4 months after counting big cats, NTCA seeks more of tiger cells

Four months after coming out with an estimate that the country has over 2,900 tigers, the apex body tasked with their conservation has proposed to increase the number of Tiger Cells to perform the task of big cats' head count more efficiently and transparently.

A senior government official told PTI that the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, has sent a note to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), which too comes under the ministry, to revamp the Tiger Cell and increase its numbers.

According to official sources, the country's lone Tiger Cell is based in Dehradun and it has been a challenge to source and disseminate information with just one such office. Asked if the move is aimed at removing the alleged discrepancies in the tiger population estimates released in July this year, the official said it has nothing to do with the summary report and the final data was to be finalised by the end of December.

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"There were no discrepancies in the report. It was not even a final report. The decision to expand the Tiger Cell is independent of any study done so far. It is a call to improve the efficiency of the system. We will come out with the final report by the end of this month. The ministry will take a call on when to release it," Y V Jhala, one of the lead authors of the tiger estimation report and senior scientist from the WII, said.

Tiger Cell is the body responsible for the counting of big cats and has DNA fingerprints from tiger reserves across the nation with their photographic evidence.

The NTCA and WII had released a summary report of tiger count in India in July this year with its data showing a 33 per cent rise in the number of big cats in the country. After this, some environment activists had alleged discrepancies and inflation in tigers' head count. Denying any discrepancy, the WII official said the final report is yet to be released.

"How can there by any irregularity or inflation of numbers. I have the photographs. They are not even in the public domain. Wrong to make such allegations," Jhala said. An official of the NTCA confirmed the proposed expansion but refused to comment on the real reason behind it.

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