Tiger Reserves in India (Ecology, Environment and Climate Change)
Tiger Reserves in India (Ecology, Environment and Climate Change)
Why In News:
The Government has flagged priority intervention in 25 out of India's 58 tiger reserves that are critically low on tiger populations or have no tigers at all.
The issue highlights the uneven distribution of tigers across reserves - a few reserves carry most of the population while others remain ecologically underutilised.
Source: The Indian Express, Page 9, 29 June 2026 - 'Govt flags priority intervention in 25 of 58 tiger reserves which are low on big cats or have none'
Project Tiger and Tiger Reserves
Project Tiger: Launched on 1 April 1973 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi with 9 tiger reserves. India now has 58 tiger reserves.
NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority): The statutory body under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 (as amended 2006) that manages Project Tiger and oversees all tiger reserves.
Tiger Reserve structure: Each reserve consists of a Core (Critical Tiger Habitat or CTH) and a Buffer Zone. The Core permits no human habitation or consumptive use; the Buffer allows regulated activities.
CTH (Critical Tiger Habitat): Notified areas within a Tiger Reserve identified as indispensable for tiger conservation; cannot be diverted except for security purposes.
India's Tiger Population
2022 All-India Tiger Estimation (5th cycle): 3,682 tigers - approximately 75% of the world's wild tiger population.
Top tiger states (2022): Madhya Pradesh (785), Karnataka (563), Uttarakhand (560), Maharashtra (444), Tamil Nadu (306).
Global status: Tigers are classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) is India's national animal.
Why Some Reserves Lack Tigers
Poaching and depletion of prey base (sambar, chital, wild boar) through snaring.
Habitat fragmentation: loss of forest corridors between reserves isolates tiger populations, preventing natural recolonisation.
Human-wildlife conflict and retaliatory killing in buffer and peripheral zones.
Some reserves were designated more for political or administrative reasons than based on adequate tiger or prey surveys.
Climate change affecting forest productivity and prey distribution in certain landscapes.
Important Tiger Reserves
Corbett (Uttarakhand): First tiger reserve in India (1973); named after Jim Corbett.
Sundarbans (West Bengal): Only mangrove tiger reserve in the world; UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Panna (MP): Successfully repopulated through translocation after local extinction in 2009 - a celebrated conservation success.
Sariska (Rajasthan): Declared virtually tiger-free in 2005 due to poaching; tigers reintroduced from Ranthambore.
Kaziranga (Assam): Primarily known for one-horned rhinos but also holds significant tiger density; UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Bandipur (Karnataka): Part of the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve; forms a contiguous landscape with Nagarhole, Mudumalai, and Wayanad.