Common Survey to Count Elephants and Tigers

Common Survey to Count Elephants and Tigers

Part of: GS Prelims and GS- III – Environment; Conservation 

In news From December, India will move to a system that will count tigers and elephants as part of a common survey. 

• The announcement was made on 12th August which is celebrated as World Elephant Day.
• The tiger survey is usually held once in four years and elephants are counted once in five years.

How are the Tiger and elephant numbers estimated till now?

• Since 2006, the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, which is affiliated to the Environment Ministry, has a standardised protocol in place which is used by States to estimate tiger numbers. 
• Based on sightings in camera traps and indirect estimation methods, tiger numbers are computed.
• Elephant numbers largely rely on States directly counting the number of elephants. 
• In recent years, techniques such as analysing dung samples have also been deployed to estimate birth rates and population trends in elephants.
• There were 2,997 tigers (2018-19 survey) and 29,964 elephants (2017 survey) in India. 

Need for common survey

• Given that 90% of the area occupied by elephants and tigers is common, and once estimation methods are standardised, having a common survey can significantly save costs. 

Source: PIB