Relevance : GS Paper III
The tiger census report has showcased a significant achievement for India’s conservation efforts.
Change in population of tigers
- Population has gone up by more than 700 since 2014.
- India is home to nearly 3,000 tigers..
Questions over enumeration
- An investigation shows that the survey over-reported the country’s tiger population by 16 per cent.
- The tiger census did not follow well-established norms of estimation.
- Earlier, the pug mark method was highly subjective and prone to duplication.
- After 2006, a more rigorous three-phase method was adopted to count tigers including satellite surveys.
- And, finally, camera-traps were set up in selected pockets to identify individual tigers.
- The quality of the camera traps was a major issue in many tiger habitats.
Conclusion
Institutions responsible for enumeration must be guided by ecological imperative.