Tiger numbers reach 3,167, local extinction a concern
India's tiger population has increased by 6.74% to 3,167 in 2022, up from 2,967 in 2018, according to the National Tiger Conservation Authority. However, the report highlights that most tiger reserves in India are small and vulnerable to unsustainable land use, leading to localised extinctions. The Western Ghats saw a significant decline in tiger numbers, while the Shivalik hills and Gangetic floodplains showed an increase. Linear infrastructure projects and human-wildlife conflict are among the challenges facing tiger conservation in India.
New Delhi: India is home to at least 3,167 tigers, the 2022 census by the National Tiger Conservation Authority released by Prime Minister Narendra Modi showed on Sunday, an increase of 6.74% from 2,967 in 2018, the previous occasion the big cats were counted in the wild.
As many as 3,080 tigers were photographed in 2022, compared with 2,461 captured on camera in 2018, according to the Status of Tigers report. India hosts some 75% of the global tiger population living in forests.
Despite the modest increase of 200 in four years, most tiger reserves in the country are like tiny islands of conservation, with areas outside the protected zones showing unsustainable land use, the report said, which could be responsible for localised extinctions in some parts of central India.
The Western Ghats, a global biodiversity hotspot, showed a significant decline in numbers, from 981 in 2018 to 824 in 2022, the report said. Out of the approximately 400,000 sq km of forests in tiger states, only a third are in relatively healthier condition, it said.
“Since its inception (in 1973), the project has expanded from nine tiger reserves covering 18,278 km2 to 53 reserves covering 75,796 km2, which account for 2.3% of India’s land area,” the report said. “Despite this, most tiger reserves and protected areas in India are existing as small islands in a vast sea of ecologically unsustainable land use, and many tiger populations are confined to small protected areas.”
“Although some habitat corridors exist that allow tiger movement between them, most of these habitats are not protected areas, continue to deteriorate further due to unsustainable human use and developmental projects, and thereby are not conducive to animal movement,” the report highlighted.
The increase in tiger population was substantial in the Shivalik hills in the outer Himalayas and the Gangetic floodplains, followed by central India, northeastern hills and Brahmaputra floodplains, and the Sundarbans in the Gangetic delta.
In Shivalik, the number of tigers has increased to 804 from 646 in 2018, in central Indian landscape to 1,161 from 1,033, in northeastern landscape to 219 from 194 and in the Sunderbans to 100 from 88.
“We are reaching capacity in some landscapes. Especially in the Terai and central India, we are full, but there is a lot of scope to improve numbers in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Goa and the northeastern states,” said YV Jhala, wildlife biologist and former dean of the Wildlife Institute of India, and co-author of the report.
“We can easily add 1,000 to 1,500 more tigers there with effective habitat management,” Jhala said. “More tigers can be added to the Western Ghats region also. We need investments and planning to add tiger numbers in these regions where habitats are not being used fully for tiger conservation.”
“Tiger numbers cannot keep growing linearly or exponentially in populations where they are already healthy. The increase in tiger numbers this time also may have come from the same states that have done well in the past,” said said Anish Andheria, president of the Wildlife Conservation Trust, a non-profit. “As a country, India is doing exceedingly well. With 1.4 billion people to increase the population of tigers is no mean feat. No other country has managed this, including African countries.”
Tigers in the Shivalik hills and Gangetic plains now number 804, up from 646 in 2018. It is important to repopulate the Shivalik forest division of Uttar Pradesh, along with Kalesar Wildlife Sanctuary of Haryana, and increase protection for tigers in Suhelwa, the tiger conservation authority recommended.
“The Terai region of India holds a significant position for the conservation of tigers, as it hosts several key tiger reserves, including Corbett, Rajaji, Pilibhit, Dudhwa, and Valmiki. These protected areas are the only representatives of the rich biodiversity of the Bhabar and Terai regions of the country,” the report said.
Linear infrastructure projects such road and railways in the congested corridor between western and eastern Rajaji have left the area functionally extinct for large carnivores and elephant movement, the report said.
In the Western ghats, although tiger occupancy increased in the Anshi-Dandeli landscape, it has declined in the border areas of Goa and Karnataka. A major decline has been observed in the Mookambika-Sharavathi-Sirsi landscape. “While wildlife in the human dominated landscape is a cultural part of the Western Ghats, there is increasing tension between humans and mega herbivores & carnivores,” the report said. “There is utmost need to address this issue if we are to retain one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots.”
The northeastern hills and Brahmaputra landscape is secure, the report said, as 194 tigers were captured on camera. The unique wildlife species composition in the northeast makes it ecologically important, coupled with its natural beauty and several indigenous communities, the report said. The region is facing several threats such as habitat loss, poaching and human-wildlife conflict, which needs increased conservation efforts, it said.
The Sundarbans is susceptible to the effects of climate change and the rise of sea levels, which could cause submergence, the report warned. The tiger population, which has increased from 88 to 100, and the landscape are both threatened by biotic interference in the form of forest exploration, fishing, palm and timber extraction and the expansion of waterways, the report said.
The central Indian landscape has seen an increase in tiger population, with 1,161 tigers being photographed compared to an estimated population of 1,033 in 2018. Tigers are occupying new areas in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, but the local tiger population has become extinct in several areas including Sri Venkateswara National Park, Tiger Reserves like Kawal, Satkosia and Sahyadri, the report said.
“While the expansion of tiger habitats is a positive development, there is a need to pay attention and act quickly in these areas to reverse the trend of extinction of small populations and avoid negative human-tiger interactions,” the report said. “Serious conservation efforts are needed to help tiger population recovery in Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh. The small and genetically unique population of tigers in Simlipal is a priority for conservation.”
One of the major challenges in tiger conservation is aligning the aspirations of large-scale economic development while safeguarding forests and their wildlife and mitigating human-tiger conflict, the report concluded. Other threats are climate change-related impacts on habitats and the loss of the quality of forests over time.
“If we want tiger numbers to go up, we have to make policies to provide livelihoods to the poorest of the poor in these nine tiger states (which are doing poorly in tiger conservation) in industries that are non-injurious to wildlife,” Andheria said.