HYDERABAD: On the eve of International Tiger Day, Union Minister of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) Prakash Javadekar, on Tuesday, released a report on the status of tigers in India.
According to the report, which is based on the All India Tiger Estimation Report of 2018, Telangana is home to 26 tigers. However, their population is likely to increase by 15-20 per cent in the State in the next few years, claimed forest officials.
When compared to previous years, the tiger population has increased in the country. However, there is no comparison data on tiger population of Telangana. In 2018, for the first time, the number of tigers was officially declared for the State by the Central government. The last tiger estimation report released in 2014 had provided numbers for undivided Andhra Pradesh.
While there was no separate number provided for Telangana in the 2014 report, the State’s Forest Department had claimed that the number of tigers in 2014 was 20 in the State - 17 in the Amrabad Tiger Reserve and three in the Kawal Tiger Reserve, indicating that there has been an increase in number of tigers in the State.
“The next report of tiger status will be published in 2022, and we are anticipating an increase of 15-20 per cent in population,” a forest official told Express. Calling it a huge success, he said that several efforts were being made by the State government to make sure that the tiger population gets a secure environment for living and breeding.
“We have constructed rainwater harvest ponds, check dams, and have also placed automatic solar pumps to fill the trenches. We also place food at various places from time to time. Now, cameras have been installed at many tiger corridors to monitor their movements,” he added.
Attributing the increase in population to the lockdown, the official added that there had been almost zero human interference in the wild because of the Covid-induced lockdown in the State.
Increase in population due to lockdown
“There is a better chance of breeding when there is less disturbance. Due to the lockdown, there was no train traffic on the railway line and human interference was almost zero,” the forest official said, attributing the increase in tiger population due to the lockdown