Tiger, panther, sloth bear population increases

Tiger, panther, sloth bear population increases

15 May 2009, 0541 hrs IST, Anindo Dey, TNN

JAIPUR: There is good news for wildlife enthusiasts. The tiger populace in the state might have just registered an increase from the last count.

According to officials of the forest department, initial estimates of the tiger population in the state suggest that the count stands somewhere at 40 tigers, a minimum increase of atleast five tigers from the last count in 2008.

“The figures released by the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, in February 2008 had put the count of tigers to somewhere between 32 and 35. This year we have just finished the count of tigers in all the tigers reserves of the state and though the analysis of the data is still pending but initial estimates suggest that the count may be somewhere around 40,” officials of the state forest department revealed.

The official said that it would take some more time to finish analysing the data and the final count would only be available by the end of the month.

However, the chief wildlife warden, Rajasthan, R N Mehrotra refused to divulge any details and said, “It is too early to comment. But the count of all the mammals in the state has increased.”

The tiger count in the state had begun in March and the method of trap camera was used for it. The count was done along with the WII.

“While the count was exclusively done for an estimate of the tiger population in the park but the trap camera would also be clicking other animals. It would also help us in earmarking areas where the tigers have marked their territory,” he said.

“There have been many births at the Ranthambore tiger reserve since the last census, the biggest reserve in the state. But there have been casualties and three tigers were relocated to Sariska,” the official said.

Another surprising feature of the count of other wild animals, that was done separately, has shown a remarkable increase in the panther population too. In fact, panthers were spotted at 35 places in Sariska and 45 places in Udaipur. Ranthambore has also registered an increase in the number of sloth bears.

Panther killed

JAIPUR: A panther was killed at the Ranthambore national park on Thursday morning by a tiger. This is the second of its kind incident at the park. Earlier, on April 2 a similar incident had occurred at the Baacola area of the park. Officials of the park revealed that like last time this time too, it was probably a male tiger that killed the panther. “By the time we recovered the body, the panther had been badly mauled by the tiger,” he said. tnn

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