Tiger populations have stabilized after severe decline but individual tigers in recovering populations face significant welfare challenges from conflict and range compression.
Tigers in compressed ranges that cannot accommodate their natural territory of 100-400 square kilometers experience chronic stress from territorial conflict and reduced access to prey. Individual tigers killed in conflict often suffer from snare injuries, poisoning, or shooting that causes prolonged suffering before death. Cubs orphaned by conflict-related deaths have extremely low survival rates without rehabilitation. The genetic consequences of small isolated populations affect individual welfare through reduced immune function and reproductive failure. Coexistence programs that reduce livestock depredation through guardian animals and compensation schemes protect both tigers and the communities sharing their landscape.