The world tiger day was celebrated yesterday to raise greater global awareness about the perils tigers face across the world. India’s tiger population has been on a steady path of recovery over the last two decades due to the immense efforts put in by the government and various conservation agencies. They are doing relatively well, at around 2967 individuals estimated to be thriving today in the country. But one consequence of their population growth is increasingly seen as a significant problem, that may ultimately lead to severe detrimental impacts on their population as well as their habitats — the human-tiger conflict.

As the population of tigers in India grows towards its target of double that was estimated around a decade back, the human population also continues to increase, today accounting for over 17% of the entire world’s human population. Interestingly, India’s tiger population accounts for nearly 80 % of the world’s wild tiger population, and growing steadily at 6% per annum. Yet the odds against the tigers are heavily skewed. Tigers in India today have around 70 thousand square kilometres or slightly more at their disposal, in the name of tiger reserves (a few more thousand square kilometres are in the pipeline to be added), where they can thrive in relative peace and safety. This area, although sounds like a vast expanse constitute about 2.2 % of India’s total available landmass and about 10% of its total forested area. More importantly, this area exists in a scattered mosaic of forest patches interspersed within a vast spread of human habitations. They are islands within a sea of human dwellings. Some of them are connected with ‘forested bridges’ which today we call corridors, with varying degrees of intactness. Most of these corridors are also speckled with numerous human habitations.

Tigers (Panthera tigris) are large-bodied mammals, and like most other mammals traverse across large areas that can hold enough food, water and shelter, that allows them to live and reproduce well. But their food is not static. They prefer fleet-footed medium to large body-sized prey species like spotted deer (Axis axis), sambar deer (Rusa unicolor), and gaur (Bos gaurus) which have a variable distribution in their home ranges. Wouldn’t tigers just love food courts, with access to a plethora of foods within arm’s reach? But as luck would have it they do not. Each tiger must have a mental map of its home range (which is sometimes over 100 km²), knowing where to find what food, and water, and where to find solitude, if it so wants. It also at the same time figures the whereabouts of all neighbouring tigers and keeps them at bay from its home range. A male tiger also has to keep track of females within its home range. Add to this the fact that almost all of what a tiger eats has a mind of its own too, so clearly doesn’t want to be eaten!  A tiger on average manages to make a successful kill on the 6^th or 7^th attempt!

So a tiger’s life is clearly not an easy one.

Now like us, tigers reproduce. Sometimes quite well, and if food and shelter are plenty, a female tigress can occasionally raise up to four cubs to adulthood (some have even claimed to have seen five full-grown cubs!). But that is occasional, and in most habitats, a tigress is successful if at least two of her cubs survive into adulthood. But that is not enough, after these 1.5-2-year-old cubs begin leaving their mother, they have to practice stalking and grabbing their prey for nearly another 1-2 years so they become proficient in catching their favourite food. They also have to learn ways to deal with rival tigers, who can potentially kill them. With many tiger reserves having a high density of tigers, several young adults end up moving out of the protected bounds of the tiger reserves into human-dominated landscapes.

Remember that these protected areas are not fenced or walled. They cannot be, as we also need tigers moving between two tiger reserves to ensure that there is less inbreeding, and moreover, the borders are so convoluted it would be a very costly affair to build and maintain these fences. Many of the edges blend continuously from forests into agricultural fields, and a lot of the agriculture to tigers appear as nice lush grasslands. So many young adult tigers often settle down in such edges, with the best of both worlds! Or so it seems! Many agricultural landscapes beside forests also harbour wild prey populations of nilgai (Bocephalus tragocamelus), hog deer (Axis porcinus), wild pigs (Sus scrofa) etc., and many edge dwelling tigers survive of these, most of the time. Some also start picking off a small calf or two, when opportunity provides for. And some unfortunate ones are either spotted by humans or accidentally pounce on a crouching or squatting human. Once either of this has happened, what we call as ‘human-tiger conflict’ has erupted, and the situation transcends to a new dimension altogether.

Now, people want the threat posed by the tiger gone, yet we pay little heed to the increasing acreage of farmland that encroaches into marked wild habitats. The fact that people choose to live in close proximity of wild habitats exponentially increases their exposure to come across wildlife. Ethnic forest communities have generations of experience and knowledge which is often found lacking with those now living around the forest and that increases the chances of conflicts. The tiger that roams its natural habitat is hence perceived unfairly as a severe threat with chances of conflict that at times has fatal consequences on either side.

Consequently, people who even understand this, often are limited by law and political will from tackling the actual problem and resort to just removing the animal that is involved in the situation, so that it does not get killed. That must be done too. But that alone does not resolve the problem. The actual problem is the lack of understanding of the animal’s ways and respect for the wild instinct of the tiger. Fear of attack, and anger for the animal forces flawed choice of interventions. Thus, it is this lack of understanding that must be attacked and altered, with full force.

Human-tiger conflicts can lead to serious repercussions. Tigers can get killed – openly lynched by a mob, but more often covertly exterminated by poisoning or by locals luring in poachers. More importantly, left unaddressed, such incidents create a sore spot in the public psyche for not just the tiger, but everything else linked to it – the forests, the other species and its custodians – the forest department. So, all in all tiger conflicts can cause serious hindrances to tiger conservation, and that is why it must be focussed on resolving, with utmost seriousness.

The ultimate solution is not easy to do, but not impossible either. There are simple behaviour changes that if adopted by people can dramatically change the situation. A simple task of providing speedy assistance during conflict situations and building an assurance that the situation is being continuously tackled until resolved, can go a long way to change negative attitudes. Protecting of corridors, stringent enforcement of land use and pragmatic solutions with comprehension of the tiger’s habits, can dramatically reduce conflict incidences, or at least reduce the adversities that arise from such negative interactions. Various stakeholders must also join hands and use every possible medium to take the right information and messages to people experiencing conflicts regularly. For if change is not driven to foster greater acceptance for the tiger at local levels, accomodating an increased tiger population in India may become an arduous, and perhaps also a perilous endeavour.

Mayukh currently heads WTI’s Human-Wildlife Conflict Mitigation Division. A graduate in Anthropology (B.Sc. and M.Sc.) and a doctorate in Animal Behavioural Ecology from the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, Mayukh is pursuing his dream of one day having a secure future for wildlife and people in the country. He has a deep sense of respect for animals, nature and humans alike, and advocates this as a prerequisite for conservation. His work in WTI primarily focuses on developing long-term and short-term strategies for mitigating conflict between humans and various wildlife species.