The tiger population in several parts of India has hit an optimum limit, necessitating a shift from the government’s “number-centric” policy for better management of the big cats, according to a leading tiger expert.

Highlighting the country’s growing tiger population, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had in December 2024 expressed optimism that the trend would continue in the future. Since then, Union environment, forest and climate minister Bhupender Yadav has often linked the burgeoning tiger count to a successful conservation policy.

During the Global Tiger Day 2025 celebrations, Yadav had announced that India’s tiger population stood at 3,682.

However, Qamar Qureshi, a former scientist of the Wildlife Institute of India, pointed out the need for a relook at the number-centric policy.

“Now with the number going beyond the optimum limit, tigers are spreading to wider areas with poor protection, making poaching easier and conservation difficult,” Qureshi told The Telegraph on the sidelines of Anil Agarwal Dialogue 2026, organised by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) between February 24 and 27 at Nimli, Rajasthan.

“The number of tigers in the Sundarbans has almost reached its limit. There are around 100-odd tigers,” Qureshi said. “The recent decision to add new areas to the Sundarbans tiger reserve, though a great step, may not help much, as that area also has tigers. So I think the Sundarbans has reached its ecological carrying capacity."

Although the Centre has cleared the expansion of the Sundarbans tiger reserve, the Bengal government has yet to issue a notification.

Qureshi said the country had the potential to add another 1,500 tigers if the Centre pursued a policy of translocating the big cats from forests saturated with tigers to those with fewer than optimal numbers. He, however, said the model would not work in the Sundarbans.

“The problem of the Sunderbans is much more complex. The tigers in the Sundarbans have adapted to a very special kind of habitat, the mangrove forest, and we do not have any comparable ecosystem in the country where we can relocate them,” Qureshi said, suggesting a joint India-Bangladesh tiger conservation and management policy beyond borders.