India’s tiger population rises to more than 3,000, figures show

India’s once endangered tiger population has risen by 200 to 3,167 over the last four years, according to statistics released by the government.

“India has not only saved the tiger but given it a great ecosystem in which to flourish,” Indian prime minister Narendra Modi said at an event in Mysuru, in southern Karnataka state, which marked the 50th anniversary of Project Tiger, launched in 1973 to preserve the endangered animal.

India is home to nearly 75 per cent of the world’s Bengal tiger population, spread across numerous special reserves spanning more than 75,000sq km.

Project Tiger was launched after India’s tiger population dropped from 40,000 at the time of independence in 1947 to just 1,800 in 1972, mostly due to bounty hunting, poaching and rapidly shrinking habitats.

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Between 1875 and 1925, animal conservationists estimate about 80,000 tigers were hunted by British viceroys, other colonial officials and Indian maharajahs.

Poachers were also responsible for killing large numbers of tigers for their body parts and organs, which sold at a premium around the world, especially in China, with the entire animal reaching prices equivealent to €80,000 on the black market. Body parts, including eyeballs, bladder, dung, paws, penises and even eyebrows were peddled for their supposed medicinal and reportedly aphrodisiac properties.

Dwindling tiger numbers led to then prime minister Indira Gandhi initially introducing the Wildlife Protection Act in 1972, followed a year later by Project Tiger.

Initially comprised of nine reserves dedicated to tiger preservation, it has since increased to 54. These sanctuaries focus not only on supporting and conserving tigers but also on ensuring the preservation of their natural habitat by rendering it free from human presence, commercial forestry and cattle grazing.

But Project Tiger suffered a major setback in 2005, following revelations that almost 30 tigers at the popular Sariska reserve, 200km west of New Delhi, had “vanished” over a short period. An investigation by the federal government found a network of poachers responsible for what then was officially acknowledged as the “worst wildlife crisis in post-independence India” and led to the formation of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

This new body introduced harsher anti-poaching legislation, the deployment of specially trained commando units in tiger reserves and the relocation of human populations from inside them, among many other measures.

Meanwhile, India imported eight cheetahs from Namibia in late 2022, more than 75 years after they became extinct in the country, and located them in the Kuno National Park in central Madhya Pradesh state.

One of these died last month from kidney failure, but the overall cheetah numbers were supplemented recently with the introduction of an additional seven males and five females from South Africa. Four cubs were born late last month to one of the earlier cheetah arrivals and, according to wildlife officials, were progressing well.