23 tigers died in MP in first six months of 2024, followed by 14 in Maharashtra
The highest of the 23 deaths were reported from Madhya Pradesh with at least ten dying inside the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, which houses their densest population.
BHOPAL: As many as 23 tiger mortalities have been reported in the ‘Tiger State’ Madhya Pradesh in the first six months of the current year. According to the latest National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) statistics, 75 tiger mortalities were reported in 12 states between January 6 and July 8, 2024.
The highest of the 23 deaths were reported from Madhya Pradesh with at least ten dying inside the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve, which houses their densest population.
Maharashtra ranked second with 14 deaths followed by Karnataka at 11. Importantly, the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (BTR) in MP reported ten mortalities in the six months of this year, just one less than the overall deaths of tigers in Karnataka within the same period.
MP, which housed maximum 526 tigers and 785 tigers (maximum in the country) in 2018 and 2022 respectively, had reported 43 deaths (181 was national figure) in 2023, as many as 34 tiger deaths (122 deaths nationally) in 2022 and 41 mortalities (out 127 deaths nationally) in 2021.
The BTR was the chief contributor to tiger deaths in the state in the last three years, including 13 in 2023, eight in 2022 and 10 in 2021. Meanwhile, ex-CM Kamal Nath (who was the union environment, forest and climate change minister between 1991 and 1995) raised the issue of tiger mortalities in MP, through a post on the social media platform ‘X’. “MP is also becoming an unsafe state for wild animals. 23 tigers have died in the tiger state MP in the last 6 months. In the year 2024, a total of 75 tigers have died in the country so far,” the post read.
Rising mortality rates
As per NTCA, 75 tiger mortalities were reported across the country between January 6 and July 8
Of those, 23 deaths took place in MP in six months, which was more than 30% of the national tiger mortality figures.
Maharashtra was second with 14 fatalities and Karnataka third with 11 deaths.
In MP, out of the 23 tiger mortalities, 10 deaths occurred in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.
As per the 2022 Tiger Census, BTR had 165 out of 785 tigers in MP.
In March 2024, as asked by the NTCA, the MP state forest department had constituted a 3-member committee to probe the high mortalities of tigers inside the BTR.
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