Tigers in India

0 01b00India has far fewer tigers living in the wild than had been thought, initial results from a major new study suggest.02b00 02br
00The Wildlife Institute of India census showed tiger numbers falling in some states by two-thirds in five years. A final report is due out in December. 02br
00India's last major survey in 2002 put tiger numbers at 3,500. That was far too optimistic, say conservationists. 02br
00They blame poaching and urbanisation for the decline and say the authorities must do more before time runs out.02br
00A century ago India was believed to have tens of thousands of tigers. 02br
01b00'Depressing'02b00 02br
00The new survey, conducted over two years, was the most ambitious ever undertaken to try to stem the decline in the population of India's tigers. 02br
00It found the largest decline in the tiger population to be in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, where the number of big cats has gone down from 710 to 255 in the past five years. 02br
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001.India has far fewer tigers living in the wild than in Africa. [ Just an indicative sentence or rather a sentence to compare Indian tigers and African tigers.]02br
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002. He said he had been to India. [ This is indirect speech.]02br
003. He said, '' he has been to India''. [ This is direct speech.]02br
00My question is on the first sentence of the above article.02br
01b00India has far fewer tigers living in the wild than had been thought, initial results from a major new study suggest.02b00 02br
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00 The words 'had been thought' look like it is a past perfect sentence; however, it doesn't qualify to be a past perfect tense. You should push one action before the other to make a past perfect sentence. 01font00What is the grammatical nature of the sentence in question?02font0-