A new study reveals that the area of tiger habitats in India has increased by 30% in the last two decades. The research conducted by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), New Delhi, found that tigers are primarily found in highly protected "human-free areas with better prey availability." However, these carnivorous species are also found in some areas inhabited by humans, although these areas are often poverty-stricken and experience minimal land-use changes.
Currently, the tiger habitat area in India spans approximately 138,200 square kilometers, the largest in the world. Researchers analyzed more than 380,000 square kilometers of tiger habitat, which also included national-level tiger monitoring data.