Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government has planned to conduct tiger census in next summer season, informed an official.
Raising concerns over the accuracy of tiger census report by the Centre, Odisha’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Wildlife Ajay Mohapatra said that the State will carry out tiger census next year.
The census carried out by the central agencies has ignored many forest divisions where tigers have been spotted, the official said.
He further stated that the census technique was based on only camera-traps for which the accurate data is yet to reveal.
The number of tigers in Odisha given in the report by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is ‘incorrect’, he said.
The NTCA report pointed out that the tiger population in Odisha has remained stagnant at 28 between two surveys in 2014 and 2018. It further stated that the number of tigers in the state was 45 in 2006. The figure dropped to 32 in 2010.
The Odisha Government will carry out accurate counting next year to know the tiger population, he said.