Tiger Census In Leftwing Extremism-Hit ITR Extended To October Due To ‘Inaccessibility’ Of Some Areas
The AITE 2026, a four-year cycle conducted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in all the tiger reserves in the country, began in January this year and is scheduled to be completed by the end of April/ May (summer).
Raipur: The ongoing All India Tiger Estimation (AITE) 2026 in the once Leftwing Extremism (LWE)-hit Indravati Tiger Reserve (ITR) under Bijapur district in south Bastar of Chhattisgarh has been extended to October due to ‘inaccessibility’ of some areas under the ITR.
The AITE 2026, a four-year cycle conducted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in all the tiger reserves in the country, began in January this year and is scheduled to be completed by the end of April/ May (summer).
“The whole of ITR cannot be covered by the current tiger census in the scheduled period due to inaccessibility of some small pockets in the reserve. Hence, the WII has decided to extend the survey exercise in the ITR to October to make a comprehensive survey of the ITR”, sources said on Friday.
“Around ten percent area of the ITR has remained uncovered so far by the survey due to its inaccessibility. The survey exercise will resume after monsoon in October to cover the inaccessible patches”, a senior forest officer in the state forest headquarters disclosed to this newspaper, unwilling to be quoted.
The forest officer has attributed the inaccessibility of the particular pockets to the LWE problem.
Incidentally, Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh and West Singhbhum district in Jharkhand are classified as the only two remaining LWE-affected districts after the March 31, 2026 deadline to end Maoism in the country.
A comprehensive tiger estimation exercise could not be conducted in the ITR in the last several censuses due to the LWE problem.
The ITR, spanning over 2,799.08 sq km, came into being in 1983.
The ITR is renowned for hosting one of the last remaining rare wild buffalo of Central India species, besides housing tigers, leopards and wild boars.
The Central Indian species of wild buffalo is considered genetically pure.
The wild buffalo is the state animal of Chhattisgarh.
The 2018-19 census had recorded a population of three tigers.
“The reserve is believed to have half-a-dozen tigers now”, the forest officer said.
When contacted, Bastar range inspector general of police P Sunderraj said that the gradual decline of Leftwing Extremism in the forests of Bastar region of Chhattisgarh has begun to yield an important ecological dividend.
“Large tracts of previously inaccessible forest are now witnessing renewed conservation activity, improved forest protection, and increased movement of wildlife monitoring teams”, he added.
In the Udanti- Sitanadi Tiger Reserve in east Chhattisgarh, a comprehensive tiger census could be done for the first time in the ongoing AITE 2026, the forest officer said.
A part of the reserve in Gariaband district in the state had been affected by Naxal problems for the last one and half decades, denying its comprehensive tiger census on earlier occasions.
The entire area of the reserve has now been cleared of Naxal influence, he added.
AITE 2026 is underway in two other tiger reserves in Chhattisgarh, Achanakmar and Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla.
