India is home to 75% of global tigers; count rises above 3,000

Source: The post is based on the article “India is home to 75% of global tigers; count rises above 3,000” published in Livemint on 10th April 2023

What is the News?

The Prime Minister has released the figures of the 5th cycle of India’s Tiger Census.

What are the key findings from the 5th cycle of India’s Tiger Census?

Number of Tigers: Tiger numbers have once again increased in the country and now stand at 3,167 in the wild as of 2022. 

– The 2018 Tiger Census released in 2019 established the presence of 2,967 tigers in India. 

– This means that the tiger population in the country has increased by 6.7 per cent in the past four years.

– The tiger population has grown the most in the Shivalik hills and Gangetic flood plains, followed by central India, the northeastern hills, the Brahmaputra flood plains and the Sundarbans. But there was a decline in tiger population in the Western Ghats.

Threats faced by tiger habitats: The major tiger zones face a range of threats including habitat encroachment, illegal hunting of both tigers and their prey, conflicts between humans and wildlife, unregulated and illicit cattle grazing, excessive harvesting of non-timber forest produce, human-induced forest fires, mining, and ever-expanding linear infrastructure. 

About India’s Biodiversity

India has only 2.4% of the world’s land area, but it contributes toward 8 percent to known global biodiversity. 

India is the largest tiger range country in the world, the largest Asiatic elephant range country in the world with nearly thirty thousand elephants, and also the largest single-horn rhino country with a population of nearly three thousand. 

India is home to 75% of the world’s tiger population. India is the only country in the world to have Asiatic lions and its population has increased from around 525 in 2015 to around 675 in 2020. India’s leopard population has increased by over 60 percent in 4 years.

India has added 11 wetlands to its list of Ramsar sites taking the total number of Ramsar Sites to 75. 

India has added over 2200 square kilometres of forest and tree cover by 2021 when compared to 2019. In the last decade.

The number of Community Reserves increased from 43 to over 100 and the number of National Parks and sanctuaries around which Eco-sensitive Zones were notified increased from  9 to 468, that too in a decade.