However the scrub forests are still struggling with the stunted and poor growth due to the hacking for firewood and grazing by the neighbouring villages in the Eastern and Northern outskirts of this Tiger Reserve. Grazing pressures have not reduced since the inception of this reserve. Peripheral areas reveal a degree of degradation due to grazing. The area is prone to fires and the threat of Sandalwood smuggling and elephant poaching forces the forest staff to be extremely vigilant. 

The population of the tiger was said to be 10 in 1972, 54 in 1983 and the 1989 estimates reveal a figure of 50 tigers. The tiger shares this land with leopards, wild dogs, gaur and elephants. 

Tobacco cultivation on the northern boundary of the reserve causes a menace for wildlife management since green firewood is illicitly removed from the fringes of the reserve at night. Shifting cultivation practised by tribals in the area has stopped, and grazing rights to the area have ceased. Since water is a limiting factor a lot of work has been done to create new water holes all over the area. The gaur population has recouped in the area and the density of gaur is 1.25 per sq.kms. The population of 
elephants was estimated at 1187 in 1976 and 1107 in 1992. There are some tuskers that have revived even with the threat of poaching. It must be mentioned here that in this region one of the most daring gangs of Sandalwood and ivory poachers exist and vital measures in the states of Kerala, Tamilnadu and Karnataka are essential to contain such pressures on our wild habitats. 

The outbreak of Rinderpest in wild animals has been contained through regular vaccination of livestock. The hazard of fires that can originate from the borders of the adjoining states are severe, man made, and the intensity is due to the accumulation of dead grass and leaf letter. The fires provide a way for people to extract, firewood, timber, M.F.P., and are a cover for hunters and poachers. 

Bandipur caters to a huge amount of tourists every year and it is hoped that an interpretation centre will soon be functioning. A network of roads makes accessibility for the tourist easy, but a national highway running through the Park to Ooty is a serious limiting factor for this beautiful reserve. 

The reserve has plans to do much research but so far little research has been done into flora and fauna. Research would be required into the prey base and the changes that are taking place i.e. in 1989 there were 692 wild boar and in 1992 the figure is 18,000. Suddenly the figure has shot up and such jumps must be studied since till 1989 the prey base was insufficient for the total estimates of predators, whereas in 1992 this large number of wild boar have sharply increased the prey base. 

In an area like Bandipur serious research is vital to understand the ongoing dynamics of the Park and its wild inhabitants. It is also important to study predator and livestock/human interactions of conflict which were extraordinarily high in 1991-92 and seem to have fallen in the last six months. All these factors require detailed study. This strategic area bordering three states in India requires our collective strategies to ensure that it breathes safely in the future. 

According to M. Krishnan, former member of the Steering Committee of Project Tiger and who has been associated with Bandipur throughout his life. "It is impossible to provide an account of the varied responses of Indian wild animals to human intrusions of varied kinds into their haunts without writing a treatise". Discussing these intrusion not just by man on foot but tourists also, he goes on to state "Immediate steps must be taken to eliminate all human activities in the area which can be, and to considerably lessen the disturbance of those activities that can not be eliminated by control and regulation." 

"I think the only effective way to dispel the apathy and antipathy our present day public to our great heritage of wildlife is to somehow inform it of the rich, sustaining value in its own life that is missing, a value that can compensate for its many lacks and frustration which is as vital to people suffering from surfeit of which it is now unaware".