India is home to less than 3000 tigers living in and out of 50 tiger reserves. The biological need of the tiger to disperse and find mates or new territories and the conversion of wild lands to suit human needs have compelled the tiger to venture into human habitation with some fatal consequences on both sides.
A sizable number of tigers and people lose their lives to the conflict in the rapidly expanding interface between humans and wildlife. And the biggest casualties are the fringe communities who live close to tiger reserves.
Wildlife Trust of India mitigates this human-animal conflict with two-tiered teams deployed on the ground. A Primary Response Team (PRT) comprising trained local community stakeholders act as the first point of contact on-site and help with crowd control and allaying fears. The Rapid Response Team (RRT) comprising a wildlife veterinarian, a sociologist and a biologist then swings into action to handle the animal and address people. Since 2012, WTI has intervened in 38 human-tiger conflict cases, where we have rescued the tiger, or given it safe passage into its natural habitat.
Our work is critical to ensure animals and people stay safe and learn to co-exist in their own spaces. You can help people and wildlife co-exist by supporting our teams working 24×7 for wildlife conservation that saves India’s natural heritage.