Number of tigers in Amrabad reserve rises to 14

Last time, during the 2019 phase IV census, the forest department captured images of 12 identified tigers

Hyderabad: The population of tigers in the Amrabad Tiger Reserve, home to the highest population of the big cat in Telangana State, has gone up from 12 to 14 as per the new census carried out in the reserve.

Last time, during the 2019 phase IV census, the forest department captured images of 12 identified tigers. During the 2020-21 phase IV, monitoring was conducted in parts of the core area of the Tiger Reserve and 14 individual tiger images were captured and compared with existing tiger database of the Tiger Reserve, the Annual census report, which was formally released by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests R.Sobha here on Friday, said.

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Once in four years, the entire Tiger Reserve’s core and buffer areas are covered with cameras to capture total population so that more individual tigers could be recorded. Phase IV monitoring was conducted to monitor tigers in every Tiger Reserve in India. In tune with this, estimation of prey population density including spotted deer, sambar, nilgai, wild boars, four horned antelope and Chinkara etc was done by Line Transect Estimation method.

In terms of population, spotted deer and wild boars occupied the first place with 2.40 individuals per every sqkm followed by sambar with 1.65 individuals per every sqkm, Nilagai with 1.41 individuals per sqkm and common langur with 1.37 per sqkm.

This year, water hole census was also conducted in the tiger reserve and a total of 43 wild animal species were recorded. It was found that early morning hours and evening hours were preferred timings by Ungulates to visit the water holes to quench their thirst.

The phase IV monitoring and estimation will give an idea to the Protected Area Managers on the prey-predator densities in the protected area.

This apart, it gives an idea about which areas in the protected area have high prey densities and areas where tiger movements are on the higher side. It also shares details of areas which are disturbed and requires management intervention. In case of tiger monitoring, phase IV monitoring (annual) is conducted in identified areas of the Tiger Reserve.

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