RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM/KURNOOL: In a bold initiative to decode the secrets of India’s wild heartlands, the All India Tiger Estimation (AITE)-2026, the country’s largest and most exhaustive wildlife survey, will commence on December 1.
Conducted once every four years, the exercise is not merely a tiger count but a sweeping ecological investigation that maps carnivores, herbivores, vegetation health, and the growing pressures of human disturbance.
State nodal officer B Vijaya Kumar, who is also Conservator of Forests and Field Director of NSTR, explained that the survey will unfold in scientifically structured phases.
The first phase, scheduled from December 1 to 8, will mobilise forest officers across 1,256 beats covering 36,914 sq km. Using the MSTrIPES mobile app (Monitoring System for Tigers: Intensive Protection and Ecological Status), teams will log direct and indirect signs of wildlife—pugmarks, scats, claw marks, calls, and vegetation patterns—capturing the presence of tigers, leopards, wolves, jackals, hyenas, foxes, elephants, gaur, deer species, and even elusive mouse deer.
The next phase, stretching from January 3, 2026, to May 30, will raise the scale with extensive camera trapping and distance sampling. A total of 12,886 infrared-enabled camera trap points will be set up across 6,443 designated grids, automatically photographing animals as they cross infrared beams.
These images will later be analysed in specialised labs, where software systems match stripe patterns to identify individual tigers, akin to fingerprint recognition in humans. The camera trap exercise will run for 45 to 60 days, while the overall census process is expected to take five to six months before data is submitted to central authorities.
The survey will also cover 2,500 sign trails and 2,900 line transects, providing unmatched insights into prey abundance, species distribution, habitat quality, and the degree of human impact, such as grazing, encroachment, and resource extraction.
Around 5,000 trained personnel from forest and wildlife departments, scientific teams, NGOs, eco-development committees, and volunteers will participate, ensuring accuracy and holistic interpretation.
Reflecting on the previous cycle, Vijaya Kumar noted that Andhra Pradesh recorded 87 tigers, over 600 leopards, and an average of three herbivores per 100 hectares of forest. With strengthened protection, habitat restoration, and advanced monitoring, he expressed confidence that the new cycle could push the tiger population close to 95, alongside increases in other carnivore and herbivore species.
Calling AITE-2026 a ‘scientific milestone’, Vijaya Kumar said the results will guide conservation strategies for the next decade. “It is a reflection of forest health, ecological stability, and our commitment to protecting India’s natural heritage,” he said. The consolidated nationwide report is expected by March 2027, to be released by Prime Minister.