New Delhi: The country has lost 24 tigers in a short span of just one month between January 1 and February 8 this year. These figures are quite worrying. This is the highest number of tiger deaths at the beginning of the year in the last three years. Data accessed by The Times of India from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the apex body for tiger conservation, shows that 16 tigers died in the same period last year, compared to 20 tigers in the same period in 2021. There was death.
This year maximum 9 tigers have been killed in Madhya Pradesh. After this comes the number of Maharashtra, where six tigers died. Similarly, three tigers died in Rajasthan, two in Karnataka, two in Uttarakhand, and one each in Assam and Kerala. If we look at the record of the last 10 years, then the maximum number of tigers have died in the month of January itself. NTCA data shows that between 2012-2022, 128 tigers died in January, while 123 tigers lost their lives in March and 113 in May.
The reasons for the death of tigers are being ascertained
It is being told that most of the tigers have died due to ‘natural causes’, which include conflicts between tigers over their territory and increasing age. However, officials say that they are verifying the data to ascertain whether the tigers died due to poaching.
There are more than 3000 tigers across the country
An NTCA official said, “Considering the population of over 3000 tigers across the country, some deaths are normal. But such a number of tiger deaths in a short span of time is surprising and hence they are being probed as per protocol.
