Fresh tiger census in October

9 Jun 2009, 2038 hrs IST, PTI

DEHRADUN: A tiger census would be conducted in October this year by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) after a gap of two years amid fears of declining population of the animal in the country.

The WII would employ latest gadgets like camera traps and ecological density methods to conduct the census to know the exact population of tigers and prepare their DNA profile, WII sources said.

“The pugmark method would not be used this time as certain discrepancies were found in the past,” WII Dean V B Mathur said.

Significantly, WII is focusing on preparing DNA profile of tigers which would help authorities in curbing tiger poaching. Through this profile, scientists would be able to find out the exact place from where a particular tiger was killed by poachers, Mathur said.

The WII will take help of nearly 50,000 field and technical staff along with experts to conduct the census that would cover nearly 17 states though the main focus would be on the five major “source landscapes” where tigers are breeding.

These “source landscapes” are Corbett-Rajaji in Uttarakhand, Kanha-Page in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, Nagarhole-Mudumalai-Bandipore in Karnataka, Sunderban in West Bengal and Kaziranga in Assam.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Earth/Fresh-tiger-census-in-October-/articleshow/4636743.cms

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