Lok Sabha Question No. 6192 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-04-11
Subject: Animal Census
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: VIJAY KUMAR S.R., ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN, GAJANAN CHANDRAKANT KIRTIKAR, KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH, T. RADHAKRISHNAN, BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO, SUNIL BALIRAM GAIKWAD, SUDHEER GUPTA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.6192

TO BE ANSWERED ON  11.04.2017

## Animal Census

6192. SHRI S.R. VIJAYAKUMAR:

SHRI ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN: SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR: KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH: SHRI T. RADHAKRISHNAN: SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO: DR. SUNIL BALIRAM GAIKWAD: SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Ministry had conducted any animal census in the country and if so, the details thereof, animal-wise;
- (b) the details of the criteria adopted by the Government for conducting the animal census;
- (c) the manner in which the population of wild animals is estimated in the absence of specific census data;
- (d) the  details  of  the  estimated  wild  animals  of  iconic  species  in  the  country, State/animal-wise; and
- (e) the details of the steps taken by the Government to conserve the wild animals of iconic species in the country?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIORNMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ANIL MADHAV DAVE)

- (a) Census  of  major  flagship  species  is  undertaken  at  the  State-level  by  the respective  State/Union  Territory  Governments  periodically.  However  census of tiger and elephant is undertaken at the national level once every four and five  years  respectively.  Estimated  population  of  tigers,  elephants,  rhino  and lions,  as available with the Ministry is given below:
- (b) & (c) Main criteria adopted by the Government for conducting the animal census are

| Name of species   | Estimated Population/year   |
|-------------------|-----------------------------|
| Tiger             | 2226 (2014)                 |
| Elephant          | 29391-30711 (2012           |
| Rhinoceros        | 2913 (2015)                 |
| Lion              | 523 (2015)                  |

as follows:

1. For tigers and  nocturnal animals  modern  camera  trap based capture- recapture method is used.
2. For  diurnal  species  line  transects,  block  count,  total  count  and census at water holes are used.
3. For  other  species  synchronized  counting  all  over  the  state  using frontline staff and volunteers are used.
4. For elephant and rhinoceros dung decay method.

The  method  used  by  Wildlife  Institution  of  India  (WII)-National  Tiger Conservation  Authority  (NTCA)  is  a  double  sampling  approach  where  in Spatially  explicit  capture  mark  recapture  using  camera  traps  is  used  for assessing  tiger  and  other  carnivores  populations  across  18  states  in  a  joint likelihood framework. Prey populations are assessed using Distance sampling in all Tiger reserves. Lion population is censused by total count and elephant population by dung density and decay method.

- (d) State-wise  details  of  the  estimated  wild  animals  of    iconic  species  in  the country  is given in the Annexure-IA, IB and IC.
- (e) Steps taken to conserve  the endangered species of birds and animals include:
- i. Legal protection has been provided to wild animals against hunting and commercial exploitation under the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972.
- ii. Protected Areas, viz., National Parks, Sanctuaries, Conservation Reserves and Community Reserves covering important wildlife habitats have been created all over the country under the provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 to conserve wild animals and their habitats.
- iii. Special  programmes like 'Project  Tiger'  and  'Project  Elephant'  have been launched for conservation of these endangered species  and their habitats.
- iv. A specific  component of 'Recovery programmes for saving critically endangered species and habitats' is provided in the Centrally Sponsored  Scheme  of  'Integrated  Development  of  Wildlife  Habitats' for  focused  conservation  action  on  selected  critically  endangered species.
- v. In addition to provision of stringent punishment for the offenders, the Wild  Life  (Protection)  Act,  1972  also  provides  for  forfeiture  of  any equipment,  vehicle  or  weapon  that  is  used  for  committing  wildlife offence(s).
- vi. Financial  and  technical  assistance  is  provided  to  the  State/  Union Territory  Governments  under  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Schemes  for providing  better  protection  to  wildlife  including  endangered  species and improvement of its habitat.
- vii. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has been empowered under the  Wild  Life  (Protection)  Act,  1972  to  apprehend  and  prosecute wildlife offenders.
- viii. The  Wildlife  Crime  Control  Bureau  has  been  set  up  to  ensure  coordination among various officers and State Governments in connection  with  the  enforcement  of  law  for  control  of  poaching  and illegal trade in wildlife and its products.

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## ANNEXURE-IA

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (d) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  6192  REGARDING  'ANIMAL  CENSUS'  BY SHRI S.R. VIJAYAKUMAR  AND OTHERS DUE FOR REPLY ON 11.04.2017.

## Details of tiger estimation pertaining to tiger landscapes in the country in 2014

| State                                                                | 2014             |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------|
| Shivalik-Gangetic Plain Landscape Complex                            |                  |
| Uttarakhand                                                          | 340              |
| Uttar Pradesh                                                        | 117              |
| Bihar                                                                | 28               |
| Shivalik Gangetic                                                    | 485 (427-543)    |
| Central Indian Landscape Complex and Eastern Ghats Landscape Complex |                  |
| Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana)                                 | 68               |
| Chhattisgarh                                                         | 46               |
| Madhya Pradesh                                                       | 308              |
| Maharashtra                                                          | 190              |
| Odisha                                                               | 28               |
| Rajasthan                                                            | 45               |
| Jharkhand                                                            | 3+               |
| Central India                                                        | 688 (596-780)    |
| Western Ghats Landscape Complex                                      |                  |
| Karnataka                                                            | 406              |
| Kerala                                                               | 136              |
| Tamil Nadu                                                           | 229              |
| Goa                                                                  | 5                |
| Western Ghats                                                        | 776 (685-861)    |
| North Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra Flood Plains                     |                  |
| Assam                                                                | 167              |
| Arunachal Pradesh                                                    | 28 ♣             |
| Mizoram                                                              | 3+               |
| North West Bengal                                                    | 3                |
| North East Hills, and Brahmaputra                                    | 201 (174-212)    |
| Sunderbans                                                           | 76 (92-96)       |
| TOTAL                                                                | 2226 (1945-2491) |

## Population of wild elephants

| REGION                | STATE               | 2012        |
|-----------------------|---------------------|-------------|
| North-East            | Arunachal Pradesh   | 890         |
| North-East            | Assam               | 5620        |
| North-East            | Meghalaya           | 1811*       |
| North-East            | Nagaland            | 212         |
| North-East            | Mizoram             | -           |
| North-East            | Tripura             | 59          |
| North-East            | West Bengal (North) | 647         |
| Total for North- East |                     | 9239        |
| East                  | West Bengal (South) | #           |
| East                  | Jharkhand           | 688         |
| East                  | Orissa              | 1930        |
| East                  | Chhattisgarh        | 247         |
| Total for East        |                     | 2865        |
| North                 | Uttarakhand         | 1346*       |
|                       | Uttar Pradesh       | 291         |
| Total for North       |                     | 1637        |
| South                 | Tamil Nadu          | 4015        |
|                       | Karnataka           | 5648-6488   |
|                       | Kerala              | 5942-6422   |
|                       | Andhra Pradesh      | 41          |
|                       | Maharashtra         | 4           |
| Total for South       |                     | 15650-16970 |
| GRAND TOTAL           |                     | 29391-30711 |

## ANNEXURE-I B

## ANNEXURE-I C

## Population of Rhinoceros as reported by States

| Name of state   | No. of rhinoceros (Year of Census)   | No. of rhinoceros (Year of Census)   |
|-----------------|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| Assam           | 2505 (2012)                          | 2624 (2015)                          |
| Uttar Pradesh   | 30                                   | 34                                   |
| West Bengal     | 229 (2013)                           | 255 (2015)                           |

## Population of lion as reported by State Government of Gujarat

| Name of state   |   2015 |
|-----------------|--------|
| Gujarat         |    523 |

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