1,484 trap cameras to be placed across Sunderbans for the record of tiger census
Telegraph | 23 November 2025
Trap cameras will be placed across the Sundarbans next week as part of the national tiger census, a quadrennial exercise aimed at estimating the count and health of the apex predator.
Between November 25 and 30, as many as 1,484 (or 742 pairs) all-weather night vision cameras will be installed at strategic locations of the mangrove delta.
The cameras will be in place for 45 days and retrieved in the second week of January, said forest officials.
The Sundarbans is spread across 10,000sqkm, a little above 4,000sqkm of which is in India. The Indian Sundarbans is split between the STR and the South 24-Parganas forest division.
The STR comprises the Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary, the Basirhat Range and the National Park East and West. The tiger habitats in South 24-Parganas are the Raidighi, Ramganga and the Matla ranges.
Around 250 people will be split into 15 teams and deployed for the camera trap exercise.
Another crucial phase of the exercise will be the sign and transect survey, where field personnel will look for pugmarks, scats and other samples that will serve as indicators not only of tigers and other carnivores in the delta but also of herbivores that serve as the prey base.
The sign and transact survey will happen in the second week of December and involve 24 teams. The entire survey will be paperless, guided by an app.
The final report of the last national count, “Status of Tigers 2022”, was released by the National Tiger Conservation Authority on July 29 (International Tiger Day) 2023. The exercise pegged the number of tigers in India at 3,682, with 101 of them in the Sundarbans.
The latest national census will cover 58 tiger reserves, up from 53 in 2022.
“There has been a rise in the sightings of cubs with mothers over the past few years. Cubs under one year are not included in the census. The cubs that were not included in the last census will be included now as sub-adults. We are hopeful of a rise in the tiger population. Tigers find the Sundarbans safe. That is why they are breeding here,” said Justin Jones, deputy field director of the STR.