BENGALURU: As Karnataka ranks number 2 in pan India tiger estimation report released once in five years, the state's annual estimation exercise has also recorded a dip in the number of big stripped cats in the state.
According to Karnataka’s annual census 'Status Of Tigers, Prey And Other Mammals, in Tiger Reserves of Karnataka for 2024', prepared by Karnataka forest department’s tiger cell, and released on Thursday by forest, environment and ecology minister Eshwar B Khandre, there are 393 tigers roaming in the five tiger reserves of Karnataka as against the 408 in the year 2023.
As per the report, the number of tigers in Bandipur Tiger Reserve has reduced from 158 to 154, compared to 2023 and 2024, from 36 to 29 in Bhadra Tiger Reserve, from 45 to 39 in BRT Tiger Reserve, and from 29 to 22 in Kali Tiger Reserve. There has been however an increase in tiger numbers in Nagarhole Tiger Reserve from 140 to 149, when compared to 2023 to 2024.
The report showed that from there has been consistent reduction in tiger numbers in the state's tiger reserves from 2018, where it was 472 it dropped to 403 in 2020. In the year 2022 the number of big cats in the five tiger reserves saw an increase to 417, which then dropped to 408 in the year 2023 and now to 393. In the year 2024 when the exercise had started 261 tigers were counted.
Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Kumar Pushkar, who worked on the report, said that in the year 2023 tiger population in the five tiger reserves in Karnataka was 408, which is now reduced to 393. “The reduction was because of their migration from one reserve to another. There has been trend reported in the migration of tigers. The report has been prepared based on the Phase-4 monitoring method where camera trap images were tabulated. So less number could also be because the tiger was not captured in the camera trap. While the all-India exercise involved conducting the census once in four years as per Central government guidelines, in all tiger states it is done annually,” he said.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, wildlife, Subhash B Malkhade said the report also assessed if the department worked in the right direction, and what more needed to be done.
The report pointed that the statewide tiger population, assessed once every four years, has shown a steady increase over time, both within the five Tiger reserves and in other potential tiger habitats. The upcoming All India Tiger Estimation (AITE) – 2026 is expected to provide a clearer understanding of tigers that have established themselves in other protected areas after dispersing from the Tiger Reserves.