Scientists tell the Indian Government that tiger claims are 'ridiculous'
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In the year 1900, there may have been as many or more than 100,000 tigers roaming this planet's forests. And every year since then until now, that number has decreased. But a combination of better and broader monitoring techniques and, governments say, increased vigilance against poachers has led to the first increase in tiger numbers in over a century — to 3,890 this year. Some of the biggest increases were in India, which, in its latest tiger census, claimed a 30 percent population increase in the past four years to 2,226, almost three-quarters of the global total. But ever since the numbers were released earlier in April, the scientific community has sought to dampen what it has seen as the Indian government's self-congratulation. "All of this tom-tomming and arm-waving, claiming we've had stupendous success, is ridiculous and unscientific," tiger expert K. Ullas Karanth, science director for the Wildlife Conservation Society in Asia, told the Associated Press. See link below to read more on the subject In The Independent.