India’s 2018 Tiger Census has made it to the Guinness Book of World Records for being the world’s largest camera trapping wildlife survey.

The Guinness World Records website said, “The fourth iteration of the survey  conducted in 2018-19 - was the most comprehensive to date, in terms of both resource and data amassed. Camera traps (outdoor photographic devices fitted with motion sensors that start recording when an animal passes by) were placed in 26,838 locations across 141 different sites and surveyed an effective area of 121,337 sq km.”

“In total, the camera traps captured 34,858,623 photographs of wildlife (76,651 of which were tigers and 51,777 were leopards; the remainder were other native fauna). From these photographs, 2,461 individual tigers (excluding cubs) were identified using stripe-pattern-recognition software,” it added.

Terming this achievement a great moment, Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar tweeted, “The All India Tiger Estimation is now in the Guinness World Records for being the largest camera trap wildlife survey, a great moment indeed and a shining example of Atmanirbhar Bharat.”

Highlights of 2018 Tiger Census

The fourth cycle of the All India Tiger Estimation 2018, results of which were declared to the nation on Global Tiger Day last year by PM Narendra Modi, estimated 2,967 tigers or 75 per cent of the global tiger population.

The fourth cycle of the assessment was undertaken in 2018 and 2019 using the best available science, technology and analytical tools.

With 526 tigers, Madhya Pradesh has regained the coveted ‘tiger state’ tag after losing it to Karnataka nearly a decade ago

While the number of tigers have increased nationwide, there was a decline in its population in Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh.

Project Tiger

The Union government has taken a pioneering initiative for conserving tigers by launching the Project Tiger in 1973.

Project Tiger is an ongoing centrally sponsored scheme of the ministry of environment, forests and climate change providing central assistance to the tiger states for tiger conservation in designated tiger reserves.

From nine tiger reserves since its formative years, the Project Tiger coverage has increased to 50 at present, spread out in 18 tiger range states. This amounts to around 2.21 per cent of the geographical area of our country.

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