Tiger faeces being collected in uneven terrains, insurgency-hit areas to estimate population

In a first, wildlife officials are collecting tiger faeces to estimate the population of the big cats in erratic terrains and insurgency-hit areas in the country, with a report likely to be released next month.

The experiment is called 'scats' and it is being conducted for the first time in uneven terrains like those in northeastern states, and naxal-affected areas, where installing cameras to capture the movement of tigers is tough, a National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) official said.

The official said tiger faeces is being used for genetic sampling and estimating the big cats population for the 2018 Tiger Census.

Explaining the methodology of 'scats', an official of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), an autonomous institution of the Environment Ministry, said the technique involves making polygons -- squares in this case -- of 25 sqkm each in an area of 400 sqkm in the northeastern region, and then physically going there and collecting faeces for genetic sampling.

"Such methodologies are helpful in uneven terrains and insurgency-hit areas where camera installation is impossible," Ujwal, Project Scientist, Tiger Cell, WII, said.

Speaking on the same lines, NTCA IG Amit Malik said this genetic profiling of tigers will help in identifying footprints of the big cats in areas where camera trapping is tough.

"For the first time we are going to get tiger estimation in northeast India using polygon research and the scats methodolgy.

"Scats will give us an indication of the numbers and help us identify distribution and footprints of tigers in abnormal terrains and naxal-affected areas. We are doing this for the first time," Malik said.

He also said the four-yearly survey of tiger count has almost been completed and only analysis of the data is pending.

The NTCA official also said for the first time, India will be coming out with a sub-continent report on tiger count in association with bordering countries- Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh.

"India shares its boundaries with these three countries and tigers keep moving in and out of these boundaries freely. If we collaborate and exchange data with them, we can get a better picture of the count of big cats," former IG of the NTCA H S Negi said.

With the census report expected to be released by March-end, wildlife officials are anticipating a sharp rise in tiger population across the country.

"We are expecting the population to be more this time as the methodology is improved as well as the area being surveyed is wider. However, more than the number of tigers we are concerned about their health and habitat," Malik said.

However, the WII says the report is expected to be released in May-end.

Y V Jhala, Senior Scientist, Tiger Cell, WII, said the process of tiger census began in October 2018 and is about to get over but the results are expected at the end of May.

He said it is an exercise that covers 18 tiger reign states with 50 tiger reserves along with areas beyond these reserves where tigers can be found.

Elaborating on the mobile technology being used, wildlife experts said several applications and software are being used to collect, collate and analyse data.

"Technology to record data on mobile is being used. The survey is conducted by trained forest officials. Spot marks of tigers are photographed and geo-tagged. The process is more streamlined this time," Jhala said.

This is the fourth cycle of the tiger census. The first was conducted in 2006, second in 2010 and third in 2014. A team of over 44,000 officials is working on the census this time with 55 biologists across the country, the WII scientist said.

According to the last survey conducted in 2014, the tiger count was 2,226.

Over 24,000 camera trap stations have been installed across the country to capture tigers, as per the experts.

"The camera trap stations are set up with motion censors which click (a picture of) a tiger whenever it crosses that area. We have installed around 24,326 camera trap stations," Ujwal of WII said.

"Over two crore photographs are expected to come to us. This technology helps reduce the possibility of circulation of fake data," Ujwal said.

The experts said this survey is a massive exercise that includes other species as well, including, leopards and lesser cats, but the focus largely remains on tigers.

The other software being used for tiger estimation are - Spatially Explicit Capture Recapture (SECR), mobile technology M-STrIPES (Monitoring System For Tigers-Intensive Protection and Ecological Status) and Extract Compare which helps differentiate between the stripes of tigers as each has a different pattern, Negi said.

He said the number of tigers extracted in the exercise depend on several factors, including the grim possibility of reaching the red corridors in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand etc, and sometimes the non availability of the required equipment.

The census does not include cubs. Only adult tigers are counted, he said.