The process of estimating the population of tigers and other carnivorous wildlife began on Monday across forest areas in Karnataka, marking the start of a major conservation exercise aimed at assessing the health of the state’s forest ecosystems. Announcing the launch, Karnataka’s Forest, Ecology and Environment Minister Eshwar Khandre said the exercise is part of the nationwide tiger estimation carried out once every four years.

Speaking to reporters in Bidar, Khandre said this is the sixth such all-India estimation exercise, following earlier counts conducted in 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022. Karnataka, he noted, has consistently been among the top states in terms of tiger population and was earlier estimated to have around 563 tigers, placing it second in the country.

The census will cover all major tiger reserves in the state, including Kali, Bhadra, Nagarahole, Bandipur and the Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve. In addition, the estimation will extend to forest areas beyond designated tiger reserves, ensuring a comprehensive assessment of carnivore presence and prey availability across Karnataka.

“The estimation will be carried out in patrol areas of all 38 forest divisions across every forest range in the state,” Khandre said. To prepare for the exercise, extensive training was imparted between October and December to frontline forest staff. Personnel from the five tiger reserves were trained separately, while staff from all 13 forest circles across the state also underwent training to standardise data collection methods.

According to the minister, the first phase of the census began on January 5 and will run for three days. During this phase, teams consisting of three members each will patrol forest areas across the state, covering about five kilometres daily. These teams will collect field data such as pugmarks, scat samples and direct sightings of tigers, leopards and other carnivorous animals, along with evidence of elephant presence.

“This phase is crucial because it gives us baseline information on the distribution of carnivores and their movement patterns,” Khandre said. “It also helps identify areas that require closer monitoring in subsequent stages.”

The second phase of the estimation is scheduled to take place from January 15 to 17 in 14 forest divisions. During this stage, teams will focus on direct sightings of herbivorous animals such as deer, sambar, gaur and wild buffalo. The data collected on prey species will play a key role in understanding habitat quality and prey density, which are essential factors in sustaining healthy tiger populations.

The information gathered during the first two phases will be used to finalise locations for installing camera traps, which form the backbone of the third and most data-intensive phase of the census. Camera traps help identify individual tigers through stripe patterns and provide more accurate estimates of population size.

Khandre said Tiger Project Director Ramesh Kumar has been nominated as the nodal officer to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and will oversee the entire estimation exercise in Karnataka. “He has been instructed to assess the number of tigers and other carnivores in each area, evaluate the population of herbivorous animals, determine prey availability and identify the carrying capacity of each forest,” the minister said.

A total of 2,230 camera traps are currently available across the state’s five tiger reserves, and camera trap surveys have already begun in all of them. Breaking down the numbers, Khandre said Nagarahole Tiger Reserve has 600 camera traps, Bandipur has 550, BRT has 300, Bhadra has 330 and Kali Tiger Reserve has 450.

In an effort to extend monitoring beyond core tiger habitats, steps are also being taken to install camera traps in forest areas outside the tiger reserves. Reserves that complete their surveys earlier will supply camera traps to neighbouring wildlife sanctuaries and forest divisions. Bandipur Tiger Reserve will provide cameras to the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary, BRT to the MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, and Nagarahole to the Madikeri Wildlife Division and the Mysuru Regional Division.

The minister noted that recent instances of tigers venturing into human habitations suggest a possible increase in the state’s tiger population. However, he cautioned that exact numbers would only be known once the estimation exercise is completed and the data analysed.

“The movement of tigers closer to human settlements appears to indicate an increase in their numbers and expansion of territories,” Khandre said. “But we must wait for scientific estimates before drawing conclusions.”

The tiger census is expected to provide critical insights not only into tiger numbers but also into the overall health of Karnataka’s forests. By assessing predator-prey dynamics and habitat carrying capacity, the exercise will help guide future conservation strategies, human–wildlife conflict mitigation measures and policy decisions aimed at protecting one of India’s most iconic species.