What Happened
- Wildlife conservation experts have sharply criticised India's tiger protection policy for perpetuating a "colonial mindset" — one that treats forests as exclusive wildlife territories from which human communities must be excluded
- The critique follows data showing that India recorded 166 tiger deaths in 2025, up from 126 in 2024, with Madhya Pradesh reporting the highest single-year toll of 55 deaths — the highest since Project Tiger was launched in 1973
- Experts argue that the current fortress conservation model, inherited from British-era forest management, prioritises hard physical barriers and anti-poaching enforcement over addressing the root cause: habitat saturation and shrinking corridors
- Madhya Pradesh is India's state with the largest tiger population and hosts more tiger reserves than any other state; the high death toll is attributed to territorial fights caused by the saturation of core reserve areas
- The "colonial mindset" critique centres on the exclusion of forest-dwelling communities from conservation planning — specifically, the displacement of Adivasi and forest-dependent communities from core zones without adequate consent or rehabilitation
- Experts are calling for: (a) corridor strengthening as a priority over reserve expansion; (b) formal recognition of community-based conservation; (c) alignment of tiger conservation with the Forest Rights Act, 2006
Static Topic Bridges
Project Tiger and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA)
Project Tiger was launched on April 1, 1973 from Jim Corbett National Park by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, in response to a dramatic decline in India's tiger population — from an estimated 40,000 at the turn of the 20th century to just 1,827 by 1972. It established a network of protected tiger reserves with core (critical tiger habitat) and buffer zones. In 2006, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) was established under an amendment to the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, to administer tiger reserves as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme. India now has 58 tiger reserves across 18 states. The 2022 tiger census placed India's wild tiger population at 3,682 — nearly 75 percent of the world's wild tiger population.
- Launched: April 1, 1973 from Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand
- Initial reserves: 9 (9,115 sq km); current reserves: 58 tiger reserves across 18 states
- Current wild tiger population: 3,682 (2022 census) — ~75% of world's wild tigers
- NTCA established: 2006, under Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
- Tiger reserve structure: Core (Critical Tiger Habitat) + Buffer (mixed use) zones
- Madhya Pradesh: largest tiger population (~785 tigers as per 2022 census), highest number of reserves
- Tiger deaths in 2025: 166 total; Madhya Pradesh: 55 (highest); Uttarakhand: 19 (second highest)
Connection to this news: The 55 deaths in Madhya Pradesh — India's top tiger state — in a single year represents a crisis of success: Project Tiger has successfully grown the tiger population to the point where reserves are saturated, but the policy framework has not kept pace with corridor expansion or community coexistence.
Fortress Conservation vs. Community-Based Conservation
Fortress conservation is a conservation model, originating in the colonial era, that treats wildlife protection as inherently incompatible with human habitation in or near protected areas. It relies on exclusion, physical boundaries (fences, buffer zones), and law enforcement. The British colonial government institutionalised this model in India through the Indian Forest Act, 1927, which vested forest ownership in the state, dispossessing forest-dwelling communities of their traditional rights. Post-independence, this model was reinforced by the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. In contrast, community-based conservation recognises that local communities are best placed to protect ecosystems they depend on, and that conservation succeeds when it generates economic and cultural value for local people. The Forest Rights Act, 2006, attempted to correct the historical exclusion by recognising individual and community forest rights of Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers.
- Indian Forest Act, 1927: vested all forest ownership in the state; displaced traditional community rights
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: established Protected Areas; criminalised traditional land uses within reserves
- Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006: recognised individual forest rights, community forest rights, and habitat rights for Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)
- Community Forest Resource (CFR) rights under FRA: allows gram sabhas to manage and protect forests
- Relocation from tiger reserve core zones: must be voluntary under FRA and NTCA guidelines; in practice, coercive relocations are reported
- Community conserved areas: increasingly recognised by IUCN as effective complements to formal protected areas
Connection to this news: The "colonial mindset" critique directly challenges the fortress conservation model — experts argue that India's tiger policy prioritises tiger bodies over human rights and community livelihoods, replicating the colonial exclusionary logic rather than evolving towards rights-based coexistence.
Wildlife Corridors and Habitat Connectivity
Wildlife corridors are strips of habitat connecting isolated wildlife populations, allowing animals to move safely between protected areas for feeding, breeding, and establishing territories. As tiger reserves become saturated — meaning the carrying capacity of prey and territory is reached — tigers naturally disperse to find new territories. Without functional corridors, dispersing tigers enter human-settled areas, increasing human-wildlife conflict and leading to accidental deaths (road and rail accidents, electrocution) or retaliatory killings. The NTCA has identified 32 landscapes connecting tiger reserves across India, but many corridors remain unprotected — threatened by linear infrastructure (highways, railways), human settlements, and encroachment. Corridor protection requires approval from the National Board of Wildlife for any land-use change.
- India's tiger reserve corridors: 32 landscapes identified by NTCA connecting reserves nationally
- Major causes of tiger death in 2025: electrocution (31), road/rail accidents (19), poaching (42 confirmed), territorial fights
- Territorial fights: attributable to saturation — tiger population has reached carrying capacity of core zones
- Key corridors at risk: Panna-Bandhavgarh, Central Indian landscape, Western Ghats landscape
- Linear infrastructure threat: National Highway expansion, railway corridor upgrades fragment tiger corridors
- NTCA guideline: any land use change in tiger corridor requires National Board of Wildlife clearance
Connection to this news: The record 55 tiger deaths in Madhya Pradesh are a direct consequence of corridor degradation and habitat saturation — expert recommendations to prioritise corridor strengthening over reserve boundary enforcement challenge the existing fortress conservation model.
Key Facts & Data
- India's tiger deaths in 2025: 166 total (up from 126 in 2024)
- Madhya Pradesh 2025 tiger deaths: 55 — highest in a single state since Project Tiger's 1973 launch
- India's wild tiger population (2022 census): 3,682 — ~75% of world total
- Number of tiger reserves: 58 across 18 states (as of March 2025)
- Major causes of death: poaching (42), electrocution (31), road/rail accidents (19), territorial fights
- Project Tiger launched: April 1, 1973 (Jim Corbett National Park)
- NTCA established: 2006, under Wildlife (Protection) Act amendment
- Forest Rights Act: 2006 — recognises individual, community, and habitat rights of forest dwellers
- NTCA-identified tiger corridors: 32 landscapes connecting tiger reserves nationally