Karnataka begins tiger and carnivore census across State forests
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 from October to December to the 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 (NTCA) and will oversee the entire estimation exercise.
