India’s tiger success story: How the big cat population recovered

India successfully doubled its once-declining wild tiger population by 2022. A new study analyses population trends from 2006 to 2018 to understand key factors, including socio-ecological drivers, influencing tiger recovery and survival. Long-term population recovery depends on balancing conservation with economic incentives for local people, it finds.

For centuries, the majestic tiger roamed vast landscapes across Asia. However, poaching, habitat destruction and human encroachment drove these apex predators to the brink of extinction. By the early 2000s, global tiger numbers had plummeted to 3,600, occupying less than 10% of their historical range.

Recognising the urgency of the crisis, tiger-range nations launched the Global Tiger Recovery Program in 2010, aiming to double wild tiger populations by 2022. India not only achieved this milestone but did so through science-driven policies, strong governmental commitment, and widespread public support. In the past two decades, tiger occupancy in the country has expanded by 30%. Today, it is home to 75% of the world’s wild tigers – 3,167 as of 2022 – occupying approximately 138,200 km² of habitat.

A study published in Science now sheds new light on India’s tiger resurgence, analysing population trends, habitat connectivity, and key ecological factors influencing their survival. “In the past, conservation efforts focused primarily on tiger numbers, but we are now taking...

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