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The high density means that some areas have breached their tiger carrying capacity. In overpopulated reserves, tigers are dispersing outside the protected areas. A study published in the journal Science in 2025 says that nearly 45 per cent of tiger-occupied areas are shared by 60 million people. This is also corroborated by NTCA’s “Status of Tigers 2022” report, which says that approximately 23 per cent of India’s tiger population (847 of the total 3,682 tigers) are located outside the protected areas, while 77 per cent (2,835 tigers) reside within or immediately around the country’s 53 tiger reserves and protected areas.
This has resulted in a rise in cases of tiger attacks in the past decade. In 2014-19, a total of 225 people were killed in tiger attacks in India, as per a 2020 report by the news agency AFP. This number rose to 418 in 2020-25, according to a 2026 report in The Times of India. Between March 2024 and March 2025, a total of 12 people were killed in tiger attacks in just one forest division, in Uttarakhand’s Ramnagar town near Corbett.
The attacks have also been reported from newer areas, with Bhuvanchand Belwal from Kyari village near the Ramnagar forest division becoming the first victim of tiger attack in his village in 50 years. “In some parts of India, reserves’ biological carr-ying capacity far exceeds the area’s social carrying capacity. The tolerance of local people is also running short; in some areas they have expressed concerns over high tiger numbers, livestock depredation and attacks on humans. People will tolerate proximity to tigers only if the losses to livestock are recovered from the government and they make additional revenue from tiger-tourism economy,” says Yadvendradev Jhala, former dean, Wildlife Institute of India.
The boom in tiger population is also feared to have increased cases of poaching. Requesting anonymity, an expert on wildlife trafficking and trade says that poaching is likely going unchecked in the country. “There was a major report in 2025 on 100 tigers poached since 2023 and there is no information on how many accused absconding have been tracked. With an estimated population of nearly 4,000 tigers, India is likely to have about 1,000 adult female breeding population giving birth to, conservatively speaking, at least two cubs a year. What is happening to these 2,000 cubs?” asks the expert. Since a substantial proportion of India’s tigers now occur outside tiger reserves, a reserve-centric model is no longer sufficient by itself, say experts.
This article was originally published as part of the cover story Rethinking Conservation in the June 1-15, 2026 print edition of Down To Earth
