The tiger count in Karnataka has seen an increase with a minimum of 435 tigers as per the All India Tiger Estimation (AITE) exercise conducted in 2022 compared to a minimum of 404 tigers that were estimated during the 2018 AITE exercise.
Nagarahole has pipped Bandipur to claim the coveted position of being the national park with the highest number of tigers — 149 compared to 140 at Bandipur.
Karnataka conducted the estimation exercise as per the protocols in 2021-22 in a total of 37 forest divisions, of which tiger presence was noted in 22 divisions.
The Karnataka Tiger Cell analysed the AITE 2022 data and the result was released by Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre in Bengaluru on Thursday, July 27.
Numbers based on camera trap images
Kumar Pushkar, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife), said based on the 2018 AITE exercise, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) had projected the total tiger count in the State at 524. The projected count for 2022 will be released by the NTCA in due course and the population range is expected to be higher.
He said the minimum tigers estimated for 2022 in Karnataka is based on the camera trap images and there were 4,786 camera trap locations across the 37 forest divisions. The total number of camera trap images captured during the exercise was 66,86,450 and after eliminating the duplicate counts, the minimum tiger estimated for the State has been pegged at 435.
373 big cats in five tiger reserves
Among the national parks and tiger reserves, it transpired that there were 149 tigers in Nagarahole followed by Bandipur which has 140 tigers. Bhadra has 26 tigers while BRT Tiger Reserve has a minimum of 39 tigers and Kali has 19 tigers, as per the data. The five tiger reserves in Karnataka account for 373 tigers out of 435. The rest are spread across various protected areas that are not tiger reserves.
This includes seven tigers in the Belagavi forest division, six in Chikkamagaluru division, 11 in Madikeri division and five in Bhadravathi division, as per the report. MM Hills — whose tiger reserve status has been kept in abeyance — has a minimum of five tigers but officials point out that these are based on the camera trapped images only and the actual count at MM Hills is higher. The other divisions where tiger presence has been noted include Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, Kudremukh, Mysuru, Yellapura, Koppa, Bannerghatta, Karwar and Halliyal.
Steady increase in count in Nagarahole
Bandipur had 79 tigers as per the 2014 AITE exercise and based on the camera-trapped images. This increased to 126 in 2018 and reached 143 numbers of which three were also found in Nagarahole. After eliminating the duplicate counts, the figures for Bandipur were pegged at 140 tigers.
Bhadra had 20 tigers in 2014, 28 in 2018 but it has 26 in 2022. The figures for minimum tigers at BRT is also down from 49 in 2018 to 39 in 2022. Kali which had three tigers (minimum) in 2014 saw the number go up to 22 in 2018 and the 2022 tiger figures are pegged at 19.
It is Nagarahole which has seen a steady increase in tiger numbers since 2014 when there were 72 tigers. It increased to 125 in 2018 and 149 in 2022. Nagarahole also has the highest density of tigers at 10.88 per sq km while there are 7.97 tigers per sq.km in Bandipur, as per the forest department report.
