Thread by @journomayank

India's latest tiger census (2018) is finally out - India is now home to 2,967 tigers. It means it has more than doubled its tiger population in the last 12 years.
2014 - 2,226
2010 - 1,706
2006 - 1,411

In the future, it would also mean more human-wildlife conflict as tiger habitats and corridors are increasingly under threat.

So @PMOIndia while releasing the latest tiger estimation results reignites the environment vs development debate. He also stressed that protected areas in the country have increased.

The report says Madhya Pradesh registered a substantial increase in tiger population and along with Karnataka ranks highest in tiger numbers. But poor & continuing decline in tiger status of Chhattisgarh & Odisha is a matter of concern.

Of 2967 tigers across India, highest are in Madhya Pradesh (526) followed by Karnataka (524) & Uttarakhand (442). Chhattisgarh recorded a decrease from 46 tigers in 2014 to 19 in 2018. Sunderbans also recorded an increase from 76 last time to 88 in 2018 results.

Of the 50 tiger reserves, Nameri and Pakka tiger reserves registered declines while tigers were not recorded in Buxa, Palamu and Dampa tiger reserves.

The report said ensuring the functionality of habitat corridor connectivity
between source populations in India as well as with Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh &
Myanmar tiger populations is essential for the long-term viability of tiger populations within India and the region.

It, however, warned that (tiger) habitat corridors are often threatened by development of linear infrastructure & careful planning to avoid traversing critical habitats are needed to ensure that tigers & biodiversity conservation is not compromised by modern development.

Sahyadri tiger reserve, in Maharashtra, which forms the vital link between northern & southern part of Western ghats has no tigers at present while there were 5-8 some years ago.

For Tadoba tiger reserve, the report said "unending political pressure to allow tourism in core zone during the monsoon demoralises the management and staff, who are working relentlessly to create a disturbance free core/critical habitat".

For Tadoba tiger reserve, it also said that the Chandrapur-Mul-Gadchiroli road poses serious threat to wild animals as 21 wild animals were killed due to road hits in last 3 years.

For Mukundara tiger reserve, the report said that infrastructure passing through critical tiger habitat like Jaipur-Mumbai railway line and National Highway-12 poses serious challenge.

For Sariska tiger reserve, the report said Sariska is at risk of losing its tigers once again due to slow growth of population - it has no connectivity with any other tiger reserve.

For Sariska, the report also said that mining leases have been given close to core tiger habitat & at some places the distance is less than 500 metre. Total of 61 mines are there within 500 metre of the tiger reserve's boundary.

For Corbett, report said it is facing various degrees of threats from rapid growth of resorts & expanding human habitations & has severe human-wildlife conflict. Heavy traffic of speeding & honking vehicles a threat. Phasing out of tourism facilities from core area yet to be done

For Rajaji tiger reserve, the report said it is facing impacts of linear infrastructure (railway line, roads, transmission lines & canal), blockage of corridors, eateries dumping waste. It also lined up impact of pollution in Susua river & presence of SEZ & industrial area.

Rajaji tiger reserves also facing high number of cases of wild animal deaths due to road and train hits.

For kanha tiger reserve, the report said tourism pressure needs to be regulated.

For Pench tiger reserve, the report said electrocution related deaths of wild animals including tigers are a cause of concern. It said NH-7 passing through Pench and bissecting Kanha Pench corridor has been a cause of wildlife deaths.

For Palamu tiger reserve, which has no tigers, the report said elephant population has also declined. It highlighted that reserve is fragmented into 4 quadrants due to east-west railway line & north-south state highway & large mortalities are recorded due to no speed regulations.

For Bandipur tiger reserve, the report said hey traffic throughout the day on 2 national highways passing through this reserve poses serious threat to movement of wild animals. Lantana Camara, an invasive species, has occupied nearly 50-60% of reserve.

For Nagarhole tiger reserve, the report said that the State highways like mysore-mananthavady etc across the core & critical tiger habitat pose serious problem to animal movement leading to road hits.

For Periyar tiger reserve, spread of invasive species of Lantana Camara was noted a threat. It also notes visit of 1-1.5 crore devotees to Sabarimala exerts a lot of pressure.

For Sathyamangalam tiger reserve, the report noted threat from highway from Bengaluru to Coimbatore via Mysore & invasive species.

For Sunderbans tiger reserve, the report said collection of honey in the summers by villagers residing in border areas of Bangladesh and Indian villages is a serious threat. It also said that incidences of illegal uses if drones have been noticed & they were intercepted & seized.

Link for All India tiger estimation report 2018 - projecttiger.nic.in/WriteReadData/…

Link for report giving details about problems in each of the 50 tiger reserves of India - projecttiger.nic.in/WriteReadData/…