By : Neha Dhyani
Updated : Apr 15, 2022, 5:29
CA TS aims to restore the tiger population naturally across tiger reserves, national parks, biosphere reserves and wildlife sanctuaries. It comprises criteria that compare the present condition of these locations and whether it's viable for future tiger conservation.
CA TS UPSC is a must-know topic for Indian Forest Service (IFS) aspirants. It's also asked in the General Studies paper and a must-read to higher your scores in the UPSC preliminary exam.
Conservation Assured Tiger Standards (CA|TS) is a worldwide accreditation standard for the conservation of tigers. It comprises 7 pillars, which contain 17 elements that assure successful restoration of the tiger population within a protected natural spot.
When studying CA|TS UPSC, you should know the pillars and the elements that ensure tiger conservation. Also, there are only 17 CA|TS recognised tiger reserves in the world.
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Here's a crisp list of the 7 pillars and the 17 elements you need to know for CA|TS UPSC.
| Pillar | Element |
| Importance and Status | 1. Biological, cultural and social significance 2. Area design 3. Legal status, regulation and compliance |
| Management | 4. Management planning 5. Management implementation 6. Management processes 7. Staffing 8. Infrastructure, equipment and facilities 9. Sustainability of financial resources 10. Adaptive management |
| Community | 11. Human/wildlife conflict 12. Community relations 13. Stakeholder relationships |
| Tourism | 14. Tourism and interpretation |
| Protection | 15. Protection |
| Habitat Management | 16. Habitat and prey management |
| Tiger Populations | 17. Tiger populations |
India is home to nearly 70% of the world's tiger population. Out of the 53 tiger reserves in the country, 14 have received CA|TS accreditation. In the last decade, thanks to rigorous efforts to enhance the tiger population, the latest census in 2018 reports the tiger population lies between 2603 and 3346, with a mean of 2967.
| Important Exam | |
| UPSC Exam | IBPS PO Exam |
| SSC Exam | Defence Exam |
| SSC CHSL Exam | SSC Steno Exam |
| RRB JE Exam | SSC CGL |
| RRB NTPC Exam | IBPS Clerk Exam |
| IBPS SO Exam | UPPSC Exam |
For CA|TS UPSC here's the list of all state-wise tiger reserves in India with CA|TS accreditation.
| States | CATS recognised Tiger Reserve |
| Assam | 1. Kaziranga 2. Manas 3. Orang |
| Bihar | 4. Valmiki |
| Madhya Pradesh | 5. Kanha 6. Panna 7. Satpura |
| Maharashtra | 8. Pench |
| Karnataka | 9. Bandipur |
| Kerala | 10. Parambikulam |
| Tamil Nadu | 11. Anamalai 12. Mudumalai |
| Uttar Pradesh | 13. Dudhwa |
| West Bengal | 14. Sunderban |
Tigers play the role of a keystone species in the forest ecosystem. CA|TS conducted extensive studies of the ground factors to assess the chances of tiger repopulation in an enclosed forest.
For CA|TS UPSC, it's vital to know the role of the Tiger Conservation Authority, which ensures tigers can breed and multiply in their naturalised habitat without external threats. By 2022, they want to establish 150 TCAs while registering all major tiger hotspots with CA|TS.
The CA|TS UPSC lists 13 countries that comprise the entire natural habitat of tigers worldwide. It includes:
The role of CA TS in tiger conservation has shown a fruitful method to enhance the tiger population, otherwise decreasing because of poaching or lower reproductive rate. To prepare for CA|TS UPSC related questions, aspirants must prepare meticulously to remember all factual information on CA|TS.
The first CA|TS UPSC site in India is Lansdowne Forest Division (Uttarakhand).
There are two other CA|TS UPSC sites in Nepal (Chitwan National Park) and Russia (Sikhote Alin National Park).
Tiger reserves following the CA|TS UPSC guidelines have the highest chance of tiger repopulation in the future.
There are 14-CA|TS UPSC accredited sites in India.
The Sunderban National Park is the latest to receive CA|TS UPSC accreditation in 2021.