The State might have slipped to number three in the national tiger count but the tiger tally has improved in the State significantly as compared to 2010 census. The State’s dismal show comes in the backdrop of poor tiger protection which led to the death of 14 tigers in the year 2014, nine in 2013 and 12 in 2012.However, the tiger boom claimed by MoEF is a bit hard to digest for one and all.
In December last year, Forest Minister Gaurishankar Shejwar had maintained that MP had around 288 tigers, around 20 less than the figure quoted by the MOEF on Tuesday.A senior retired forest officer from Madhya Pradesh, too, affirmed that the figures seem a bit ‘inflated’.Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Anil Oberoi who was in New Delhi, said that he would be discussing the matter with NTCA officers on Wednesday to know what process was adopted by them for coming up with these figures.
PCCF (wildlife) Narendra Kumar, however, maintained that he endorses the methodology of the tiger census but claimed that the MP figures were not final as ‘mentioned’ by the report. “The camera trapping was still on at Satpura national park so we could add another 50 tigers to our tally and claim second spot once the final tally is prepared,” Kumar claimed.
Central India director of the Wildlife Protection Society of India Nitin Desai, however, maintained that increasing tiger population was always welcome but cautioned that it now calls for more resources and better tiger protection.