tiger-population-in-assam-s-nameri-rises-fourfold-in-three-years

Assam’s Nameri National Park and Tiger Reserve has recorded a fourfold increase in its tiger population over the past three years, with the number of big cats rising from three in 2022 to 12 by the end of 2025, Assam Forest and Environment Minister Jayanta Malla Baruah said on Friday.

 

Calling it a significant milestone for wildlife conservation, Baruah said the increase had been validated by the Wildlife Institute of India.

 

“Increasing from just three tigers in 2022 to 12 by the end of 2025, Nameri Tiger Reserve has emerged as a remarkable conservation success story,” Baruah said in a post on X.

 

The minister also highlighted the return of two tigers to the Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary, the satellite core of the Nameri Tiger Reserve, after decades of absence, describing it as another landmark achievement for conservation efforts in the state.

Also read: Mutilated tiger carcass found in Assam, poaching suspected

Wildlife experts and forest officials attributed the rise in tiger numbers to sustained conservation measures, including strengthened anti-poaching operations, scientific monitoring and the use of modern surveillance tools such as camera traps and drones.

 

They also credited continuous habitat restoration, including the removal of encroachments, protection of wildlife corridors and conservation of the ecologically sensitive Eastern Himalayan foothill landscape.

 

Officials said Nameri’s nearly 1,000 sq km contiguous forest landscape with the adjoining Pakke Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh has also played a crucial role by facilitating the natural movement, dispersal and breeding of tigers and other wildlife.

 

Nameri National Park was notified as Assam’s second Tiger Reserve in 2000 after Manas Tiger Reserve. The reserve comprises two core areas—Nameri National Park and the Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary, which serves as its satellite core.

 

The park is home to more than 600 species of flora and supports a rich diversity of wildlife, including the Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, clouded leopard, marbled cat and several other faunal species.