A new data analysis found that India has successfully doubled its tiger population in just a decade. And experts say the endangered big cats have ongoing conservation efforts to thank for the resurgence.
According to a study recently published in Science, the number of tigers in India grew from an estimated 1,706 tigers in 2010 to around 3,682 in 2022. There are currently an estimated 5,557 tigers in the wild, making India home to roughly 75% of the global tiger population, according to the Associated Press.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, tiger populations globally were devastated by decades of poaching and human conflict. According to the WWF, more than 3,500 tigers were seized from traffickers in over 50 countries between 2000 and 2020 — almost equaling the entire population of wild tigers in India.
Tigers have also been historically threatened by habitat loss — both with human and environmental causes — and lack of prey, conditions only exacerbated by planetary warming. WWF reports that tigers are often found in India's mangroves, regions especially susceptible to storm surges and wind damage. Rising sea levels caused by climate shifts threaten to wipe out these habitats, which could displace tigers and their prey if not mitigated.
Tigers in India are spread across more than 53,000 square miles, which AP noted is roughly the size of New York state. A larger portion of that area — a full 45% — is shared with roughly 60 million people, making improving tiger-human relationships key to conservation.
While human conflict has historically decimated tiger populations in the region, the study found that some local communities near current tiger habitats have actually benefited from the increasing tiger population due to tourism traffic and revenues.
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"The common belief is that human densities preclude an increase in tiger populations," Yadvendradev Jhala, a senior scientist at the Indian National Academy of Sciences and the study's lead author, told AP. "What the research shows is that it's not the human density, but the attitude of people, which matters more."
Yet, wildlife experts and ecologists are cautious to celebrate the findings prematurely. According to AP, experts want the study's source materials made available to the wider scientific community for further study and verification. Some experts also point out that some of the estimates in the study are "significantly higher" than previous tiger population estimates using the same datasets.
But one thing is certain: More work needs to be done to support — and further increase — the number of tigers in India. According to the study, only 25% of the area occupied by tigers is considered prey-rich and protected. The study's authors especially call for more wildlife protection laws in the region, calling this legislation the "backbone" of tiger conservation.
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"Habitat is not a constraint," Jhala told AP, explaining there is plenty of space for tigers to roam in India when left be by humans. "It's the quality of the habitat which is a constraint."
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