Upto now poaching has been the main problem that the tigers have faced. The clearance of forests to accomodate an ever increasing population of humans is also depriving the habitat for the big cats.
Now the Indian authorities are planning to build a $9m (£4.9m) tidal power station inside the world's largest tiger sanctuary, the Sundarbans, despite warnings that it could "wipe out" the tigers' habitat.
Even as the federal government has appointed a special task force to save India's remaining tigers, the government of West Bengal state is pressing ahead with the proposed tidal power plant.
The Sundarbans is a large area of low-lying mangrove swamps criss-crossed by water channels that lies on either side of the India-Bangladesh border, south-east of Calcutta.
The West Bengal government wants to harness its natural tides to make up India's dire power shortages. The plant will allow the tide to rise in one of the Sundarbans creeks, but then trap the water inside and allow it to be released only through a turbine, generating electricity.
The livelihood of the people who need this source of electricity is more important than saving the tigers.
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