India's tiger population doubles, but human-wildlife conflict rises alongside

New Delhi: International Tiger Day marks one of India's biggest conservation successes. Since the day was instituted in 2010, the country's tiger population has more than doubled from 1,706 to 3,682, accounting for nearly 70% of the world's wild tigers.

However, the conservation success has also brought a growing challenge-an increase in human-tiger conflict.

The number of people killed in tiger attacks has risen sharply over the past decade. According to available data, 225 people died in tiger attacks between 2014 and 2019. The toll nearly doubled to 418 during 2020-25.


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The Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment attributes the trend to habitat degradation, ecological changes, human interventions and conservation strategies that are altering tiger behaviour.

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A study published in Animal Conservation, a journal of the Zoological Society of London, says the remarkable recovery of tigers in India and Nepal is now being accompanied by rising human-tiger conflicts that could threaten long-term conservation gains.

Researchers Ashish Bista, Rekha Warrier and Jonathan Salerno of Colorado State University said tiger attacks not only result in deaths and injuries but also impose psychological and economic costs on affected families.