India celebrated tiger population may be rising on paper, but a troubling trend lies beneath tigers are vanishing from large parts of their historic range. A recent study published in Science reveals that between 2006 and 2018, the big cats went locally extinct from nearly 18,000 square kilometres of habitat across the country.
Half of reserves with fewer than 10 tigers
Despite decades of conservation efforts, almost half of India 58 tiger reserves now host fewer than 10 big cats, while three have none left at all. Researchers found that local extinctions peaked between 2006 and 2010, making up nearly two-thirds of recorded losses during that period. The pace slowed after 2010, but the trend remains alarming.
Interestingly, tigers also managed to expand into over 41,000 sq km of new habitats connected to reserves, proving that with the right protection populations can rebound. Yet the balance between recovery and decline is fragile.
Poverty, poaching and armed conflict
The steepest losses were recorded in Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand and the Northeast regions marked by low human population density but high poverty. Here, communities often depend on forest resources for survival, leading to bushmeat hunting and the use of snares. These traps, meant for deer and wild boar, frequently kill tigers too.
Nearly half of all local extinctions during the 12-year study occurred in conflict-hit regions such as Indravati, Achanakmar, Udanti-Sitanadi and Palamau. Armed conflict created lawless zones where poaching thrived, with some groups even using the wildlife trade to fund militant activity. Encouragingly, reserves like Similipal and Nagarjunsagar-Srisailam showed recovery once violence subsided.
Mining and deforestation add pressure
Beyond poverty and conflict, habitat destruction remains a powerful driver. Deforestation forced tigers out of more than 300 sq km, while agriculture claimed over 1,500 sq km of their range. Mining and infrastructure projects added further pressure, fragmenting landscapes and isolating tiger populations.
Government data shows that at least 161 tiger habitats have been impacted by infrastructure projects and 82 by mining. In June this year, coal projects were cleared inside a recognised tiger corridor in Maharashtra a decision conservationists say undermines decades of progress.
Call for stronger protections
The study underscores that legal safeguards like the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and protected area declarations are crucial to tiger recovery. Weakening these protections, researchers warn, could have “far-reaching ramifications” for biodiversity.
The authors recommend targeted conservation in poorer districts, combining biodiversity recovery with social development. Models that share tourism revenue with local communities, already successful in some reserves, could offer a sustainable path forward.
As the report notes, tiger conservation is squeezed at both ends of the economic spectrum poverty-driven hunting in remote forests, and urbanisation with infrastructure expansion in developing areas. Protecting India’s national animal will require balancing human needs with ecological survival, ensuring that future growth does not erase one of the country’s greatest conservation successes.