India’s Tiger Census Creates Guinness Record

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Every four years since 2006, the Indian Government’s National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) –
Collaborating with state forest departments and conservation NGOs – have conducted a nationwide assessment into the country’s population and habitat of tigers

2018 Census

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 121,337 square kilometres

In total, the camera traps captured 34,858,623 photographs of wildlife (76,651 of which were tigers and 51,777 were leopards; the remainder were other native fauna).

The 2018 “Status of Tigers in India” assessment also conducted extensive foot surveys that covered 522,996 km of trails and sampled 317,958 habitat plots for vegetation and prey dung.
It’s estimated that the total area of forest studied was 381,200 km2 (147,181 sq mi) and cumulatively the collection and review of data equated to some 620,795 labour-days.
The assessment was carried out over three phases,
With the various datasets then combined to be extrapolated via statistical computation, which informed the final results published in the survey report.

Ground surveys and camera traps recorded tiger presence in 88,985 km2 of forests across 20 Indian states in 2018–19.
The “lion’s share” of the tigers were found in the states of Madhya Pradesh (526), Karnataka (524) and Uttarakhand (442).
Together, these three Indian states were home to 1,492 tigers.

Increase in Tiger population:

Worst Performers:

All 13 tiger range countries came together for the first time in 2010 at the St. Petersburg
Tiger Summit in Russia.
Thus Global Tiger Day was observed for the first time and the commitment of doubling the number of wild tigers by 2022. (TX2)

Reasons for increase in tiger population

National Tiger Conservation Authority

It was launched in 2005, following recommendations of the Tiger Task Force.
Given statutory status by 2006 amendment of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Environment Minister is the Chairman of the NTCA.

Wildlife Institute of India

It is an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate change, was established in 1982.
WII carries out wildlife research in areas of study like Biodiversity, Endangered Species, Wildlife Policy, etc.
The institute is based in Dehradun.