Tiger report calls for celebration, but efforts must continue to save them: Experts

Welcoming the tiger census report 2018 released on Monday, wildlife experts have lauded the efforts behind the colossal exercise held once in four years saying it was time to "celebrate" as the country is home to nearly 3,000 big wild cats.

According to the All India Tiger Estimation (AITE) report, India's tiger population has increased by 33 per cent in the last four years with 2,967 tigers in 2018, compared to 2,226 in 2014.

Reacting to the report, Rajesh Gopal, Secretary General of Global Tiger Forum, an inter-governmental international body for conservation of tigers, said it was a "brilliant" report prepared by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), statutory bodies under the Environment Ministry.

"We appreciate the report and the efforts behind it. It is a brilliant work and was a comprehensive exercise which was time consuming," Gopal said, adding that the tiger spread is also more this time compared to the last survey.

Sharing his experience, Y V Jhala, Scientist at Tiger Cell, WII, who has contributed to the report, said it was a pleasure to have had it released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"It was a pleasure to have the Prime Minister release it (AITE report). It is a big achievement and makes a huge difference," he said.

He, however, added that the automated techniques used this time helped the officials to collect and collate the data digitally "but the magnitude of the data was much larger that's why it took its own time to be analysed."