667 tigers dead since 2021, majority outside protected reserves: NTCA
New Delhi: More than half of the tiger deaths in India between 2021 and 2025 so far have occurred outside protected reserves, with Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh recording the highest numbers, according to government data.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) data shows that 667 tigers died during this period, and 341 deaths, 51 percent, occurred outside tiger reserves.
Year-wise breakdown
The number of total tiger deaths reported were:
- 2021: 129 deaths (64 outside reserves)
- 2022: 122 deaths (52 outside reserves)
- 2023: 182 deaths (100 outside reserves)
- 2024: 126 deaths (65 outside reserves)
- 2025 (so far): 108 deaths (60 outside reserves)
Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh lead in non-reserve deaths
Maharashtra reported the highest number of 111 tiger deaths outside reserves, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 90.
In 2021, Maharashtra recorded 23 such deaths, Madhya Pradesh 18, Kerala five, and Telangana four.
In 2022, Maharashtra reported 18 deaths, Madhya Pradesh 12, and Kerala and Uttarakhand four each.
In 2023, 34 tigers died outside reserves in Maharashtra, 13 in Madhya Pradesh, 11 each in Kerala and Uttarakhand, and six in Karnataka.
In 2024, Madhya Pradesh reported 24 such deaths, while Maharashtra had 16.
In 2025, so far, 20 tigers have died outside reserves in Maharashtra, 13 in Madhya Pradesh, eight in Kerala and seven in Karnataka.
Long-term trends and response plan
Between 2012 and 2024, India saw a total of 1,519 tiger deaths, with 634 deaths (42 percent ) occurring outside reserves.
Currently, about 30 percent of India’s estimated 3,682 tigers live outside designated tiger reserves.
To tackle the growing human-tiger conflict in these areas, the government plans to soon roll out the Tigers Outside Tiger Reserves (TOTR) project. This initiative will cover 80 forest divisions across 17 states.
State-wise tiger population (2022 estimation)
According to the latest population estimation conducted in 2022:
- Madhya Pradesh: 785 tigers
- Karnataka: 563
- Uttarakhand: 560
- Maharashtra: 444
- Tamil Nadu: 306
- Assam: 229
- Kerala: 213
- Uttar Pradesh: 205