Yes, Bengal tigers are endangered. The whole tiger species is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List (2022 assessment), with only 3,726 to 5,578 tigers left in the wild. Most of them are Bengal tigers in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. They are not critically endangered, and their numbers are rising in several countries.
Are Bengal tigers endangered or critically endangered?
Endangered, not critically endangered. The IUCN assesses the tiger as one species, and the 2022 assessment lists it as Endangered. Tigers have held that label in every assessment since 1986, according to the Red List record.
The 2022 assessment is careful. Its authors note that the choice between Endangered and the lower category, Vulnerable, was close. They kept Endangered because tigers have lost so much range and because a careful approach protects a species that could slide back fast. Their best estimate is about 3,140 adult tigers able to breed.
What counts as a Bengal tiger? The IUCN uses the name for tigers of the Indian subcontinent. A 2017 review now groups all mainland tigers, from India to Russia, into one subspecies, Panthera tigris tigris. Bengal tigers and Siberian tigers are close relatives within it.
How many Bengal tigers are left?
Each country counts its own tigers, mostly with camera traps. Every tiger has its own stripe pattern, so each photo can be matched to one animal. The table gives the latest official counts we could check.
| Where | Tigers | Year | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | At least 3,167 (minimum estimate); 3,080 different tigers photographed | 2022 | National Tiger Conservation Authority |
| India: Sundarbans | 100 tigers photographed (88 estimated in 2018) | 2022 | National Tiger Conservation Authority |
| Nepal | 429 (up from 355 in 2022 and 121 in 2009) | 2026 | IUCN |
| Bangladesh: Sundarbans | 125 (up from 114 in 2018 and 106 in 2015) | 2023–24 | Bangladesh Forest Department, via Mongabay |
| All tigers, worldwide | 3,726–5,578 | 2022 | IUCN Red List |
India is the stronghold. Its 2022 survey was the biggest ever. Camera traps took about 47 million photos, and 97,399 of them showed tigers, reports India’s National Tiger Conservation Authority. The number of different tigers photographed rose from 2,461 in 2018 to 3,080 in 2022.
Nepal has nearly tripled its tigers since 2009. Its 2026 census found 429, with 145 in Chitwan National Park alone, says the IUCN. In Bangladesh, a survey with 1,210 cameras found 125 tigers in the Sundarbans mangroves, reports Mongabay.
Why are Bengal tigers endangered?
The IUCN Red List names three main threats. The same problems show up in India’s and Bangladesh’s own reports:
- Poaching of tigers. Skins, bones and other parts are traded illegally. More than ten years ago, a tiger skin could sell for about US$1,500 in India and US$16,000 in China, the IUCN notes. In some places, claws and canine teeth are worn as jewellery.
- Loss of prey. Tigers need big animals such as deer and wild pigs. When people hunt those animals, tigers go hungry. In the Sundarbans of Bangladesh, both tigers and chital deer are poached.
- Loss of habitat. Forests are cleared for farms and villages. That leaves tigers in smaller, cut-off patches.
- Conflict with people. Where tigers live close to villages, they may kill livestock, and people may kill tigers in return. India’s tiger report calls for cutting this conflict.
- Rising seas. The Sundarbans is low-lying. Sea level rise could flood parts of it, and yearly erosion already changes the land.
India’s Sundarbans tigers are well suited to the mangroves, but their habitat is limited. Fishing, timber and palm cutting and new waterways all put pressure on the forest, says the National Tiger Conservation Authority. The tiger population there is steady, with little room to grow.
Is the Bengal tiger population going up?
In most places, yes. India, Nepal and Bangladesh all counted more tigers in their latest surveys than in the ones before. India saw big gains in the Shivalik hills and Gangetic plains, and in central India, while the Western Ghats population fell in some areas, says the NTCA.
Some of the rise is real growth, and some is better counting. The IUCN says the jump in its world estimate since 2015 is partly because monitoring has improved. Either way, there are now more tigers on camera than there were ten years ago.
What is being done to save Bengal tigers?
India started Project Tiger in 1973. It has grown from 9 tiger reserves covering 18,278 km² to 53 reserves covering 75,796 km² (29,265 sq mi), about 2.3% of India’s land, says the NTCA. Reserves protect tigers, their prey and the forest together.
Other steps help too. International trade in tiger parts has been banned under CITES since 1975, the IUCN notes. Bangladesh credits net fencing, more anti-poaching patrols and village awareness work for its rise, says Mongabay. Nepal’s success shows what steady protection can do.
Where do Bengal tigers live?
Bengal tigers live in forests, grasslands and mangroves across India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. See where Bengal tigers live for a full guide, what Bengal tigers eat for their diet and how much a Bengal tiger weighs for their size.
Tigers in the far north face some of the same threats. Read why Siberian tigers are endangered, or compare with another endangered animal in why polar bears are endangered.
Frequently asked questions
How many tigers are left in the world?
Between 3,726 and 5,578 wild tigers, according to the IUCN Red List assessment of 2022. The best estimate of adult tigers able to breed is about 3,140. Tigers now live in only ten countries, and India holds the largest share.
Which country has the most tigers?
India. Its 2022 survey photographed 3,080 different tigers and gave a minimum estimate of 3,167, says India's National Tiger Conservation Authority. That is more than half of all the wild tigers counted by the IUCN in 2022.
Is it illegal to hunt Bengal tigers?
Yes. Tigers are protected by law in the countries where they live, and international trade in tigers and their parts has been banned under CITES since 1975. Poaching still happens, which is why patrols and law enforcement are a big part of tiger conservation.
What is the difference between a Bengal tiger and a Siberian tiger?
Bengal tigers live in South Asia, while Siberian (Amur) tigers live in the cold forests of Russia and China. Siberian tigers are usually larger. Since a 2017 review, scientists group both into the same mainland subspecies, Panthera tigris tigris.
Sources
- IUCN Red List (PDF copy hosted by Nature Conservation Foundation) (2022). Panthera tigris: The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022 (Goodrich et al., e.T15955A214862019, doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T15955A214862019.en).
- National Tiger Conservation Authority and Wildlife Institute of India (2023). Status of tigers, co-predators and prey in India 2022: summary report.
- IUCN (2026). Tiger census: Nepal's tiger number increases to 429.
- Mongabay (2024). Tiger population census in Bangladesh shows a hopeful upward trend in the Sundarbans.
Sources checked 15 September 2026.
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