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Madhya Pradesh: Madhya Pradesh known as the 'tiger state of India' continues to report high tiger mortality rate. According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority, the state has lost 26 tigers this year.
Vijay Shah, Forest Minister of Madhya Pradesh has said that the average death rate of tigers was less compared to their birth rate in the state in the last six years.
"Right now, Madhya Pradesh 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," said Forest Minister Shah.
He further added, "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."
According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority's (NTCA) website, out of 26 tiger deaths reported since April this year, Madhya Pradesh has lost 21 felines inside the tiger reserves, including 10 in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.
In 2014 tiger census, Madhya Pradesh had slipped to the third position in the country with 308 striped animals after Uttarakhand with 340 and Karnataka with 408.
Wildlife activist Ajay Dubey said that Madhya Pradesh lacks a special tiger protection force.
No tiger deaths were reported in the first three months of this year.
In the year 2019, the state had lost 28 tigers while there were three cases of seizures of body parts due to poaching.
Karnataka is second in position in the number of tigers in the country and it had registered eight deaths and two seizures of tiger parts this year.
The Southern state had lost 12 big cats last year.
Earlier, Madhya Pradesh had lost the 'tiger state' tag to Karnataka in the all India tiger estimation exercise for 2010, primarily because of alleged poaching in the Panna Tiger Reserve. During that time, Madhya Pradesh had 257 tigers compared to 300 in Karnataka.