The Prime Minister released the summary report of All India Tiger Estimation (5th cycle) on 9th April 2023.
Key highlights
- The 2022 census shows India is home to at least 3,167 tigers, an increase of 6.74% from 2,967 in 2018, the previous occasion the big cats were counted in the wild.
- As many as 3,080 tigers were photographed in 2022, compared with 2,461 captured on camera in 2018.
- India hosts some 75% of the global tiger population living in forests.
- Despite the modest increase of 200 in four years, most tiger reserves in the country are like tiny islands of conservation, with areas outside the protected zones showing unsustainable land use.
- The Western Ghats showed a significant decline in numbers, from 981 in 2018 to 824 in 2022.
- Out of the approximately 400,000 sq km of forests in tiger states, only a third are in relatively healthier condition.
- Since its inception (in 1973), the project has expanded from nine tiger reserves covering 18,278 km2 to 53 reserves covering 75,796 km2, which account for 2.3% of India’s land area.
- The increase in tiger population was substantial in the Shivalik hills in the outer Himalayas and the Gangetic floodplains, followed by central India, northeastern hills and Brahmaputra floodplains, and the Sundarbans in the Gangetic delta.
- In Shivalik, the number of tigers has increased to 804 from 646 in 2018, in central Indian landscape to 1,161 from 1,033, in northeastern landscape to 219 from 194 and in the Sunderbans to 100 from 88.
