India’s success in conserving tigers, lions, leopards and snow leopards offers lessons for the world, but the story is marked by serious contradictions
Big cat populations have recovered in many landscapes, even as conservation costs continue to be disproportionately borne by forest dwellers and communities near protected areas
The rise in tiger numbers challenges the idea that people must be relocated from tiger habitats for wildlife to thrive
India’s big cats depend on wider human-dominated landscapes for dispersal, genetic connectivity and long-term survival
Conservation policy must move beyond “fortress conservation” and recognise local communities as partners in protecting wildlife
Ravi Chellam warns that importing alien conservation models such as fenced protected areas, trophy hunting and culling could damage India’s unique conservation story
India’s conservation achievements, particularly with respect to the charismatic big cats, have for long intrigued people globally. How does India with a human population exceeding 1.4 billion, living at an average density of around 500 people per square kilometre, manage to host such spectacular wildlife including large and potentially dangerous mammals? It is without doubt a story that has many lessons to offer to the rest of the world.
This conservation journey has been challenging. It has experienced setbacks. Wildlife populations have collapsed and quite a few have recovered. There have been considerable human costs related to this “conservation success”, costs that have been disproportionately borne by forest dwellers who are often adivasis and communities living adjacent to protected areas. Even now there are plenty of challenges that need to be dealt with as well as weaknesses and flaws that need to be recognised and addressed.
Currently India has thriving populations of wild tigers, lions, leopards and snow leopards. The status of the introduced African cheetahs is best dealt with independent of the other four native species, as the cheetahs have been in India for less than four years. It is also a high-profile project with very strong hands-on management of the cheetahs.
The tiger’s conservation history over the last 20-odd years has seen plenty of twists and turns. The local extinction of tigers in Sariska Tiger Reserve in 2004, is a significant marker. It shook the system and resulted in numerous changes to Indian wildlife management as well as the approach to wildlife conservation and even led to the amendment of the Wild Life (Protection) Act in 2006.
While quite a few of these changes were welcomed, there was a significant shift with the establishment of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) as a statutory body, resulting in greater centralisation of power and resources related to tiger conservation. Over the years, the NTCA has also become the nodal agency for the conservation of the other big cats, especially the Asiatic lions and the African cheetahs.
Soon after the local extinction of tigers in Sariska, Panna Tiger Reserve also lost all its tigers by 2008. Tigers have since been reintroduced at both Sariska and Panna and as per the 2022 population estimate, Sariska is home to about 20 tigers while Panna had about 60.
India is estimated to host 70 per cent to 75 per cent of the global population of wild tigers. In India, the tiger population has increased from 1,411 in 2006 to 3,682 in 2022, occupying an area of 103,408 sq km. While this is an impressive achievement, it should be noted that in 2022, out of the 53 tiger reserves, 10 had less than 10 tigers each including several with just one tiger; five reserves did not have even a single tiger. Additionally, 35 per cent to 40 per cent of the tigers live outside “protected areas” in territorial forest divisions and human-dominated habitats.
These facts question the official narrative that people need to be relocated from tiger habitats for tigers to thrive. The government’s urge to keep increasing the number of tiger reserves and the obsession with “fortress conservation” are not based in science, prevailing socio-economic, political and cultural realities and is often infringing Indian laws, particularly the Forest Rights Act of 2006.
The average size of protected areas in India is small, at 230 sq km. This is too small to hold viable populations of any of the large cats. As a result, the cats are using the matrix of habitats in the larger landscape in which protected areas have been established. There are several cities and towns which have leopards, lions and tigers frequently using the peri-urban areas or even residing in them. The movement of big cats through the larger landscape is vital for their long-term survival. It enables dispersal as each population starts to recover and begins to exceed the carrying capacity of the habitats in which they reside. It ensures genetic connectivity which is crucial for the health and long-term viability of these populations.
Indian conservation is rife with contradictions. In practice, official policy has prioritised the relocation and resettlement of resident communities from protected areas, especially tiger reserves. These actions are often on very shaky legal grounds. It is only recently that coexistence is entering the government’s vocabulary despite the long-term lived reality of millions of Indians who are sharing space with wildlife, including big cats on a daily basis.
While people are being resettled from protected areas in the name of conservation, large numbers of wild animals belonging to numerous species move through and many are even resident in human-dominated habitats. These are not always situations of peaceful and happy coexistence but people are nevertheless sharing space with wildlife. Several species inflict damage to property, injure and even kill hundreds of people every year. Despite these problems most communities continue to tolerate, accept and revere the presence of wildlife in their daily lives. A lot of this is reflected in their myths, beliefs, bio-cultural practices, stories and is based on their traditional knowledge accumulated over multiple generations.
This is the magic that needs to be recognised, respected, understood and strengthened. Local communities across India have found ways to coexist with wildlife. Government officials, the judiciary, researchers and conservationists have to respect, support and partner local communities in ensuring both their well-being as well as the continued persistence of wildlife.
The real threat that needs to be recognised is the rapid and drastic transformation of landscapes across India, resulting in extensive habitat fragmentation, degradation and destruction. This has resulted in large-scale disruption in the movement of wild animals, reduction in the extent and quality of their habitats and creating conditions for increasingly negative human-wildlife interactions. If wildlife populations have to continue to persist and thrive across India, “development” must factor in environment, ecology and wildlife as key factors at the stage of planning and not view these as externalities that need to be managed.
Conservation and wildlife management have largely been opaque in their implementation, resulting in reduced transparency and accountability. Many conservation initiatives have violated the rule of law. These are areas that need to be addressed immediately.
Over the last few years, conservation practices and models which are alien and unsuitable to India are being actively promoted. This includes fenced protected areas, trophy hunting and even culling. These ideas have largely come in as a result of the interactions with Africans related to Project Cheetah. If these practices are adopted, it will in all probabilities destroy the magical ingredients of India’s special conservation story.
Ravi Chellam is a wildlife biologist and conservation scientist. Part of this column was originally published in cover story Rethinking Conservation in June 1-15, 2026 issue of Down To Earth