How Many Tigers Left in India in 2021?

India has about 3,682 wild tigers, according to its most recent national tiger census, carried out in 2022 and published by the National Tiger Conservation Authority. The true number lies somewhere between 3,167 and 3,925. That is more than double the 1,411 tigers counted in 2006, and, by the Indian government's estimate, it makes India home to about three quarters of all the wild tigers left on Earth.

The latest count: 3,682 tigers

India surveys its tigers every four years. The 2022 round produced a central estimate of 3,682 animals, within a statistical range of 3,167 to 3,925. You may have seen the figure 3,167 quoted on its own: that was the minimum count announced first, in April 2023, before the full estimate was released a few months later.

If you searched for the number of tigers in India in 2021, the answer is that there was no count that year. The figure in use at the time came from the 2018 census, which estimated 2,967 tigers. The 2022 census then showed the population still climbing, at about 6 percent a year. Until the next estimate is published, 3,682 remains the reference number.

The tigers are not spread evenly. According to the 2022 census, Madhya Pradesh has the most, with 785, followed by Karnataka with 563, Uttarakhand with 560 and Maharashtra with 444. Together these four states hold well over half of the country's tigers, mostly inside and around protected tiger reserves.

Most of these tigers are Bengal tigers, the subspecies found across much of the country. If you want to know where they live, from the mangroves of the Sundarbans to the dry forests of central India, our guide India, the land of the tiger tours the country's tiger landscapes.

How the numbers have changed since 2006

Each national count since 2006 has been higher than the one before:

The jump from 1,411 in 2006 to 2,226 in 2014 was an increase of nearly 60 percent, and between 2010 and 2014 alone the population rose by about 30 percent. Over the whole period, the number of Bengal tigers in India has more than doubled.

An older count from 2001 and 2002 reported 3,642 tigers, close to today's figure. It is tempting to read that as a crash followed by a full recovery, but the comparison does not hold: that survey was based on pugmarks, the footprints tigers leave in soft ground, a method widely regarded as unreliable and prone to overcounting. Today's surveys rely on camera traps that photograph each tiger's stripe pattern, which is unique to the animal, and on statistical models built on those photographs. The 2006 figure was the first produced with this more careful approach, which is why it serves as the starting point.

From about 40,000 tigers to under 4,000

The recent growth is good news, but it should be read against a much longer decline. About a century ago, India is thought to have had around 40,000 tigers. Hunting, habitat loss and poaching for their skins and body parts brought that number down by more than 90 percent. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the tiger as endangered and notes that its populations have fallen across Asia for the same reasons. It also points out that the sheer size of India's population makes it central to the long-term survival of the species.

For a view of how India compares with the other tiger countries, from Russia to Indonesia, see where the largest tiger population lives.

The threats tigers still face

A growing population does not mean the danger is over. Deforestation and habitat loss, driven by farming, industry and new roads, remain the main concern. Poaching continues too, both for the illegal trade in skins and bones and in retaliation when tigers kill livestock. Reliable data on poaching is hard to gather, because illegal killings tend to happen outside protected areas and at night.

As forests shrink, tigers also wander into villages and farmland more often, and conflict between people and tigers rises. Conservationists have long said that winning the support of local communities and politicians matters as much as protecting the forests themselves. Many experts believe that if habitat protection stays on course, tiger numbers can keep recovering.

What neighboring Nepal shows

India is not the only country in South Asia where tigers are doing better. In Nepal, the 2022 national survey counted 355 wild tigers across five national parks: Chitwan, Bardia, Parsa, Shuklaphanta and Banke. Bardia, one of the region's tiger strongholds, has been a national park since 1988. Many of these tigers move across forest corridors that link Nepal's parks with reserves on the Indian side of the border, so protecting them is shared work between the two countries.

Why the count matters

A national census turns a hard-to-see animal into a number that guides decisions: where to protect forest, where corridors are needed, and which reserves are full enough that tigers start spilling into farmland. India's steady rise from 1,411 to 3,682 tigers shows what consistent protection can do, and it is a large part of the reason the tiger's global outlook is better today than it was twenty years ago.

If the Bengal tiger has a place in your home as well as in the forest, our tiger canvas collection includes paintings in Asian and Indian traditions, and the tiger figurine collection holds lifelike orange and white tigers, cubs and families in sculpted form.