Lok Sabha Question No. 1430 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2015-12-08
Subject: Tiger Population
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: PONNUSAMY VENUGOPAL, BALASUBRAMANIAM SENGUTTUVAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1430 TO BE ANSWERED ON 08.12.2015

## Tiger Population

## 1430.  DR. P. VENUGOPAL:

## SHRI B. SENGUTTUVAN:

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

- (a) whether the overall tiger population in the country has gone up in the past few years and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  fool-proof  methods  and  scientific  techniques  were  adopted  for  the  counting  of  the tiger population in the country and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the population of tigers  has  increased  in  only  some  areas  or  in  all  the  regions  and wildlife parks in the country and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether  the  sub-species  of  tiger,  the  Royal  Bengal  Tiger  has  increased  or  decreased  in population and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER  OF  STATE  (INDEPENDENT  CHARGE)  FOR  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI PRAKASH JAVADEKAR)

- (a), (b) & (c) Yes Sir.  The assessment of the status of tigers, co-predators and their prey 2014 using the refined methodology has shown a countrywide 30% increase in tiger numbers with an  estimated  number  of  2226  (range  1945-2491)  as  compared  to  2010  estimation  of 1706  (range  1520-1909  tigers).    The  details  of  tiger  estimation  pertaining  to  tiger landscapes in the country for the years 2010 and 2014 are at Annexure-I . The current methodology  of  tiger  estimation  uses  a  double  sampling  approach  to  estimate  the distribution and abundance of tigers in India, wherein robust spatially explicit capture recapture  protocols  using  joint  models  have  been  employed.    As  first  component, information is collected in first phase by ground surveys for determining occupancy of habitat patches by tigers and other predators, line transects to estimate prey abundance, sampling plots on the line transects to assess (habitat  characteristics, human  impacts and prey dung density).

Alongwith  the  information  generated  by  the  ground  surveys,  latest  remotely sensed  data  on  (a)  landscape  characteristics,  (b)  human  'foot-print',  and  (c)  habitat attributes are subsequently used to model tiger occupancy and abundance.

The  second  component  of  the  double  sampling  consists  of  (a)  scientifically rigorous  abundance  estimation  in  select  sampling  units  using  a  remote  camera  trap based capture recapture technique for estimating tiger and other carnivore abundance and (b) line transect based Distance sampling for estimating prey abundance.

- (d) The only species available in India is Panthera tigris tigris which is commonly called Royal Bengal Tiger, population of which has registered a countrywide 30% increase. The details are at Annexure as above.  Most of the tiger landscapes of the country have shown increase in tiger population, inter alia ,  due to concerted efforts of the various stakeholders.

## ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a), (b) & (c) OF THE LOK SABHA UNSTARRED  QUESTION  NO.  1430  ON  TIGER  POPULATION  DUE  FOR  REPLY  ON 08.12.2015.

## Details of tiger estimation pertaining to tiger landscapes in the country, for the years 2010 and 2014

|                                                                      | Tiger Population   | Tiger Population   |                              |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------|--------------------|------------------------------|
| State                                                                | 2010               | 2014               | Increase / Decrease / Stable |
| Shivalik-Gangetic Plain Landscape Complex                            |                    |                    |                              |
| Uttarakhand                                                          | 227 (199-256)      | 340                | Increase                     |
| Uttar Pradesh                                                        | 118 (113-124)      | 117                | Stable                       |
| Bihar                                                                | 8 (-)              | 28                 | Increase                     |
| Shivalik Gangetic                                                    | 353 (320-388)      | 485 (427-543)      | Increase                     |
| Central Indian Landscape Complex and Eastern Ghats Landscape Complex |                    |                    |                              |
| Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana)                                 | 72 (65-79)         | 68                 | Stable                       |
| Chhattisgarh                                                         | 26 (24-27)         | 46                 | Increase                     |
| Madhya Pradesh                                                       | 257 (213-301)      | 308                | Increase                     |
| Maharashtra                                                          | 169 (155-183)      | 190                | Increase                     |
| Odisha                                                               | 32 (20-44)         | 28                 | Stable                       |
| Rajasthan                                                            | 36 (35-37)         | 45                 | Increase                     |
| Jharkhand                                                            | 10 (6-14)          | 3+                 | Decrease*                    |
| Central India                                                        | 601 (518-685)      | 688 (596-780)      | Increase                     |
| Western Ghats Landscape Complex                                      |                    |                    |                              |
| Karnataka                                                            | 300 (280-320)      | 406                | Increase                     |
| Kerala                                                               | 71 (67-75)         | 136                | Increase                     |
| Tamil Nadu                                                           | 163 (153-173)      | 229                | Increase                     |
| Goa                                                                  | -                  | 5                  | Increase                     |
| Western Ghats                                                        | 534 (500-568)      | 776 (685-861)      | Increase                     |
| North Eastern Hills and Brahmaputra Flood Plains                     |                    |                    |                              |
| Assam                                                                | 143 (113-173)      | 167                | Increase                     |
| Arunachal Pradesh                                                    | -                  | 28 ♣               | Increase                     |
| Mizoram                                                              | 5                  | 3+                 | Stable                       |
| North West Bengal                                                    | -                  | 3                  | **                           |
| North East Hills, and Brahmaputra                                    | 148 (118-178)      | 201 (174-212)      | Increase                     |
| Sunderbans                                                           | 70 (64-90)         | 76 (92-96)         | Stable                       |
| TOTAL                                                                | 1706 (1520-1909)   | 2226 (1945-2491)   | Increase                     |