Common Survey to Count Elephants and Tigers

  • IASbaba
  • August 13, 2021
  • 0
UPSC Articles
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

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

Search now.....

Sign Up To Receive Regular Updates