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PLAIN
DECCAN
PLATEAU
INDIA
NEPAL
BHUTAN
SRI
LANKA
PAKISTAN
AFGHANISTAN
MYANMAR
BANGLADESH
CHINA
Royal
Manas
N.P.
Sundarbans
Reserved Forest
Chitwan
National Park
Hyderabad
Chennai
Nagpur
Kolkata
Mumbai
Jaipur
Pune
Bengaluru
Delhi
Lucknow
Rajaji
Achanakmar
Bhadra
Nawegaon-
Nagzira
Periyar
Srivilliputhur
Megamalai
Udanti-
Sitanadi
Buxa
Biligiriranganatha
Swamy Temple
Sariska
Pilibhit Kamlang
Sundarban
Nameri
Parambikulam
Indravati
Mudumalai
Bandhavgarh
Pench (2 reserves)
Dampa
Pakke
Kanha
Panna
Sahyadri
Melghat
Orang
Similipal
Valmiki
Kali
Kawal
Palamau
Satkosia
Amrabad
Ranthambhore Manas
Nagarjunasagar
Srisailam
Satpura
Kaziranga
Bandipur
Namdapha
Tadoba
Dudhwa
Kalakad-
Mundanthurai
Corbett
Nagarahole
Bor
Anamalai
Sanjay-Dubri
Mukundara
Sathyamangalam
AFRICA
EUROPE ASIA
Current INDIA
Overlapping range
Tiger range
Leopard range
Historic
Current
Historic
Countrywide
estimates, 2018†
Tigers: 2,967
Leopards: 12,852
In the early 1970s India’s national animal—the
Bengal tiger—faced extinction. The government
responded in 1973 by designating nine tiger
reserves. Today 51 reserves host about 2,000
tigers, two-thirds of the country’s rebounding
tiger population. Thousands of Indian leopards
also live in these protected areas. Both types of
big cats had seen large declines in their ranges
and populations in the past few centuries.
WHERE THE BIG CATS MEET
India has 60 percent of the world’s roughly
5,000 wild tigers and the most remaining
leopard territory in one country. The
reserves are havens for both, although
tigers sometimes kill or displace leopards.
Both species’ long-term survival in the
wild is threatened by geographic isolation,
which reduces genetic diversity.
A NETWORK OF RESERVES
Protected areas where big cat populations are increasing have
high densities of prey and robust measures against poaching.
Connections between reserves via stretches of forest are critical,
but they aren’t safeguarded against human encroachment.
Corbett National Park, one
of India’s first tiger reserves,
has 231 tigers according to
its latest census, in 2018.
This is the most of any single
protected area in the world.
Nagarahole Tiger Reserve
and its adjacent reserves
have a combined count of
724 individuals—globally
the largest known tiger
population in one region.
The 200 tigers that dwell in
the Sundarban Tiger Reserve
have adapted to living in the
mangrove forest and are known
to cross into the adjacent
protected area in Bangladesh.
Poachers killed all tigers in the
Sariska Tiger Reserve in 2004
and the Panna Tiger Reserve
in 2009. The reserves now have
36 tigers between them after
successful reintroductions.
Protecting Big Cats
SRIVILLIPUTHUR MEGAMALAI TIGER RESERVE, DESIGNATED IN 2021,
HAS NOT YET BEEN EVALUATED FOR TIGER CAPACITY.
Panthera tigris
Tiger
Panthera pardus
Leopard
No tigers observed (4)
Below capacity (29)
At or near capacity (18 reserves)
Tiger population in reserve
Forest
Human population
200 km
200 mi
†INCLUDES BIG CATS
OUTSIDE TIGER RESERVES