THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, December 11: India will be estimating and enumerating in 2026 and onwards. Tigers and humans count will be pouring in 2026.
It will come up with data of its houses and human heads in 2026 as the decadal census of population is to start in 2026, after 15 years of the last population census held in 2011, with house listing first, while estimation of the tiger is set to begin two weeks ahead of the new year 2026.
December 15, 2025, is the kickstart day of the tiger estimation in Jharkhand, with hundreds of forest guards and tiger trackers walking down, noting and noticing signs of the carnivores and bigger herbivores like elephant and gaur.
Rising Tiger Numbers Over the Years
Starting in 2006, the All India Tiger Estimation (AITE) found 1411 tigers in India. Four years later, the number of tigers rose to 1706 in the 2010 All India Tiger Estimation.
All India Tiger Estimation in 2014, 2018, and 2022 saw a steady rise in the population of the tigers in India, like 2226, 2967 and 3681, respectively.
All eyes will be on 2026 for the tiger population in India. What does it mean for a common Indian to know about the number of tigers upscale or downscale, as a common Indian right now is tense over Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll just to ensure the common Indian is enrolled and has no fear of being categorised to prove his being Indian by birth.
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A common Indian question. He asks why money is spent on counting the pug marks of the tigers, but why there is no record of people who migrate every year from one end to another end of India to eke out a living there.
Let migration of poor be taken as seriously as the presence of tigers in a territory is the refrain of the common Indian.
Tigers’ count matters most for the wildlife institutes and wildlife conservationists. However, a common Indian still feels alienated by this major tiger estimation drive.
Tigers and Tourism Economy
Tiger sighting is still seen as a luxury of the opulent and affluent who afford money and time to spend it in costly tourist lodge, hotel, resort, forest rest house, etc no matter whether they are able to sight a tiger or not.
Tiger safari at least offers certainty of sighting tiger, unfortunately, not so now in the Palamu Tiger Reserve (PTR) where tigers behave like an NRI (Non-Resident Indian) coming and going on their own.
A tiger-bearing state in India is a much different state. There is a focus on tourism, tiger safari, eco tourism etc. The influx of tourists helps boost the rural economy.
There are 18 tiger-bearing states in India. States like Punjab, Sikkim, Goa and Haryana are yet to have a designated reserve of tigers.
However, tiger-bearing states in India too languish like those where there is no tiger. Madhya Pradesh is a great example of the biggest tiger-bearing state, but here rural economy is dismal like other states in India.
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Preparations in Jharkhand for 2026 Estimation
Jharkhand state Nodal Officer of All India Tiger Estimation S R Natesh said, “Our trained personnel will conduct the estimation in all professionalism.”
Pench Tiger Reserve was the venue for the training of the trainers for this All India Tiger Estimation (AITE), said sources.
P K Jena has been made the regional coordinator of AITE in Palamu commissionerate.
Kumar Ashish, Deputy Director South Division of PTR, told this correspondent, ” Our South Division of PTR is all geared up for this estimation.”
