Project Tiger, a flagship programme for conservation of the tiger launched in 1973 in India has expanded over the years in terms of its geographical coverage and volume of expenditure. However, the tiger is still an endangered species in India and conservation efforts face multiple challenges like widespread loss of tiger habitat, decline in the density of prey animals, illegal poaching, humananimal conflicts and revenge killing. This study explores the trends and patterns of government expenditure over the years by reviewing the annual plan of operation of different tiger reserves and examines whether the volume or the pattern of expenditure has any relationship with performance, measured by the change in the number of tigers and occupancy in 28 tiger reserves. Analysis of the financial outlay data in the Annual Plan of Operation of the tiger reserves suggest that habitat improvement, which includes relocation, gets the highest share whereas humananimal conflict and eco-development gets the least, though more than 0.5 million households are located in and around the tiger reserves 0.3 million. Allocations are neither proportional to the size of the reserve nor to the tiger population. The relationships between expenditure categories and tiger populations are explored through a negative binomial regression model. Among the expenditure categories, expenditure on habitat improvement, excluding relocation, is found to be negatively related to tiger population whereas all other expenditures like infrastructure, protection, and human-animal conflict are positively related.

老虎计划是 1973 年在印度启动的老虎保护旗舰计划，多年来，其地理覆盖范围和支出规模不断扩大。然而，老虎在印度仍然是濒临灭绝的物种，保护工作面临着多重挑战，如老虎栖息地的广泛丧失、猎物密度下降、非法偷猎、人类动物冲突和报复性杀戮。本研究通过回顾不同老虎保护区的年度运营计划，探讨政府多年来的支出趋势和模式，并检验支出的数量或模式是否与绩效有任何关系，衡量标准是老虎数量的变化和入驻 28 个老虎保护区。对老虎保护区年度运营计划中财务支出数据的分析表明，包括搬迁在内的栖息地改善所占份额最大，而人类动物冲突和生态发展所占份额最少，尽管超过 50 万户家庭位于和围绕虎储量30万。分配既不与保护区的规模成正比，也不与老虎数量成正比。通过负二项式回归模型探索支出类别与老虎种群之间的关系。在支出类别中，栖息地改善支出（不包括搬迁）与老虎数量呈负相关，而基础设施、保护和人与动物冲突等所有其他支出均呈正相关。包括搬迁在内的比例最高，而人类动物冲突和生态发展的比例最低，尽管超过 50 万户家庭位于 30 万老虎保护区及其周围。分配既不与保护区的规模成正比，也不与老虎数量成正比。通过负二项式回归模型探索支出类别与老虎种群之间的关系。在支出类别中，栖息地改善支出（不包括搬迁）与老虎数量呈负相关，而基础设施、保护和人与动物冲突等所有其他支出均呈正相关。包括搬迁在内的比例最高，而人类动物冲突和生态发展的比例最低，尽管超过 50 万户家庭位于 30 万老虎保护区及其周围。分配既不与保护区的规模成正比，也不与老虎数量成正比。通过负二项式回归模型探索支出类别与老虎种群之间的关系。在支出类别中，栖息地改善支出（不包括搬迁）与老虎数量呈负相关，而基础设施、保护和人与动物冲突等所有其他支出均呈正相关。500万户家庭位于30万老虎保护区及其周围。分配既不与保护区的规模成正比，也不与老虎数量成正比。通过负二项式回归模型探索支出类别与老虎种群之间的关系。在支出类别中，栖息地改善支出（不包括搬迁）与老虎数量呈负相关，而基础设施、保护和人与动物冲突等所有其他支出均呈正相关。500万户家庭位于30万老虎保护区及其周围。分配既不与保护区的规模成正比，也不与老虎数量成正比。通过负二项式回归模型探索支出类别与老虎种群之间的关系。在支出类别中，栖息地改善支出（不包括搬迁）与老虎数量呈负相关，而基础设施、保护和人与动物冲突等所有其他支出均呈正相关。