Are tiger habitats shrinking in the Western Ghats region which was recently placed in the World Heritage List of the Unesco?
A study conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India had shown that while tiger habitats in the Western Ghats were shrinking, the tiger population had shown a marked increase with the current tiger population being estimated to be 534.
The WII study believed this translated into an increase of 32 per cent since 2006.
Dr Ullas Karanth, conservation scientist and expert on the Western Ghats, however, insists the WII survey to study tiger numbers in 2006 and 2010 relies on poor methodology. Therefore, the speculation about shrinking habitats coupled to increasing tiger numbers is not reliable,” Dr Karanth said.
“Rigorous studies using current methodologies conducted by us in the Wildlife Conservation Society in Karnataka has shown that protected reserves in central parts of the Western Ghats in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala indicate that tiger numbers are either stable or increasing. But there is no evidence that the tiger habitat has shrunk in this region in 2006 to 2010.”
Experts have asked for a moratorium to be placed on development projects in this mountain zone and have also demanded that local populations be involved in monitoring of tiger populations in order to fight poaching.
Ministry of environment sources claim that perception between scientists may differ but the fact is that the tiger population in this area continues to be stable.