Tri-nation tiger census next year

For the first time, India, Nepal and Bangladesh will be conducting the 2018 tiger census in close coordination in their respective territories at the same time, reports The Times of India.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which is responsible for conducting the exercise in India, has reportedly proposed major changes including uniformity in counting of big cats in all tiger reserves, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in India at the same time.

"Both Nepal and Bangladesh have shown interest in holding tiger census in sync with us. That's because some of their forest regions adjoin Indian territories,” The Times quoted NTCA additional inspector general Vaibhav Mathur as saying.

This is expected to help in conserving tiger population, the report said.

VK Singh, conservator of forest, Bareilly circle was quoted to have said the first phase of tiger census will be completed by December end.

"The second phase, which involves habitat characterisation with the help of statistical and satellite data, will be over by January. The final phase, which involves computation of tiger density and installation of camera traps, will go on from February to October next year," he said, wrote The Times.