State records second-highest number with 28 tiger deaths reported so far in 2025

The first six months of this year seem to be going quite badly for wild tiger populations as a total of 107 tiger deaths have been reported across the country due to several factors In 2024 76 tigers had died in the first six months of the year indicating that the deaths this year are much higher in comparisonAccording to data from the National Tiger Conservation Authority NTCA the highest number mdash 29 tiger deaths mdashtook place in Madhya Pradesh followed by Maharashtra with 28 tiger deaths and 10 deaths each reported from Assam and KarnatakaA total of nine tiger deaths were reported from Kerala seven from Uttarakhand Uttar Pradesh 4 Tamil Nadu 3 and Rajasthan 2 while the remaining deaths took place in other tigerbearing states in the countryTigers around IndiaIndia is home to nearly 75 per cent of the global wild tiger population According to the press note released in July 2022 along with the All India Tiger Estimations 2022 report ldquoOn April 9 2022 during the 50year celebration of the Project Tiger at Mysuru Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared the minimum tiger population at 3167 which is the population estimate from the cameratrapped areas After further analysis of data done by the Wildlife Institute of India from both cameratrapped and noncameratrapped tiger presence areas the upper limit of the tiger population is estimated to be 3925 and the average number is 3682 tigers reflecting a commendable annual growth rate of 61 per cent per annumrdquoThe release further stated that the largest tiger population of 785 is in Madhya Pradesh followed by Karnataka 563 Uttarakhand 560 and Maharashtra 444 Abundance of the big cat within tiger reserves is highest in Corbett in Uttarakhand 260 followed by Bandipur in Karnataka 150 Nagarhole in Nagarhole 141 Bandhavgarh in Madhya Pradesh 135 Dudhwa in Uttar Pradesh 135 Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu 114 Kanha in Madhya Pradesh 105 Kaziranga in Assam 104 Sundarbans in West Bengal 100 Tadoba in Maharashtra 97 Sathyamangalam in Tamil Nadu 85 and Pench in Madhya Pradesh 77Expert SpeakKedar Gore wildlife conservationist Corbett FoundationldquoRecording of tiger deaths by NTCA without ascribing any reason to the nature of death is a matter of concern Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have recorded 28 and 29 tiger deaths respectively While some deaths could be due to territorial fights many others could be due to retaliatory killings or poaching attempts by people Tiger carcasses found after 34 days are in a putrified state and therefore no conclusion can be drawn from such cases and often such deaths are reported as due to natural causesrdquoGore also pointed out that there is a tendency to declare most deaths as natural as deaths of tigers that cannot be categorised as being old must be thoroughly investigated as unnatural deaths ldquoMore transparency and accountability must be brought in while dealing with tiger deaths Humanwildlife conflict is on the rise and this could be a major reason for such a high number of tiger deaths Addressing these issues urgently is crucial for the safety of both tigers and peoplerdquo Gore addedYearwise tiger deaths2024 126Total no of tiger deaths that took place in the entire year with 76 reported in the first six months of the year as per NTCA data2023 182Total no of tiger deaths took place in the entire year with 103 reported in the first six months2022 122Total no of tiger deaths that took place in the entire year 70 reported in first six months2021 126Total no of tiger deaths reported in the entire year 79 in the first six months