Context

The Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) has bagged international award TX2 for doubling the number of tigers in the past four years. The number of tigers in the reserve area has gone up to 65 from 25 in the period of just four year.

About

The Pilibhit Tiger Reserve

• The Pilibhit Tiger Reserveis situated in Uttar Pradesh, forming part of the Terai Arc Landscape, in the upper Gangetic Plain Biogeographic Province.
• It lies along the India-Nepal border in the foothills of the Himalayas and the plains of the Terai in Uttar Pradesh.
• It is one of India’s 51 Project Tiger Tiger reserves.
• Rivers: Some river originating from the reserve, which is also the catchment of several others like Sharda, Chuka and Mala, Khannot.
• Forest: The habitat is characterized by Saal Forests, tall grasslands and swamp maintained by periodic flooding from rivers.
• The Sharda Sagar Dam extending up to a length of 22 km is on the boundary of the reserve.

Tiger Population in India Recently, India’s tiger census of 2018 entered the Guinness Book of World Records for being the largest ever camera-trap wildlife survey conducted anywhere in the world. According to the survey, the country was home to an about 2,967 tigers. Of all the big cats, 2,461 (around 83%) have been photo-captured. The country’s tiger population increased by roughly one-third, from 2,226 in 2014 to 2,927 in 2018 following efforts that included better corridors between isolated pockets of tiger territory, reduced poaching and building up prey numbers through habitat restoration. India now has nearly 70 per cent of the global tiger population and 50 tiger reserves. The tiger tally in the country stands at 2,967. The tiger population in the country has grown from 1,400 in 2014 to 2,967 in 2019. Madhya Pradesh has the maximum number of tigers at 526. Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand has the highest number of 231 big cats in the country.

The Award

• Set in 2010 by the 13 tiger range countries, the goal known as TX2 is credited with reversing the downward decline of tigers from a low.
• 13 Tiger range countries: India, Nepal, China, Russia, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Bhutan, Indonesia, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar.
  • PTR was the first to receive the award among 13 tiger range countries.
• Key international organization: UNDP, Global Tiger Forum, International Union for Conservation of Nature, World Wide Fund for Nature, Conservation Assured/Tiger Standards and the Lion's Share.