Officials under the condition of anonymity said it has been made clear to them by the National Tiger Conservation Authority that no funding would be made this time for the Tiger Census, and that the department has to fund the initiative from its own resources.
| Photo Credit: DEEPAK KR
The upcoming wildlife enumeration in Telangana as part of the nation-wide All India Tiger Estimation-2026 (Tiger Census) could be plagued by resource crunch this time in terms of money as well as manpower.
The department has not received any funding so far from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) which, as part of the ‘Project Tiger’, which has been financing the quadrennial (every four years) Tiger Census since 2006. Officials under the condition of anonymity said it has been made clear to them by NTCA that no funding would be made this time, and that the department has to fund the initiative from its own resources.
“They have asked us to use the funds of Tiger Conservation Foundation, a statutory body constituted for each tiger reserve which gets revenue from eco-tourism and other income generating activities. But unlike the other tiger reserves in the country, we have hardly any money with the Foundations here, hence it is as good as zero funding,” an official shared.
Officials under the condition of anonymity said it has been made clear to them by the National Tiger Conservation Authority that no funding would be made this time for the Tiger Census, and that the department has to fund the initiative from its own resources.
| Photo Credit:
DEEPAK KR
Manpower is another hurdle to overcome. With only 60% Forest Beat Officers in place, it could be a herculean task for the department to pull off the census. Telangana has a minimum of 3,000 beats to be covered and each beat is to be covered by a minimum of two to three persons, with at least one person from the department.
With the beat officers’ strength down to less than 2,000, it is a difficult task to apportion them for the census. Hence, the department is wholly dependent on NGOs for recruitment of volunteers for the survey. On Friday, a meeting was convened by Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force C. Suvarna with NGO representatives, and suggestions were sought for full scale recruitment of volunteers. At least 5,000-6,000 persons are required to carry out the exercise smoothly, they were told.
Chief Wildlife Warden in charge Elusing Meru said the volunteers will undergo a training programme at Telangana State Forest Academy which will be followed by a series of training programmes in districts. Already, a training session was conducted by NTCA for select District Forest Officers, Forest Divisional Officers and Forest Range Officers, who will act as the trainers of the trainers. The actual census may be conducted sometime in December-January, based on the climate. Ahead of that, camera traps will be set up starting from November last week, which could capture reliable data for digital process.
Already, 30 NGOs are in contact with the department, Field Director, Amrabad Tiger Reserve, Sunil Hiremath shared. Representatives from the Hyderabad Tiger Conservation Society (HyTiCoS), Deccan Birders, Friends of Snakes, WWF-India, Voice of Nature, Greater Hyderabad Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and Animal Warriors were a few NGOs who attended Saturday’s meeting.
Enumeration of mega herbivores, which are practically non-existent in Telangana, will be a new addition in the Tiger Census this time. Paper work has been totally done away with for data collection, and the M-STrIPES (Monitoring System for Tigers: Intensive Protection and Ecological Status) alone will be used for updating the records. Unlike earlier, the app now works offline too, officials said.
Published – October 31, 2025 08:52 pm IST
