The census (2009-10) for estimating the population of tigers in the country will kick off in November this year. But amid widespread concern over their dwindling numbers and allegations of ‘fudging of data and non-transparency’, an extra-cautious Centre has decided to involve, for the first time, as many as 10 national-level and scores of State-level-non-Governmental organisations (NGO), — selected by Governments of 17 States, in the process that will conclude in December 2010.
A decision for the census of the country’s national animal was taken at a meeting between the WII and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) recently.
However, if Naxalite-infested reserves like Indravati and Palamu will still be out of bounds of the census, the tiger count at the Sunderbans will be taken up as a ‘standalone project two years from now’. Tiger count in the North East too would continue to be a problem even as the entire process will involve about one lakh personnel — 88,000 of them being Government employees — and will incur an expenditure of Rs 8 crore.
Technically, though, the process will be set into motion from September 28 itself, when the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) — a Central Government institute and the nodal agency for the census, will conduct the first of its series of workshops to provide hands-on training to all the personnel and officials from the State forest departments and NGOs.
“The methodology for the census this year will remain the same as that undertaken last time. The difference lies in the involvement of the about ten national-level NGOs like the World Wildlife Fund, Wildlife Trust of India, Wildlife Conservation Society and Aranyak among others besides the local NGOs selected by the 17 State Governments concerned in whose jurisdiction the 37 tiger reserves fall,” Dr YV Jhala, a senior scientist with the WII and the nodal officer for the census, told The Pioneer on Wednesday.
The involvement of NGOs, he said, was both to avoid any allegations of fudging of data and non-transparency as also the result of a change in the approach of the Environment and Forest Ministry.
Remote sensing, geographic information and global positioning systems in combination with high-resolution spatial data and field data, based on sign surveys, camera trapping, and distance sampling, will once again be conducted both within and outside the protected areas besides the forest areas.
The study of tiger distribution pattern and the state of its habitat by the field staff and the tiger count by the teams of researchers would be undertaken between November 2009 and December 2010. The last census, whose report was made public, only last year, had revealed the alarming decrease in the number of big cats in the country. It estimated their population to be 1,411, which was over 2000 less than what the pugmarks-based census in 2001-02 had estimated.
“More than 40 tigers died since January this year, with 10 of them being poached. Since the last survey, Panna has already lost all its tigers,” an official of Environment Ministry said. Different reports suggest the death of around 70-100 tigers so far in the last year and a half.
The census will be conducted even as the NTCA has dispatched special teams of experts to eight critical tiger reserves to take stock of the ground realities and has already finalised the names of a dozen-odd wildlife experts to undertake an independent evaluation of the reserves on the basis of the 42 parameters outlined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
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