Sharp skew in national big cat map: 20% of tiger area has less than 1% of tiger population

Between 2014 and 2018, tigers relinquished nearly 18,000 sq km, or 20%, of its national range which was offset by the new areas they colonised in that period.

One-fifth of India’s tiger area spanning 16 tiger reserves harbours only 25 — or less than one per cent — of India’s 3,682 tigers, show figures in the latest All-India Tiger Estimate (AITE) report released Tuesday by the Environment Ministry.

None of these 16 “bottom reserves,” — the lowest 16 by number of tigers per 100 sq km — has more than five tigers. Seven have one tiger each, and five reported none.

In all, there are 53 tiger reserves covering a combined area of 75,797 sq km.