Karnataka has displaced Madhya Pradesh as the state with the largest number of tigers. Tiger Estimate-2011 shows that the population of the big cats in the country has increased to 1,706 (range indicated is between 1,500 and 1,800).
The tiger habitat in the country is spread over 5.58 lakh sq km, but has shrunk over the past decade by about 72,000 sq km. In 2001-2002, there were 3,642 tigers. In 2008, the number of tigers was estimated at 1,411. This year, the survey has indicated that the tiger population in India might have risen by 295.Karnataka houses nearly 300 big cats in the wild, beating Madhya Pradesh (257), which topped the list in the last census. The third largest tiger population in the country is in Uttarakhand (227). Nearly 12,000 sq km of land was covered during the tiger census in Karnataka.
YV Jhala, scientist with Project Tiger said that the rise in the population is seen in the southern states, and in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Conservation efforts here might be better, and the cases of poaching and smuggling reported from these states is less, when compared to the central Indian states.
This is no mean achievement, but conservationists are now concerned about the shrinking size of the tiger habitat. If conservation efforts must succeed, and if that success must be sustained, the size of the tiger habitat ought to be maintained. Each male tiger is estimated to require at least 40 sq km of territory.
Member-secretary of the [...]
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