Image 2. Past and present tiger habitats in northern districts of West Bengal

Table 1. Population of tiger in northern West Bengal during 1979-2004

Year	Gorumara NP (Jalpaiguri Dist.)	Buxa NP (Jalpaiguri Dist.)	Jaldapara WLS (Jalpaiguri Dist.)	Mahananda WLS (Darjeeling Dist)	Baikunthapur Forest Divn.	Kalimpong Forest Divn.	Kurseong Forest Divn.	Darjeeling Forest Divn.	Neora Valley NP (Darjeeling Dist.)	Total	Source
1979	07	27	12	10	07					63	Raha 1996
1984	16	15^1	09	10	08					58	Raha 1996 ^1incomplete census
1985			3^2								^2Management Plan 1997-98 to 2006-07
1989	08	33	07	08	NA					56+	Raha 1996
1992	-	29	05	13	NA					47+	Raha 1996
1993	-	29	09	12	09					59	Raha 1996
1995	^3rhino calf killed by tiger	31^4									^3Martin, 1996 ^4Management Plan
1997	-	32	13	12	02	01	02	01	-	63	Ghosh 1998
1999		33	12	13	“Others” = 5				18	81	Thapliyal 2001
2002		31	09	15	02	02			19	78	Anon. 2004
2004		27	06	16	-	01			20	70	Anon. 2008a

Table 2. Population composition of tiger in northern West Bengal during 1997 (Ghosh 1998)

Division	Sub-adult male	Adult male	Sub-adult female	Adult female	Cub	Total
Buxa	11	02	12	06	01	32
Jaldapara	02	03	-	06	02	13
Mahananda	02	04	02	03	01	12
Kalimpong	-	01	-	-	-	01
Baikunthapur	-	02	-	-	-	02
Kurseong	-	01	-	01	-	02
Darjeeling	-	01	-	-	-	01
Grand total	15	14	14	16	04	63

*Neora Valley population was not discovered during 1997.

Table 3. Population composition of tiger in northern West Bengal during – 1999 (Thapliyal 2001)

Protected Areas	Male	Female	Cub	Total
Buxa	15	16	02	33
Jaldapara	05	07	-	12
Mahananda	06	06	01	13
Neora Valley	06	09	03	18
Others	04	01	-	05
Grand total	36	39	06	81

Table 4. Population composition of tiger in northern West Bengal during 2002 (Anon. 2004)

Protected Areas	Adult		Sub-adult			Cub	Total
	M	F	M	F	U
Buxa	04	07	09	07	-	04	31
Mahananda	05	08	-	-	01	01	15
Neora	07	10	-	-	02	-	19
Jaldapara	03	05	-	-	-	01	09
Baikunthapur	01	01	-	-	-	-	02
Kalimpong	-	01	-	-	01	-	02
Grand total	20	32	09	07	04	06	78

M - Male; F - Female; U - Unsexed

Table 5. Population composition of tiger in northern West Bengal during 2004 (Bhutia 2005; Anon. 2008a)

Areas	Male	Female	Cub	Total
Buxa*	09	15	03	27
Mahananda	05	10	01	16
Neora Valley	07	11	02	20
Jaldapara	04	02	-	06
Baikunthapur	-	-	-	-
Kalimpong	01	-	-	01
Grand total	26	38	06	70

*The hilly forest tract bordering Bhutan could not be fully covered during the census, because of operation “ALL CLEAR” in Bhutan.