Guwahati: It's raining good news for Assam’s famed Kaziranga national park. A recent survey of the big cats in Assam’s Kaziranga national park has recorded the presence of 148 tigers in the park, which is also the third highest density of tigers (18/100 sq km) in the world. The park officials gave the numbers on Tuesday while releasing a summary report titled ‘Status of Tigers in the Kaziranga Tiger Reserve’.
The officials said that during a 103-day camera trapping survey, 13,157 trap nights yielded 4,011 tiger images in 242 locations. The right-flank stripe patterns were used to identify 148 adult tigers in Kaziranga’s three divisions. The count of 148 includes 83 females, 55 males, and 10 with undetermined gender, they said.
As part of the initiative, camera traps were deployed at 293 locations, capturing a vast dataset of 1,303,074 photographs, including 4,011 images of tigers. These scientific efforts, combined with strict anti-poaching measures, habitat restoration, and community-driven conservation programs, reinforce Kaziranga’s status as a globally significant refuge for tigers and other megafauna, ensuring the long-term preservation of its rich biodiversity.
It was also the first ever large scale assessment of tiger population in the reserve which was undertaken in 2024 under the directives of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and it was implemented across the eastern Assam, Nagaon, and Biswanath Wildlife Divisions of the park.
Park officials said that Kaziranga Tiger Reserve has documented a significant rise in its tiger population. “This growth is particularly notable due to the first-time sampling of the Biswanath Wildlife Division, where 27 newly recorded tigers have contributed to the overall increase. In the core Eastern Assam Wildlife Division, the population grew from 104 in 2022 to 115 in 2024, while the Nagaon Wildlife Division maintained a stable count of six tigers,” the officials said.
The report further said that Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR), a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Assam, remains one of India's most crucial strongholds for the Bengal tiger. “The park's diverse ecosystems, including eastern wet alluvial grasslands, semi-evergreen forests, tropical moist mixed deciduous forests, and wetlands, provide an ideal habitat for tiger and mega herbivores. The conservation status of tigers in Kaziranga has been strengthened through rigorous protection measures, including anti-poaching efforts, habitat restoration, and community-based conservation initiatives,” the report stated.
The good news on the tiger population came days after the park authorities released the first ever grassland bird survey in Kaziranga national park earlier this month where at least 40 birds were recorded, including some endangered species.
