Are tiger habitats shrinking in the Western Ghats region which was recently placed in the World Heritage List of the Unesco?

A study conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India had shown that while tiger habitats in the Western Ghats were shrinking, the tiger population had shown a marked increase with the current tiger population being estimated to be 534. The WII study believed this translated into an increase of 32 per cent since 2006. Dr Ullas Karanth, conservation scientist and expert on the Western Ghats, however, insists the WII survey to study tiger numbers in 2006 and 2010 relies on poor methodology. Therefore, the speculation about shrinking habitats coupled to increasing tiger numbers is not reliable,” Dr Karanth said.