Hi-tech map to track tigers

A project to create a dynamic map of India's tiger population has gained urgency after reports that the big cat is on the verge of extinction.

A project to use satellite images and computers to create a dynamic map of India's tiger population has gained urgency after reports that poachers and shrinking habitats are leading the big cats to extinction, wildlife officials said.

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The map project will build on the latest survey of India's forest cover to be unveiled by the country's Environment Minister on Tuesday that is expected to show a sharp decline in the habitat and population of the tawny Indian, or Royal Bengal, tigers in the subcontinent.

The institute is using satellite images, survey maps and ground patrol reports to produce a dynamic computer picture of the solitary animals and their habitats after reports there may be only 3,600 of the tigers left compared to 40,000 six decades ago.

"We started the project two years ago in Madhya Pradesh state (home to the national Panna tiger sanctuary) but now we are mapping reserves, tiger densities, poaching and even seizures to see the national network of trafficking," map project team leader Qamar Qureshi said.

Qureshi's team in the Himalayan foothill town of Dehradun said it planned to complete the project by November, when India will launch its first-ever census of prominent or endangered species.