Bengal tiger numbers in India may have increased significantly over the last decade, with the country currently boasting about 75 per cent of the global tiger population. However, everything is not hunky dory, according to a report published by National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) that was released recently.
The report — Roadmap for Active Management of Tigers in India — shows that nearly two-thirds of India’s 58 tiger reserves either have a declining prey base or inadequate habitat or both. Only 20 tiger habitats possess positives in terms of both prey factor and habitat quality. Adequate prey base and undisturbed quality habitat are required to facilitate stable or expanding tiger populations.
The analysis is based on the national tiger estimation carried out in 2022. Though a fresh estimate was supposed to be published in 2026, the deadline got pushed back by a year.
“India has shown remarkable success in tiger conservation. With 75 per cent of the world’s tigers counting to 3,682, spread across 58 reserves, India remains the global leader in tiger conservation,” claimed Union environment, forest and climate change minister Bhupender Yadav during a Global Tiger Day meeting on July 29, 2026. Yadav claimed that “… This encouraging data mirrors the health of Indian forests and focus on conservation.” But the official report shows otherwise.
The report shows that 38 reserves either do not have adequate prey numbers or proper habitat; 17 of the 38 do not have either. Overall, an overwhelming number of reserves — 36 of 58 — have prey problems. Only 20 reserves, with both adequate prey base and quality habitat, recorded stable or expanding tiger numbers.
The assessment also points out that while nine reserves have zero or extremely low resident tiger populations, 25 have declining numbers. Of the estimated 3,682 tigers in India, 2,338 are in tiger reserves while 1,344 are outside protected areas, and hence exposed to greater risk.
The statistics, mentioned in the report, further show that 1,318 tigers are located within 10 tiger reserves while the remainder are spread across the remaining 48 reserves.
Dampa (Mizoram), Kawal (Telangana), Satkosia (Odisha), Sahyadri (Maharashtra) and Kamlang (Arunachal Pradesh) recorded zero resident tigers.
“Critically low presence (1 or fewer tigers)” was documented in Jharkhand’s Palamu and in West Bengal’s Buxa. In the former, camera traps captured a single individual while a single photo confirmed presence in the latter. Most wildlife experts claimed that the tiger photographed in Buxa actually came from Bhutan. Moreover, Indravati, Udanti Sitanadi and Guru Ghasidas-Tamor Pingla reserve — all from Chhattisgarh — are believed to have extremely less or no tigers at all.
“Tiger recovery happened in many reserves and states which implemented the NTCA-WII (Wildlife Institute of India) road map,” pointed out tiger scientist and WII professor Qamar Qureshi. He added that “states and areas like Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Assam and West Bengal’s Sundarbans have done well”.
“All the rest need to ensure better management. The funding of reserves needs to be enhanced and science-based solutions need to be prioritised. There is a need to improve almost 50 per cent reserves with removal of invasive species and habitat improvement, ungulate recovery and augmentation and better protection,” he added.
“Recognising all possible corridors is of utmost importance as they connect not only tiger reserves but other protected areas too. Improvement of existing corridors must be ensured as well,” Qureshi further added.
Pradeep Vyas, retired chief wildlife warden of West Bengal and widely known as the state’s ‘tiger man’ for his long exposure and experience in the Sundarbans, said problems in several reserves were existent from the beginning. “Many of these reserves had habitat quality issues from the start, and had only been created by states for optics,” he claimed.
Vyas pointed out that more than a decade is required to improve habitat and prey base to the optimum threshold, once anthropogenic activities get controlled.