An entire village has been relocated in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan to protect tigers, officials say.

印度政府日前表示，为了保护数目急剧减少的老虎，已将位于该国北部拉贾斯坦邦的一座村庄整体迁移。

More than 350 people from 82 families in Umri village, in the Sariska tiger reserve, moved to a new location.

The number of tigers in Sariska had dwindled¹（减少） to zero before growing to five over the last three years.

Tiger numbers have shrunk alarmingly in India in recent decades. A 2011 census² counted about 1,700 tigers in the wild. A century ago there were estimated to be 100,000 tigers in India.

Umri is the second village in Sariska to be relocated to help secure a proper habitat for tigers to increase their numbers. The villagers moved last week.

There are 11 villages with a population of nearly 2,500 people located in the heart of the tiger reserve which need to be relocated to improve the habitat, Rajasthan's chief conservator of forests, PS Somasekhar, told the BBC.

People living in these villages mostly belong to pastoral（牧人的） tribes.

Mr Somasekhar said efforts were being made to relocate four more villages over the next few years.

"It is a long-drawn process because the villagers have to agree to move out. We can't force them to leave. We can only persuade," he said.

The villagers are compensated³ with land, cash and livestock⁴ worth up to 1 million rupees ($20,000) and relocated to the nearest cultivable plots outside the reserve, Rajasthan's chief wildlife warden⁵ AC Chaubey told the BBC.

The number of tigers in the 886-sq-km Sariska reserve dropped to zero from a high of 16 in 2002.

"To maintain a reserve of this size, we need a minimum of 20 female tigers to help with the breeding and a viable⁶ population of 80 to 100 tigers," Mr Somasekhar said.

India's most recent tiger census, held last year, indicated that numbers had increased to 1,706 from 1,411 at the last count in 2007.