India’s National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) recently reported that the country’s tiger population has seen a healthy annual growth rate of 6%. This finding came from the quadrennial All India Tiger Estimation, which conducted studies in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018.
Key points about the tiger population growth
From observing the recorded 6% growth, it was deducted that this increase compensates for natural losses, maintaining tigers at the habitat’s carrying capacity level. The carrying capacity refers to the highest possible number of a biological species that a particular environment can sustain. In this context, it implies the maximum number of tigers that the environment can support given factors like availability of food, suitable habitat, water, and other resources.
Between 2012 and 2019, the average number of tiger deaths per year stood at 94.
About the National Tiger Conservation Authority
The NTCA is a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change. It was established in 2005 based on the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force, with the mandate to strengthen tiger conservation efforts. The establishment of the authority was enabled under provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, as emended in 2006.
Role of Project Tiger
Project Tiger is an ongoing centrally sponsored initiative by the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change. This project provides central assistance to states with tiger populations to support conservation in designated tiger reserves.
Tiger Population Overview in India
Currently, India’s wild tiger population is approximately 2,967, with more than half of them located in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, as per the latest tiger estimation report of 2018. The tiger population has seen an increase of 33% from the last census conducted in 2014, which estimated the total tiger population to be around 2,226.
