Project Tiger

Project Tiger was launched on 1 April 1973 at Jim Corbett National Park (Uttarakhand) by the Government of India under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, in response to an alarming decline in tiger numbers — a 1972 census had counted roughly 1,827 tigers against an estimated 40,000 at the turn of the twentieth century. Conceived as a centrally sponsored scheme, it sought to ensure a viable population of Panthera tigris in its natural habitat as a flagship and umbrella species whose protection secures entire forest ecosystems. The programme began with nine tiger reserves covering about 18,278 sq km. Its statutory teeth came later through amendments to the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, which inserted Sections 38L–38X to constitute the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Tiger and Other Endangered Species Crime Control Bureau (Wildlife Crime Control Bureau).

The operational model rests on the "core-buffer" strategy. Each reserve has a critical tiger habitat (core area), kept inviolate and free of human activity, notified under Section 38V of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, and a surrounding buffer zone permitting co-existence and regulated use. Reserves are managed through a Tiger Conservation Plan, and a Field Director administers each unit. The NTCA, constituted in 2006 following the Sariska crisis (where tigers were found locally extinct in 2004–05) and the recommendations of the Tiger Task Force, provides statutory oversight, approves reserve creation, and conducts the quadrennial All India Tiger Estimation using camera-trap and double-sampling methodology in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India. Voluntary village relocation from core areas is funded to reduce biotic pressure.

By 2026 India hosts over 55 tiger reserves spanning more than 75,000 sq km. The 2022 All India Tiger Estimation, released in April 2023 during the "50 years of Project Tiger" commemoration at Mysuru, reported a minimum of 3,167 (later refined to 3,682) tigers, making India home to roughly 70–75% of the world's wild tigers. Landmark reserves include Corbett, Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Ranthambore, Sundarbans, Nagarhole and Periyar. India is also a party to the Global Tiger Forum and the St. Petersburg Declaration (2010) under the TX2 goal to double wild tiger numbers, a target it achieved ahead of schedule. The Sariska and Panna reserves witnessed successful tiger reintroduction after local extinctions.

For the UPSC examination, Project Tiger is a recurring theme in the Environment and Ecology section of the General Studies Paper III (Prelims) and GS Paper III (Mains). Prelims questions typically test the launch year (1973), the implementing authority (NTCA), the legal basis (Wildlife Protection Act, 1972), the core-buffer concept, and the location of specific reserves. Mains and interview questions probe the human-wildlife conflict, village relocation ethics, the difference between a national park, sanctuary and tiger reserve, and India's TX2 commitment. Candidates should distinguish Project Tiger (1973) from Project Elephant (1992) and Project Lion, and link it to constitutional Articles 48A and 51A(g) on environmental protection.