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At a time when there is rising concern about the speedy depletion of tiger population in forest reserves and national parks across the globe, here's something to cheer for. Authorities at the Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand have reported a positive development.
According to latest data compiled with the help of means such as satellite imagery, camera trapping and recording of pugmarks, the Wildlife Institute of
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India based in Dehradun has come up with the number of tigers in Corbett National Park. The country's first national park spread over 520 square kilometers has 112 tigers, the highest density of tigers recorded anywhere in the world.
A recent study carried out by WII in tiger reserves across Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh using latest techniques showed a 60 per cent decline in tiger population in these states. Wildlife experts opine that ideally a tigress should have a territory spread across 50 square kilometers and a tiger needs an area of 300 square kilometers, but in reserves like Corbett National Park, where there is no shortage of prey, it could be less.
"A reserve should have at least 20 such territories for the tiger population to flourish. While Sariska only has 5 such territories, Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand boasts of 50 of them," said Dr. Y B Jhala, senior scientists at WII. He also stated that the latest tiger census of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh using 21 different kinds of data received through satellites shows that there are 490 tigers in 16 reserve forest areas.
In contrast, previous census conducted using old techniques like counting of pugmarks reported that there were 1233 tigers in these states. According to the latest survey, Madhya Pradesh has 276 tigers, Maharashtra has 102, Rajasthan 32 and Chattisgarh has only 26 of them. A census carried out by Uttarakhand wildlife department in 2005 had stated that there were 241 tigers in the state - 76 of them found outside reserve forests and the rest within reserve forest areas.
The new census recorded that there were 92 tigers in Corbett National Park that include 10 cubs, 54 females and 28 males - one each for every 5.66 square kilometer area. Thirty more tigers were found in the buffer zone of the reserve forest. Such an overwhelming figure of tiger density in Corbett National Park is sure to lure even more visitors from India and abroad. Indeed, a time to rejoice for all wild life enthusiasts.
To know more about Corbett National Park and Wildlife in India, keep browsing IndianHoliday.com.
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