New Delhi: Madhya Pradesh, which is considered the ‘tiger state’ of India, has recorded the highest number of tiger deaths this year according to the data published by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) on its website. 74 tiger deaths were registered in the country till July 15, MP alone accounted for 27 of them.
Of the 27 tiger deaths this year, nine were males and eight were females. In other cases, the gender of the animals was marked unknown in the data. The dead cats included adults, sub-adults and cubs.
Aside from Madhya Pradesh, several other states have recorded tiger deaths including Maharashtra, which registered 15 deaths during the period. Karnataka comes next with 11 fatalities, Assam five, Kerala and Rajasthan four each, Uttar Pradesh three, Andhra Pradesh two, Bihar, Odisha and Chhattisgarh one each, among other states, as per the NTCA figures.
According to PTI, officials say territorial fights, old age, ailments, poaching and electrocution are some of the prominent reasons for their deaths.
As per the report, Madhya Pradesh had regained the tag of the 'tiger state' of the country in the 2018 census. The All-India Tiger Estimation Report 2018, the state was home to 526 tigers, the highest for any state in the country.
There are six tiger reserves in the state, namely Kanha, Bandhavgarh, Pench, Satpura, Panna and Sanjay Dubri.
Expressing concern over the rising number of tiger deaths, wildlife enthusiasts and Right to Information (RTI) activist Ajay Dube told PTI, “In Panna, no tigers were found about 10 years back. After that, the NTCA advised the states to set up their own Special Tiger Protection Forces (STPFs) for safeguarding the big cats, especially from poachers.”
The Centre has made budgetary provisions for supporting the STPFs, but the MP government has so far not constituted any such force due to its own vested interests, he alleged according to PTI.
If established, this force will check, besides poaching, other activities like illegal mining and felling of trees in the forest areas, he said.
Meanwhile, the Principal chief conservator of Forest (PCCF) wildlife, J S Chauhan, was quoted by PTI as saying, “The higher number of tiger mortality is due to the fact that Madhya Pradesh has the highest population of big cats in the country. Due to this, the number of their deaths is naturally also high.”
“Territorial fights among tigers can't be avoided as it is a natural process for them. Old age is another issue”, he added.
The forest department can only try to prevent poaching and it always strives to do so, he said.
On the issue of the formation of the STPF, he said Madhya Pradesh was the first state to give a nod for it, but it has not been formed yet somehow.
He also said that the state has recorded around 120 tiger births, however, the exact number couldn't be confirmed.