Tiger numbers a roaring success
The robust rise is an endorsement of India’s conservation efforts. But challenges loom
Half a century ago, India launched an ambitious new project to protect the tiger. The big cat had been declared the national animal just a year before. Tiger numbers had dwindled to below 2,000 and there were concerns that the majestic animal would be extinct before the close of the millennium. Project Tiger defied those fears. Its roaring success saw tiger habitats grow from nine reserves to 54. Today, India is home to three out of every four tigers in the world. An updated analysis of the 2022 tiger census pegged the total number of tigers in the wild at 3,682 – significantly higher than 3,167 projected in April. The April data was part of a preliminary report released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the new report is based on further analysis of the same data. 
The new tiger numbers are heartening. They reflect the success of tiger conservation efforts, which have been successful in correcting course after the numbers had plunged to shocking lows — 1,411 in 2006 and 1,706 in 2010. It serves as an endorsement of the decades-long effort put in by hundreds of forest officials and community members in safeguarding the animals whose thriving numbers also mirror the health of India’s protected forests. Authorities have invested in cracking down on poaching and illegal sale of tiger skin and products, modern techniques of surveillance, and bolster public support for protection of these fragile habitats. A strategy to establish core and buffer areas – an inviolate inner zone meant exclusively for animal conservation, and an expansive outer zone where local communities and long-standing residents who depended on forest produce for their sustenance could be supported – has also shown success. Efforts to channel more tourism into ecologically friendly modes have also borne some fruit.
But tiger conservation remains a sensitive and challenging task. The threat of habitat fragmentation and destruction due to infrastructure development remains real, as does the impact of the climate crisis that has mangled otherwise-familiar weather patterns into uncertain extremes. This newspaper has also noted before that a significant chunk of the tiger population lives outside designated reserves, and increased contestation around wildlife corridors has resulted in rising cases of man-animal conflict. The increase in tiger population is a moment of celebration for the country’s successful conservation efforts, a model for the world, but also offers a moment for reflection and preparation for the challenges looming ahead.
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