\u200bOut of the fortress: On protecting India\u2018s tigers<\/a><\/b><\/strong><\/p>\nThis challenges the long-held assumption that core zones are uniformly low-stress refuges. The effect was most pronounced in Tadoba and Bandhavgarh tiger reserves, said chief scientist G. Umapathy. While previous studies by him had already established that tourism and other human activities can stress tigers, this study goes a step further by examining how such pressures influence reproduction.<\/p>\n
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CSIR-CCMB scientists as part of their study in forest areas.
\n | Photo Credit:
\n ARRANGEMENT\n <\/p>\n
The research team analysed 610 genetically confirmed tiger scat samples\u2014291 from females and 185 from males\u2014collected between 2020 and 2023. They measured two key hormonal indicators: faecal glucocorticoid metabolites (a biomarker of stress) and faecal progesterone metabolites (an indicator of reproductive activity in females).<\/p>\n
Across all reserves studied\u2014Corbett (Uttarakhand), Tadoba\u2013Andhari (Maharashtra), Kanha and Bandhavgarh (Madhya Pradesh), and Periyar (Kerala)\u2014tigers found near tourism roads or in areas with higher human disturbance consistently showed elevated stress levels.<\/p>\n
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\u201cTigresses prefer to breed in quiet parts of the forest. However, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find such suitable areas,\u201d said Dr. Umapathy. \u201cIn Tadoba and Corbett, buffer zones already hold high tiger populations. It is concerning if core areas also become stressful for breeding females. Not only is reproductive success lower under stress, but cubs may also develop differently in such conditions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the researchers emphasise that they are not arguing against wildlife tourism. \u201cTourism plays a vital role in conservation funding and supports rural livelihoods,\u201d Dr. Umapathy noted. \u201cHowever, there is a clear scientific case for regulating it\u2014whether it is vehicle numbers, safari timings, road density, or the protection of breeding areas\u2014based on what the animals are telling us through their physiology.\u201d<\/p>\n
The study outlines several key management recommendations such as stricter limits on tourist vehicle numbers and prevention of crowding at sightings, reducing safari duration by about an hour in both morning and evening sessions, stronger management of buffer zones, especially in Tadoba and Bandhavgarh, creation of water sources along non-tourism routes to reduce dependence on roadside waterholes, and continuous, non-invasive monitoring of tigresses to identify and safeguard breeding hotspots.<\/p>\n
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CSIR-CCMB scientists pursue tigers to check their stress levels in a tiger reserve.
\n | Photo Credit:
\n ARRANGEMENT\n <\/p>\n
\u201cThis study is a fine example of how molecular biology and physiology can directly support one of India\u2019s most important conservation priorities,\u201d said CSIR-CCMB Director Dr. Vinay Nandicoori. \u201cWe take pride in housing the Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species (LaCONES), which has become a national resource for non-invasive wildlife monitoring. We hope these findings will help the National Tiger Conservation Authority and State forest departments further refine the management of India\u2019s tiger reserves,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Other researchers involved in the study include Aamer Shoel, Vinod Kumar, Gudimella Anusha and Andre Ganswindt. The research, published in the Zoological Society of London\u2019s journal Animal Conservation, is the first to combine non-invasive stress and reproductive hormone analyses across five major tiger reserves in India.<\/p>\n
(Funding and permissions: Supported by the Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology (CRG\/2019\/000348). Sample collection permissions were granted by the NTCA, MoEFCC, and the forest departments of Uttarakhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala.)<\/p>\n
Published – May 08, 2026 07:54 pm IST<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tourists take pictures of a tiger during a safari ride in a tiger reserve. | Photo Credit: ARRANGEMENT…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":949309,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4317],"tags":[105,218,264826,264825,264827,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-949308","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-mental-health","10":"tag-study-on-tigers","11":"tag-tiger-habitats","12":"tag-tiger-stress-and-tourism","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116547256898561226","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=949308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/949308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/949309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=949308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=949308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=949308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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