IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Qureshi, Q.; Gopal, R.; Kyatham, S.; Basu, S.; Mitra, A.; Jhala, Y.V. | |
| Evaluating tiger habitat at the tehsil level | |
| 2006 Full Book | |
Evaluating tiger habitat in India is the first ever study of its kind undertaken in the country for determining the current and historical distribution of free ranging tigers, identify the potential forest areas for tiger survival and prioritise these for conservation planning and management. We conducted a questionnaire survey addressed to the Chief Wildlife Wardens for determining spatial occupancy of tigers and their prey at the resolution of a tehsil. These data were mapped using GIS along with remotely sensed information, attribute data, and landscape characteristics depicting habitat extent, quality, and anthropogenic pressures. A literature survey was conducted to estimate tiger occupancy during the last 150 years at the resolution of districts. Information on detected crimes against tigers was obtained from official records, and from records in the public domain. Tigers have been locally extirpated from 97 districts within the recent past constituting 26% of their range in India. Tiger poaching and related offences have been primarily detected in Uttaranchal and Madhya Pradesh, near Tiger Reserves. Size of Priority-I tiger conservation areas were maximum in Central India (29,000 km2), followed by the North Eastern-Hill and Bhramputra plains (19,000 km2), and Western Ghat complex (17,000 km2). These areas are critically important for tigers as they harbour the source populations. Priority-II and III areas are good tiger habitats which serve as links between source populations and can potentially sustain low density breeding populations. The country has about 300,000 km2 of potentially good tiger habitat. |
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