PTR, where tiger count keeps fluctuating

Daltonganj: Strange is the census of the tigers in the Palamu Tiger Reserve. Beginning with 22 tigers in 1974, it shot to 62 in just 10 years, symbolising the success of the Project Tiger launched in the country in 1973. But within two decades, the number came down significantly and there were just 17 of them in 2007. In 2017, the count was zero.
Experts believe that the fluctuation in numbers was a case of fudged census. A few retired PTR officials argued that 62 tigers living on 1,076 sq km in 1984 is bewildering as the area is not sufficient for so many tigers.
The reserve forest has no history of tiger fighting tiger. Here is the history of bison fighting bison and injuring themselves too. Deer fight is also common. So, the 62 tigers never fighting each other is unbelievable and hence, the inflated number of 62 was a calculated move, argued the retired officials who did not want to be named.
For six consecutive years beginning 2015, the count remained zero. Two tigers were counted in 2021, said chief conservator of forest and PTR field director Kumar Ashutosh.
Ashutosh declined to make any comment on the tiger census done in the past, saying, “Our estimation is based on the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). The Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, monitors it. We place lots of camera traps and collect pug marks and scat. We then send the scat samples to Dehradun for genetic analysis.”