Despite having the highest human density and only 18% of the world’s tiger habitat, India’s tiger population has experienced a remarkable resurgence. Today, 75% of the world’s tigers live in India, with numbers exceeding 3,600. This achievement is the result of strong conservation policies, habitat protection, and coexistence efforts with local communities.
India: Home to 75% of the World’s Tigers
Despite having the highest human density and only 18% of the world’s tiger habitat, India is now home to the largest tiger population, according to recent research. 75% of the world’s tigers are found in India, which has increased its tiger population to over 3,600 in just over ten years. Together with almost 60 million people, these tigers currently occupy an area of 138,200 sq km (53,360 sq miles), about half the size of the United Kingdom. According to a study published in Science, a prestigious peer-reviewed academic magazine, this has been made possible by protecting big cats from poaching and habitat loss, securing prey, lowering conflict between humans and wildlife, and improving local communities.
India’s Tiger Population: How India Achieved a Tiger Population Boom
“We believe that the conservation of large carnivores [like tigers] is negatively impacted by human populations. After all, the attitude of individuals is more valuable than density,” the study’s primary author, Yadvendradev Vikramsinh Jhala, told the BBC. He gave the example of Malaysia, where tiger populations have not been effectively restored despite the country’s economic prosperity and lower population density than India. In line with the researchers, India’s tiger resurgence provides important lessons for the rest of the globe about how conservation may save large cats, increase biodiversity, and help communities.
India’s Tiger Population: The Role of Economic Prosperity in Tiger Conservation
Tiger occupancy in India between 2006 and 2018 was examined in a study conducted by Mr. Jhala, Ninad Avinash Mungi, Rajesh Gopal, and Qamar Qureshi. India has been conducting four-year surveys of tiger habitats in 20 states since 2006 to track the distribution of large cats, co-predators, prey, and habitat quality. Its tiger habitat has expanded by 30% over that time, or roughly 2,929 square kilometers every year.
Although the nation’s tigers have flourished in protected, prey-rich areas, they have also adapted to the landscapes of about 60 million people, who mostly reside in farming towns and settlements outside of national parks and tiger reserves. The researchers discovered that social contexts, cultural elements, and economics all have an impact on the degree of coexistence with tigers in India. Tigers exist side-by-side with dense populations in states like Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, and Karnataka.
India’s Tiger Population: Challenges in Tiger Recovery: Poaching, Conflict, and Habitat Loss
Tigers are either nonexistent or extinct in areas like Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and northeast India where bushmeat hunting and poaching have historically occurred. Some of the poorest districts in India are located in these areas as well. To put it another way, researchers look at that tiger-people coexistence is often found in economically booming regions that profit from tiger-related tourism and government reimbursement for losses resulting from conflicts. In line with Mr. Jhala, however, getting on can be a “double-edged sword” The researchers claim that tigers’ resurgence is aided by economic success brought about by the viable utilization of habitats.
However, it frequently results in land use changes that are adverse to tiger habitats. “Tiger recovery is thus constrained at opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum, by intensive urbanization and poverty,” according to the study. “Hence, adopting an inclusive and sustainable rural prosperity in place of an intensive land-use change the –driven economy can be conducive for tiger recovery, aligning with India’s modern environmentalism and sustainability.”
The Impact of Armed Conflict on Tiger Populations
The researchers discovered that armed conflict also considerably raises the likelihood of tigers going extinct. Political unrest around the world has resulted in sharp drops in wildlife because militants use wildlife as a source of income, converting areas without laws into hotspots for poaching. Similar to Nepal’s rhino drop during the civil strife, Manas National Park in India also lost rhinoceros due to violence.
Particularly in tiger reserves in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, the researchers discovered that tiger extinctions took place in districts affected by India’s Maoist war. They claim that Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam, Amrabad, and Similipal, the reserves where the fighting has been contained, have recovered. Additionally, the researchers unearthed that armed insurgencies have affected several habitats in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and eastern Maharashtra, leading to low tiger occupancy and a high danger of extinction. “With improved political stability, these areas may see tiger recovery,” they claim.
The majority of India’s 157,000 sq km of tiger-free habitats are located in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Jharkhand. Around 10,000 square kilometers may be restored in protected areas by reintroducing tigers and improving habitat connectivity, according to the researchers. According to researchers, it is difficult to recover huge animals in densely populated, impoverished areas. According to researchers, it is difficult to recover huge animals in densely populated, impoverished areas. Land sparing is one strategy that advocates separating humans from predators. The other is land sharing, which promotes human-wildlife coexistence.
Land-Sparing vs. Land-Sharing: Finding the Right Balance
Critics contend that while land-sparing may be unfeasible, land-sharing causes conflict. According to the report, both land-sharing and land-sparing strategies are essential for India’s tiger population to recover since each has a “role in conserving large carnivores.” Tiger attacks are killing people in India, which is also dealing with an increase in human-wildlife conflict.
What connection does this have to the expanding tiger population? “We lose 35 people to tiger attacks every year, 150 to leopards, and the same number to wild pigs.” In addition, snake bites claim the lives of 50,000 people. Additionally, each year, roughly 150,000 people die in auto accidents, according to Mr. Jhala. “The quantity of fatalities is not the point. Predator-caused human deaths were a common occurrence two centuries ago. They make the news today because they are abnormal. In actuality, a car accident is more likely to claim your life in a tiger reserve than a tiger assault.