<p>Bengaluru: Karnataka is set to estimate the population of tigers and five other carnivores and mega herbivores, as part of the sixth cycle of the All India Tiger Estimation Survey (AITES) which will cover areas in and outside the tiger reserves ground work began on Monday.</p><p>The quadrennial exercise, which began about four months ago, will culminate in the publication of the estimation report in early 2027. Apart from tigers, leopards, dhols, jackals, foxes and wolves as well as mega herbivores elephants and guars will be estimated.</p><p>Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre said the exercise, to be taken up in three phases, will also assess the carrying capacity of the areas. "I have directed officials to look into the carrying capacity of our forests besides estimating the carnivore population and prey base," he said.</p><p>Phase-1 comprises two exercises of carnivore sign survey and line transect survey. In Karnataka, sign survey is organised in 54 forest divisions, including wildlife and territorial divisions.</p><p><strong>Outside protected areas</strong></p><p>In the sixth survey - after 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 - Karnataka has adopted some of the methods used by Madhya Pradesh in the previous round. This includes estimation of tigers outside protected areas, including forests and areas where tiger presence has been recorded. "The exercise may result in the upward revision of the numbers, bringing Karnataka back to the top of the list of states hosting tigers," a senior official said.</p><p>In fact, Karnataka did occupy the first spot in 2014 with 406 tigers. Even though the number increased to 524 in 2018, the state came second to Madhya Pradesh. The number rose to 563 in the 2022 report but Madhya Pradesh continued to be on top.</p>.Search operation launched after tiger spotted at Mysuru Airport.<p>Senior officer Ramesh Kumar P, nominated nodal officer for the state of Karnataka for the 2026 exercise, said over the last three months, field staffers in five tiger reserves and, separately, 13 circles have been trained to take up the exercise.</p><p><strong>Three phase survey</strong></p><p><strong>Phase 1</strong></p><p><strong>A - Sign survey:</strong> Walk 5 km on existing forest roads/tracks; Collecting fresh carnivore scats and fresh dung/pellets of elephants and Indian gaurs. The samples will be collected in a zip-lock bag for DNA analysis.</p><p><strong>B - Line transect survey:</strong> Walk 2 km on predetermined route in each beat; estimate number of herbivores deer, sambar, black bucks, wild boar etc.</p><p><strong>Phase 2</strong></p><p>Technical round: Exercise conducted at Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun through remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS) techniques.</p><p><strong>Phase 3</strong></p><p>Camera trap image analysis: Information obtained from 2230 camera traps; each camera trap set up to cover 2X2 km grid forest area.</p>
<p>Bengaluru: Karnataka is set to estimate the population of tigers and five other carnivores and mega herbivores, as part of the sixth cycle of the All India Tiger Estimation Survey (AITES) which will cover areas in and outside the tiger reserves ground work began on Monday.</p><p>The quadrennial exercise, which began about four months ago, will culminate in the publication of the estimation report in early 2027. Apart from tigers, leopards, dhols, jackals, foxes and wolves as well as mega herbivores elephants and guars will be estimated.</p><p>Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre said the exercise, to be taken up in three phases, will also assess the carrying capacity of the areas. "I have directed officials to look into the carrying capacity of our forests besides estimating the carnivore population and prey base," he said.</p><p>Phase-1 comprises two exercises of carnivore sign survey and line transect survey. In Karnataka, sign survey is organised in 54 forest divisions, including wildlife and territorial divisions.</p><p><strong>Outside protected areas</strong></p><p>In the sixth survey - after 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018 and 2022 - Karnataka has adopted some of the methods used by Madhya Pradesh in the previous round. This includes estimation of tigers outside protected areas, including forests and areas where tiger presence has been recorded. "The exercise may result in the upward revision of the numbers, bringing Karnataka back to the top of the list of states hosting tigers," a senior official said.</p><p>In fact, Karnataka did occupy the first spot in 2014 with 406 tigers. Even though the number increased to 524 in 2018, the state came second to Madhya Pradesh. The number rose to 563 in the 2022 report but Madhya Pradesh continued to be on top.</p>.Search operation launched after tiger spotted at Mysuru Airport.<p>Senior officer Ramesh Kumar P, nominated nodal officer for the state of Karnataka for the 2026 exercise, said over the last three months, field staffers in five tiger reserves and, separately, 13 circles have been trained to take up the exercise.</p><p><strong>Three phase survey</strong></p><p><strong>Phase 1</strong></p><p><strong>A - Sign survey:</strong> Walk 5 km on existing forest roads/tracks; Collecting fresh carnivore scats and fresh dung/pellets of elephants and Indian gaurs. The samples will be collected in a zip-lock bag for DNA analysis.</p><p><strong>B - Line transect survey:</strong> Walk 2 km on predetermined route in each beat; estimate number of herbivores deer, sambar, black bucks, wild boar etc.</p><p><strong>Phase 2</strong></p><p>Technical round: Exercise conducted at Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun through remote sensing and geographical information system (GIS) techniques.</p><p><strong>Phase 3</strong></p><p>Camera trap image analysis: Information obtained from 2230 camera traps; each camera trap set up to cover 2X2 km grid forest area.</p>