The fourth All India Tiger Estimation by the government will be driven heavily by digital technology and over 15,000 camera trap locations are likely to be sampled for the exercise, officials said today.
Experts at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) said "all out" efforts would be made to count the number of tigers in the Northeast.
India conducts the All India Tiger Estimation every four years, and the last census, completed in 2014, pegged the number of tigers in the country at 2,226.
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The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) today held a press conference here to share details of the exercise in which the central government will invest around Rs 10.22 crore.
"As there is a lot of thrust on 'Digital India' by the government, the estimation this year will use a lot of technology. The phase-1 of data collection will be done through an Android phone-based mobile application, for the first time," said Y V Jhala, a scientist at the WII.
Dehradun-based WII conducts the tiger census on the direction of the NTCA, and in collaboration with state forest departments and civil societies.
The tiger count according to the 2006 census was 1,411 and 1,706 in 2010, according to NTCA officials.
"The current assessment uses an app and desktop version of M-STrIPES (Monitoring System for Tigers-Intensive Protection and Ecological Status) for collecting, archiving and analysing data.
"In 2014, over 9,700 camera trap locations were sampled, but this year the number is likely to be 15,000. Also, we are going all out in north-eastern states. Though we had sampled the region last time, but this time it will be done more rigorously," Jhala told reporters.
India has 50 tigers reserves and according to the Phase IV monitoring protocol, they conduct an annual survey, the data from which helps in giving the WII scientists a prior knowledge on resident tigers.
The all-India estimation is done quadrennially, and this year, it will survey across 400,000 sq km of tiger-bearing forests in 18 states.
"Gujarat has been added to the list of states this year and we have imparted training to officials there," ADG (Project Tiger) Debbrata Swain said.
Director General, Forest in the Environment Ministry Siddhanta Das, said, "Tiger numbers are not just related to a particular species. Rather they reflect the health of the entire ecosystem."
"One tiger needs roughly 500 units of cheetals for survival. So, the sustainability of the prey base is also important," he said.
According to Vaibhav Mathur, Assistant Inspector General of Forests, NTCA, Environment Ministry, there is a standard operating procedure for declaring the cause of death of a tiger.
"Until the due process has not been followed and all documents not submitted to us (NTCA), a tiger's cause of death is never ascribed to any factor, and the case remains open," he said.
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