Lok Sabha Question No. 4354 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-12-13
Subject: Tiger Population
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Chandra Prakash Joshi

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4354

TO BE ANSWERED ON 13.12.2019

## Tiger Population

## 4354.  SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI:

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

- (a) whether the number of tigers in the country has registered any decrease during the last five years;
- (b) if so, the details, thereof;
- (c) the number of tigers in the country, State/UT-wise including Rajasthan;
- (d) the  details  of  programmes  being  implemented  by  the  Government  for  the  conservation  of tigers in the country; and
- (e) the number of cases corresponding to the killing of tigers for the purposes of hunting and smuggling  during  the  last  three  years  along  with  the  action  taken  by  the  Government thereon?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)

- (a), (b) & (c) No, the tiger population in India has shown an increase since, the first cycle of the All India Tiger Estimation using the refined methodology in 2006, which was subsequently carried out quadrennially in 2010, 2014 and 2018, details of which are at Annexure-I .
- (d) The Government of India has been implementing the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme  of  Project  Tiger  which  is  steered  by  the  National  Tiger  Conservation Authority wherein technical and financial assistance is provided for several overarching activities as at Annexure-II.
- (e) During the last 3 years following number of confirmed tiger poaching and seizures have been reported by the States:

|   Year |   Poaching |   Seizure |
|--------|------------|-----------|
|   2016 |         22 |        22 |
|   2017 |         29 |        12 |
|   2018 |         24 |        10 |

The following action has been taken by the Government of India to curb poaching of tigers:

-  Providing assistance to States under the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of 'Project Tiger'  for  protection,  infrastructure  and  antipoaching  operations  (including deployment of Tiger Protection Force and Special Tiger Protection Force)
-  Providing grant through NTCA for patrolling in tiger rich sensitive forest areas outside tiger reserves
-  Alerting the States as and when required
-  Disseminating of real time information of backward / forward linkages relating to poachers / wildlife criminals.
-  Advising the States for combing forest floor to check snares / traps
-  Performing  supervisory  field  visits  through  the  National  Tiger  Conservation Authority and its regional offices
-  Using  information  technology  for  improved  surveillance  (e-Eye  system)  using thermal cameras
-  Launching tiger reserve level monitoring using camera trap to keep a photo ID database of individual tigers
-  Preparing  a  national  database  of  individual  tiger  photo  captures  to  establish linkage with body parts seized or dead tigers
-  Assisting  States  to  deploy  local  workforce  in  a  big  way  for  protection  to complement the efforts of field staff [In all, approximately 25 lakh mandays are generated  annually  with  50%  central  assistance  amounting  to  around  Rs.  25 crores  (excluding  matching  50%  share  given  by  States)  under  Project  Tiger. Many  local  tribes  constitute  such  local  workforce  (besides  non-tribals),  eg. Baigas, Gonds in Madhya Pradesh, Gonds in Maharashtra, Chenchus in Andhra Pradesh, Sholigas in Karnataka, Gujjars in Uttarakhand and Irulas in Tamil Nadu to name a few].
-  Initiative  taken  for  collaboration  of  National  Tiger  Conservation  Authority  and Wildlife Crime Control Bureau towards an online tiger / wildlife crime tracking / reporting  system  in  tiger  reserves  and  to  coordinate  with  INTERPOL  for checking trans-border trade of wildlife products.
-  Insurance / Corpus Fund for staff of Kaziranga Tiger Reserve.
-  Motivating  tiger  reserve  administration  /  tiger  States  to  ensure  conviction  of criminals through pursuance of cases in different courts.
-  Bilateral  co-operation  with  neighbouring  countries  like  Nepal,  Bangladesh, Bhutan and Russia.
-  Sharing of information on seizure of body parts including skin of tigers among tiger range countries to ascertain source area.  India has already made a proposal in this regard in CITES CoP-17 in Johannesburg which was agreed by member countries.

***

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a), (b) & (c) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  4354  ON  TIGER  POPULATION  DUE  FOR  REPLY  ON 13.12.2019

Details of tiger estimation pertaining to tiger landscapes in the country,

## for the years 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018

| State                                                                | Tiger Population                                                     | Tiger Population                                                     | Tiger Population                                                     | Tiger Population                                                     |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                                                                      | 2006                                                                 | 2010                                                                 | 2014                                                                 | 2018                                                                 |
| Shivalik-Gangetic Plain Landscape Complex                            | Shivalik-Gangetic Plain Landscape Complex                            | Shivalik-Gangetic Plain Landscape Complex                            | Shivalik-Gangetic Plain Landscape Complex                            | Shivalik-Gangetic Plain Landscape Complex                            |
| Uttarakhand                                                          | 178                                                                  | 227                                                                  | 340                                                                  | 442                                                                  |
| Uttar Pradesh                                                        | 109                                                                  | 118                                                                  | 117                                                                  | 173                                                                  |
| Bihar                                                                | 10                                                                   | 8                                                                    | 28                                                                   | 31                                                                   |
| Shivalik Gangetic                                                    | 297                                                                  | 353                                                                  | 485                                                                  | 646                                                                  |
| Central Indian Landscape Complex and Eastern Ghats Landscape Complex | Central Indian Landscape Complex and Eastern Ghats Landscape Complex | Central Indian Landscape Complex and Eastern Ghats Landscape Complex | Central Indian Landscape Complex and Eastern Ghats Landscape Complex | Central Indian Landscape Complex and Eastern Ghats Landscape Complex |
| Andhra Pradesh                                                       | 95                                                                   | 72                                                                   | 68                                                                   | 48                                                                   |
| Telangana                                                            | -                                                                    | -                                                                    | -                                                                    | 26                                                                   |
| Chhattisgarh                                                         | 26                                                                   | 26                                                                   | 46                                                                   | 19                                                                   |
| Madhya Pradesh                                                       | 300                                                                  | 257                                                                  | 308                                                                  | 526                                                                  |
| Maharashtra                                                          | 103                                                                  | 169                                                                  | 190                                                                  | 312                                                                  |
| Odisha                                                               | 45                                                                   | 32                                                                   | 28                                                                   | 28                                                                   |
| Rajasthan                                                            | 32                                                                   | 36                                                                   | 45                                                                   | 69                                                                   |
| Jharkhand                                                            | -                                                                    | 10                                                                   | 3*                                                                   | 5                                                                    |
| Central India                                                        | 601                                                                  | 601                                                                  | 688                                                                  | 1033                                                                 |
| Western Ghats Landscape Complex                                      | Western Ghats Landscape Complex                                      | Western Ghats Landscape Complex                                      | Western Ghats Landscape Complex                                      | Western Ghats Landscape Complex                                      |
| Karnataka                                                            | 290                                                                  | 300                                                                  | 406                                                                  | 524                                                                  |
| Kerala                                                               | 46                                                                   | 71                                                                   | 136                                                                  | 190                                                                  |
| Tamil Nadu                                                           | 76                                                                   | 163                                                                  | 229                                                                  | 264                                                                  |
| Goa                                                                  | -                                                                    | -                                                                    | 5                                                                    | 3                                                                    |
| Western Ghats                                                        | 412                                                                  | 534                                                                  | 776                                                                  | 981                                                                  |
| North Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra Flood Plains                     | North Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra Flood Plains                     | North Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra Flood Plains                     | North Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra Flood Plains                     | North Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra Flood Plains                     |
| Assam                                                                | 70                                                                   | 143                                                                  | 167                                                                  | 190                                                                  |
| Arunachal Pradesh                                                    | 14                                                                   | -                                                                    | 28 **                                                                | 29                                                                   |
| Mizoram                                                              | 6                                                                    | 5                                                                    | 3*                                                                   | 0                                                                    |
| Nagaland                                                             | -                                                                    | -                                                                    | -                                                                    | 0                                                                    |
| Northern West Bengal                                                 | 10                                                                   | -                                                                    | 3*                                                                   | 0                                                                    |
| North East Hills, and Brahmaputra                                    | 100                                                                  | 148                                                                  | 201                                                                  | 219                                                                  |
| Sunderbans                                                           | -                                                                    | 70                                                                   | 76                                                                   | 88                                                                   |
| TOTAL                                                                | 1411                                                                 | 1706                                                                 | 2226                                                                 | 2967                                                                 |

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (d)  OF  THE  LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.  4354  ON  TIGER  POPULATION  DUE  FOR  REPLY  ON 13.12.2019

Several activities are undertaken for tiger conservation under the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger are as under:-

## 1. Stepping up protection: (antipoaching squad/Tiger Protection Force deployment)

The  antipoaching  operations  in  tiger  reserves  are  site  specific.  However,  the  following activities, inter alia , form part of the protection strategy in tiger reserves, namely:--

- (a) Raising, arming and deployment of Special Tiger Protection Force.
- (b) Use of information technology in wildlife crime prevention.
- (c) Launching M-STrIPES for field patrolling.
- (d) Deployment of antipoaching squads.
- (e) Establishing and maintenance of existing patrolling camps/chowkis and deployment of camp labourers for patrolling.
- (f) Organising  vehicular  patrolling by  constituting squads  (Tiger  Protection  Force), comprising of field staff,  labourers  and  police/SAF/ex-army personnel,  with wireless handset  and  paraphernalia  for  apprehending  offenders,  apart  from  prescribing  a patrolling calendar for the squad.
- (g) Establishing and maintenance of wireless network.
- (h) Organising surprise raids jointly with the local police in railway stations, local trains, bus-stops, buses, catchers and cafeteria.
- (i) Ensuring  special  site-specific  protection  measures,  during  monsoon  as  'Operation Monsoon' - considering the terrain and accessibility of Protected Areas.
- (j) Deployment of ex-army personnel / home guards.
- (k) Deployment of local work force  for  patrolling,  surveillance  of  water  holes,  manning barriers.
- (l) Procurement of arms and ammunition.
- (m) Procurement/maintenance of elephant squads.
- (n) Rewards to informers.
- (o) Legal support for defending court cases.
- (p) Procurement of vehicles, boats.
- (q) Procurement of field gear, night vision device.

## 2. Deciding inviolate spaces for wildlife and relocation of villagers  from  core or critical tiger habitats in Tiger Reserves within a timeframe and settlement of rights.

- 2.1. The Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, as well as the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, require that rights of people (Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers) recognized in forest areas within core and critical tiger or wildlife habitats of tiger reserves or protected areas may be modified and resettled for providing inviolate spaces to tiger or wild animals. This requires payment of compensation (rights settlement in  addition  to  the  relocation  package  offered  under  the  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  at  present). Chapter IV of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 (section 24) provides for acquisition of rights in or over the land declared by the State Government under section 18 (for constituting a Sanctuary) or section  35  (for  constituting  a  National  Park).  Sub-section  (2)  of  section  24  of  the  Wild  Life (Protection) Act, 1972  authorizes the Collector to acquire such land or rights. Therefore, payment of compensation for the immovable property of people forms part of modifying or settling their rights which is a statutory requirement.

2.2. The ongoing study and the analysis of the available research data on tiger ecology indicate that  the  minimum population of tigresses in breeding age, which are needed to maintain a viable population  of  80-100  tigers  (in  and  around  core)  require  an  inviolate  space  of  800-1200  sq.  km. Tiger being an 'umbrella species', this will also ensure viable populations of other wild animals (copredators, prey) and forest, thereby ensuring the ecological viability of the entire area and habitat. Thus, it becomes an ecological imperative to keep the core areas of tiger reserves inviolate for the survival of source populations of tiger and other wild animals.

## 2.3. The proposed package has following two options, namely:

- (a) Option I - Payment of the entire package amount (Rs. 10 lakhs per family) to the family in case the family opts so, without involving any rehabilitation or relocation process by the Forest Department.
- (b) Option II - Carrying out relocation or rehabilitation of village from protected area or tiger reserve by the Forest Department.

## 3. Strengthening of infrastructure within Tiger Reserves.

The following activities, inter alia, would form part of reinforcing the infrastructure of Tiger Reserves (including support to new tiger reserves), namely:--

- (a) Civil  Works  (staff  quarters,  family  hostels,  office  improvement,  patrolling  camp,  house keeping buildings, museum, culverts).
- (b) Maintenance, creation and upgradation of road network.
- (c) Maintenance and creation of wireless tower.
- (d) Maintenance and creation of fire watch tower.
- (e) Maintenance and creation of bridges, dams, anicuts.
- (f) Maintenance, creation of firelines and firebreaks.
- (g) Maintenance and creation of earthen ponds.
- (h) Procurement, maintenance of vehicles (Gypsy, Jeep, Truck, Tractor etc.).
- (i) Habitat improvement works.
- (j) Procurement of hardware, software and Geographical Information System (GIS).
- (k) Procurement of compass, range finder, Global Positioning System (GPS), camera traps.
- (l) Procurement of satellite imageries for management planning.
- (m) Map digitization facility for management planning.

## 4. Habitat improvement and water development.

These, inter alia, may include, weed eradication, removal of gregarious plant growth from grasslands,  grass  improvement,  water  retention  structures  and  the  like.  These  initiatives  would increase the forage and browse values of the habitat for wild animals.

## 5. Addressing  man-animal  conflict  (ensuring  uniform,  timely  compensation  for  human deaths  due  to  wild  animals,  livestock  depredation  by  carnivores,  crop  depredation  by  wild ungulates) (compensation for crop loss is a new component):

This would involve:

- (a) payment  of  compensation  for  cattle  lifting,  death  of  human  beings  and  crop depredation due to wild animals.
- (b) creation of crop protection structures.
- (c) procurement and deployment of traps, cages to catch problematic animals.
- (d) procurement of tranquilizing equipments, rescue vehicles and drugs.

## 6. Co-existence agenda in buffer or fringe areas.

The fringe areas around tiger reserve have corridor value, and their ecological sustainability is important to prevent the area from becoming ecological sinks on account of over use of resources and unwise land use. This calls for delineation of buffer zone around a tiger reserve to incorporate such fringe areas so that it can fulfill the following objectives, namely:

- (a) providing  ecologically  viable  livelihood  options  to  local  stakeholders  for  reducing their dependency on forests.
- (b) conserving  the  forest  area  through  restorative  inputs  involving  local  people  for providing habitat supplement to wild animals moving out of core areas.

## 7. Rehabilitation of traditional hunting tribes living around tiger reserves.

There  is  an  urgent  need  to  launch  a  rehabilitation  and  development  programme  for  the denotified  tribes  and  tribes  involved  in  traditional  hunting,  living  around  tiger  reserves  and  tiger corridors.  The  following  denotified  tribes  and  communities  are  involved  in  traditional  hunting  of wild  animals  :  Behelias,  Ambalgars,  Badaks,  Mongias,  Bavariyas,  Monglias,  Pardhi,  Boyas, Kaikads,  Karwal  Nat,  Nirshikaris,  Picharis,  Valayaras,  Yenadis,  Chakma,  Mizo,  Bru,  Solung  and Nyishi.  While  this  list  is  not  exhaustive,  around  5,000  such  families  are  required  to  be  taken  up under  a  welfare  programme  (forming  part  of  NTCA  initiatives)  during  the  Plan  period.  The rehabilitation  and  welfare  package  should  be  evolved  in  a  site  specific,  consultative  manner  with livelihood options, to include : wages for such people towards their deployment in foot patrolling for protecting wildlife, providing agricultural land with irrigation, basic health care, housing and related community  welfare  inputs  and  basic  education  facilities.  The  experience  gained  in  the  past  for settling  denotified  tribes  by  the  salvation  army  is  required  to  be  considered  dispassionately  while structuring the programme.

## 8. Research and field equipments.

The All India tiger estimation using the new methodology approved by the Tiger Task Force has resulted in a permanent monitoring protocol for the field units. The Phase-IV, tiger reserve level, would be launched to monitor the source populations of tiger.  Further, assistance would be provided for  fostering  field  oriented  research  and  to  equip  the  staff  with  facilities  like  Global  Positioning System (GPS), camera traps, night vision, range finder and related accessories including hardware and software.

## 9. Staff development and capacity building.

## 9.1. This would involve:

- (a) Capacity building and training.
- (b) Providing project allowance and special incentives.
- (c) Specialized training in the use of Geographical Information System (GIS), antipoaching operations.
- (d) Specialized training in jurisprudence and wildlife forensics.
- (e) Study tours for appraisal of good practices in other reserves.
- (f) Dissemination workshops.
- (g) Specialized training in park interpretation.
- (h) Specialized training in management planning.

9.2. The  above  inputs  are  extremely  important  for  enhancing  the  skill  of  field  staff.  Several instances of poaching occur for want of specialized training in crime detection and related skills.

## 10. Mainstreaming  wildlife  concerns  in  tiger  bearing  forests  and  fostering  corridor conservation through restorative strategy involving locals to arrest fragmentation of habitats.

This would involve:

- (a) Redressing man-animal conflict.
- (b) Capturing problematic and aberrant wild animals.
- (c) Monitoring of wild animals.
- (d) Antipoaching operations.
- (e) Habitat improvement measures.

## 11. Safeguards and Retrofitting measures in the interest of wildlife conservation.

Several  tiger  reserves  are  affected  on  account  of  heavily  used  infrastructure  like  roads, railway tracks etc. The high tension electric lines passing through many reserves cause mortality of wild animals due to electrocution by poachers. In the interest of wild animals several safeguards as well as retrofitting measures may be required, which would be supported on a site-specific basis.

12. Providing  basic  infrastructure. The  expenditure  for    consultancy,  field  visits  by  expert teams,  all  India  tiger  estimation  and  continuous  monitoring  of  tigers  (Phase-IV),  support  for monitoring  tigers  outside  tiger  reserves  through  National  Tiger  Conservation  Authority  grant, developing  a  National  Repository  of  Camera  Trap  Photo  Database  of  tiger,  strengthening  of National Tiger Conservation Authority at the Center and Regional Offices, besides establishing a monitoring lab.

## 13. Independent monitoring and evaluation of tiger reserves.

The second round of independent monitoring has been completed using globally accepted indicators.  This would be further refined and continued.

## 14. Establishment and development of new tiger reserves.

'Project Tiger' has a holistic ecosystem approach. Though the focus is on the flagship species 'tiger', the project strives to maintain the stability of ecosystem by fostering other trophic levels in the food chain. This is essential to ensure an ecologically viable population of tiger, which is at the 'apex' of the ecological food chain. The community pressures on forests are ever on the increase in developing countries and India is no exception. As a sequel, the tiger habitat has become fragile and weak at several places, warranting a focused conservation approach. Our protected areas and tiger reserves are analogous to 'islands' in an ocean of the other-use patterns. Empirical evidences from 'island biogeography' indicate that 'isolated' reserves lose their species rapidly owing to 'ecological insularization'.  Further,  apart  from  fragmentation,  the  situation  is  aggravated  by  degraded  forest cover owing to biotic pressure, dislocated prey - predator ratio, absence of effective measures to ensure  the  desired  level  of  protection  and  lack  of  eco  developmental  initiatives  for  the  fringe dwelling stake holders to reduce their dependency on forest resources. Since 'Project Tiger' would go  a  long  way  in  redressing  the  above  situation,  the  Steering  Committee  of  Project  Tiger  in  its meeting held on the 23 rd January, 2003 recommended inclusion of new tiger reserve areas so as to increase the total area of 'Project Tiger' from existing 37761 sq. kms. to 50,000 sq. kms. during the Tenth Plan period.

## 15. Provision of Project Allowance to staff of Project Tiger.

The tiger States would be supported (100%) for Project Allowance to staff of tiger reserves.

## 16. Staff welfare activities.

Staff  welfare  inputs  like  residential  accommodation  for  the  children  of  frontline  staff  in nearby towns or villages, supply of kerosene, medicine, field kit, mosquito net, torch and the like would be supported.

## 17. Fostering Tourism or Ecotourism in tiger reserves.

'Tourism' in the context of Tiger Reserves is contemplated as 'ecotourism', which needs to be ecologically sustainable nature-tourism.  This is emerging as an important component of tourism industry. It is distinct from 'mass tourism', having sustainable, equitable, community based effort for improving the living standards of local, host communities living on the fringes of tiger reserves. Ecotourism  is  proposed  to  be  fostered  under  'Project  Tiger'  to  benefit  the  host  community  in accordance with tiger reserve specific Tourism Plan forming part of the Tiger Conservation Plan, subject to regulation as per carrying capacity, with a focus on buffer areas.  Since, tourism has been happening in areas of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries which are now designated as core or critical  tiger  habitat,  regulated  low  impact  tourism  (visitation)  would  be  allowed  in  such  areas subject  to  site  specific  carrying  capacity.    However,  no  new  tourism  infrastructure  should  be permitted  in  such  core  and  critical  tiger  habitats.    Further,  the  buffer  forest  areas  should  also  be developed as wildlife habitats with the active involvement of local people living in such areas.  This would provide extended habitat to tiger population for its life cycle dynamics, besides benefitting local  people  from  ecotourism  activities  in  such  areas  while  reducing  the  resource  dependency  of people on core or critical tiger habitats and human-tiger interface conflicts.   The opportunities for stakeholders would include management of low cost accommodation for tourists, providing guide services, providing sale outlets, managing excursions, organizing ethnic dances and the like.

***