Tiger count goes up up in Amrabad Reserve of Telangana

PTI, Jul 17, 2021, 6:01 PM IST

Hyderabad: The Telangana Forest Department has said there are 14 tigers in the Amrabad Tiger Reserve as against 12 recorded in 2019.

The Amrabad reserve is home to the highest population of tigers in the State.

The latest findings on the presence of the big cats came out during the phase-IV monitoring carried out in 2020- 21, according to an official release.

”During the phase-IV census in 2019, there were 12 identified tigers. In the phase-IV monitoring in 2020-21, the number increased to 14…” it said.

Phase-IV monitoring is being conducted as part of the exercise in every tiger reserve across the country.

The estimation of prey population density (spotted deer, Sambar, Nilgai, wild pigs, four-antler antelope, and chinkara, among others) is done by the Line Transect estimation method, said.

The monitoring and estimation would give the managers of the protected area an idea on issues such as prey-predator densities, prey densities and tiger movements for management intervention could be made, the release said.

This year, a census on water holes too was conducted in the tiger reserve and the findings indicated early hours and evening hours were the time the ungulates came out to drink.

A total of 43 species of wildlife were recorded, according to the annual census report released by the Forest Department on Friday.