With hours left to know how India has done in trying to save its national animal, it is learnt that Maharashtra forest officials may well be smiling.
The number of tigers are expected to go up this time. In 2008, Wildlife Institute of India has put the number of tigers in wild in India at an alarming 1,411 while the number for state was 103.
On Monday morning, new estimates of tiger population will be released at international tiger conference at Vigyan Bhawan at Delhi. Some 200 delegates, including officials from 13 tiger range countries and experts from international organisations, will participate. The tiger monitoring exercise in the state was conducted between January 27 and February 2 last year.
As Maharashtra PCCF (wildlife) D C Pant will be busy with a crucial meeting at Mumbai, Maharashtra will be represented by V K Mohan, chief conservator of forests (CCF) for wildlife administration at the conference.
Pant said there was indication from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, that Maharashtra had done well in the exercise. He kept his fingers crossed on the exact numbers. "The exercise is just estimation and getting perfect figures is very difficult," Pant said.
However, after the pat on the back from WII, the wildlife wing officials are hopeful. They say this time they had worked very hard on training the field staff and officials. This led to systematic compilation of data. "We took no chances and there were no compromises. At the last moment, we also met the demand for digital maps by WII," said wildlife wing officials, who co-ordinated the state tiger census data.
"Even if the tiger numbers go up they would not be perfect as the result is being declared after 14 months, the period when some new tiger and cubs were reported seen and some deaths too were recorded," officials said.
Monday's meet will be opened by minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh. The conference is a follow up to the meet held last year in St Petersburg, Russia, and will discuss challenges, plans and priorities for implementing the global tiger recovery programme (GTRP), which aims to double the wild tiger population by 2022.
Harshwardhan Dhanwatey, president of conservation NGO Tiger Research and Conservation Trust (TRACT) from Nagpur, is attending the conference. It is being organised in collaboration with the Global Tiger Forum (GTF), an inter-governmental body that also has membership of national and international NGOs and the World Bank's Global Tiger Initiative (GTI).
Sources said besides the census report, a film on India's 30 years since the launch of 'Project Tiger' will be released. The national tiger action plan of 13 tiger range countries and a book by tiger conservationist K Ullas Karanth will also be released.
The number of tigers are expected to go up this time. In 2008, Wildlife Institute of India has put the number of tigers in wild in India at an alarming 1,411 while the number for state was 103.
On Monday morning, new estimates of tiger population will be released at international tiger conference at Vigyan Bhawan at Delhi. Some 200 delegates, including officials from 13 tiger range countries and experts from international organisations, will participate. The tiger monitoring exercise in the state was conducted between January 27 and February 2 last year.
As Maharashtra PCCF (wildlife) D C Pant will be busy with a crucial meeting at Mumbai, Maharashtra will be represented by V K Mohan, chief conservator of forests (CCF) for wildlife administration at the conference.
Pant said there was indication from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, that Maharashtra had done well in the exercise. He kept his fingers crossed on the exact numbers. "The exercise is just estimation and getting perfect figures is very difficult," Pant said.
However, after the pat on the back from WII, the wildlife wing officials are hopeful. They say this time they had worked very hard on training the field staff and officials. This led to systematic compilation of data. "We took no chances and there were no compromises. At the last moment, we also met the demand for digital maps by WII," said wildlife wing officials, who co-ordinated the state tiger census data.
"Even if the tiger numbers go up they would not be perfect as the result is being declared after 14 months, the period when some new tiger and cubs were reported seen and some deaths too were recorded," officials said.
Monday's meet will be opened by minister for environment and forests Jairam Ramesh. The conference is a follow up to the meet held last year in St Petersburg, Russia, and will discuss challenges, plans and priorities for implementing the global tiger recovery programme (GTRP), which aims to double the wild tiger population by 2022.
Harshwardhan Dhanwatey, president of conservation NGO Tiger Research and Conservation Trust (TRACT) from Nagpur, is attending the conference. It is being organised in collaboration with the Global Tiger Forum (GTF), an inter-governmental body that also has membership of national and international NGOs and the World Bank's Global Tiger Initiative (GTI).
Sources said besides the census report, a film on India's 30 years since the launch of 'Project Tiger' will be released. The national tiger action plan of 13 tiger range countries and a book by tiger conservationist K Ullas Karanth will also be released.
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