JOIN USTiger poaching continues to thrive
The serious threat that poachers pose to India’s endangered big cats has been highlighted by a recent string of killings of tigers in Maharashtra. On April 20, two tigers were found killed in the state; one of them was a four-year-old pregnant tigress. Poachers operating in the Mukutban range in Yavatmal district are believed to have lit a fire outside the cave she was in to trap her. She was then strangled with a thick wire and her paws were chopped off to extract her claws. Maharashtra has witnessed a sharp increase in tiger deaths in recent months and the numbers are unprecedented. The number of tiger deaths was 20 in 2018, 22 in 2019 and 20 in 2020. This was over a 12-month period. However, over a three-month period this year, Maharashtra has witnessed 17 tiger deaths. At least 11 of these tigers were killed by poachers or they died due to ‘mysterious circumstances.’ Wildlife experts say that the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has made the wild cats even more vulnerable to poachers. Lockdowns have destroyed livelihoods of millions in this country and more people are turning to poaching. Besides, monitoring of forests has become lax during the pandemic. Tourist presence in reserves served to keep poaching activity down in these reserves but with tourist activity down due to the pandemic, poachers are operating unhindered.
India is home to the largest number of tigers in the world. However, it is also the world’s poaching capital. Poaching of tigers is said to be the most serious in Uttar Pradesh followed by Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Experts say that most poaching incidents are happening outside tiger reserves. Tigers outside reserves are vulnerable to poachers as they are not under surveillance here. Despite stringent laws, tiger poaching persists in India for several reasons. For one, this is an extremely lucrative trade. Apparently, returns from the body parts of a single tiger runs into many crores of rupees. And although tiger hunting is banned in India, convictions are rare in poaching cases. Just 4% of tiger poaching cases have ended with convictions.
Tiger poaching thrives in India because forest officials often facilitate the trade instead of cracking down on it. According to media reports, Maharashtra’s forest department did not report the killing of the pregnant tigress for well over 24 hours. Were officials giving the poachers time to escape the police? Possible links between officials and poachers must be probed. That will help tigers survive.