The numbers fell because we treated tigers like museum pieces, fencing them into 'protected' forests while their corridors were severed by roads and farms. Project Tiger brought focus and funds, but its early success bred complacency—we celebrated rising numbers in core areas, ignoring the genetic isolation brewing. My life's work tracking urban leopard conflicts shows the real fix isn't just counting tigers inside reserves, but securing the messy edges where forests meet farms—the true *jugaad* of coexistence.
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