The Success of Tigers in Corbett Is Creating New Challenges for Villages Around the Reserve

This article was originally published in 101Reporters under Creative Common license. Read the original article.

By Chandan Bangari

Rudrapur, Uttarakhand: In Sundarkhal, a forest village situated between Jim Corbett National Park and the Kosi river in Ramnagar, Nainital district of Uttarakhand, Chandan Ram Arya (76) does not like talking about tigers.

He says that in the last 10 to 15 years, tigers that would once run away on seeing people have now started entering villages and killing animals.In forest village Patarani, Dev Singh Mahodi (81) remembers that 10 to 15 years ago, he would cycle through the forest to go to the market. He says that if people saw a tiger, the animal would move away.Mahodi says, “That does not happen now. Even when it sees us, it does not leave. Earlier, tigers were afraid of us. Now we are afraid of tigers.”Arya attributes this change partly to the rapid increase in the tiger population and partly to tourism. He says that because of increased human activity around forests, tigers are getting used to living close to people.Arya says, “We are facing a lot of problems because of tigers.”

Under pressure

Arya’s concern is also shared by villagers living around Corbett, including Corbett Tiger Reserve, Terai West Forest Division and Ramnagar Forest Division, where the tiger population has increased rapidly over the past ten years.

See also: The Economist Praising "Poor" India's Wildlife Conservation Sparks Backlash: Assam CM, Senior Journalists Label Newspaper as "Racist" and "Colonial"

According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority’s All India Tiger Estimation, there were 215 tigers in Corbett Tiger Reserve in 2014, and this had increased to 260 in 2022. The latest estimation is still under way. The forest department says there are now more than 320 tigers across the entire Corbett landscape.

This growth is a success for conservation. But human pressure on the forests around Corbett is also increasing. Corbett Tiger Reserve is spread across 1,288.32 sq km, including the 521 sq km of Jim Corbett National Park. The larger landscape includes 1,063.42 sq km under the Terai West Forest Division and 487.37 sq km under the Ramnagar Forest Division.

Tourism is a major reason for this pressure. Corbett has eight tourism zones, while Terai West has two and Ramnagar has three. Chandni, a proposed tourism zone in Terai West, was not opened after opposition from villagers. In 2025-26, 400,946 tourists visited Corbett, generating revenue of Rs 27.75 crore.

But for villagers, the issue is not merely the number of tourists visiting the park. As tourism has increased, their access to and use of the forest has decreased.

In Kyari village, Naveen Upadhyay says that restrictions on collecting firewood and fodder have weakened the relationship between villagers and the forest. At the same time, tiger conservation has increased the tiger population, while tourism has increased human presence in the forest.

“Tiger conservation has certainly increased the tiger population. Apart from old and weak tigers, some young tigers are also coming out of the forest towards human habitation. Their behaviour has changed because of uncontrolled tourism. New tourism zones are entering the forests,” he says.

Although the use of the forest by villagers has reduced, safari vehicles now travel 25 to 35 km into the forest, while earlier villagers would walk two to five km to collect fodder.

Upadhyay says, “The natural distance between tigers and humans has disappeared.”

Easy prey

Chandan Ram, who lives on the edge of Sundarkhal, says that as evening falls, tigers begin moving around the village in search of animals.

He says, “As soon as it gets dark, they start moving around the village looking for easy prey... livestock.”

Three years ago, a tiger entered Sundarkhal and killed eight domestic animals. Recently, another tiger killed a horse by the roadside while people were out walking.

Even basic infrastructure shows the difficulties of living with wild animals. Electricity poles have been installed in Sundarkhal, but electricity lines have not been laid because of concerns about wild animals.

See Also: In UP villages, digital libraries struggle to deliver on their promise

The village itself has also become smaller. Due to river erosion, its area has reduced from 192 hectares to 74 hectares. Basic facilities are still inadequate, and a rehabilitation proposal is pending with the government.

Mahesh Joshi, a resident of Sawalde village, says, “When there is less space in the forest, where will the tigers go? It is fixed, they will come towards human habitation.”

But human lives have also been lost in the conflict with tigers. In the last 16 years, around 45 people have been killed in tiger attacks in the Corbett area, most of them while collecting fodder or firewood inside the forest.

The reported deaths include one in 2009, four in 2010, two in 2011, one in 2013, three in 2014, five in 2016, three in 2019, three in 2022, five in 2023, six in 2024 and four in 2025. Three more people were killed in tiger attacks in January and February 2026.

Those who survive such encounters also face the consequences. On June 16, a tiger attacked Uma Devi in Chopra village of the Ramnagar Forest Division when she went to a spring to fetch water, around 50 metres from her home. She survived after people raised an alarm but was injured.

On July 26, a tiger attacked Basanti Devi while she was cutting grass in Kunakhet, adjoining the Ramnagar Forest Division. She too was injured.

The landscape around the tiger

Wildlife expert Deep Rajwar says these incidents cannot be separated from what has happened in the landscape around Corbett.

He says that the tiger population is increasing, while the capacity of the forest remains limited. Tigers occupy territories, and when young animals are around three years old, they begin looking for territory of their own. Some are driven away by stronger animals and leave in search of space.

Abandoned domestic animals can then become easy prey. But Rajwar says that pressure on tigers does not come only from prey.

Dr Harendra Bargali, deputy director of the Corbett Foundation, says there has been an increase in hotels, tourism zones and traffic in areas adjoining the forests.

According to reports, more than 600 resorts have been built in villages adjoining the Corbett landscape, including Marchula, Kumeria and Mohan in Almora district, and Dhela, Sawalde, Semalkhalia, Himmatpur Dotiyaal, Chhoi, Bhalon, Patkot, Bailparao and Kyari in Ramnagar.

Many of these resorts can be reached by Public Works Department roads that pass through forests. The same land has become popular for weddings, where large functions, DJs and other sources of noise are present.

The roads that earlier saw very little traffic at night now have vehicles moving on them day and night. Tourist movement continues even after dark, while some people actively search for tigers.

Rajwar says, “There are also YouTubers and social media influencers who walk on roads adjoining the forest at night with mobile phones and search for tigers.”

The administration has declared areas around Corbett as silent zones, but the bureau says that the rules are not being strictly followed.

Rajwar says: “In the last 10 years, responsible tourism has disappeared and tourism has become uncontrolled…when there is pressure from every direction, why would the tiger’s behaviour not change? Along with conservation, the concept of controlled tourism has also disappeared. Who can completely understand the mind of a tiger?”

However, Corbett director Dr Saket Badola does not agree that the behaviour of tigers has completely changed.

He says that both the tiger population and human interference have increased, but tigers have come to higher elevations in the past as well. He says the difference is that earlier there was no monitoring system to record such behaviour on the scale on which it is recorded now.

He says, “Tigers are exploring. Earlier there were good spaces around villages, but now there are very few spaces.”

See Also: Harela Festival Turns 'Black Harela' as Felling of Thousands of Trees for ₹743 Crore Bhaniyawala–Jolly Grant–Rishikesh Highway Sparks Protests in Uttarakhand

Whose opinion is this?

As the landscape around Corbett changes, another question is becoming increasingly important for the people living around it: how much of a role do they have in managing this change?

Some villages adjoining Corbett National Park have Eco-Development Committees. Their purpose is to reduce human-animal conflict, inform the forest department about increasing animal activity and attacks, and connect local youth with tourism.

But the way they function differs greatly from village to village.

Kyari village head Naveen Sati says that there is no such committee in his village. He says that interaction with the forest department is mostly limited to meetings held during the forest-fire season and Wildlife Week.

He says, “We fought against the Chandni tourism zone from the road to the court and finally won. The forest department’s attention is limited only to tourism zones. There is very little interaction with villagers.”

Bhalon village head Dharmendra Kumar also says that there is no such committee in his village. He says the forest department meets village heads on the last Saturday of every month, but many problems cannot be resolved because of a lack of funds.

In Dhela, village head Khashti Devi says there is an Eco-Development Committee and that it informs the Corbett administration about local problems. But she says only some of these problems are resolved.

One such problem is waste. Devi says that food is thrown in the open in areas adjoining the forest. Chital, sambar and wild boar are attracted to it, followed by tigers.

Employees have also complained about noise and lighting associated with resorts. They say that written complaints have been given to the forest department, police, administration and Corbett Park, but the problems continue.

There is little information about other ways of involving local communities in biodiversity management. Gram panchayat representatives interviewed for the story said they were not aware of Biodiversity Management Committees and People’s Biodiversity Registers.

Sanjay Negi, a resident of Himmatpur Dotiyaal and a former block chief, says that Eco-Development Committees exist, but interaction between the forest department and villagers is not proper. Despite having been block chief, he says that terms such as BMC and PBR were new to him.

Senior block chief Negi says that gram sabhas have expressed concern about uncontrolled tourism and increasing human-wildlife conflict. He has also suggested that the Corbett director and the divisional forest officers of Ramnagar and Terai West meet with resort operators to ensure compliance with the rules, but he says no action has been taken on this.

Villagers have also demanded physical measures. Dharmendra says they have repeatedly asked for strong fencing around Bhalon so that wild animals remain outside, but the forest department said it does not have the budget. In Dhela, the Eco-Development Committee is engaged in cleaning the Gwalior, installing solar lights and building roads. Safety walls and fences have been installed in some places, but elephants have broken them.

Villagers say that after a serious incident, action by the forest department increases, and once the danger passes, it decreases.

Negi says, “When a villager dies in a tiger attack, the forest department asks villagers for cooperation. When the situation becomes calm, the department also goes away.”

Sati said clearly, “They want to take suggestions from villagers, but they do not want to act on them.”

This story was produced under the Biodiversity Reporting Fellowship, supported by Earth Journalism Network.

_[Wc/HP]

Suggested Reading: