11 tigers dead in MP in first 10 months this year
BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh has recorded the highest number of tiger deaths in five years, 11 in the first 10 months of a year, according to state forest department officials.
The deaths have alarmed forest officials. This year, MP re-emerged as the state with the highest number of tigers in the country after eight years. According to the 2018 All India Tiger Estimation report released in July, MP has 526 tigers followed by Karnataka (524). Officials said that the report has boosted tourism in the state .
The latest big cat death was reported from MP’s Vindhya region, where villagers allegedly poisoned a tigress near Sanjay Tiger Reserve after blaming it for attacking their cattle. The carcass of T-20, the tigress, was found on October 28 and seven villagers were arrested for the killing, a forest department official said on condition of anonymity.
A second forest department official, who too spoke on condition of anonymity, said that of the 11, at least nine tigers and tigresses were poached, electrocuted or poisoned in 2019. “Of the 11, four died of electrocution; poachers killed three and two died of poisoning. Reasons for deaths of two tigers at the Pench Tiger Reserve [in February and March] are not known.”
The official said the number of poaching cases may rise as certain deaths were under probe.
According to the records of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), from 2012 to 2018 as many as 142 tigers died in the state out of the total 655 tigers deaths in the country.
Out of 142, 80 died natural deaths, six died unnatural deaths not attributed to poaching, 13 deaths are under scrutiny while 31 were killed by poachers. MP reported the highest tiger poaching cases (31) in the country from 2012 to 2018, according to the NTCA data.
Deputy conservator of forests (wildlife), Rajnish Kumar Singh, said there have been some natural deaths and those caused by territorial fights. He added that human-animal conflict was also responsible. “Compensation for the killing of domestic animals by tigers has been enhanced to ensure that villagers do not commit such offences,” he said.
Singh said that the substantial increase in the number of tigers in the state—from 308 to 526 in four years—would not have been possible without his department’s “all-out efforts”.
The efforts included creating awareness among people close to tiger reserves, sensitizing and training forest staff, relocation and rehabilitation of villages from wildlife habitats, strengthening infrastructure, establishing a data bank, and collaring of tigers.