Over 30 tiger poaching cases reported in last three years in India

New Delhi: In the last three years over 30 tigers were poached in Indian tiger reserves with parks in Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra accounting for the majority of these illegal killing cases, the Union Environment Ministry has informed the Parliament.

In 2021, there were 8 tiger poaching – three in Madhya Pradesh and five in Maharashtra – but the numbers rose to 12 each in the next two years, taking the number of confirmed tigers poaching cases to 32 in the last three years.

The disclosure by the Union Environment Ministry in the Lok Sabha comes at a time when Ratapani in Madhya Pradesh has been declared as India’s 57th tiger bearing reserve. India’s tiger count stands at 3,682, as per the last census carried out in 2022.

The poaching number was high in 2018 with 44 cases in a single year (natural deaths were 53 in the same year) but came down a bit later in the subsequent years. The number of deaths due to natural causes were over 100 in 2021 and 2022.

But the mortality numbers saw a jump in 2023 with the death of 181 cats – a 50 per cent rise from the mortality figures recorded in 2022 (121) and 2021 (122). The government didn’t explain the reason for such a jump.

The average lifespan of the tigers in the wild, according to officials, is 10-12 years and in natural ecosystem factors like old age, diseases, internecine fights, electrocution, snaring, drowning and hits on the road and railway track are seen. Also a very high infant mortality observed in big cats including tigers.

In many cases, the forest departments are unable to find out the exact cause of death as the carcasses are found in an advanced state of decay.

Other states that reported one or two poaching cases in the last three years are Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar and Uttarakhand.