Oops! IndianTiger Numbers Less Than Half Of Most Recent Census Estimate - AFP

India's rare Royal Bengal Tiger population has plunged to 1,411, drastically lower than the estimated 3,700 believed to exist five years ago, researchers said Tuesday. Rajesh Gopal, who heads Project Tiger, a conservation programme launched in the 1970s, unveiled the latest figures and blamed "poaching, loss of quality habitat and prey" as the main reasons for the decimation.

The census, which took nearly two years to complete, counted the big cat population inside dedicated reserves and those in forests, Qamar Qureshi, a scientist with the Wildlife Institute of India which conducted the survey, told AFP.

An earlier survey in 2002 had estimated the number of tigers in India at 3,700, with the population of those in protected sanctuaries estimated at 1,500.

Conservationists have long complained that many Indian forestry posts lie vacant, while the staff that do exist have little in the way of funds, making them no match for poachers. "This is disastrous news but comes as no surprise," said Belinda Wright, head of the Wildlife Protection Society of India. "Wildlife crime is so entrenched and we are not prepared for it."

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