Bengal tiger recovery depends on healthy prey populations of deer and wild pigs. Prey depletion from poaching and habitat loss causes tiger starvation and increased livestock predation conflict.
Tiger welfare in the wild is fundamentally linked to prey availability and freedom from human conflict. Prey-depleted tigers must expand their ranges, increasing travel costs and livestock predation risk. Nutritional stress from insufficient prey reduces reproductive success and cub survival. Tigers that take livestock face a higher risk of retaliatory killing — often by poisoning that causes prolonged suffering before death. Snares set for prey species capture tigers causing severe leg injuries that may prevent hunting. Well-managed protected areas with abundant prey — demonstrated successfully in core zones of Indian Tiger Reserves — show tigers in significantly better body condition with higher reproductive success. Tiger welfare at the population level requires integrated management of both predator and prey across connected landscapes.