There has recently been an upsurge of speculation about the future of the Indian tiger. The number of tigers in Indian reserves increased by 39 between 1989 and 1993. But this includes tigers in five reserves where either earlier data was not available, or which have been declared a reserve between 1989 and 1993. The total population in these reserves is 146. If these reserves are excluded, the figure for 1993 is 1220, which is 107 less than 1989, indicating that the tiger population has reduced even in the reserves.