India’s tiger population doubles in a decade: Report
India is now host to the world’s largest tiger population across around 1.4 lakh sq km, according to a new study. In just over a decade, India has doubled its tiger population to over 3,600, accounting for 75% of the world’s tigers.
India is currently home to 75 percent of the world’s tiger population with 3,682 tigers as per 2022 population estimation released in 2023.
The paper, authored by senior wildlife scientist Yadvendradev V Jhala, reveals that tiger-occupied territory in India increased by 30% between 2006 and 2018, expanding at a rate of about 2,929 sq km per year.
The paper is co-authored by Ninad Mungi, Assistant Prof, Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere, Aarhus University, Denmark, Rajesh Gopal, former head of Project Tiger, and senior wildlife scientist Qamar Qureshi.
“A large proportion of tiger-occupied habitats (45%) was shared with about 60 million people in India. This co-occurrence with people coincides with relatively economically prosperous areas, many of which harness substantial financial benefits from tiger-related tourism as well as proactive government-sponsored schemes for compensating the loss caused by conflict,” the research stated..
According to the study findings, 25 percent of the tigers’ occupied habitats were in core areas of tiger reserves. The remaining 20 percent and 10 percent of habitats include tiger reserves or wildlife sanctuaries and tiger corridors, which help tigers migrate between two forested patches.
“It is essential to have spared lands – free of humans – where tigers can breed and repopulate multi-use forests. If you do not have spared lands, you cannot have shared lands, these are source and sink population areas,” Jhala, the lead author, told The Indian Express.
However, there are several challenges despite success. Key habitats in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Jharkhand, covering around 1,57,000 sq km, remain devoid of tigers. It underscores the opportunities for focused recovery efforts. The researchers called for strategies such as the socio-economic upliftment of forest-dwelling communities and habitat restoration in these regions.
