6 successful conservation stories from India, and why they are such great news

India offers several examples of recovery that stand out for their scale, scientific backing and long-term commitment. Home to nearly 8 percent of the world’s recorded species despite occupying just 2.4 percent of the global land area, India faces the complex challenge of conserving wildlife within densely populated, shared landscapes. Yet, over the last few decades or so, concerted efforts in conservation, increased legal protection through the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, and scientific observations along with public involvement have led to positive results. From the tiger to the marine turtles, here are the stories.

Launched in 1973, the Project Tiger program has been India's most important initiative in the field of wildlife conservation and has been implemented in the wake of large-scale decline in the numbers of tigers due to poaching and habitat loss. In 2006, India’s tiger population was officially estimated at 1,411. According to the All India Tiger Estimation 2022 (released in 2023), that number rose to 3,167 tigers. India now supports over 70 percent of the world’s wild tiger population. The increase has been attributed to habitat protection, creation and expansion of tiger reserves (now over 50 across the country), anti-poaching patrols, relocation of villages from core habitats, and extensive use of camera-trap technology for scientific monitoring.

The Asiatic lion once ranged across West Asia and India, but by the early 1900s, fewer than 50 individuals survived, confined to Gujarat’s Gir forest. According to the 2020 Gujarat Forest Department estimate, the population increased to 674 lions. Importantly, lions have expanded beyond Gir into surrounding districts in the Saurashtra region. Conservation measures include strict protection, habitat management and community-based coexistence strategies. The Asiatic lion survives in the wild only in India. Its recovery represents one of the rare global cases of a large carnivore rebounding in a landscape shared with agriculture and human settlements.

At the turn of the 20th century, fewer than 200 greater one-horned rhinoceroses remained in India due to hunting and habitat destruction. The Assam rhino census report of 2022 states that as many as 2,600 rhinos inhabit Kaziranga National Park, with India’s total population exceeding 3,000. Strict measures against poachers, conservation, and relocating these rhinos under programmes like Indian Rhino Vision 2020 have also led to their revival. Kaziranga is now considered a global conservation model.

India’s eastern coastline, particularly Odisha, hosts one of the world’s largest mass nesting events, known as arribada, of the Olive Ridley sea turtle. In the 1970s and 1980s, extensive poaching and fishing-related mortality caused serious declines. Over the years, measures such as seasonal fishing bans, coastal patrolling, protection under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, and community awareness programmes have helped stabilise and improve nesting numbers. In recent years, hundreds of thousands of turtles have nested annually at beaches like Rushikulya and Gahirmatha.

In the 1990s, India witnessed one of the fastest bird population declines recorded globally. Species such as the White-rumped Vulture declined by over 95 percent, largely due to the veterinary drug diclofenac, which proved fatal when vultures fed on treated livestock carcasses. In 2006, India banned veterinary diclofenac. Captive breeding centres were established in Haryana, West Bengal and Assam. Subsequent monitoring has shown that the drastic decline has slowed, and some populations have shown early signs of stabilisation. Vultures play a crucial role as scavengers in controlling disease transmission by quickly disposing of dead animals. Stabilization of vultures is therefore a success on two levels.

The cheetah was declared extinct in India in 1952. In September 2022, India initiated the "Project Cheetah" scheme by releasing African cheetahs imported from Namibia back into their natural habitats in Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh. Additional cheetahs were brought from South Africa in 2023. The initiative marks the world’s first intercontinental translocation of a large carnivore for conservation purposes. Since reintroduction, several cheetahs have adapted to the habitat, and cubs have been born in Kuno. The project, while still ongoing, has various challenges, ecological as well as management-related. It was, however, a long-term attempt to reintroduce a lost species to the country. It may, in the future, revitalize India’s grassland ecosystems, creating a new standard for species reintroduction.