Boundaries: Human-Tiger Conflict

From the Archives: World Press Photo contest 2022

A male adult tiger crossing the road in the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, Chandrapur, Maharashtra, India, on 3 May 2013. Single tigers occupy from 15 to 30 square kilometers of territory.

In India, Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) are considered endangered, with up to 3,000 surviving in the wild. Human settlement, cultivation, and urban development are encroaching on tigers' natural habitat and reducing their prey base. Villages on the perimeters of tiger sanctuaries and reserves are often home to Indigenous communities, who depend on livestock, farming, or the forest for their livelihoods. Conflict arises when tigers kill livestock and occasionally humans, which although rare, usually occurs when angry groups surround tigers who have entered settlements.