PANJIM: In a shocking revelation the tiger occupancy-cum-population has declined in the border areas of Goa and Karnataka covering non-protected areas of Mhadei, Mollem, Anshi and Dandeli complex of the Western Ghat region- the only landscape in India where the tiger population has dwindled, according to the latest tiger estimation report 2022 released by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday.
Though the number of tigers has increased nationwide (3,167) but a sharp decline in their population in the Western Ghat region has come as a stark wake-up call, ringing alarm bells for the authorities, conservationists and wildlife experts- especially at a time when experts and the government are at loggerheads on declaring Mhadei as tiger reserve.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which conducts the estimation, has not released state or tiger reserve-wise tiger estimation, but has provided some state-specific insight in the overall report.
According to the report, as of 2018, the tiger population was estimated at 981 tigers in the Western Ghat region. In 2022, 824 unique tigers were recorded, indicating a decline in some regions and stability in well-protected tiger reserves.
“The Nilgiri cluster is home to the world’s largest tiger population, but recent data shows a decrease in tiger occupancy throughout the Western Ghats, except in a few areas like Kali (Anshi Dandeli). While tiger populations within protected areas have either remained stable or increased, tiger occupancy outside of these regions has significantly decreased in areas, such as the Wayanad landscape, BRT Hills, and the border regions of Goa and Karnataka,” it added.
The 2010 Census had stumbled upon the presence of five tigers in Goa’s wild. As a result, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) described the Goa stretch of the Western Ghats as an important tiger corridor between Anshi-Dandeli tiger reserves and the Sahyadris.
Goa has witnessed decline in tiger population after 2014. As per 2014 Census, the State was home to five tigers, the number that went down to three in 2018.
The numbers then went up. A State-level tiger Census, which was carried out in 2019, confirmed the presence of five tigers; however four of them were killed in January, 2020. A tigress and her three cubs were killed by locals and their carcasses were found in Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary. Three persons were also arrested for poisoning the animals.