New Delhi - India has only 1,411 tigers in its protected forests, less than half the numbers in 2001-2002, according to official figures released Tuesday. The latest estimates of the National Tiger Conservation Authority says that according to its latest census, India's tiger population in the wild ranges between 1,165 and 1,657 - with the average working out at 1,411.
India had 3,642 tigers in 2001-2002, according to an earlier census of the animals in national reserve forests or protected parks.
The latest assessment shows that though the tiger has suffered due to poaching, loss of quality habitat and loss of its prey, there is still hope, Rajesh Gopal, secretary of the Tiger Project, said at a press briefing.
He said the Indian government has announced it would be setting up eight new tiger reserves. An area of over 30,000 square kilometres of tiger habitat had been identified and funds set aside for the project.
Gopal also said the method for counting tigers has been refined using pugmarks (footprints) and involving independent experts, and there is now a higher degree of confidence in the results.
The latest census found that central Madhya Pradesh state had the highest number of tigers, an estimated 300, followed by southern Karnataka with 290 and northern Uttarakhand with 178.
Three important tiger habitats were left out of the census and work was currently ongoing to count the big cats in eastern West Bengal state's Sundarbans mangrove forest.
The census could not be carried out in the eastern Jharkhand and central Chhattisgarh states due to the presence of Maoist rebels.
