Anoop N.R., T. Ganesh

Frontline | June 15, 2023

A 2020 study showed that the Lantana camara, a tropical American shrub, has invaded more than 40 per cent of India’s tiger habitats, threatening them through a causal chain that ultimately depletes the tiger’s prey base. The shrub’s presence was most prominent in the Shivalik hills, central India, and the southern Western Ghats. Notwithstanding its pretty flowers, which make the lantana an ornamental garden shrub, it is among the world’s 10 worst invasive species and one of high concern in India.