NEW DELHI, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- Local government in India's southern state of Kerala Friday said 58 tigers were present in two reserves.
The presence of the big cats was confirmed by the state's forest minister at Periyar and Parambikulam Tiger Reserves.
"Forest Minister K. Raju today informed the state assembly that there were 33 tigers in Periyar reserve and 25 in Parambikulam reserve respectively as per the census conducted at the regional level," an official said.
The number of tigers, according to the minister, was determined through camera trapping method in last year.
As per tiger census conducted all over India in 2010, there were 38 and 34 tigers in Parambikulam and Periyar Tiger reserves respectively.
Tiger is a national animal of India. The total tiger population of India is estimated over 2,000.
In 1973, India started the "Project Tiger" for conservation of wild tigers in designated tiger reserves.
