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Madhya Pradesh loses 26 tigers in 2020

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 11/30/2020 11:40:11 AM

Bhopal, Nov 29 Twenty-six tigers have died so far in Madhya Pradesh this year. Madhya Pradesh Forest Minister Vijay Shah said that the average death rate of tigers was less compared to their birth rate in the state in last six years. According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority's (NTCA) website, out of the 26 tiger deaths reported since April this year, MP lost 21 felines inside the tiger reserves, including 10 in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve. Meanwhile, 28 tigers died in 2019 while three cases of seizures of body parts due to poaching were also reported. Karnataka, which is on the second position in the number of tigers in the country, registered eight deaths and two seizures of tiger body parts this year, as per the data. The southern state lost 12 big cats last year. "Right now, MP has 124 tiger cubs. The cubs were not counted during the last census (in 2018). In the next count, we are going to have more than 600 tigers," new agency PTI quoted Shah as saying. "We have more tigers than the area for them. Take the example of Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve-it has 125 tigers whereas it has the territory to house only 90," he said. The minister attributed the big number of tiger deaths in Bandhavgarh to the territorial fight among the big cats for space and dominance. Earlier, MP had lost the 'tiger state' tag to Karnataka in the all India tiger estimation exercise for 2010, primarily due to alleged poaching in the Panna Tiger Reserve. That time, MP had 257 tigers compared to 300 in Karnataka.