# A Note on Tiger Census Technique Based on Pugmark Tracings > Can you count tigers by their footprints? In this 1979 field guide, H.S. Panwar explains how to trace tiger pugmarks on a glass plate, tell males from females by the shape of the hind print, separate tiger cubs from leopards, and organise trackers and tracers for a census. A short, practical snapshot of the method behind decades of tiger counts. Summary by Kersey Lawrence, Original Wisdom. Updated 9 November 2026. Page: https://www.originalwisdom.com/tracking-literature/1979-panwar-note-tiger-census-technique/ ## Citation and access - **Authors:** H.S. Panwar - **Year published:** 1979 - **Journal or source:** Tigerpaper (FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Far East) - **Full citation:** Panwar, H.S. 1979. A note on tiger census technique based on pugmark tracings. Tigerpaper 6(2-3): 16-18. - **Access status:** Publisher link only - **Where to find it:** https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/95578 ## Tags - **Species:** Mammals > Leopard; Mammals > Tiger - **Tracking:** Gaits; Individual identification; Spoor age estimation; Track measurements; Tracking; Tracks; Tracks and signs identification - **Behaviour and ecology:** Behaviour; Cub-rearing - **Methods and technology:** Distribution mapping; Population estimation - **Data type:** Protocol or guidelines - **Observer qualification:** Not needed - **Discipline:** Wildlife tracking - **Year published:** 1979 ## Detailed keywords - **Species:** Studied: tiger (no scientific name given in the paper). Comparison species: leopard, whose pugmarks can be confused with those of tiger cubs under 6 months old. - **Location and habitat:** No study site is named. The paper was published in Tigerpaper, the bulletin of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Regional Office for Asia and the Far East. Habitat features mentioned: roads, footpaths, dry stream beds and waterholes; sandy, loamy and clayey soils. - **Topics:** tiger census; pugmark (footprint) tracing; individual identification from tracks; sexing tigers from hind pugmarks (square frame for males, more rectangular frame for females); the “Tiger Tracer” glass plate devised by S.R. Choudhary; parallax error; effect of substrate on pugmark size and shape; superimposed fore and hind pugmarks; multiple tracks of mothers with cubs; telling tiger cubs from leopards; deformities and twists as identifying marks; stride; track freshness; preserving pugmarks for tracers; organising census field work; plotting individuals on a map. - **Statistics or models:** None - **Data type:** Protocol or guidelines: a field method described from the author’s experience. No data, sample sizes or results are reported. One figure shows example tracings of a male and a female right hind pugmark. ## Synopsis ### 1. What they did The author describes a method for counting tigers by tracing their footprints (pugmarks). He states that each tiger’s pugmarks differ from every other tiger’s, and that careful comparison of accurate tracings can identify individuals, tell males from females, and give a near accurate population figure for a surveyed area. The paper covers: - The equipment. The “Tiger Tracer,” devised by S.R. Choudhary: a clear glass plate (20 cm x 25 cm x 3 mm) held just above the pugmark on four screws with adjustable fly nuts, plus rubber bands, a free flowing pen, paper and a one metre steel tape. - How to read the pugmark. Which features to look for and trace. - How to trace. Precautions and common sources of confusion. - What to record. The information to write on each tracing sheet in the field. - How to organise the field work and analyse the tracings. ### 2. What they found This is a method paper, so there are no results as such. The main points are: Why the hind pugmark is used - In a normal walk, the hind paw lands on or over the print of the front paw on the same side. When the tiger moves faster, the hind foot overshoots the front print. Either way, the hind pugmark can be seen intact. - The front paw is much bigger than the hind paw in both sexes, because the forelimbs are used to grip and pull down prey. - When enclosed in a frame, a male’s hind pugmark fits a clearly square frame and a female’s a more rectangular one. This is the main reason hind pugmarks are used: they show the tiger’s sex. Features to trace - Only four toes and the pad print. The fifth toe sits above the pad, and the claws are retracted when walking, leaving no marks except sometimes on slushy ground. - The flat top edge of the pad, the large lobes on each side of the lower pad, the small middle lobe, and two cone-shaped tips in the bottom line of the pugmark, including the direction they point. - A paw spreads out on soft, muddy ground and looks smaller on hard ground with a thin cover of dust. The author states that the characteristics stay the same, and size differences can be judged against the ground. A small stone or hole can twist a print, so the most normal print should be chosen, and distorted parts corrected from one or two other prints. Tracing precautions - The glass should come close to the print’s edges without touching them. The tracer kneels astride the plate with eyes directly above it, moving the eyes with the pen to avoid parallax error (the line shifting because of the viewing angle), both when tracing and when copying onto paper. - Tracks of mothers with cubs, and sometimes a male with a family, can be confusing; the hind pugmarks of each animal must be picked out with care. - Where a hind print sits on top of a front print, the edge of the bigger front print shows at the margin and must not be traced. - The largest leopard pugmark cannot be bigger than that of a 6 month old tiger cub. Young cubs always travel with their mother, so small pugmarks without bigger ones alongside can be presumed to be a leopard’s. Recorded on each tracing sheet Date; location (road section, footpath, dry stream bed and so on, so it can be mapped); direction of movement; soil type, texture and moisture; freshness (how long ago the tiger walked); deformities, injuries, missing toes, twists or a consistent slant of the print; stride (when the gait is normal); sex; and the tracer’s name and dated signature. Tracing only left or only right hind pugmarks is advised, so that abnormalities in a particular paw are comparable, but deformed pugmarks are always traced, front or rear. Organising the census - Work at the time of year when tracks are easiest to find. In winter, tigers avoid the dew and walk on roads at night; elsewhere, waterholes in summer may be better. Local officials should decide. - Trackers with intimate knowledge of the area are sent out early each morning to set tracts, and protect good pugmarks (for example by ringing them with stones or sticks on a road). Tracing is left to well trained, experienced people who can travel quickly to where tracks are found. - More repeats give more reliable results. Analysis Tracings are sorted first by date and area, then compared on size (allowing for the ground), the length and slant of the pad’s top edge, the shape of the lobes, and the placing and direction of the two cone-shaped tips, together with any deformities. After about a week of intensive survey, a consistent pattern of pugmarks in different areas becomes clear. Individuals and dates are plotted on a large scale map. ### 3. What they concluded The pugmark tracing method of tiger census can be fairly accurate but needs painstaking work at every step. The author vouches for its reliability from his own experience. ### 4. How tracking was or was not used Tracking is the subject of the paper. It describes tracks and signs identification of tiger pugmarks: telling tiger from leopard, hind from front prints, males from females, and one individual from another, plus estimating how fresh a track is. Trackers who know the area search set tracts for tracks and protect them; trained tracers then make the tracings. No trailing is described. ### 6. Other technologies, skills or innovations - The “Tiger Tracer” glass plate, devised by S.R. Choudhary, with adjustable screws so the plate sits just above the print. - Copying tracings onto paper by holding the plate and paper up to the light. ### 8. Implications for tracking (Original Wisdom's observations) _These are Original Wisdom's observations, not the authors'._ - The paper reports no test of whether tracers can reliably match tracings to individual tigers or sex them from the shape of the hind print; its support is the author’s own experience. - The detailed list of what to record on each tracing (substrate, moisture, freshness, direction, stride) is a useful checklist for anyone recording tracks for later comparison. ## Cite this summary Lawrence, K. 2026. Summary of: A Note on Tiger Census Technique Based on Pugmark Tracings (Panwar, 1979). Original Wisdom, Tracking Literature. https://www.originalwisdom.com/tracking-literature/1979-panwar-note-tiger-census-technique/