Tiger area rose 30% in 12 years: Study

The tiger population has since increased to 3,682 in 2022.

The study, by top tiger conservationists, V Y Jhala, Rajesh Gopal, Omar Qureshi and Ninad Avinash Mungi is based on the tiger census done once every four years by the Central government in tiger landscapes of the country and examined close to 3,000 grids, each covering 10 square kilometers, of tiger areas.

The study said that the area where tigers are found increased from 66,389 sq km in 2002 to 99,516 sq km in 2018 with 45% of the growth in area recorded between 2014 and 2018. “Overall, tiger occupancy increased by 30% over the span of the study…Colonization was higher in grid cells that were in proximity to tiger-occupied protected areas, with higher prey abundance, suitable habitats, low human density, and moderately wealthy....”

Out of the 1973 grid cells occupied by tigers, 25% were in the core area of tiger reserves or within national parks, 20% were in tiger reserve buffers or wildlife sanctuaries, 10% were in tiger habitat corridors, and the remaining 45% were in human multiple-use habitats.

“A large proportion of tiger-occupied habitats (45%) was shared with 60 million people in India,” the study said.

The study pointed out that recovery of large carnivores in fragmented habitats amid crowded and poverty-ridden regions of the global south is a difficult proposition and is often enforced through a “dogmatic” vision of separating people from predators. The alternative of land sharing, between the people and predators is critiqued as unattainable as it could “exacerbate” conflict.

“Land sparing and land sharing are looked on as opposing views…we demonstrated that both views of land sparing and land sharing were required for recovering tiger populations across India, suggesting that both paradigms play a part in the future of large carnivores,” the authors said.

The areas that were newly colonized by tigers had an average density of 250 humans per sq km , the study said.

V Y Jhala, lead author of the study, said, “This is primarily because of the traditional cultural and religious reverence of Indians towards all life forms, including predators, that promotes tolerance and coexistence.”

Tigers shared space with people at high densities in some areas in states such as Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, and Karnataka, whereas they became extinct or were absent from areas with a legacy of extensive bushmeat consumption or commercial poaching, even when human density was relatively low -- Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and the North Eastern states of India being a case in point.

The study said habitats devoid of tigers (157,527 square km) were predominantly spread across the states of Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Jharkhand. It suggested that the recovery in the protected areas of this region (Guru Ghasidas, Palamau, Udanti-Sitanadi, Similipal, Satkosia and Indravati tiger reserves) could be through reintroduction or supplementation and strengthening habitat connectivity between subsequent source populations.

Jhala said that their research showed that economic prosperity and stable law and order situation are important socio-economic determinants, besides conducive ecological conditions, for tiger recovery. “India’s conservation laws and policy based on science have been vital for conserving and recovering our natural heritage,” he said, adding diluting them would be “detrimental” for the ecological security.

The success of tiger recovery in India offers important lessons for tiger-range countries as well as other regions for conserving large carnivores while benefiting biodiversity and communities simultaneously. “It rekindles hope for a biodiverse Anthropocene,” the study said.

Dr. Anish Andheria, president of Mumbai based Wildlife Conservation Trust said India has demonstrated to the world that if science and local governance join hands with culture, it is possible to achieve the seemingly impossible task of conserving a large carnivore even in a nation that supports the highest human density on Earth.

“The tiger has fulfilled its umbrella species status by catalysing the protection of several other large mammals such as leopard, wild dogs, sloth bear, gaur and Asian elephant and more importantly safeguarding catchments of innumerable Indian rivers, in turn, sustaining the livelihood of millions of marginalised people,” he said.