Wild Tiger Population Rises in India

The numbers of wild tigers in India has more than doubled from 2010 to 2022, based on the All India Tiger Estimation (AITE) 2022 released this week. The 2022 count includes at least 3,167 wild tigers, up from 1,411 in 2010.

This year’s All India Tiger Estimation utilized 641,449 square kilometers of foot surveys, 32,588 camera counts and 641,102 person days to determine the tiger populations. Numbers increased from 1,411 wild tigers in 2010 and 2,461 in 2018.

“Concerted efforts from tiger range countries are really encouraging,” Rajesh Gopal, secretary general of Global Tiger Forum, said in a statement. “The wild tiger status has registered an upward trend in some countries, and others are working hard to further strengthen their efforts.”

Tigers face many threats. They experience habitat loss and must compete for space and resources as humans develop more lands. This depletion of space for tigers, which are solitary animals that need wide ranges to roam and hunt, has also led to conflicts with humans. Further, tigers face poaching by humans, and their skins, bones and other body parts are sold in the illegal wildlife trade.

Today, tiger lands represent around just 7% of the animals’ original range. To combat increasing threats to tigers, India launched Project Tiger in 1973. At the time, the country had nine tiger reserves established. Now, 53 tiger reserves in India span around 75,800 square kilometers of land, as reported by CNN.

In 2010 at the Global Tiger Summit, governments agreed on a target to double global tiger populations by 2022. India more than doubled its wild tiger numbers in that timeframe and ultimately contributed strongly to the global goal as well. Wild tigers in India now make up about 70% of global tiger numbers.

More work is needed in tiger conservation around the world, though. There were about 3,200 wild tigers globally in 2010, while the World Wildlife Fund noted that there are now around 4,500 tigers in the wild, meaning nations have fallen short of reaching the target set at the Global Tiger Summit.

“Project Tiger was conceptualized with the goal of restoring tiger populations and protecting their habitats in India. Today, after five decades, Project Tiger is recognized as one of the most successful species-specific conservation programs globally,” Ravi Singh, CEO of WWF-India, said in a statement. “And to keep this momentum going and see growth and stability in tiger numbers, this exceptional conservation program will require continued dedication of combined efforts and management of human-wildlife interactions.”