TIGER POPULATION

                                                                 TIGER POPULATION

    Tiger population in the Kerala state has been found' stable' over the last five years, the Tiger estimate 2010 released on Monday 28th March,2011.
 At the same time, the tiger population in the western Ghats land scape complex had gone up by 122, taking the total to 534 tigers. The upper limit of the tiger population in the Ghats region had been estimated as 568 and the lower limit as 500.
   The population estimation held in 2006 had assessed the number of tiger estimation was carried out by the National Tiger conservation Authority with the support of independent technical experts and institutions in all the tiger reserve states using scientific techniques. The exercise was carried out between December 2009 and December2010.  The 39 reserves in the country, two- the Periyar Tiger Reserve and Parambikulam Reserve-are located in the state. The Report stated that the population trend of tigers in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka had increased. The report clubbed Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in the western ghats landscape complex for evaluation. The Camera traps yielded photographs of 550 individual tigers. The estimation saw 800 Camera traps being used in the entire exercise covering a total area camera of 10,500 sq km.  Wild life officials in the state said the tiger population in the Periyar reserve was between 35 and 40. In the case of the Parambikulam reserve, the population was estimated to be eight. The Kerala side of the Parambikulam land scape was home to around 20 tigers, senior forest officials said.
    Tiger estimation is done once in four years. Camera trapping was the primary method used for the tiger count, besides the primary data generated by primary patrolling units and analysis of habitat status of tiger forests using satellite data. Tigers were identified from photographs based on their unique stripe patterns and the information was analysis using a scientific frame work. In the Periyar reserve, 20 pairs of digital cameras were placed at 80 locations frequented by tigers. The park mangers of Parambikulam also engaged 20 pairs of cameras to photographs the animals

                                                      Prof. John Kurakar