Centre to join tiger census, promises real figures

29 August, 2005

Under pressure to put a realistic figure on the number of tigers in the country, the Project Tiger directorate has decided to bite the bullet. For the first time, it will take part in the primary data collection across the country during the next national tiger census. The data will be analysed in Delhi and Dehra Dun by experts from the Wildlife Institute of India, in the presence of state representatives.
‘‘We gave gone through too many controversies over complaints that states sent us dubious tiger census figures. This time, we will join the estimation process and end all speculation by making public whatever tiger density we find,’’ Rajesh Gopal, director of Project Tiger, said.
The directorate will also introduce GIS technology for tiger estimation in the forthcoming fourth national tiger census between November 2005 and February 2006. The method was endorsed by the Tiger Task Force in its report but not without inviting flak from a number of tiger experts, including dissenting Task Force member Valmik Thapar, for being cleared without proper scrutiny.
‘‘Two of our best scientists, Y.V. Jhala and Qamar Qureshi of Wildlife Institute of India, are involved in the project. I guess we cannot satisfy all. But we had to opt for a more reliable and transparent methodology as the chances of error and manipulation in traditional the pugmark count census have been high,’’ Gopal countered.
MoEF secretary Pradipto Ghosh, DG (Wildlife) R.P. Katyal, Gopal and WII experts briefed senior forest officials on the new methodology at a workshop here today.