India's 2022 survey estimated about 3,682 wild tigers, up from 2,967 in 2018, according to the National Tiger Conservation Authority. India now holds roughly three-quarters of the world's wild tigers, fifty years after starting Project Tiger.
The count used a huge effort. Forest staff walked more than 641,000 kilometers recording signs of tigers and prey, then set about 325,000 camera traps that photograph passing animals. Because each tiger's stripes are unique, researchers identified 3,080 individual tigers from the photos, and models estimated a fuller total of 3,682, within a range of roughly 3,167 to 3,925.
The figure is an estimate with a range, not an exact headcount, since not every tiger is photographed. Changes in survey effort or methods between years can make comparisons tricky, and a rising national total can still hide declines in some reserves. Even with those caveats, the mix of extensive fieldwork and camera-trap identification makes this a strong large-scale count.