Four years on, Tigers up by 66%

As per the recent tiger census, the big cat population in the State has increased by 66 per cent, Minister of Forests Patangrao Kadam informed the council on Wednesday. According to the last year's tiger census, which was carried out by Indian Wildlife Institute (IWI) in three stages, a minimum 160, maximum 196 and an average of 169 tigers have been found across the State.

As regards the methodology used in the census, a report tabled by the government said that untill year 2005, national wildlife census would be carried out every four years by a single method of counting pugmarks. In case of tigers, the procedure would be actual spottings, counting pugmarks and other secondary evidences.

However, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests found many discrepancies in this system and accordingly the IWI used the improved system for the 2010 tiger census.

They released their census on July 16, 2007. The report said that including Melghat, Pench and Tadoba- Andhari reserves along with others, a total of 4273 square km housed a minimum of 76, maximum of 131 and an average of 103 tigers.

However, all the areas in the State were not considered in the 2006 census. For one, the 2006 Census did not include Sahyadri- Sindhudurg, Nagzhira Navagaon and Bor. The figures noted in the recent census are 21, 20 and 12 respectively. The Maharashtra average has therefore increased from 103 in 2006 to 169 in 2010.

The average number of tigers in that was 1411 in 2006 has increased to 1706.

On an all- India basis, the census revealed that the number of tigers has reported an increase in Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Asam and Tamil Nadu ( Karnataka). The population is stable in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Orissa, Mizoram, North west Bengal and Kerala. The population has reduced in MP and AP.