Tiger population in Karnataka will rise by next census, says chief of forest force

MYSURU: It was hard for Sanjai Mohan, principal chief conservator of forests (head of forest force) Sanjai Mohan to conceal the elation he felt, while reacting to the state’s 2018 tiger census entering the Guinness Book of World Records for its being the world’s largest wildlife survey conducted using camera traps. Mohan said that surveys to account for the population of any particular animal conducted with the aid of camera traps were significantly more accurate.
“Going by the data we have from the census conducted two years ago, we are confident of a rise in the population of tigers by 20% across the state. Conducting a tiger census is an onerous task, and no other country takes on an endeavour of such magnitude. Estimating the number of tigers using images captured through camera traps is not easy since we have to cross-check all of them for duplication and segregate them accordingly,” Mohan added.
Across all tiger reserves of the state, there were 1,500 camera traps in place, he said. “We have observed a 30% rise in the population of the big cats in every census we have conducted since 2006. The next census, slated to get under way in 2022-23, we are confident of seeing a 20% population,” Mohan told TOI.
The tiger census, conducted once in four years, in 2018 pegged the population of tigers across India at 2,967, with Madhya Pradesh emerging at the top of charts with 526 and Karnataka a close second with 524. The third spot went to Uttarakhand, in the forests of which state were counted 442 tigers.
Founder of the Wildlife Conservation Foundation Rajkumar Devaraje Urs attributed the recognition for the tiger census on the global stage to the groundwork of the volunteers and forest staff. “More than 330 volunteers supplemented the efforts of the forest department personnel at the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, where more than 380 camera traps were set up. I had advised the forest department against setting up the camera traps on paths generally taken by elephants since the likelihood of their being damaged was high,” he added.