BENGALURU: Amid increasing incidents of man-animal conflict, particularly tiger capture and relocation operations around prime tiger reserves, the Karnataka forest department is training its staffers for the upcoming all-India tiger census.
“The tiger estimation exercise will be done in the first week of January. The dates are yet to be finalised. The exercise will first be done in Project Tiger areas and then in other forest patches. Training for Bengaluru Circle has been completed,” Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Wildlife, PC Rai told TNIE.
Under Phase-1, data on carnivore and prey base density will be obtained. Phase-2 will comprise field reports, and Phase-3 will be the camera trap data. The Centre is targeting the release of the all-India estimation report in April 2026.
The synchronised all-India estimation will be done in 2026. Karnataka was to start its annual tiger estimation exercise by the end of November, and complete it by mid-December. An official from the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change said, “Due to multiple reasons, including improper training for all staff, it was postponed. All tiger states have been directed to follow one calendar for the estimation, to avoid confusion and duplication in the Monitoring Systems for Tigers -- Intensive Protection and Ecological Status (M-Str-IPES) portal and mobile app.”
The ‘Status of Tigers, Prey and Other Mammals, in Tiger Reserves of Karnataka for 2024’ report, released by the Karnataka forest department tiger cell on March 28, 2025, showed a decline in tiger numbers, compared to previous years. In 2020, Karnataka’s five tiger reserves housed 403 tigers, which increased to 417 in 2022, dipped to 408 in 2023 and 393 in 2024.
The all-India tiger estimation report, prepared by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and Wildlife Institute of India, showed a rise in the number of striped wild cats in Karnataka, year-on-year. In 2010, the state recorded 300. This increased to 406 in 2014, 524 in 2018 and 563 in 2022. Karnataka ranks second in the all-India estimation exercise after Madhya Pradesh, with 785 tigers.
The all-India estimation also showed that the Central and Eastern Ghats landscape housed 1,439 tigers, while the Western Ghats landscape housed 1,087 big cats.
“We don’t want to compete, but looking at the rising cases of conflict and number of new births, it seems like the number in Karnataka is on the rise. It is also unfortunate that many wild cats have been captured and relocated to rescue centres. Forest cover is shrinking, and the pressure on forest land is rising. Bandipur and Nagarahole tiger reserves house tigers beyond their carrying capacity, thus conflict is increasing. We have now adopted relocation to newer, safer habitats policy,” said a senior official.
A 3-phase drive
The exercise will first be done in the Project Tiger areas
Phase-1: Carnivore & prey base density data will be obtained
Phase 2 will comprise field reports, and Phase 3 will be the camera trap data.
In 2020, Karnataka’s five tiger reserves housed 403, which increased to 417 in 2022 and dipped to 408 in 2023 and to 393 in 2024.