<p>India's tiger conservation body said 126 of the endangered big cats died in 2021, the highest toll since it began compiling data a decade ago.</p>.<p>The most recent death was recorded on Wednesday in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, according to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).</p>.<p>The previous highest number of deaths per year before the authority began compiling data in 2012 was in 2016, when 121 perished.</p>.<p>India is home to around 75 per cent of the world's tigers.</p>.<p>Two years ago, the government announced the population had risen to 2,967 in 2018 from a record low of 1,411 in 2006, an achievement hailed as "historic" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.</p>.<p>This may have been partly down to the survey size, however, which used an unprecedented number of camera traps to identify individual tigers using stripe pattern recognition software.</p>.<p>Over the past decade the biggest cause of death was recorded by the NTCA as being "natural causes", but many also fell victim to poachers and "human-animal conflict".</p>.<p>Human encroachment on tiger habitats has increased in recent decades in the country of 1.3 billion people.</p>.<p>Nearly 225 people were killed in tiger attacks between 2014 and 2019, according to government figures.</p>.<p>The government has made efforts to manage the tiger population better, however, reserving 50 habitats across the country for the animals.</p>.<p>"India has now firmly established a leadership role in tiger conservation, with its benchmarking practices being looked at as a gold standard across the world," a government release said in July last year.</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>
<p>India's tiger conservation body said 126 of the endangered big cats died in 2021, the highest toll since it began compiling data a decade ago.</p>.<p>The most recent death was recorded on Wednesday in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, according to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).</p>.<p>The previous highest number of deaths per year before the authority began compiling data in 2012 was in 2016, when 121 perished.</p>.<p>India is home to around 75 per cent of the world's tigers.</p>.<p>Two years ago, the government announced the population had risen to 2,967 in 2018 from a record low of 1,411 in 2006, an achievement hailed as "historic" by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.</p>.<p>This may have been partly down to the survey size, however, which used an unprecedented number of camera traps to identify individual tigers using stripe pattern recognition software.</p>.<p>Over the past decade the biggest cause of death was recorded by the NTCA as being "natural causes", but many also fell victim to poachers and "human-animal conflict".</p>.<p>Human encroachment on tiger habitats has increased in recent decades in the country of 1.3 billion people.</p>.<p>Nearly 225 people were killed in tiger attacks between 2014 and 2019, according to government figures.</p>.<p>The government has made efforts to manage the tiger population better, however, reserving 50 habitats across the country for the animals.</p>.<p>"India has now firmly established a leadership role in tiger conservation, with its benchmarking practices being looked at as a gold standard across the world," a government release said in July last year.</p>.<p><strong>Watch the latest DH Videos here:</strong></p>