The Forest Department is to begin monitoring tiger populations in the Nilgiris forest division each year, similar to protocols established in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR), said Field Director and Conservator of Forests (Nilgiris), D. Venkatesh on Wednesday, September 20, 2023.
S. Gowtham, District Forest Officer (Nilgiris Division), said that as per the last All India Tiger Estimation exercise, the division is home to 54 tigers, a significant population that has expanded into the division from MTR. Mr. Gowtham, along with Mr. Venkatesh and Deputy Director of MTR (Buffer Zone), P. Arunkumar, were addressing the media on Wednesday following the deaths of ten tigers (six cubs and four adults), in a little over a month in the district.
“The Nilgiris landscape, including MTR, Sathyamangalam, Nagarhole, Bandipur and Wayanad has the third-highest population of tigers anywhere in India, which is spilling over into the surrounding Nilgiris division. As a result, we have decided to conduct yearly monitoring of the population, similar to monitoring of the population in MTR,” said Mr. Venkatesh.
