- The government is launching a new project to monitor tigers outside formal tiger reserves across 10 states in its first phase. - The initiative aims to address human-tiger conflict, habitat fragmentation, and secure wildlife corridors beyond protected areas. - It relies on standardized monitoring protocols to track big cat dispersal, population dynamics, and straying incidents in production or multiple-use forests. - **Wild Life Protection Act 1972:** India's umbrella legislation providing legal frameworks for the protection of wild animals, birds, and plants, and establishing protected area categories like national parks, sanctuaries, and tiger reserves. - **National Tiger Conservation Authority:** A statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change established under the Wildlife Protection Act to oversee tiger conservation and manage tiger reserves across India. - **Wildlife Institute of India:** An autonomous institution under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change that conducts research in biodiversity, wildlife management, and nationwide tiger population estimations. **Introduction** The Indian government is initiating a specialized project to monitor tiger populations residing outside traditional tiger reserves across ten states. Designed to mitigate human-wildlife conflict and manage wildlife corridors, the monitoring framework will assess big cat dispersal and habitat health in multiple-use and production forests. **Core Issue and Detailed Points** - The government is launching a new project to monitor tigers outside formal tiger reserves across 10 states in its first phase. - The initiative aims to address human-tiger conflict, habitat fragmentation, and secure wildlife corridors beyond protected areas. - It relies on standardized monitoring protocols to track big cat dispersal, population dynamics, and straying incidents in production or multiple-use forests. **Key Statutory Bodies, Acts & Concepts** - **Wild Life Protection Act 1972:** India's umbrella legislation providing legal frameworks for the protection of wild animals, birds, and plants, and establishing protected area categories like national parks, sanctuaries, and tiger reserves. - **National Tiger Conservation Authority:** A statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change established under the Wildlife Protection Act to oversee tiger conservation and manage tiger reserves across India. - **Wildlife Institute of India:** An autonomous institution under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change that conducts research in biodiversity, wildlife management, and nationwide tiger population estimations.