(a) whether the Government has conducted any census of wild animals particularly highly endangered wild animals in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether the Government has taken steps to raise Special Tiger Protection Forces (STPF) in States with the help of Central assistance;
(d) if so, the details thereof alongwith the number of States which have raised such a force;
(e) the number of States which have not raised the force; and
(f) the reasons therefor?
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS (SHRIMATI JAYANTHI NATARAJAN)
(a) & (b) Yes Sir. The country level tiger population is estimated once in every four years. The recent estimation (2010) has shown an increasing trend with a population estimate of 1706, lower and upper limits being 1520 and 1909 respectively, as compared to the last country level estimation of 2006, with an estimate of 1411, lower and upper limits being 1165 and 1657 respectively.
(c) & (d) Yes Sir. Under the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger, 100% central assistance is provided to tiger States for raising, arming and deploying the Special Tiger Protection Force (STPF) in sensitive tiger reserves. The details of central assistance provided to States in this regard are at Annexure-I.
(e) & (f) The details of identified tiger reserves where the States have not constituted the STPF and the tiger reserve where the same has been constituted by the State are at Annexure-II. Action has been taken for advising the States to expedite the same.