New Delhi: As many as 126 tigers died in India in 2021, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) said on Thursday, asserting that it is looking into the cause of the recent death of a big cat in Madhya Pradesh.
A tiger was found dead in Chhindwara of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday, taking this year's toll in the state to 44. According to reports, two days ago, a tigress died in the state's Dindori area allegedly due to poisoning.
An official from the NTCA said the number of tiger deaths has increased in 2021, and investigations are ongoing.
The official, who did not wish to be named, said several measures are being taken to protect tigers which include patrolling and arresting people for poaching.
He said there can be many causes for the death as the population of tigers is huge, and a standard operating procedure (SoP) is followed to ascertain the reasons.
The official said the tiger death is under scrutiny of the state as well as the NTCA.
The official also rejected reports that claimed the tigress in Madhya Pradesh died due to poisoning in Dindora, saying they are mere assumptions as scrutiny takes time.
"Ongoing process to protect tigers like patrolling is going on, and a lot of people have been arrested for poaching too. We are doing everything to protect the tigers, but we should also understand that nearly 30 percent of them are outside tiger reserves," the official said.
As per the NTCA, the maximum tiger deaths this year took place in Madhya Pradesh (44), followed by 26 in Maharashtra and 14 in Karnataka.
Meanwhile, giving a clarification through a statement, NTCA, said that certain media reports have highlighted the death of tigers during the year 2021, in a manner, which is, a lopsided view of tiger conservation in the country.
While it is appreciated that figures as available on the National Tiger Conservation Authority’s website have been used in these reports, the manner in which it has been presented causes alarm and does not take into account the gamut of processes that go into dealing with tiger death in the country and the natural gains that have been made in tiger conservation, as a result of sustained technical and financial interventions by the Government of India.
Due to efforts of the Government of India through the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the tiger has been taken from the brink to an assured path of recovery, which is evident in findings of the quadrennial All India Tiger Estimation conducted in 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018.
These results have shown a healthy annual growth rate of tigers at 6%, which offsets natural losses and keeps tigers at the habitats carrying capacity level, in the Indian context.
For the period 2012 to 2021, one can observe that the average tiger deaths per year in the country hover around 98, which is balanced by the annual recruitment as highlighted by this robust growth rate.
In addition, the National Tiger Conservation Authority has taken several steps under the ongoing Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Project Tiger to address poaching, which too, is significantly controlled as seen in the confirmed poaching and seizure cases.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority maintains the highest standards of transparency in so far as making tiger death statistics available to the citizen through its website as well as a dedicated portal - www.tiger net.nic.in, so that people can make a logical assessment if they desire.
(With agency inputs)
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