India's Supreme Court is to decide, based on a recent petition, whether to accept proposals to shift tourists to "fringe" or "buffer zones" outside of core tiger habitats in order to protect the endangered species.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), which has filed the petition, puts the number of remaining tigers in India at 1,706, spread among 40 wildlife reserves.
However, according to Save The Tiger, a large Indian non-profit organization, there are just 1,411 tigers left in India. That's down from around 40,000 at the turn of the last century. [ Read more ]