Shortage of Prey
Those inhabiting rural settlements are dependent on the land on which they live to survive. This means that they need to hunt for their own meat, and use much of the land for agriculture. As the population of the rural areas increases, the amount of fauna and flora that they consume needs to increase too. Once humans and tigers start to compete for prey, the few tigers that there are do not stand much of a chance to survive against human invasion and weaponry. The illegal hunting of various deer and wild boar has depleted the potential prey population for the tigers in the habitat, further endangering their numbers.
Although tigers are not avid human hunters, they have been known to attack, kill and eat humans on occasion. This is usually the case when an old, weak tiger is within close proximity to a rural settlement. Out of desperation for prey, this tiger may stalk and kill a lone villager that is walking on the outskirts of their village. The result has been that villagers fear tigers and make concerted efforts to kill them before they can pose a threat.
As a spin-off effect of habitat loss, tigers are being forced into situations in which they are breeding with members of their immediate family. This results in inbreeding depression, which refers to the ever-decreasing fitness of a particular population. As the population weakens, it is less able to produce offspring that is able to fight off disease and illness.