Madhya Pradesh’s tiger population jumps to 785 while Karnataka has 563
2 min read
Mysuru: Madhya Pradesh is unarguably the ‘Tiger State’ of India, putting Karnataka behind, according to the All India Tiger Estimation Report-2022 that was released to mark the Global Tiger Day here on Saturday.
As per the report, Madhya Pradesh has 785 tigers while Karnataka’s count stands at 563. Interestingly, the 2018 survey had recorded 526 tigers in Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka had 524 and in just four years, the number of big cats in MP has made quite a big leap at 785.
This has drawn mixed responses from those who watch the numbers, keenly.
Wildlife activist Joseph Hoover told Mysoorunews.com that it is welcoming that the number of big cats have seen a rise in MP but at the same time, it begs a lot of questions. It is time to do some reflection especially with regard to conservation efforts in Karnataka. “We need to see where we have failed,” he said. At the same time, he expressed his surprise at how in just four years, the number of tigers had increased to 785 from 526 (2018). He sought to know whether there included cubs also in the counting.
He also said that it’s time Karnataka made its effort to declare MM Hills as tiger reserve. The demand has been long pending.
As far as Karnataka’s tiger population is concerned, Bandipur tops the tiger reserves in the State with 150 big cats, followed by Nagarahole – 141, BRT – 37, Bhadra – 28 and Kali – 17. These numbers were taken into consideration from those inside the reserve forests, respectively.
Karnataka is now facing a tough competition from Uttarakhand for the total number of tigers here is 560 while Karnataka’s total tiger population is 564. Earlier, Karnataka was competing with Madhya Pradesh.
Karnataka is leading in tiger habitat when compared to Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Maharashtra.
-Team Mysoorunews
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