India's tiger census has notched a position in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the world's largest camera trap wildlife survey.
The citation states that: The fourth iteration of the survey – conducted in 2018-19-was the most comprehensive to date, in terms of both resource and data amassed. Camera traps (outdoor photographic devices fitted with motion sensors that start recording when an animal passes by) were placed in 26,838 locations across 141 different sites and surveyed an effective area of 1,21,337 square km (46,848 square
miles). In total, the camera traps captured 3,48,58,623 photographs of wildlife (76,651 of which were tigers and 51,777 were leopards, the remainder were other native fauna). From these photographs, 2,461 individual tigers (including cubs) were identified using stripe pattern recognition software.
As well as unprecedented camera trap usage, the 2018 ‘Status of Tigers in India' assessment also conducted extensive foot surveys that covered 3,17,958 habitat plots for vegetation and prey dung. It is estimated that the total area of forest studied was 3,81,200 square km (1,47,181 square miles) and cumulatively the collection and review of data equated to some 6,20,795 labour days.''
Union environment minister Prakash Javadekar said that the achievement was a great moment and an example of Atmanirbhar Bharat. He said that India has fulfilled the resolve to double tiger numbers four years before the target year of 2022. India had, in 2010 in St Petersburg, announced this resolve. At present, the tiger population in India is a healthy 2,967, making India the home to nearly two thirds of all the tigers in the world. The last tiger census has actually captured on photo 2,461 individual tigers, a very comprehensive study. Other tiger numbers are arrived at indirectly, for instance, through faecal material and pug marks.
The national tiger census, or the All India Tiger Estimation, is done quadrennially and is steered by the National Tiger Conservation Authority, along with the Wildlife Institute of India and is implemented by the state forest departments. Project Tiger, India's tiger conservation programme began in 1973 with nine tiger reserves. Today, there are 50 tiger reserves. During the first census, conducted in 2006, the count was 1,411. The numbers have risen steadily with each census – 1,706 in 2010 and 2,226 in 2014. Madhya Pradesh has the largest number of tigers –526. There are regional imbalances – Mizoram doesn't have a single tiger, and tigers have vanished from Buxa, Bampa and Palamau, and the population in Orissa has shrunk from 45 to 28 since 2006. However, Kerala recorded a 313 per cent rise in population for the same period, its present number is at 190.
