GUWAHATI, May 22 ? With the tiger population showing a steady growth in Kaziranga National Park during the last two decades, the park authority is submitting a proposal to start a ?Project Tiger? programme within the sprawling national park to the Government of India. The director of Kaziranga National Park (KNP), NK Vasu today informed this newspaper that the park authority was spurred by steady increase in the number of the endangered big cat species to go for a tiger project for adequate conservation of it within the park.
The director informed that ?ecological density? of tiger population in the KNP was very high compared to many other tiger habitats in the world as per a ?scientific study? carried out in 1996. He informed that as per the latest census carried out in the year 2000, there were 86 tigers in the KNP as against 80 in 1997, 73 in 1993 and 23 in 1972. In 1996, Bangalore based noted tiger conservation expert, Ullas Karanth carried out a scientific study on ecological density of tiger population in KNP. The study which was conducted through the proven method of ?camera trapping? i.e. photographic capture and recapture of tiger in the wilderness. The study found out that the ecological density of the species in the national park was about 16.8 tigers per 100 square kilometre excluding calves below the age of one year.
As per the findings of the study put the national park which is famous for being a unique habitat of one-horned rhinoceros, among few wildlife areas with very high density of tiger population. Moreover, the park director informed that the sprawling Kaziranga National Park could be an ideal habitat for at least four key factors : presence of vast areas of alluvial grassland within the park for smooth movements of the big cat; presence of moist deciduous forest cover, availability of big and medium size prey species for consumption of tigers and favourable geographical location bound by the bank of Brahmaputra to the north and Karbi Anglong Hills to the south. When asked what is the minimum area required by an adult tiger for its comfortable movement within a wildlife area, the KNP director informed that the area requirement was dependent on the prey density in the area.
He informed that no such data was available as far as Kaziranga National Park was concerned as no systematic study on tiger conservation aspect was taken up in the park despite the sizeable population of the endangered species. The director informed that if the Project Tiger under the Ministry of Environment and Forest agreed to sponsor a tiger project it would go a long way in facilitating systematic study on conservation and monitoring of tiger species in Kaziranga National Park.