Tiger census begins across Karnataka forests: Minister Khandre

Bidar , Karnataka Minister Eshwar Khandre said the process of estimating tigers and other carnivorous animals commenced on Monday across all forest areas of the state.

The exercise will cover major tiger reserves, including Kali, Bhadra, Nagarahole, Bandipur and Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve.

Speaking to reporters here, the state forest, ecology and environment minister said the nationwide tiger estimation is conducted once every four years and that this will be the sixth such exercise. Earlier estimations were carried out in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022.

Karnataka was earlier estimated to have around 563 tigers and had secured second place in the country in terms of tiger population, he said.

"The estimation will be carried out in patrol areas of all 38 forest divisions across every forest range in the state. For this purpose, training was imparted between October and December to frontline staff of the five tiger reserves separately and to personnel of all 13 forest circles," he said.

According to the minister, teams comprising three members each will, for three days from January 5, patrol about five km daily in forest areas across the state, collecting data such as pugmarks, scat and direct sightings of tigers, leopards and other carnivorous animals, as well as elephants.

He said a second phase of the estimation will be conducted from January 15 to 17 in 14 forest divisions, during which teams will collect data based on direct sightings of herbivorous animals such as deer, sambar, gaur and wild buffalo.

The data will help determine locations for installing camera traps.

Khandre said Tiger Project Director Ramesh Kumar has been nominated as the nodal officer to the National Tiger Conservation Authority and will oversee the entire estimation exercise.

"Kumar has been instructed to assess the number of tigers and other carnivores in each area, evaluate the population of herbivorous animals, determine the availability of prey and identify the carrying capacity of each forest," he said.

The minister said camera traps will be installed at appropriate locations in the third phase, based on the carnivore data collected during the first two phases.

A total of 2,230 camera traps are available across the five tiger reserves, and camera trap surveys have already begun in all of them, he said.

"Nagarahole Tiger Reserve has 600 camera traps, Bandipur 550, B R T 300, Bhadra 330 and Kali Tiger Reserve 450," he added.

Khandre said steps are also being taken to install camera traps outside tiger reserve areas, with nearby reserves supplying cameras where surveys have been completed.

Bandipur Tiger Reserve will provide cameras to Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, B R T to M M Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, and Nagarahole to the Madikeri Wildlife Division and the Mysuru Regional Division, he said.

Observing that tigers are increasingly venturing into human habitation, the minister said it appears that the tiger population in the state has increased, though the exact numbers will be known after the completion of the estimation exercise.

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