INTRODUCTION

Carnivores are in decline across the world for a variety of reasons, among which conflict with humans is the most predominant (Woodroffe 2000). This conflict takes varied forms and involves several carnivore species (see Treves and Karanth (2003) for a recent review). Mitigation of such conflicts should be the most important part of any conservation agenda that strives for continued coexistence of carnivores and humans. Among carnivore taxa, felids in the genus Panthera appear to be particularly conflict-prone (Rabinowitz 1986; McDougal 1987; Mishra et al. 2003; Ogada et al. 2003). How conservationists can promote the coexistence of Panthera cats and humans in densely populated countries such as India, or can generate potentially useful models for other regions of the world where human population densities and habitat fragmentation levels are relatively lower, but rising rapidly, are urgent problems.

The tiger (Panthera tigris) is a felid species of global concern because of its cultural and ecological significance (Jackson 1990; Karanth 2001; Thapar 2002). Over the last three decades, the Indian government has used the tiger as an effective flagship species to protect a wide range of biodiversity. Special tiger reserves have been established in different biomes across India covering mangrove swamps, alluvial grasslands and forests of the deciduous, semi-deciduous and evergreen types. However, India's wild tiger populations are still under serious threat from human impacts such as prey depletion, poaching, habitat loss and fragmentation (Karanth and Stith 1999; Seidensticker et al. 1999; Karanth 2003).