Bhubaneswar: The tiger census will carried out from October this year in Odisha to find out the exact figure of the big cat in various forests tiger conservation projects. It was informed by the State Forest department on Saturday.
The census would be conducted through transect analysis, camera traps and tiger pug marks. Similarly, the elephant census will also be started from May 2024. The Forest Department informed it on the occasion of Global Tiger Day
Tiger head count is conducted once in every four years by the government of India to assess the population of tigers in the country.
According to the report released by the central government on Saturday, the number of big cats in Similipal has increased from 8 to 16. As per the report of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), there were 45 tigers in the state in 2006, while in 2010 the number had dropped to 32.
In 2018, the number came down to 28. However, Similipal tiger conservation project witnessed a rise in number of big cats. The number increased from 8 to 16. Overall, big cat population has decreased in various forests of Odisha.
While there were 28 tigers in the state in 2018, the figure dipped to 20, according to the tiger census of 2021-22.
NTCA is spending Rs 12 crore every year to increase and protect the number of Royal Bengal Tiger (RBT) in Similipal sanctuary. Not only RBT, but also the leopards are also in danger in the state.
According to the NTCA report in 2018, there were a total of 12, 852 tigers in the country, while the number was 760 in Odisha. Due to the rising poaching activities, the population of the big cats is continuously declining.
