Buffer zones surrounding protected areas act as interfaces between humans and wildlife, providing sustainable resource utilization while minimizing negative interactions. The human population in region is increasing at 15 % in decade. There are instances of human death and injury and cattle lifting by carnivores. Crop damage by wild herbivores is common. These factors create difficulties for the tiger reserve managers. Camera trap sampling was carried out in the buffer zone at a density of one camera trap pair every 2 km2 for a period of 33 to 46 days. Camera trap data were analyzed using occupancy modeling to estimate habitat use probability (Ψ) and detection probability (p). Naïve estimates of habitat use probability ranged from 0.11 to 0.64, while Ψ values based on occupancy modeling ranged from 0.23 to 0.71. The study showed fairly high level of habitat use by mammals in the buffer zone of the tiger reserve. Leopards were found to be associated with abundance of large prey species and human presence. Hyena, gaur and sambar showed an association with forest habitat while nilgai showed association with scrub. Chausingha and langur showed an association with sloping terrain. The study showed that buffer zones play an important role as wildlife habitat.