India currently has an estimated population of 4,000 tigers, representing an annual growth rate of 6.1 percent, said an official statement issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on Saturday.
The statement, released on International Tiger Day, said 3,167 tigers are living in the country's camera-trapped areas, but an analysis of data done by the Wildlife Institute of India from both camera-trapped and non-camera-trapped tiger presence areas revealed that the upper limit of the tiger population in the country was estimated to be 3,925, reflecting an annual growth rate of 6.1 percent.
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"India currently harbors almost 75 percent of the world's wild tiger population. With significant changes in the spatial patterns of tiger occurrence and an increase in unique tiger sightings from 2,461 in the year 2018, to 3,080 in the year 2022, now more than three-fourth of the tiger population is found within protected areas," said the official statement.
"Various tiger reserves have shown remarkable growth, while others face challenges. Approximately 35 percent of the tiger reserves urgently require enhanced protection measures, habitat restoration, ungulate augmentation, and subsequent tiger reintroduction," it said.
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The federal ministry emphasized the importance of eco-friendly development, minimizing mining impacts, rehabilitating mining sites, intensifying anti-poaching measures, and addressing human-wildlife conflict to protect the tiger populations.