is unique in the following ways:
·Abundance index of co-predators and other species has been carried out which hitherto was restricted only to occupancy
·Sex ratio of tigers in all camera trap sites has been carried out for the first time.
·Anthropogenic effects on tiger population have been elaborated in a detailed manner.
·Tiger abundance within pockets in tiger reserves has been demonstrated for the first time.
Global Tiger Day: also called International Tiger Day, is an annual celebration to raise awareness for tiger conservation, held annually on 29 July. It was created in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit.
Key findings of the report:
·At 2,967, India hosts 70% of the world’s tigers.
·Tigers were observed to be increasing at a rate of 6% per annum.
·Nearly a third of India’s tigers are living outside tiger reserves.
·Best performers: Madhya Pradesh has the maximum number of tigers followed by Karnataka.
·The Northeast has suffered losses in population.
·Tiger status in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Odisha has steadily declined.
·Largest contiguous tiger population in the world of about 724 tigers was found in the Western Ghats.
·Corbett Tiger Reserve had the largest population of tigers of about 231 in 2018.
·Nearly 17 of the 50 reserves are approaching the peak of their capacity at sustaining their populations.
·During the release of the report, a water and fodder scheme was proposed within the reserves so that less animals stray out of these reserves and minimises animal-human conflict.
·Worst Performers: Chhattisgarh and Mizoram
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