Project Tiger has 53 tiger reserves spread across every ecosystem in India: from Namdapha in the north-eastern Himalayas to Pakke and Nameri in the foothills; Danpa in the Mizo hills to Valmiki in Terai (Bihar). Now draw an imaginary line from Corbett in the north, through Kanha and Bandhavgarh and via Pench and Tadoba in central India to Nagarhole, Mudumalai and Bandipur in the south. There is no source tiger population to the east of this line.

Another significant observation: Reserves which are teeming with tourists have more tigers. Though some of the eastern sanctuaries like Simplipal and Palamau existed before Project Tiger, no tourists visited them. Whatever wildlife survived in the 70s in these forests failed to bring in tiger numbers despite the tireless efforts of project authorities.

See the full article by Praveen Singh Pardesh published on 10th April 2023 in TOI here