Bringing Back Tigers from the Brink of Extinction

DEVENDRA BASNET

Every year on 29 July, Global Tiger Day celebrates one of the world's greatest conservation success stories

 By the late 1960s, relentless hunting, poaching, poisoning, shrinking forests and declining prey populations had pushed the Royal Bengal Tiger to the very edge of extinction across the Indian subcontinent. Many naturalists feared that future generations would know this magnificent predator only through faded photographs, museum specimens and zoo enclosures.

The first official all-India tiger census in 1972 estimated only 1,827 tigers remaining in the wild, a dramatic fall from an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 at the beginning of the twentieth century. Even this figure was probably optimistic. During the colonial era and well into independent India, tigers were prized as hunting trophies. British sportsmen, Indian royalty and wealthy hunters competed to shoot the largest cats, while governments often paid bounties to eliminate tigers regarded as dangerous "vermin." At the same time, forests disappeared beneath expanding agriculture, settlements and development, destroying the tiger's habitat. By the early 1970s, alarm bells were ringing throughout the conservation world.

Fortunately, a few visionary naturalists had already begun changing public attitudes towards the tiger. Foremost among them was forestry officer F. W. Champion, whose pioneering tripwire camera-trap photographs taken in 1925 offered the world its first intimate glimpse of wild Bengal tigers. His landmark 1927 book With a Camera in Tiger-Land demonstrated that tigers were far more valuable alive than dead and inspired later conservationists, including Jim Corbett, to exchange rifles for cameras and become champions of wildlife protection.

India responded with remarkable foresight. Following the enactment of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, Project Tiger was launched in 1973 with just nine tiger reserves covering about 18,300 square kilometres. It marked a profound shift in conservation philosophy. The tiger was no longer viewed as vermin but as the guardian of India's forests and an irreplaceable part of its natural heritage and recognised as the National animal of India. Over the next five decades, Project Tiger expanded to 58 tiger reserves, laying the foundation for one of the world's greatest wildlife recoveries.

The results exceeded even the most optimistic expectations. India's 2022 All India Tiger Estimation recorded a minimum of 3,167 wild tigers, with an estimated population of 3,682 (range 3,167–3,925). From only 1,411 tigers estimated in 2006, the recovery has been extraordinary. Today, India supports more than 70 percent of the world's remaining wild tigers.

This conservation success extends beyond India. Nepal, through rigorous protection, scientific monitoring and community participation, increased its tiger population from 121 in 2009 to 429 in its 2026 national census. Bhutan protects tigers from subtropical forests to elevations above 4,000 metres, while Bangladesh remains the global stronghold for the unique mangrove tigers of the Sundarbans. Together, these countries demonstrate that wildlife conservation succeeds best when forests and ecosystems transcend political boundaries.

As pioneering tiger biologist Dr. George B. Schaller observed, "The tiger is a large-hearted gentleman with boundless courage." Yet saving this magnificent animal required far more than protecting a single species. Conservationists such as Dr. Ullas Karanth, Dr. John Seidensticker, Dr. Charles McDougal, Fateh Singh Rathore and many others demonstrated that healthy tiger populations depend upon healthy ecosystems. Protecting the tiger also meant safeguarding forests, rivers, grasslands and the countless plants and animals that sustain the web of life.

One of the earliest long-term ecological studies of the Bengal tiger was conducted by the late Dr. Kirtiman Tamang of Kalimpong at the then Royal Chitwan National Park in Nepal. Undertaken under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution between December 1973 and May 1977, his pioneering research, “The Status of the Tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) and Its Impact on Principal Prey Populations in the Royal Chitwan National Park,” was among the first comprehensive field studies of wild tigers in South Asia. By examining predator-prey relationships, it helped establish the scientific foundations of modern tiger conservation and management.

I was fortunate to witness this remarkable period while working in the Chitwan National Park in Nepal, one of the finest tiger habitats in the subcontinent. Those were exciting yet uncertain years when the tiger's future still hung in the balance. I had the privilege of meeting and learning from distinguished conservationists including Charles McDougal, Kirtiman Tamang, David Smith, Hemant Mishra and Fateh Singh Rathore (of Ranthambore NP), whose dedication inspired an entire generation of field naturalists.

Equally unforgettable were the local trackers, elephant handlers and forest guards whose extraordinary knowledge of the jungle formed the backbone of tiger conservation. Long before GPS collars and satellite technology, they could identify individual tigers from pugmarks, scrape marks, scent sprays, alarm calls and stripe pattern, often predicting the movements of these elusive cats with astonishing accuracy. Their traditional knowledge, combined with modern science, proved invaluable.

Ironically, success has created new challenges. As tiger populations recover, young animals disperse beyond protected areas in search of territories. Fragmented forests, highways, railways, farms and expanding towns increasingly force tigers into human-dominated landscapes, leading to conflicts with people and livestock. Managing these conflicts fairly and compassionately has become one of the greatest conservation challenges of our time. 

The future depends upon reconnecting fragmented forests through secure wildlife corridors, maintaining healthy prey populations, reducing conflict with local communities and continuing rigorous scientific monitoring. Conservation cannot stop at the boundaries of national parks. Tigers require vast, connected landscapes if they are to thrive.

Fifty years ago, the tiger symbolised a looming conservation tragedy. Today, it stands as one of humanity's greatest environmental achievements. Every tiger that walks silently through the forests of India, Nepal, Bhutan or Bangladesh also safeguards elephants, rhinos, hornbills, orchids, rivers and countless lesser-known species that share its habitat. The tiger has become an umbrella species whose protection secures entire ecosystems.

The Royal Bengal Tiger has returned from the brink of extinction not by chance, but through science, political commitment, community participation and the dedication of generations of conservationists. Its recovery reminds us that when governments, scientists, local communities and ordinary citizens work together, nature possesses an extraordinary capacity to heal. The roar of the tiger is no longer merely the voice of a magnificent predator—it has become an enduring symbol of hope for wildlife conservation across the world.