It was in the month of July this year that the state of Odisha questioned the findings of the AITE (All India Tiger Assessment). Now the Odisha government has revealed its plan to conduct a tiger census in the state.
What does the AITE report suggest?
An AITE report that was revealed in the month of July claimed that more than half of the tigers in the state disappeared in 2016. Moreover, it also stated that the Satkosia Tiger Reserve in the state has no tiger reserve. The report suggested that the state of Odisha had 45 tigers in 2006, but now only 20 remain. Simphal Tiger Reserve has 16 tigers in 2022, compared to only 8 in 2018, the report said.
However, the Odisha government disagreed with AITE’s methodology and decided to prepare its own census.
The Odisha tiger census will begin in October 2023.
Previously, AITE used the pugmark method, but got away with that method as new technologies emerged. However, Odisha’s plan is to rely on the camera trap technique, along with the pugmark method and other approaches.
ALSO READ: Lakhimpur Kheri: Home of Tigers – All about Dudhwa National Park
Why Odisha Government Doubts AITE Findings?
Odisha Forest Department officials said the AITE-2022 findings may not be an accurate reflection of the number of tigers in the state, as the sampling intensity was low.
Officials are of the view that the AITE protocol mandates the conduct of Phase I survey in each forest zone (this includes protected areas, revenue forests, protected forests, reserve forests and tiger reserves in all territorial divisions and wildlands) along with Phase III survey in all potential forest blocks with with a tiger. However, in the state of Odisha, the survey was conducted only in limited areas, officials claimed. Odisha said only 733 traps were set in the state, while in Madhya Pradesh the number of traps was 6,894 and in Maharashtra the number of traps was 4,872.
ALSO READ: List of Most Popular Tiger Reserves in India
What is Odisha looking forward to with its own research?
The State of Odisha aims to maintain a fairly realistic estimate of the number of tigers in Odisha and in the State’s forest blocks and habitats, for the purpose of improved protection and closer monitoring.
ALSO READ: Top 10 Largest Forests In The World: Complete List Here
ALSO READ: List of 5 underwater forests from around the world
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education