World Tiger Day: The big cat's mortality alarming, say experts

Most of the world’s tigers are in India. File pic

As the world celebrates World Tiger Day on Monday, this year has been particularly grim for tigers. According to data from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), India has witnessed 81 tiger deaths so far this year. Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of tiger fatalities, followed by Maharashtra.

Data from the NTCA website reveals that 81 tiger deaths have occurred from January 1 to July 28 this year. Madhya Pradesh leads with 30 tiger deaths, followed by Maharashtra with 19. Uttarakhand recorded 9 tiger deaths which is the third highest in the country. NTCA data further states that Uttar Pradesh recorded five tiger deaths, Kerala four tiger deaths, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Assam recorded three tiger deaths each, Telangana saw two tiger deaths, Karnataka, Odisha and Chhattisgarh saw one tiger death each.

75 % of the world's tigers

According to the All India Tiger Estimations 2022 report press release issued in July 2022, "On April 9, 2022, during the celebration of 50 years of the Project Tiger at Mysuru, Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared the minimum tiger population of 3,167, which is the population estimate from the camera-trapped area. Now, further analysis of data, done by the Wildlife Institute of India, from both camera-trapped and non-camera-trapped tiger presence areas, the upper limit of the tiger population is estimated to be 3,925 and the average number is 3,682 tigers, reflecting a commendable annual growth rate of 6.1 per cent per annum."

The release further stated that the largest tiger population of 785 is in Madhya Pradesh, followed by 563 in Karnataka and 560 in Uttarakhand and 444 in Maharashtra. The tiger abundance within the Tiger Reserve is highest at 260 in Corbett, followed by 150 in Bandipur, 141 in Nagarhole, 135 in Bandhavgarh, 135 in Dudhwa, 114 in Mudumalai, 105 in Kanha, 104 in Kaziranga, 100 in Sundarbans, 97 in Tadoba, 85 in Sathyamangalam and 77 in Pench-MP.

What experts say

Sarosh Lodhi, co-founder of the wildlife group CLaW, said, "We definitely celebrate being the country with the largest population of tigers in the wild, but that comes with a huge responsibility of conserving them. The alarmingly high tiger mortality figures in the current calendar year should concern us. Unless and until we have a robust mechanism in place, we could very soon see their population dwindling. All those linear development projects around parks, poor rate of conviction in wildlife crimes, lack of mitigation measures in decades-old highways, etc are the primary contributors that can negatively affect the growth story."

Various threats

Wildlife conservationist Kedar Gore from The Corbett Foundation said, "Tiger populations in some areas in the Central Indian Landscape of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are quite high and restricted in few Protected Areas that aren't big enough; giving rise to the problem of plenty. This results in stiff competition between tigers to occupy prime habitats. These tiger reserves have buffer zones and connecting corridors with high anthropogenic pressures resulting in habitat loss and fragmentation. Therefore, human-tiger conflicts are inevitable resulting in tiger mortality. Tiger deaths from old age and cub mortality are a natural phenomenon which must also be factored. And let us not forget that our tigers face severe threats due to poaching as well."

Tiger deaths

January 1 to July 28, 2024
Madhya Pradesh 30
Maharashtra 19
Uttarakhand 09
Uttar Pradesh 05
Kerala 04
Rajasthan 03
Tamil Nadu 03
Assam 03
Telangana 02
Karnataka 01
Odisha 01
Chhattisgarh 01
Total: 81 tiger deaths in India (NTCA data)