India Doubled Their Tiger Population, Thanks To Protecting Them From Poaching And Habitat Loss
Between 2010 and 2022, the tiger population in India doubled from 1,706 tigers to about 3,682, all thanks to conservation efforts focused on protecting them from poaching and habitat loss.
According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority, approximately 75 percent of the world’s tiger population lives in India.
The big cats roam across a zone of roughly 53,359 square miles of India, but only 25 percent of that area is protected and contains an abundance of prey. The tigers share 45 percent of their habitat with around 60 million people.
A new study explored how tigers have made a comeback and how human communities can actually help boost the number of tigers. The animals are not just thriving on protected lands but also near some human communities.
“The common belief is that human densities preclude an increase in tiger populations,” said Yadvendradev Jhala, the lead author of the study and a senior scientist with the Indian National Academy of Scientists based in Bengaluru.
“What the research shows is that it’s not human density, but the attitude of people, which matters more.”
The researchers found that tigers disappeared in some regions that were not near national parks or wildlife sanctuaries, as well as in areas that saw increased urbanization, increased human use of natural resources, and higher frequency of armed conflicts.
The lack of community support and participation downgrades the quality of tiger habitats and prevents progress in conservation.
Although tigers are now gone from areas with a history of poaching and violent conflict, they can be spotted near prosperous communities that have learned to live among tigers.
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Poaching is rare around these communities. Farmers keep their livestock in enclosures to protect them from tigers, but if they do happen to fall prey to the big cats, the farmers will be compensated by the government. Some communities even benefit economically because tourists stop by to see the tigers.
“Tiger absence and extinction were characterized by armed conflict, poverty, and extensive land-use changes. Sparing land for tigers enabled land sharing, provided that socioeconomic prosperity and political stability prevailed. India’s tiger recovery offers cautious optimism for megafauna recovery, particularly in the Global South,” wrote the study authors.
The success in India could provide a framework for Europe, where wolf populations have rebounded and stirred up negative responses from farmers.
“India’s experience proves that large predators can survive in a modern world—if we are willing to think creatively and find a balance between protection and coexistence,” said Ninad Mungi, a co-author of the study from Aarhus University in Denmark.
While it’s great that tigers are protected in India, these protections need to be extended to other species in order to better maintain the entire ecosystem.
There are a number of species, like the great Indian bustard and caracal, that are on the edge of extinction.
The study was published in Science.
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