While the number of tigers has increased in Protected Areas (PA) in the country, there is a sizeable population of tigers outside such areas as well. In a first-of-its-kind tiger estimation, a study — conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) — in areas outside Protected Areas in the Chandrapur District of Maharashtra outside Tadoba Andheri Tiger Reserve has revealed the presence of 48 adult tigers.
The study, which covered 2,000 sq km of tiger habitat outside the PA network, was conducted under the WCT-USAID Tiger Programme, in collaboration with the Maharashtra Forest Department and Panthera. Nearly s 600 camera traps, were used for the study.
The study area was divided into several blocks. Every block was further divided into 3 sqkm grids and one camera trap pair was installed in each 3 sqkm area for 25 days, The data was collected over 18,000 camera trap nights,
According to Aditya Joshi from one of the researchers from WCT, it was the most intensive camera trapping exercise ever carried out outside PAs in the country “We identified approximately 15 breeding tigresses. Our findings have highlighted how important it is for protection nets to extend beyond PAs. The tiger population in Tadoba is stable because of the healthy presence of tigers in the areas around it, he added.
“It has been found that the tiger density in some reserve forest blocks is actually higher than that of some tiger reserves in the country”, said Anish Andheria, President WCT . For instance, tiger density in the Kanhalgaon-Central Chanda block is 2.34 which is more than that of the Melghat Tiger Reserve. In the Junona-Central Chanda block, tiger density stood at 1.77, higher than that of the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve.”
Another landmark finding includes the presence of tigers in such densities in human-dominated landscapes, he pointed out , adding that the study has proved that humans and tigers can share a landscape .
“However. the future of large carnivores outside national parks and sanctuaries will depend on the efficiency of the forest department in mitigating human-animal conflict and an increased awareness among humans about tiger and leopard behaviour,” added Andheria.
The experts pointed out that the research results further substantiated the earlier findings by WCT regarding the significance of territorial forests in the dispersal of tigers between Protected Areas in the State.