| But the report has raised many questions and officials of the NTCA themselves remained non-committal on whether the population of the tiger was rising or declining. |
| Dr Rajesh Gopal, member secretary, Project Tiger, said: "The population of tigers in the tiger reserve areas is healthy. It is the forests areas surrounding the notified areas that are of concern." |
| The previous report for tigers in India was released in 2001 and put the number at 3,642. But wildlife experts have argued that the pugmark method of counting used then was "faulty and prone to overestimation". |
| This time around Dr Gopal, without directly admitting to the faults in the pugmark system, said camera traps and remote sensing data was extensively used in the recent count. |
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