New Delhi: In what marks a turnaround from the estimates that have been made so far, the number of tigers in India has gone up to 2,226, the Parliament was informed today.
In the year 2010, the number of tigers in India was reported to be 1,706 which rose up in four years with 2,226 of them roaming reserves across the country, from the southern tip of Kerala to the eastern swamps in West Bengal, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change told Lok Sabha today.
Worldwide, the number of tigers in the wild has risen for the first time in more than a century, with some 3,890 counted in the latest global census, according to wildlife conservation groups. India alone holds more than half of them.
“More important than the absolute numbers is the trend, and we’re seeing the trend going in the right direction,” said Ginette Hemley, senior vice president of wildlife conservation at WWF.
The census, compiled from tiger surveys in countries from Russia to Vietnam, as well as the International Union for Conservation of Nature, was released a day before ministers from 13 countries meet for three days in New Delhi as they work toward doubling the world’s wild tiger population from the 2010 low by 2022.
Not all nations are seeing progress, though. While Russia, India, Bhutan and Nepal all counted more tigers in their latest surveys, south-east Asian countries have struggled. They are also behind the others in conservation measures, and do not yet conduct a tiger census on their own.
“When you have high-level political commitments, it can make all the difference,” Hemley said. “When you have well-protected habitat and you control the poaching, tigers will recover. That’s a pretty simple formula. We know it works.”
Tigers are considered an endangered species, under constant threat from habitat loss and poachers seeking their body parts for sale on the black market. They are also seeing their habitats rapidly shrinking as countries develop.
The tiger count is based on data from 2014. Here is the tally broken down by country:
Bangladesh, 106; Bhutan, 103; Cambodia, 0; China, more than 7; India, 2,226; Indonesia, 371; Laos, 2; Malaysia, 250; Myanmar, no data available; Nepal, 198; Russia, 433; Thailand, 189; Vietnam, fewer than 5.
