All India Tiger Estimation

Geography glossary

Also called: Tiger census · Topic: Biodiversity and its Conservation · NCERT: Beyond NCERT

Meaning

The All India Tiger Estimation (AITE), also called the tiger census, is a national count of India's wild tigers held every 4 years. It counts tigers mainly with camera traps and adds field signs and prey surveys. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) runs it together with the Wildlife Institute of India.

It matters because it is the main test of whether Project Tiger is working. In the 2022 round India had about 75% of the world's wild tigers. This makes the Indian count central to the survival of the species.

Explanation

How the count works (method)

  • Camera traps come first.
  • These are cameras fixed on trees. They take a photo when an animal walks past.
  • Each tiger's stripe pattern is unique, like a human fingerprint.

  • So each photo can be matched to one individual tiger, and the same tiger is not counted twice.

  • Field signs are added.

  • Pugmarks (paw prints) and scat (droppings) show where tigers move in areas the cameras do not cover.

  • Prey surveys are added.

  • These count deer and wild pig. A forest can only hold as many tigers as its prey can feed.

  • Result: the count is given as a mean (the most likely number) and a minimum (tigers actually photographed and confirmed).

  • 2022: 3,682 (mean) and 3,167 (minimum) [2].

What the numbers show over time

Year Tigers
1973 1,827 (NCERT)
2006 1,411
2018 2,967
2022 3,682 (mean); 3,167 (minimum) [2]
  • Fall before 1973: around 1900 India had about 55,000 tigers. Only 1,827 were left by 1973.

  • Causes: poaching (illegal hunting) for skins and bones, shrinking habitat, less prey and a growing human population pushing into forests.

  • Low point in 2006: only 1,411, after the loss of all of Sariska's tigers (2004–05).

  • Recovery after 2006: tiger numbers grew at about 6.1% a year in the 2022 cycle [2].

Who runs it and why

  • NTCA is a statutory body (a body created by an Act of Parliament).
  • It was set up under Section 38L(1) of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, through the 2006 amendment, on 4 September 2006 [3].

  • The Union Environment Minister is its Chairperson [3].

  • The AITE is one of NTCA's three main jobs:

  • It approves the Tiger Conservation Plan of each reserve.
  • It audits reserves through the Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE).

  • It runs the All India Tiger Estimation, with the Wildlife Institute of India.

  • Next round: the 2026 round is under way.

Where it occurs

  • Coverage: all tiger-bearing forests of India, including the 58 tiger reserves spread over 84,487.83 sq km [1].
  • Run by: NTCA with the Wildlife Institute of India. Held every 4 years. The 2022 round is the latest completed one.
  • Top states in 2022 [2]:
  • Madhya Pradesh – 785 (central India; Kanha in the Maikal hills)
  • Karnataka – 563 (Bandipur in the Western Ghats–Nilgiri area)
  • Uttarakhand – 560 (Corbett in the Shivalik foothills, on the Ramganga river)

  • Maharashtra – 444 (Melghat in the Satpura hills, Amravati district)

  • Regions that gained: central India, and the Shivalik hills and Gangetic plains [2].

  • Regions that lost: the Western Ghats showed local declines [2].
  • Small or falling populations: Mizoram, Nagaland, Jharkhand, Goa, Chhattisgarh and Arunachal Pradesh [2].
  • World: India holds about 75% of the world's wild tigers. In 1973, India and Nepal together held about two-thirds.

Don't confuse with

  • Project Tiger (1973): this is the conservation programme that set up the reserves. AITE is only the count that measures how well the programme is working.
  • Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE): this scores how well each reserve is managed (protection, staff, funds, relations with local people). AITE counts the tigers, not the quality of management.
  • Mean vs minimum figure: 3,682 is the mean (most likely number) in 2022. 3,167 is the minimum (confirmed tigers) [2]. An MCQ may swap them.
  • NTCA vs Wildlife Crime Control Bureau: NTCA runs the tiger count and the reserves. The Bureau tackles poaching and wildlife trade. Both came from the Tiger Task Force (2005) recommendations [3][4].

Prelims Hooks

  • AITE 2022: 3,682 (mean) / 3,167 (minimum), held every 4 years by NTCA with the Wildlife Institute of India [2].
  • State order in 2022: MP (785) > Karnataka (563) > Uttarakhand (560) > Maharashtra (444) [2]. Karnataka is only 3 ahead of Uttarakhand, which makes it a common trap.
  • Trap: the Western Ghats showed declines in 2022. Central India and the Shivalik–Gangetic plains gained [2].
  • Growth rate: about 6.1% a year in the 2022 cycle [2]. India holds about 75% of the world's wild tigers.
  • Method: camera traps work because each tiger's stripe pattern is unique. Pugmarks, scat and prey surveys are added.
  • Low-number states: Mizoram, Nagaland, Jharkhand, Goa, Chhattisgarh and Arunachal Pradesh [2]. Jharkhand's Palamau was one of the first nine reserves, yet the state still has few tigers.

Mains Points

  • Crisis led to reform, and the count shows the result (GS-III):
  • Sariska lost all its tigers by 2004–05. This led to the Tiger Task Force (2005) [4] and to NTCA as a legal body in 2006 [3].
  • Tiger numbers then rose from 1,411 (2006) to 3,682 (2022), about 6.1% a year [2].

  • The four-yearly count turns conservation into a measurable result and makes states answerable.

  • Uneven recovery needs a regional policy:

  • Gains are concentrated in central India and the Shivalik–Gangetic plains. The Western Ghats and the North-East (Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh) are declining or low [2].

  • Responses: protect corridors (forest strips that link reserves, so tigers can move and avoid inbreeding, which means breeding among close relatives), give roads and railways wildlife crossings, and relocate villages from core areas fairly and voluntarily [4].

  • More tigers bring more conflict:

  • Rising numbers push tigers out of reserves into farms in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, into the crowded Terai villages, and into the paths of honey collectors and fishers in the Sundarbans.
  • Future counts need to track not only how many tigers there are, but also whether reserves and corridors have room for them.

Related concepts

Read more

Sources

  1. 1NTCA — Tiger Reserves (list and area statement)ntca.gov.in · tier 1
  2. 2PIB — All India Tiger Estimation-2022: Release of the detailed Reportpib.gov.in · tier 1
  3. 3NTCA — About Usntca.gov.in · tier 1
  4. 4NTCA — Joining the Dots: The Report of the Tiger Task Force (2005)ntca.gov.in · tier 1