International Tiger Day: Clamour for new reserves grows in Karnataka

Time of India

28-07-2025

Bengaluru: Despite Karnataka witnessing a steady rise in its tiger population — from 400 in 2018 to 536 in 2022 — a worrying trend has begun to surface: Around 15% of the state's tigers are now venturing out of core forest areas, considered their traditional safe zones, into wildlife sanctuaries, territorial forests, and even human-dominated landscapes.
The latest annual estimation of tigers reveals a dip in tiger numbers within protected areas, falling from 417 in 2022 to 393 in 2024. This shift is most pronounced in the Nilgiri cluster, spanning from Nagarahole to Biligiri Ranga Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve, where rising tiger densities are pushing the big cats into fringe areas. As tigers seek new territories, the pressure is mounting on landscapes in Kodagu, Mysuru and Chamarajanagar, increasing the risk of human-wildlife conflicts.
In fact, the Status of Tigers 2022 report by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) underscores a declining trend in tiger occupancy along the Western Ghats and calls attention to the need for secure corridors and contiguous habitats. Southern Karnataka, with its promising forest landscapes, offers a prime opportunity to address the imbalance.
Experts and conservationists are now seeking the creation of new tiger reserves to ensure a more even distribution of the tiger population.
Such measures would not only relieve pressure on overburdened reserves but also reduce conflicts and give tigers the space they need to thrive in the wild. Pointing to MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary, conservationists say that if protected, the region could boost the population of tigers in Karnataka with uniform distribution.
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However, Union minister for state V Somanna had vehemently opposed the tiger reserve tag for MM Hills, citing the region as a pilgrimage centre.
Eventually, the proposal was put on hold by the state govt for political reasons, and it was the second such proposal after Kudremukh that the state refused to notify as a tiger reserve. However, this didn't stop 15-25 tigers from making it their home along the adjoining Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary.
However, a recent gruesome poisoning of five tigers at MM Hills undid several years of conservation efforts.
"If this incident had not occurred, the same tigress along with its three female cubs could have littered 40-45 cubs in their lifespan," said Sanjay Gubbi, a wildlife biologist from Holematthi Nature Foundation, who has been extensively working in the region.
Just like the MM Hills tigress, many tigers have been dying outside the protected areas over the past few years.
BK Singh, former field director (Project Tiger) and retired principal chief conservator of forests, said tiger conservation should not be mixed with politics. "Previously, elected govts refused to notify these areas as tiger reserves. But regardless of this, tigers inhabited the region, giving birth to cubs.
If the govt had declared MM Hills as a tiger reserve, there would have been more funds, security, and better management of the area to avert such heinous crimes.
In fact, when the then BJP-led state govt in 2011-12 outright rejected the Kudremukh proposal, a tiger was spotted walking all the way from Bandipur to Shikaripur via Kudremukh and later settled in Bhadra Tiger Reserve. Hence, the govt must overcome its political indifference and notify tiger reserves for better management," he advised.
The last notified tiger reserve in Karnataka is BRT (2011-12).