Of the total tigers reported dead, 10 had lost their lives within the earmarked area of tiger reserves, while four were reported dead outside the area.
According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority's (NTCA) report, three tigers were reported dead in Pench Tiger Reserve, two each in Bandhavgarh, Sanjay Tiger Reserve, Kanha Tiger Reserve and one in
The NTCA report also suggests that of the 14 big cats lost between January 1 and April 4, six were female and three male, while the identity of five remained unknown.
Of the three tigers who died in the last four days, two were found dead in Satpura Tiger Reserve (STR) in Narmadapuram (
Another tiger aged around eight years was found severely injured and gasping for breath. Wildlife vets tranquilised and took it for treatment, but it could not survive. "The tiger died in the cage while being taken for treatment.
"Both the tigers died due to territorial fights with another tiger," the officer said.
The death count of tigers in Madhya Pradesh remained higher than other states despite the state government spending a handsome amount of money every year for conservation, security and monitoring. As per the state government report, around Rs 28.30 lakh was spent during 2018-19, while this amount was Rs 22.49 lakh in 2019-20. Similarly, the state government spent Rs 26.42 lakh and Rs 12.88 lakh in the financial years 2020-21 and 2021-22 respectively.
The NTCA's data shows that overall, 39 tigers were reported dead across the country in the last four months. Madhya Pradesh, like in the previous years, led with 14 tiger deaths, followed by Maharashtra with 10, while Karnataka was at third place with 6 tiger deaths.
Ajay Dubey, a wildlife activist, said that due to the absence of accountability of the field officers, MP has been reporting the maximum number of deaths of tigers. He claimed that during the summer, the number of deaths of tigers or other wild animals witnessed a sharp increase due to various reasons.
"Due to extreme weather during the summer, patrolling by forest officers decreases. As during autumn, visibility in the forest increases many times more than other seasons due to the fall of leaves. Another reason is that during the summer wild animals would be found near water ponds which provides ample opportunity for poachers to target animals," Dube added.
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