45% of all deaths caused by tigers occurred in state
MUMBAI: Tigers killed 137 people in India between 2015 and 2018. Sixty-one of those deaths (44.53%) happened in Maharashtra, the highest among all states.
Uttar Pradesh (21), West Bengal (18) and Madhya Pradesh (16) appear next on this list.
In 2015, Maharashtra’s forest department reported six deaths caused by tiger attacks. That number steadily rose to 16 in 2016, 24 in 2017 before taking a dip to 15 in 2018 — a net increase of 150%.
The forest department claims 13 of the 61 mortalities were caused by tigress T-1 (also known as Avni), leading them to kill her in a controversial operation in November last year.
This year has already seen two victims falling prey to tiger attacks: A 35-year-old man from Lohar village was killed on January 9 and a 50-year-old shepherd was killed near Halda village on Saturday.
According to experts, the increasing fragmentation of tigers’ habitat is forcing the big cat to enter populated areas in Maharashtra, even though the state has fewer tigers than Madhya Pradesh.“this means degraded spaces or sparselydense forest patches are increasing between protected zones, allowing more chances of conflict,” said a senior official from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). “Other factors for humans entering forest spaces include open defecation, firewood, and fodder collection. The rise in cattle roaming freely due to the ban on cow slaughter has also added to the tigers’ prey base.”
Of the total tiger-related deaths in the state, the maximum happened in the Vidarbha region, across Chandrapur, Nagpur and Yavatmal districts.
The other factor is a rise in both the population of tigers and humans outside protected areas, according to Sunil Limaye, additional principal chief conservator of forest in Nagpur.
As per the last official state tiger census in 2016, there are 202 tigers roaming in Maharashtra’s forests. But officials said that number must have increased by 20% by now. According to NTCA, the country’s tiger population may well cross 3,000 following the latest census which was completed last year. In 2014, officials counted 2,226 tigers across India. “Tiger numbers range
Between 2015 and 2018, 45% of deaths caused by tiger attacks have occurred in Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Uttar Pradesh
West Bengal
Madhya Pradesh Forest habitat fragmentation Lack of legal protection
to wildlife corridors
Rising tiger population
zones moving outside protected Rising human activity
in cattle forest areas (agriculture, grazing, firewood collection) Increasing development projects near tiger habitats between 235 and 240 [in Maharashtra] due to better conservation efforts, but official figures will be released soon,” Limaye said. The Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT), a non-government body, estimates that 30% of these tigers are moving outside the state’s protected forest areas.
“Maharashtra boasts of good quality forests outside protected areas which have 70-plus tigers. It is imperative to enhance protection and conflict mitigation measures for buffer zones,” said Anish Andheria, the president of WCT.
Nitin Desai, the director of Wildlife Protection Society of India for central India, said tigers, highly territorial, are occupying degraded forests closer to human settlements with a good prey base. “Overall there are not many [protected] areas left due to a string of linear infrastructure
Maharashtra government (Highest among all states)
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu governments
IN MAHARASHTRA
(Source: Maharashtra forest department, NTCA, wildlife conservation groups)
and irrigation projects in these tiger-dominated landscapes,” Desai said.
Forest officers said they were communicating with communities living on the edge of protected areas and raising awareness about man-animal conflict, with people being advised to confine agricultural activities such as timber, fodder collection and cattle-rearing within human-dominated areas only.
“We are pushing for the legal protection of wildlife corridors between two protected areas to restrict the entry of humans,” Limaye said. “Alternatives [for cooking] in the form of liquid petroleum gas [as against firewood from the forests] are being provided to villagers and interdepartmental coordination is being sought to address animal husbandry problems.”