4th June, 2017

For many tiger lovers wandering across India's 50-odd national parks to get a glimpse of the majestic big cats without success, there is good news. Next opening of the park gates may bring to you a louder roar of the felines.

If the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the apex body formulating policies for the conservation of big cats, is to be believed, then the next tiger census due in 2018 is set to show a "significant rise". The last census done in 2014 put the tiger number at 2,226 and this is set to touch 2,600 or more by the 2018 tigers census, says NTCA chief Dr Debabrata Swain. "Going by the estimated annual growth of 6-7 per cent of tigers being added to current population and the same being corroborated by the ongoing field census by our experts and scientists on ground, about 2,650 tigers could be a reality in 2018," says Dr Swain, who is also the additional director general of Project Tiger.

A top NTCA insider explained the encouraging trend. "We conduct the phase 4 exercise towards the end of every census done once in four years, the last was done in 2014. We have fairly good scientific and tech-enabled evidence gathered from the ongoing study, which started in October 2016, showing a possible significant rise in tiger population and there are certain reserves showing proof of 'sizeable big cats population' by next census due in 2018.

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