Project Tiger is a wildlife conservation movement initiated in India to protect the endangered tiger. The project was formed on 1 April 1973 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of India. As of March 2025, there are 58 protected areas that have been designated as tiger reserves under the project. As of 2023, there were 3,682 wild tigers in India, which is almost 75% of the world's wild tiger population.
History and objectives
Project Tiger was initiated in 1973 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change of the Government of India. The project was initiated to protect the Bengal Tiger and its habitats and to establish dedicated tiger reserves for sustaining tiger populations. As per the section 38 of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 972, the state governments are responsible for preparing a Tiger Conservation Plan which includes planning and management of notified areas and maintaining the requisite competent staff to ensure the protection of the tiger reserve and providing inputs for maintaining a viable population of tigers, co-predators and prey animals.
Tiger reserves consist of a core area which includes part(s) of protected areas such as a national park or a wildlife sanctuary and a buffer zone which is a mix of forested and non-forested land. Project tiger is aimed at performing the necessary activities to ensure viability of tiger population in the core area and to promote a balance between the existence of people and animals in the buffer zones. In 2006, National Tiger Conservation Authority was formed to administer the tiger reserves which were set up as a part of Project Tiger with Project Tiger becoming a centrally sponsored scheme (CSS) to provide funding for the establishment and administration of the tiger reserves.
In 1973, nine protected areas were initially designated as tiger
reserves. By the late 1980s, the initial nine reserves covering an area of
9,115 km2 (3,519 sq mi) had been increased to 15
reserves covering an area of 24,700 km2 (9,500 sq mi). By
1997, 23 tiger reserves encompassed an area of 33,000 km2 (13,000 sq mi). As
of March 2025, there are 58 protected that have been designated as tiger
reserves.
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