Jhala Yadvendradev V, Mungi Ninad Avinash, Gopal Rajesh, Qureshi Qamar
Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India.
Center for Ecological Dynamics in a Novel Biosphere Section of Ecoinformatics (ECONOVO), Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Science. 2025 Jan 31;387(6733):505-510. doi: 10.1126/science.adk4827. Epub 2025 Jan 30.
Recovery of large yet ecologically important carnivores poses a formidable global challenge. Tiger () recovery in India, the world's most populated region, offers a distinct opportunity to evaluate the socio-ecological drivers of megafauna recovery. Tiger occupancy increased by 30% (at 2929 square kilometers per year) over the past two decades, leading to the largest global population occupying ~138,200 square kilometers. Tigers persistently occupied human-free, prey-rich protected areas (35,255 square kilometers) but also colonized proximal connected habitats that were shared with ~60 million people. Tiger absence and extinction were characterized by armed conflict, poverty, and extensive land-use changes. Sparing land for tigers enabled land sharing, provided that socioeconomic prosperity and political stability prevailed. India's tiger recovery offers cautious optimism for megafauna recovery, particularly in the Global South.
大型且具有重要生态意义的食肉动物的恢复是一项艰巨的全球性挑战。在世界人口最密集的地区印度，老虎（）数量的恢复为评估大型动物恢复的社会生态驱动因素提供了一个独特的机会。在过去二十年里，老虎的栖息地占有率增加了30%（每年增加2929平方公里），使得全球最大的老虎种群占据了约138200平方公里的区域。老虎一直占据着无人居住、猎物丰富的保护区（35255平方公里），但也开拓了与约6000万人共享的邻近相连栖息地。老虎的消失和灭绝与武装冲突、贫困以及广泛的土地利用变化有关。只要社会经济繁荣和政治稳定，为老虎留出土地就能实现土地共享。印度老虎数量的恢复为大型动物的恢复带来了谨慎的乐观情绪，尤其是在全球南方地区。
