What are the methods to estimate tiger populations?
Many different methods are used to estimate the number of tigers. The most commonly used technique in the past was ‘Pugmark Census Technique’. In this method the imprints of the pugmark of the tiger were recorded and used as a basis for identification of individuals. Now it is largely used as one of the indices of tiger occurrence and relative abundance. Other methods used to count the number of tigers are: the camera trapping in which the photograph of the tiger is taken and individuals are differentiated on the basis of the stripes on the body and DNA fingerprinting that is the latest technique in which tigers are identified from their scats. The latter two techniques, although expensive, are slowly gaining ground. The latest tiger population estimation was conducted during the year 2005-06, the results of which are awaited.
