Co-existing with tigers outside reserves
India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is starting the “Tigers Outside Tiger Reserves” (TOTR) pilot to reduce human–tiger conflict in landscapes beyond protected tiger reserves.
- Human–tiger conflict rises when tigers disperse into human-dominated fringes near forests, leading to fatalities and livestock losses.
- The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change runs the Tigers Outside Tiger Reserves (TOTR) initiative to manage tigers beyond protected tiger reserves using landscape-level planning.
- TOTR shifts tiger conservation focus from only protected areas to the wider mosaic of forests and other lands where tigers range.
- Delayed compensation can reduce public trust and increase resentment, so state forest departments should streamline compensation processes and maintain outreach.
What happened: TOTR targets conflict and safety issues outside protected tiger reserves
India’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change is starting the “Tigers Outside Tiger Reserves” (TOTR) initiative to reduce human–tiger conflict in landscapes where tigers range beyond protected tiger reserves. The initiative is designed for proactive governance rather than only reacting after incidents occur. Forest departments in multiple regions report escalation of conflict-type incidents in tiger-fringe landscapes. Reported incident types include human fatalities, livestock depredation, accidents, and prolonged rescue operations, along with rising public anxiety.
Background and earlier position: Project Tiger’s protected-area focus and rising dispersal
UPSC may examine how TOTR shifts tiger conservation from reserve-centric management to landscape-level governance using rapid response, rescue capacity, community trust, timely compensation, and surveillance tools—while accounting for limits of nationwide attribution evidence.
Related dispatches
