12th Apr., 2017


Researchers at the Indian Statistical Institute, Bengaluru, and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have come up with a new methodology that has the potential to revolutionise the way tigers and other big animals are counted over large geographical areas.

How many tigers are there in India?
According to the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, in 2006, the number was estimated at 1,411 and in 2010 it was 1,706. In 2016, the world rejoiced when India announced that it had nearly 2,500 members of this critically endangered big cat.

However, there were many who were not sure of this.

The methods used to count tigers do not measure up to rigorous scientific scrutiny but the country’s big cat conservation body the National Tiger Conservation Agency (NTCA) brushed those objections under the carpet. The new method is aimed at making the tiger count robust and reliable.

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