While tiger reserves contain the majority of the country’s tiger population, a study reveals that Uttarakhand forest department’s western circle has 119 tigers, which is one-third of the total tiger population found outside the 49 tiger reserves across the country.
The study, published as ‘Status of Tiger, Habitats and Corridors in Western Circle, Uttarakhand’, involved a monitoring exercise that was carried out for 214 days between January and May this year, reveals that the western circle has 119 tigers along with 11 cubs.
The study was carried out as ‘Phase IV monitoring’, which, according to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) guidelines, involves monitoring of tiger and its prey on an annual basis, while Phase I to III monitoring are done at every four-year interval at the national level.
Vast landscapeThe study was undertaken in an area of 2,573.6 sq.km. spread across Uttarakhand’s Shivalik, Bhabar and Terai regions.
“This was the first time that tiger monitoring was carried out in such a vast landscape in the country. Also, the study has been done by forest officials and staff of the western circle without the assistance from any scientific institution, which is unprecedented,” said Surendra Mehra, Field Director of Corbett Tiger Reserve, who authored the study.
The survey found that the State’s western circle has more tigers than states such as Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, all of which have less than 119 tigers each.
A similar study on tiger population is currently being undertaken in the Corbett Tiger Reserve.
