'Tiger corridors need immediate attention,' says govt report even as population rises

India is rey to take leership role and work with or tiger range countries for manment of reserves, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javekar said on Tuesday and asserted that all tiger reserves in country are in good condition.

Speaking after releasing an over 600-p report of fourth All India Tiger Estimation 2018 on eve of Global Tiger Day, he said India is proud of its tiger achievements and despite scarcity of land and rainfall, it boasts of 8% of world's biodiversity.

'Corridor habitats are t protected areas'

Even as  tiger population has increased over years, Centre's detailed report has identified several issues which need immediate attention. re are between 33-35 major tiger corridors and several smaller ones in India.  report states se corridors are under threat due to unsustainable human use and developmental projects

report ‘Status of Tigers, Co predators and Prey in India’, stated that many tiger reserves and protected areas in India are analogous to small islands in a vast sea of ecologically unsustainable land uses of varying degrees. “Many tiger populations are confined within small protected areas and some have habitat corridors that permit tiger movement between m. However, most of corridor habitats in India are t protected areas, and are degring due to unsustainable human use and developmental projects,” report res. 

re have been gains and losses in individual landscapes says report. Most of se variations have taken place in habitat pockets with low density.

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Tiger population within reserves is 1,923

 Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand has highest number of 231 big cats in country while three reserves in Mizoram, West Bengal and Jharkhand have ne, report said. Currently, tiger population within reserves is 1,923 (65% of total tiger population of India), report said.

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According to population estimation of tigers in reserves for 2018-19, Corbett has 231 tigers followed by Nagarhole and Bandipore reserves in Karnataka with 127 and 126 tigers respectively. Assam's Kaziranga and Mhya Presh's Bandhavgarh recorded 104 tigers each, report said.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi h in 2019 released tiger estimation report as per which, India recorded 2967 tigers, more than double number from 1411 in 2006. Sanjay Kumar, Director General, Forests, said that tiger reserves in India have improved and it is a great achievement.

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(With PTI inputs)