New Delhi: India has reported an increase in its tiger population, bringing cheer to wildlife enthusiasts worldwide. The latest estimate put the figures at 1706 Tigers, as against 1411 individuals reported in the last estimate released in 2008.

The figure was revealed by the Indian Minister of State for Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh, releasing the All India Tiger Estimation report, at the International Conference on Tiger Conservation (ICTC) that began today in the Indian capital.

“The number of 1411 is now replaced by 1636, if we see like for like it is a 12% increase” said the Minister. He also added that the number 1706 came from new areas included in this survey, which significantly includes Sunderbans which has an average population of 70 tigers.

The two-day Conference is being organised by the Indian government in collaboration with the inter-governmental Global Tiger Forum (GTF) and the World Bank’s Global Tiger Initiative (GTI) to discuss challenges, plans and priorities for implementing the Global Tiger Recovery Program, which aims to double the wild tiger population by 2022. The participants include leaders from all 13 tiger range countries, scientists as well as conservationists from NGOs.

“During the St Petersburg meet in Russia last year, the range countries had committed to the global goal of doubling the world’s wild tiger population by 2022. India’s population increase is a development in that direction. This does not indicate that tigers in India, or in the other tiger range countries are less threatened now, but it is definitely an indication that we have the ability to attain this global goal,” said Azzedine Downes, Executive Vice President, International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).

Authorities have attributed the increase in tiger population to a number of factors including better enforcement and habitat protection, as well as greater awareness. Additionally, a lot more areas including Sunderbans in the east Indian state of West Bengal and northeast Indian states, that were excluded in the 2008 estimation, were covered in the latest census. The methodology used was more scientific and uniform throughout the country, and was coordinated by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).

“There was an increase in tiger densities even in individual areas covered by our team including Dudhwa and Valmiki Tiger Reserves in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar respectively, as compared to the last estimate. Yet, for the entire nation’s population, it will be more correct to say that we have a more realistic estimate (closer to the actual figure) now,” said Vivek Menon, Executive Director, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) and Regional Director-South Asia, IFAW.

In addition to the release of the tiger estimation report, the first day of the ICTC also saw the launch of the second edition of the Action Tiger, a compilation of updated National Tiger Action Plans (NTAPs) of all 13 tiger range countries (TRC). The NTAPs establish holistic but focussed and achievable conservation strategy which lays out specific action plans towards an overarching vision of securing viable tiger populations in the respective TRCs.

The publication, compiled by the GTF, IFAW and WTI, will be useful for stakeholders including funding agencies, supporting non-tiger range countries, NGOs, or concerned individuals to identify areas requiring focus for appropriate interventions.

IFAW-WTI is helping coordinate a unified approach to tiger conservation by bringing together all tiger range countries (TRC) through support to the GTF and the GTI. IFAW-WTI has also been implementing a number of projects in India to enhance tiger conservation efforts. These include capacity building of frontline staff of the state Forest Departments, rescue and rehabilitation, mitigating human-tiger conflicts, promoting and facilitating trans-boundary cooperation, among others.

IFAW also supports tiger conservation activities in other tiger range countries including Russia and China.