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.
